Our letterpress design of the month for December is the trendy Ikaty design by Kamal, and it’s got us going crazy for everything ikat right now. We found these fun pieces online and just had to share — we guarantee you’ll be inspired!

1. A sweet raspberry Daphne ikat clutch | 2. The perfect ikat bridesmaid’s dress | 3. Pretty blue ikat dishes | 4. Totally turquoise ikat pillow | 5. Gorgeous red ikat cloth napkins | 6. A vibrant, multi-colored ikat scarf | 7. The prettiest ikat iPhone case | 8. A sophisticated ikat dinner plate | 9. A tropical Ikat cake

In our search for ikat inspiration, we also came across these incredible weddings on Style Me Pretty — our first fabulous find features the most amazing table runners, made with fabric ordered from Usbekistan!  The second wedding had rich blue ikat pieces scattered throughout the reception — a gorgeous board for escort cards, comfy pillows for lounging and sophisticated table runners all added the perfect touch of pattern and color (and we love the way the blue fabric looks next to those vibrant orange flowers!).

Don’t forget – the Ikaty suite is on sale for 20% off through 12/31 (including invitations, thank you notes, programs, save the dates, menus, place cards, and more!)!

Today we’re excited to share the inspiration behind Ikaty, Bella Figura’s December design of the month {the entire suite is on sale for 20% off through 12/31!}. We chatted with Kamal, the talented designer who created this fashion forward, fabric-inspired invitation, and she filled us in on the background of the gorgeous design that we just can’t get enough of.

The Inspiration Behind Ikaty

“Ikaty” is a modern tribute of my love and fascination for the IKAT pattern, the trend, and how it mirrors a promise of commitment. To see its progression in the past couple of years is compelling to me. It’s been a part of my home since childhood – on pillows, rugs and clothing growing up, but not on paper. “Ikat” is an Indonesian language word, which depending on context, can be the nouns: cord, thread, knot and the finished ikat fabric as well as the verbs “to tie” or “to bind”(ref: Wikpedia). Sounds a little like marriage…

…and I am. I also have 3 wonderful children and try to balance it out as a working mom. This process of dyes and interwoven, complex patterns reflects my work, my marriage, my kids and what’s to come. Each distinct weave can take you into a different path in your life, growing and multiplying until you have created a pattern, a routine, or hopefully a touch of surprise in your life.

We asked, and you voted: our latest Design of the Month is Ikaty by Kamal! As our Design of the Month, all custom letterpress orders placed between now and December 31 will receive 20% off.  This 20% off applies to Ikaty save the dates, invitations, thank you cards, menus, coasters, place cards, programs, and any other piece that uses the Ikaty design. To get you inspired, our design team put together these stunning customizations — take a look!

(Please note, the Design of the Month promotion may not be used on purchases of other designs or in combination with any other promotion.)

We’re pretty excited about Election Day 2011 around here (it’s today! Tuesday, November 8), so we’ve decided to hold a vote of our own! From now through November 30, four of our letterpress invitation designs will be in the running to become the next Bella Figura Design of the Month. The winning design will go on sale for 20% off during the month of December, so be sure to vote! (And tell your friends to vote, too!) The 20% off applies to save the dates, thank you cards, coasters, place cards, menus, programs, invitations, and any other piece that uses the winning design.

Voting is easy: simply visit this page to view the nominated designs, then ‘like’ your favorite (you must be logged in to Facebook to do this). Already dreaming up ways to customize your favorite design? Check out these gorgeous customizations our in-house graphic design team dreamed up to get some extra inspiration.

Alice by Tara Hogan

Carte de Visite by Ben Whitla

Collection by Ellie Snow

Ikaty by Kamal

Which of these amazing designs will go on sale during the month of December?? It’s up to you – be sure to vote today!

(The small print: the Design of the Month promotion may not be used on purchases of other designs or in combination with any other promotion.)

Here at Bella Figura, we think voting is one of the most direct ways to impact this country and the world. So to encourage everybody to get out and vote this year, we’re offering a special promotion just for voters during the month of November, 2011: orders with 75 invitation sets or more will receive 25 free sets!

To take advantage of this promotion, all you need to do is supply a photo of yourself voting! Simply send in the photo with your order to receive the special by emailing order@bellafigura.com – if you plan to work with one of our retailers, just include their store name in your email. We’ll be featuring the photos on our blog and Facebook page in the upcoming weeks, so please let us know when submitting the photo if you don’t want your photograph shared!

