2012 is here!! I hope you all had a safe and fun New Years. On our 2.5-hour drive back from an amazing weekend spent with family I had a bit of time to reflect on the upcoming year. I have always been one for making resolutions and setting some pretty [...]]]> photo found here

2012 is here!! I hope you all had a safe and fun New Years. On our 2.5-hour drive back from an amazing weekend spent with family I had a bit of time to reflect on the upcoming year. I have always been one for making resolutions and setting some pretty ambitious goals. This year, instead of coming up with resolutions, I picked one word to represent 2012 and that word is growth.

2012 will be the year I grow. There are many aspects in my life I want growth. I want to grow personally and become a better me, I want to grow spiritually and I want to grow A&P Designs. In 2012 I will…

Experience spiritual growth. I have always been a faith loving Christian but never really listened. Last year I listened and wow. This year I want to continue to grow in my spirituality.

Encourage & set time for creative growth. Being a creative person and a designer I continuously see inspiration everywhere I go and I am always coming up with new ideas of things I want to try. This year, I want to spend one day each week solely dedicated to creative growth. Whether it’s a new style of watercolor painting or attending a new gallery exhibit or exploring a new part of the city for inspiration.

Continue to grow A&P Designs into a business that is full of love, passion and purpose. I could go on and on about all of my goals and ideas for A&P Designs but ultimately I want every step we take and every decision we make grounded by love, passion and purpose.

Reflect on my personal growth every day. I admit that I often get too busy with life. I am a do it all, be it all, and have it all kind of gal. I am usually going in about 20 different directions and my life is a constant balancing act. And honestly, I love being that way. I actually flourish when I have a lot on my plate. But I find myself always focusing on the end result and not stopping to enjoy the journey. Life is a journey, plain and simple. If I focus on the end result, I will miss the little things in life that mean so much. In 2012, I will stop and make time each day to reflect on the day and enjoy every moment.

This may sound silly but I truly believe we were put on this earth to do something great. To be our greatest, best self. I am still not sure what my “great” thing is but I will find it. I am ready to grow into those big girl entrepreneurial, spiritual, stationer, printer, wifey shoes that I was put on this earth to wear! 2012 I am ready to grow!

A&P Designs is official.. we are just waiting on the finishing touches of our website (it is still growing). The new website will be up in the next couple days. Please check back soon as we unveil our new logo and look. Can’t wait to show it to you!! You can now reach me on my new email Alicia@apdesignco.com.

Happy New Years Eve! How are you celebrating the last day of 2011? We are spending today much like our entire year has been – working, travelling, spending time with friends and family, partying, and taking time for reflection.

As we enter into 2012 with a new brand and company [...]]]>   photo found here

Happy New Years Eve! How are you celebrating the last day of 2011? We are spending today much like our entire year has been – working, travelling, spending time with friends and family, partying, and taking time for reflection.

As we enter into 2012 with a new brand and company name, we can’t help but take time to reflect on 2011 and all the blessings and hardships that have come into our lives. We are so grateful for all of our amazing clients, the wonderful and talented vendors that we have had the pleasure to work with and befriend, and the opportunity to live each day with passion.  We are so forever grateful.

2011 year was the year we were open: open to being our authentic self, open to friendships and opportunities. Opening our hearts to our true passions and listening to our hearts. 2012 will be the year for growth. We will focus on what matters most as we commit to living our life and growing our business with passion and purpose.

Cheers to 2011 and welcome to 2012. We are ready to move mountains and make really big things happen. We will see you in the New Year as A&P Designs. May 2012 bring you happiness, laughter, love and success.

The A&P Designs Facebook page is up. We would love for you to mosey on over and like us. As a thank you for liking us, we will be hosting a weekly giveaway. One luck winner will win a set of 12 letterpress thank you cards. Heres how it works. You “like” us on [...]]]>

The A&P Designs Facebook page is up. We would love for you to mosey on over and like us. As a thank you for liking us, we will be hosting a weekly giveaway. One luck winner will win a set of 12 letterpress thank you cards. Heres how it works. You “like” us on Facebook, your name is entered into our giveaway each week. One winner will be pulled every Friday. If you win, you get to pick your ink color and your envelope color. You can also follow us on twitter: @aliciarohan

When you follow along our journey we will stay up to date with studio happenings and see sneak peeks of our current projects, inspiration boards with amazing color combinations, and specials and giveaways.

Thanks for journeying along with us!

]]> http://www.seasideinvitations.com/ap-designs-goes-social/feed 0 http://www.seasideinvitations.com/black-and-taupe-feature?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=black-and-taupe-feature http://www.seasideinvitations.com/black-and-taupe-feature#comments Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:54:56 +0000 Alicia http://www.seasideinvitations.com/?p=3405

We had the pleasure of being a part of an inspiration shoot for Eco-Beautiful Weddings for their Etsy Love Challenge in their Winter Issue. Lauren Grove of Every Last Detail contacted us and asked us to participate in the challenge. Of course we jumped at the chance. The challenge was to keep [...]]]>

We had the pleasure of being a part of an inspiration shoot for Eco-Beautiful Weddings for their Etsy Love Challenge in their Winter Issue. Lauren Grove of Every Last Detail contacted us and asked us to participate in the challenge. Of course we jumped at the chance. The challenge was to keep everything complete eco-friendly. Lauren presented us with this inspiration board of blacks and taupes and told us she wanted to do a modern take on eco-friendly.

