And then the STD Party Screeches to a Halt…

And then the STD Party Screeches to a Halt…

March 1st, 2010 @ 7:04 pm by Ms. Stripes
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And then the STD Party Screeches to a Halt… : wedding diy save the dates stationery 1 1

Yes. Those are moving boxes full of wedding crap.

So I’ll just admit it.

I may have gotten a little ahead of myself and previewed our STD too soon. Yes that horrific screeching you hear is the sound of this STD party* coming to a grinding halt. Or maybe it’s that awful tape tearing sound as we put together yet another box…

So before we totally derail (um, we’re moving this week. enough said) I wanna share my dilemma and cross my fingers you have a few brilliant ideas or words of encouragement to help a Stripe out.

The problem (and maybe the solution) starts with this delicious fabric:

And then the STD Party Screeches to a Halt… : wedding diy save the dates stationery 2 2

I first came across this beauty while making my Valentine Swap Flowers and I. Fell. In. LOVE. I’m seriously leaning towards making every single guest at our wedding a “guest of honor flower” that will look a little something like these:

And then the STD Party Screeches to a Halt… : wedding diy save the dates stationery 3 3

Anyhoo, of course you remember my Bridesmaid Three-Way dilemma documented here and semi-resolved here. So this gorgeous fabric provides us with a beautiful wedding color palette and sets us up to have bridesmaids sporting dresses like these:

And then the STD Party Screeches to a Halt… : wedding diy save the dates stationery 4 4

source

Le sigh. Um, yeah. Love ‘em. Anyway my infatuation true love for this fabric knows no bounds and this weekend I did a little experiment and incorporated it into our STD labels. And that’s where this train ground to a halt. Have I overdone it? Do they look too primary? Too childish? Do they have just the right je ne sais quois? I just don’t know anymore.

Oh sorry—here ya go, our fabric inspired wrap-around labels:

And then the STD Party Screeches to a Halt… : wedding diy save the dates stationery 6 6

And then the STD Party Screeches to a Halt… : wedding diy save the dates stationery 7 7

The real deal will be printed on kraft paper labels and the envelope is a delicious smoky black color that I was too lazy to get a really good picture of, BUT I think my real reservation is that I can’t get the stripes to print as vibrantly beautiful as the actual fabric or as this screenshot:

And then the STD Party Screeches to a Halt… : wedding diy save the dates stationery 8 8

Is it my printer? Is there some tweaking I can do in illustrator to help correct this problem? Or am I just a crazy person who is obsessing over an envelope label? Be nice with that last one.

For comparisons sake I’ll leave you with this last photo:

And then the STD Party Screeches to a Halt… : wedding diy save the dates stationery 9 9

And two questions:

What changes (if any) would you make to the label?

Which direction would you affix the label—so that the wrap-around return address seals the flap, or ends up on the other side?

*I look forward to getting this STD party restarted!

Tags: diy, save-the-dates, stationery |

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46 Responses to “And then the STD Party Screeches to a Halt…”

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Bee

Miss Frozen Yogurt (message) 2,685 posts, Sugar bee

I don’t have advice for how to make changes, but I am sure someone else will. What i want to say is that the label you created is so crazy awesome and I am in love with it. You need to incorporate it for sure!

3/1/10 @ 7:06 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Jellyfish (message) 1,453 posts, Bumble bee

Ok, I love this. You have to do this, especially with your Bee name and all. I can’t think of a way to make them more vibrant (not tech savvy) but I wholeheartedly approve.

3/1/10 @ 7:09 pm (reply)

Member

edoherty24 (message) 83 posts, Worker bee

um… no idea how to help you with the save the dates. But i LOVE that fabric and i love the flowers! do you have a post on how to make them??

3/1/10 @ 7:10 pm (reply)

Member

MsTerrapin (message) 609 posts, Busy bee

I am totally OBSESSED with your BM dresses! They are gorgeous! The fabric is also awesome. As for the STDs, I think the labels look amazing even if they are not quite as vibrant as the real fabric (give the guests something to look forward to!).

I would affix the labels the other way so the return address seals the flap. But either way, it is adorable!

3/1/10 @ 7:14 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Cardigan (message) 8,645 posts, Bumble Beekeeper

Um, I LOVE THIS! I have no idea how to make it more vibrant, but I think it looks pretty effing amazing as-is.

3/1/10 @ 7:15 pm (reply)

Member

crayfish (message) 5,680 posts, Bee Keeper

What program are you using? You could play around with the saturation by doing a test sheet of paper. Are you printing on the highest quality setting? Maybe your printer simply isn’t putting enough ink out to saturate the colors? Or, perhaps the paper finish on the labels dulls it?