Election day is November 8, 2011, so get out and vote! If you want to help spread the word on election day, let everyone know that you voted by uploading your photo to our Facebook page. Just click the ‘Share Photo’ option, and in the caption, tell us the state you’re voting in!

Excited about the vote? Keep the voting momentum going and click here to vote on the next design of the month! The design of the month will go on sale for 20% off during the month of December & 4 designs are in the running — be sure to check it out!

Invitation wording can be tricky – knowing who to list and where to list them can sometimes present a challenge. With an increase in same-sex weddings (woohoo! go New York!), we’ve had some inquiries about wording for when you’ve got two brides or two grooms. So, we decided to speak with wedding pro Mark Kingsdorf of Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants (an etiquette expert and contributor to several books by the esteemed Emily Post Institute) to get some tips for same-sex couples on the best way to word their invitations.

Mark said it best: “Proper etiquette is what makes the largest number of people feel most comfortable” — and we couldn’t agree more. So, when it comes to your wording, be sure to decide on the following factors:

1. Who should be listed? This depends entirely on the couple and their family. If both sets of parents are contributing, both sets of parents can be listed. You can list all parents, one set of parents, one parent, or no parents – it really comes down to your personal preference. If you have a lot of family members contributing to your wedding, a great alternative option would be to simply start by saying “Together with their families”, and proceed from there. Here’s a traditional example that lists both sets of parents:

2. Who goes first? Unless one family is contributing more than the other, Mark advises that alphabetical is the best way to go. Again, personal preference should reign, and your wording should be what fits you best as a couple.

The rest of your text should fall into place based on the type of ceremony and reception you’ll be having – let the formality of your event guide you. For even more tips on how to finalize the text for your invitations and other wedding stationery, click here, or feel free to get in touch with one of our client coordinators for assistance!

The important thing to remember is that your invitations and wedding stationery should set the tone for your wedding while highlighting who you are as a couple. Many thanks to Mark Kingsdorf for these great tips!

Don’t forget – our promotion for free envelope liners ends September 25, so there’s still plenty of time to order!

It’s that time of year again — our sample sale is back! Now through September 8, all of our letterpress invitation samples will be on sale for just $1! All proceeds from the sale will benefit Earthworks and will help aid their efforts to end dirty gold mining practices around the world. Sign the pledge today and make sure you know where your gold is coming from! The inventory for a few of our designs is limited, so you may receive samples in colors that are different from what’s shown on our website (but don’t worry — they’ll still be pretty!!).  Samples may be ordered on our website – just click on your favorite designs, then select “order a sample” and proceed to checkout after you’ve selected all of the designs you’d like to see! The sale ends at 11:59pm on Thursday, September 8, so don’t wait — buy your samples today & help the environment in the process — it’s a win-win!

**The fine print: availability for select designs may be limited. If our inventory runs out for a sample that you’ve ordered, we’ll contact you to determine a suitable replacement option or to arrange a refund if necessary. We appreciate your understanding on this!**

We’re so pumped that New York has joined the ranks of the small (but growing) number of states offering equal rights to same sex couples. In honor of this human rights triumph, Bella Figura is helping celebrate by offering free envelope liners to any same sex couple who orders their wedding stationery from us!

In addition to the promotion, we’ll be showcasing some recent real weddings, giving tips on wording, and offering advice from etiquette expert Mark Kingsdorf – an event planning pro who’s worked with the Emily Post Institute on several books.

The promotion runs from August 25 – September 25 — stop in to one of our Bella Figura retailers to place your order today! If you don’t have a retailer in your area, get in touch & we’ll help you get started.

Over the past couple of years, we’ve found ourselves completely blown away by the thoughtfulness and generous spirits of the couples we’re honored to call Bella Figura brides and grooms.  We think it’s so cool when a couple opts to forgo the traditional guest favors and instead makes a donation to a worthy nonprofit. To encourage this large-hearted trend, in early 2011 we started offering free letterpress favor cards to those couples making a donation to nonprofit organization doing good for the world. Here are just a handful of the many favor cards we’ve printed for couples worldwide this year…

Our Deveril design; donation benefiting The Humane Society of the United States.

Our Tara design; donation benefiting Clean Ocean Action.

