Couture from Unveiled

{collage board for Couture, Suite #12 from Unveiled by Checkerboard}

Images for this collage are provided by Michele M. Waite Photography and Cookie Creatives. The invitation shown is a 3 layer invite with a blush ribbon and a black moire envelope liner.

Invitation Inspiration: Unveiled

{images of new Unveiled invitations by Checkerboard}

When choosing wedding invitations, think about what your guest will feel like when they see it in their stack of mail. The envelope should stand out from all the others. Right? The addressing should be special, and when they open the envelope the design and the weight of the paper really makes a big difference. Even if you choose the simplest design, presentation and weight make all the difference. I love designing with our papers. Since I source most of them, because I am inspired by them, our designs begin with really wonderful papers that look and feel really good. When designing, I like to keep the potential couples in mind, thinking about what can make each invitation special and personal.

Keep your guests in mind when you choose your papers and envelopes, your invitation is a little gift to each guest actually. Inviting is a gift in itself. Expressing yourself with your invitation is easy when you start with a company that feels the same way! I am pretty lucky to work for a company that knows how important this is. It makes my job so much more fun.

A Secret Garden Wedding of Laura and Taylor

I wanted to share with you this image board created at Style Me Pretty. The tool is so cool. I was inspired by the bright colors and fun memories of Laura Niemi and Taylor Young's wedding. A beautiful day! Laura and Taylor created these beautiful invites and DIY accessories.

Photography credits to Dom Miguel Photography.

Brides Mag featuring 2 of my designs!

{image if gold palm and yellow floral invite/table card via Brides Jan. 2010}

Available online at our partner site:
Bianco, by Checkerboard gold palm motif on Corinthian textured paper, available with a matching website!

Buttercup, (shown below) featuring hand painted flowers on rich cream paper, layered to sunshiny yellow, printed in thermography. These next invites are exclusive to our partner site.



Also in this watercolor collection, Pink Orchid, special pricing right now for under $1.68 each! These are also printed on 130# heavyweight paper!


{images of product captured by Adoniram Sides}

I love the work I do, and our sense of value. You can't beat getting custom invites, (not digital) that are handpainted and on this heavyweight paper. There is something so wonderful to hold fine paper in your hand and to feel and see the raised printing. Thank you to our friends at Neenah for making us this custom paper. I have THE best job!

Wait 'til they see what we are cooking up next!

Bottoms up...

{skeleton invite for Checkerboard designed by moi}

A little Halloween inspiration for you. In the spirit of this crispy fall day in New England, listening to Loreena McKennitt with some yummy dark roasted coffee, I am officially planning our annual apple picking adventure for tomorrow at Tougas Farm in Northboro.

Did you hear about the Woo and Wed?

Worcester Wedding Open Houses

A day of wedding bliss will be going on and

Festival Invitations

will be there!

All this excitement, the brainchild of Cathy Walsh from Sprout.

{I just love her and her creations, like this recent gem!}

...all the juicy details coming soon!

follow on twitter or the Woo and Wed blog (in the works)

{oh, silly blogger shrinks everything, scroll to bottom to see enlarged}

Deep and Distinctive

{paper seduction via ffffound}

Invitation Inspiration

{all designs by michelle may for checkerboard, detailed photographs by adoniram sides}

The National Stationery Show is our once a year opportunity to meet up with our clients and touch base with them on what is new and happening. As a designer, it's also pretty much our only opportunity to get feedback on our work from outside the company, where it really counts! Being in NY for the show fills us up with inspiration and really connects us to our customers and what they need. Love it! I love chatting about their clients and what makes them excited about our designs and our company. Fun stuff. These are some of my new designs for wedding "unveiled" at the show.

Beyond designing for Checkerboard, which fuels my creativity, I am so happy to be on board with Cynthia Woehrle and Scott Zoback for Pecha Kucha Worcester and to collaborate with my good friend Andreea Waters for Cirque du Noir also held in Worcester, coming back in October for year two! I am pretty pumped about both happenings, that offer up doses of intimate creative inspiration. What makes us creative? What drives us to be creative every day? What unblocks creative people? What can make someone creative that never knew they had it in them?

Pecha Kucha Night and the live art presentations of Cirque du Noir can help you learn more about yourself, your design medium and your creative spirit.

Take a peek inside the minds of the creative people who live and work in the Worcester area. There are so many unbelievably talented people in this city! Now is their chance to shine, so be there to soak in the rays of electric energy. If you are in the area and are looking for people like you who also consume creativity and spirit, stop by and say hi!

If you're feeling like a voyeur, then come on baby, bring it on: Pass the word!
for daily PKN: Pecha Kucha Daily