And this is what we came up with

We designed the invitation suite using a modern mix of typography and a damask pattern. We kept everything eco-friendly by letterpressing the suite using soy based inks and 100% cotton tree free paper. We used recycled kraft paper for the envelopes and belly band. The menu card doubled as a menu card and place card. We created a circular tag for the place card and attached it to the menu card with recycled twine. We created a tri-fold program, this is a great way to save on cost and paper when you have a lot of information to include in your program.

Make sure to check out the Eco-Beautiful Wedding, Winter Issue and for more photos of the amazing dress, jewelry and all the details check out Every Last Details blog post. All photos are by the always amazing Jason Mize. This invitation suite is now available on the Design Bar. Be the first to purchase this suite and get one ink color for free.

We have been working on a top-secret project for a while now and we are finally ready to unveil it to you. After much consideration and careful planning we have decided to change our business name.

(What? Gasp! How? Why?)

Well.. as we worked with our web designer on the design bar [...]]]>

We have been working on a top-secret project for a while now and we are finally ready to unveil it to you. After much consideration and careful planning we have decided to change our business name.

(What? Gasp! How? Why?)

Well.. as we worked with our web designer on the design bar we started to really evaluate our brand and our business goals. We felt the name Seaside Invitations, was no longer a true reflection of whom I was and whom the company is. The name, Seaside Invitations, was thought up from my love of the sea, sun and surf. I love the colors, smells and sounds of the ocean and am the happiest with sand between my toes and salt water in my hair (no really my hair looks awesome with salt water in it!). And although, my love for the ocean has not changed, the brand has.

Over the past year, we have become a husband and wife team fusing our passions together for great design, art, letterpress printing and all things paper {art + paper}. With Pat’s incredibly talented hand, we are able to introduce hand drawn elements that are one of a kind, mixed with his awesome problem solving skills he has been able to master and fall in love with the art of letterpress. Then, mixing in my design aesthetic, understanding of typography and love for all things paper we created our new brand. We just needed a name… and then, the light bulb went off and A&P Designs was born. The brand A&P Designs is a reflection of us {Alicia + Pat} and our passion for all things Art + Paper.

What does this mean for you?

Nothing really, other than saying, you are working with A&P Designs rather than Seaside Invitations. Our core values and mission is still the same. Our design style is still the same: clean + simple design fusing modern and vintage elements creating pieces of art on paper.  Our mission is to provide affordable pricing, custom designs and the very best in customer service is still there!

We plan on fully debuting and switching over to A&P Designs at the beginning of the year Jan 1, 2012. A new year + a new us. We will be blogging our journey of the rebranding process… to be honest it is a bit scary as we have developed and established a strong relationship with the wedding community, our vendors and our amazing brides as Seaside Invitations. Even though it is scary, I am incredibly excited to have a brand that fits perfectly and that is 100% Alicia + Pat. I think of it like finding the perfect pair of jeans… you feel like a million dollars when you find the one that fits you, your personality and your style. A&P Designs is our perfect pair of jeans.

Check back with us as we unveil our new logo, new business cards, new marketing materials, new website, new facebook, new everything all by the end of the year.

Onward!

Our 2011 Letterpress Holiday Collection is here and available on our website and in our etsy shop.  Each card is printed by hand, one at a time, one color at a time.  These beautiful letterpress cards have a simple design that is both modern and vintage. The cards feature hand drawn [...]]]>  

Our 2011 Letterpress Holiday Collection is here and available on our website and in our etsy shop.  Each card is printed by hand, one at a time, one color at a time.  These beautiful letterpress cards have a simple design that is both modern and vintage. The cards feature hand drawn Christmas elements such as Santa Claus, Christmas Stockings, a Kitchen Aid Mixer  and Santa Claus with his 8 reindeer , as well as, mixed typography designs with the word Merry Christmas in 8 different languages. And, my favorite “What happens under the Mistletoe, stays under the Mistletoe“. Each card is so elegant, luxurious and tactile that you will want to hold onto them forever!

Each card can be sold separately or in sets of 10, 25 or 50. Cards come printed on Cranes Lettra 110lb cotton paper with your choice of red or green ink and hand fed into our antique letterpress. Cards are 4.25″ x 5.5″ when folded and come with your choice of green, red, kraft or chartreuse envelopes.

{2011 Holiday Card Pricing}
- 1 card is $4.00
- Set of 10 cards is $18.00
- Set of 25 cards is $42.00
- Set of 50 cards is $75.00

A combination of designs can be packaged. All cards are shipped via USPS Priority Mailed so you will have plenty of time to get them out in the mail.

{Cyber Monday Sale}
We are offering a 20% discount on our sets of 25 and 50 today only! Please use discount code: HOLIDAYCHEER in our etsy shop or when emailing me (alicia@seasideinvitations.com) to place your order.

If you are in the downtown St. Pete area, our cards are being sold at Paper Street Market. If you haven’t been there before, this place is a MUST CHECK OUT. They have amazing vintage finds. We just purchase an amazing type drawer (in photo with christmas cards) that we are obsessed with. We are excited to be partnered with some awesome folks at Paper Street Market.

We are so very thankful for all of our blessings this year! We are so thankful for our brides, who quite honestly have been the best brides a little stationery company could ever ask for! We are so thankful to the wedding industry. We have worked with some of the most professional [...]]]>

We are so very thankful for all of our blessings this year! We are so thankful for our brides, who quite honestly have been the best brides a little stationery company could ever ask for! We are so thankful to the wedding industry. We have worked with some of the most professional and sweetest vendors out there. We are so thankful for the relationships that have grown through these partnerships. We are thankful our friends and family who have supported us along our journey. We are thankful for love, life and good health that God has blessed us with time and time again. We are so so thankful to do what we love with the ones we love everyday.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving thats filled with lots of love, laughter and good food!

Gobble! Gobble!