Our Nautilus design; donation benefiting the Reproductive and Child Health Alliance in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Our Florian Script design; donation benefiting CHU St-Justine. From the couple, “The CHU St-Justine is a well renowned children’s hospital in Montreal and our donation will be given toward funding R&D activities. We both believe that children should be allowed to enjoy their young lives and play outside with their friends rather to be stuck in a hospital room. We hope that our donation will help the team of doctors find a cure to many of today’s illnesses that primarily attack young children.”

Our Deveril design; donation benefiting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.

Our Erte Beach design; donation benefiting the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Our Keswick design; donation benefiting the Rochester chapter of CASA – Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children. From the bride, Rachel -  “CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children. CASA volunteers are “appointed by judges to watch over and advocate for abused and neglected children, to make sure they don’t get lost in the overburdened legal and social service system…Volunteers stay with each case until it is closed and the child is placed in a safe, permanent home”. We wanted to donate to CASA for many reasons. Firstly, I am a CASA volunteer. I’m passionate about child advocacy and will be starting law school this fall. Also, Rochester’s CASA chapter has recently suffered massive budget cuts. What better than to give to an organization that helps children find home as we begin our home.”

Our Modern Calligraphy design; donation benefiting the Autism Society of Wisconsin.

Pretty impressive stuff, right? Want to get in on the action? Here’s the small print: the free favor cards must be printed with a minimum $500 order; our favor cards are place card sized; cards are letterpress printed in the design and ink colors from your order; we’ll match your highest quantity—for instance, if you order 200 invitations, we’ll offer 200 free favor cards. We’ll also extend our many thanks for inspiring us.

Today we’re exited to introduce our latest Design of the Month – Cecilia by Jamie Lea Bertsch. We love this design for its vintage textile inspiration and it’s understated romantic elegance. As our Design of the Month, all custom letterpress orders of our Cecilia design placed between now and April 29 will receive 20% off – don’t miss out! This 20% off applies to Cecilia save the dates, thank you cards, coasters, place cards, menus, programs, invitations, and any other piece that uses the Cecilia design. (Please note, the Design of the Month promotion may not be used on purchases of other designs or in combination with any other promotion.)

Meet the Designer – Jamie Lea Bertsch

What is the inspiration behind Cecilia?
Actually, these are the invitations we used for our wedding, so there was a lot of inspiration swirling around them. I named it after my grandmother – Cecilia. The lacy edging was from a handkerchief passed down to me for my wedding, and I paired that with some loose pattern illustrations from other textiles/fabrics in our home. I really wanted to fuse elegant and handmade, so I mixed fonts and rounded corners to keep it casual.

How did you get your start in art and design?
I’ve always enjoyed making things with my hands and the tactile experience. I decided to pursue art and design without any expectations. I didn’t want to anticipate or put pressure on myself to ‘figure it out’ right away. Instead, I eased into things, lightheartedly exploring design, printmaking, fibers, photography and ceramics. Some great opportunities came my way, and since college, I’ve just taken it day by day. Currently I’m pursuing my MFA in fibers, seeing where that leads me. I’ve always believed that things happen for a reason, so I try not to intervene too much with the natural progression of things.

Five art/design tools you couldn’t live without:
Needle/thread, Uni-ball fine tip pens, sketchbook, Sobo glue & scissors

What’s your morning routine like?
I’ve become a bit of an early bird lately, realizing how many things I can get done before noon if I wake up early! Our dog Olive usually sleeps in. (jealous!) I’ve been trying to lay off the coffee, trading it in with yogurt or kefir as a morning ritual. Though, I admit, sometimes you just need a good cup of coffee! I head to my studio in the early hours, and catch up on emails, art & design blogs, and of course whatever project I have going at the time. I usually turn on NPR or the Charlie Parker station on Pandora for my listening pleasure. I love a good, flow-y morning.

Good luck charm:
Definitely this little wooden heart that my husband carved for me back in college. It reminds me of e.e. cummings’ :

i carry your heart with me
i carry it in my heart
i am never without it

Always in your fridge:
We’re never too low on gorgonzola cheese! It’s been a staple of mine for a while now – sprinkling it on pizza, salad, or bruschetta are my favorites lately.

What fictional character do you most identify with?
hmmm… probably Pippi Longstocking! I would love to live in Villa Villekulla.

Best day job:
The best day job I ever had was being a carhop at a locally owned drive-in restaurant. I got to work outside serving custard, fries, and burgers, and the customers were always pretty fun. Definitely miss those tips!

Favorite PMS number:
621U

If you were flavor of ice cream, what would you be?
Alden’s Peanut Butter Chip! The best ice cream ever.