3/1/10 @ 7:15 pm (reply)

Member

jackie-o (message) 2,389 posts, Buzzing bee

I think its great! I know Miss Sewing has posted a couple image 101’s - - - maybe she can help you with brightening up the color?!?!?!?

3/1/10 @ 7:18 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Lace (message) 702 posts, Busy bee

So lovely! I think you should keep it the way it is. If it goes over the flap, it may rip or the sticker will un-affix and curl when the invite is opened. If you keep it the way it is, it’ll stay awesomely beautiful like it is now. I really really really love the colors. And as a guest, I would LOVE to get one of those awesome pins to wear.

3/1/10 @ 7:26 pm (reply)

Member

robinlinz (message) 260 posts, Helper bee

It could have something to do with the paper (or labels?) you are using. They look like they are a matte finish… you will get bolder colors if you use paper with a satin or gloss finish.

Also, when you go to print them, try switching the color management to “let photoshop manage colors” instead of “let printer manage colors”. Remember that all printers use CMYK colors, so make sure your document/image isn’t RGB.

Hope this helps!

3/1/10 @ 7:37 pm (reply)

10.

Member

LittlestBirds (message) 2,626 posts, Sugar bee

LOVE. This actually made my heartrate increase. Beautiful. Keep it the way it is.

3/1/10 @ 7:37 pm (reply)

11.

Bee

Miss Paisley (message) 243 posts, Helper bee

I love them!

When I did my fabric scanned liners for my STDs, I took it to Kinkos where they helped me adjust the color in Photoshop. It cost me about $5 because they charge per minute when you use Photoshop, but it helped the scanned fabric color out a lot–made it look more like the original. Sorry if this is too basic of info, or if you have already tried doing this!

3/1/10 @ 7:50 pm (reply)

12.

Member

beth1125 (message) 328 posts, Helper bee

I love this!! I don’t know how to change it but I think it looks awesome how it is. Of course, I understand completely that you want it to be perfect. However, I think it’s great!

3/1/10 @ 7:52 pm (reply)

13.

Member

punkrockgirl (message) 27 posts, Newbee

You can adjust hue and saturation levels in Photoshop if you have it. But keep in mind that if you do print on kraft paper, your colors are going to come out even more muted than they do on white paper right now. If you already think that they don’t pop, it’s going to be worse on kraft paper. I personally love it on white, so take that for what it’s worth.

3/1/10 @ 8:03 pm (reply)

14.

Guest

Kristi

My recommendation, as a graphic designer, would be to recreate the fabric pattern in illustrator using specific CMYK colors and then add a fabric texture overlay to it. It looks like you are presently using a scan of the fabric? A photo is never going to give you the color control you would have with a created pattern. You would be able to tweak each individual strip’s color and intensity to your heart’s content.

3/1/10 @ 8:06 pm (reply)

15.

Member

amariem25 (message) 3,753 posts, Honey bee

those are freaking perfect in my opinion.

3/1/10 @ 8:18 pm (reply)

16.

Member

KendraBakes (message) 108 posts, Blushing bee

I love them! I vote for not having them seal the flap-that way, they won’t have to be ripped when the envelopes are opened. Do you think you could make a tutorial, or have some sort of file we could use to replicate these with our own fabric scan? (That’s how much I love ‘em-I want to replicate them!)

3/1/10 @ 8:41 pm (reply)

17.

Bee

Mrs. Piglet (message) 1,045 posts, Bumble bee

I think they look pretty awesome! I’m no help, but it sounds like other artsy bees have chimed in w/ tips on improving the ‘pop’ in your color. On a separate note, as a guest I would LOVE one of those guest of honor flowers.

3/1/10 @ 8:49 pm (reply)

18.

Member

Kalibali (message) 272 posts, Helper bee

I think they are great! Think about it this way, this is the first time your guests are getting introduced to your theme/color. The fact that the colors are muted in the label (and barely muted, it really does look great) is kind of a teaser to your guests. It introduces them to your idea, and remember they haven’t seen even a hint of it yet while you have been living it. I know I would be delighted to get that STD in the mail

3/1/10 @ 9:03 pm (reply)

19.

Member

Curlysue (message) 1,703 posts, Bumble bee

I have no advice on how to make it brighter, sorry, but I love them! You get my vote to use them no matter what. You may think they aren’t bright enough but I think they look fantastic