It's HERE!

Finally, finally, finally ready to announce the new home of Paper City Design! A fresh new look for the website, my portfolio, a NEW BLOG! and... at long last, an etsy shop!

Phew.

It's been a long ride my friends but hopefully this is just the beginning. Now let's head on over and check it out shall we...

Also, this does mean that this may well be the very last post here on apapercity so please update your bookmarks & feeds so you don't miss a minute of this new journey!

peace + love,

Katie

Sister-Sister!

My sister, Kendra, just started a blog—& guess who was recruited to design her header? (that'd be me)

Head on over to The Lone Star to check it out!

Congrats hermana, I can't wait to see how this exploration goes!

Warmbelly Brews: Empire Saison

Warmbelly Brews brewed this beer at the beginning of the summer—possibly my favorite of their beers so far.

I drew the Empire State Building on this label while sitting in the King's County Courthouse looking out the picture window at the Manhattan skyline (and the Empire State Building) while I was serving jury duty. I also hand drew the letters while sitting many long hours there as well.

They have an ESB (currently sitting in my closet...) that will be ready for sampling this weekend. J wrote the ESB recipe himself with some inspiration from the West Coast beers we had on our trip so as he says, "it's gonna be a hoppy boy!" As soon as they taste it and name it I'll be whipping up some new labels!

Kendra + Stephen: Invites

Not sure how these slipped through the cracks as I posted a sneak peek & the programs for my sister's wedding but managed to forget the invites!


Here they are, better a little late than never! I used a pearlescent paper for these—it was fun to do such a simple set and really let the texture of the paper be the hero.

*Stay tuned, Paper City Design is getting a big makeover and we're getting close to launching a shop!

Amanda & Will's Wedding Invites

Such a beautiful couple, such a beautiful wedding, it was an honor to do their invites!

They got married in July at Treehouse Point and it. was. gorgeous. and a so much fun!


Congrats you two—I hope you're enjoying some post-wedding down time.

Justin & Cara's Wedding Invites

Finally able to post this wedding set that I made for Justin & Cara. They got married this weekend under a tree in Belize—they send me a photograph of the tree so I could make the silohouette on the front of the invites... so perfect, sweet and romantic!
Everything on the inside was hand lettered—just incase you're a type-nerd like me and need to know these things.


If you've been following the news you know that hurricane Alex paid a visit to Justin & Cara's wedding on Saturday (pretty sure he didn't RSVP!) We haven't heard from the newly weds or any of our friends that made it out there yet but if we know them it was an amazing time anyway!

Congrats you two & if anyone reading this has heard from them please let us know that everyone's okay!

*Just heard that all is well, thank goodness!

Warmbelly Brews: Road Trip a Belgian-Style Triple

J and Jeff brewed their second batch of beer. (see the first one here) This is a Belgian-style Triple and it's quite delicious. The labels are entirely hand-lettered by yours truly.

Rebecca & Aaron's Wedding Invites

I loved creating these romantic wedding invites for my dear friend Rebecca and her husband, Aaron. They were married in St. Paul's chapel in Lubbock, Texas—such a sweet place and one of my personal favorites!

Since the chapel is so small they needed invites to the actual wedding and then a set of invites to the reception only.


Congratulations Rebecca & Aaron, I wish we could have been there!

Kendra + Stephen: Programs

I gave a little peek of Kendra + Stephen's wedding invites awhile back but now that the wedding is over I'm excited to share a few more details! I designed their programs and made some little cards that sat by the guest book and on the buffet table to let the guests know what all the food was.


The wedding and reception were at a beautiful mission-style church in Fort Worth, Texas. Kendra literally looked like she was standing in a beam of light with her blonde hair & white dress in the early Texas sun!

Thanks Kendra + Stephen for letting us be such a big part in your wedding. We love you!

*I will post details of the invites soon.

Warmbelly Brews: Snow Day Stout

J & our friend Jeff have been doing some homebrewing the past few months. They started on the first snow day of the year (they're both teachers) with an eggnog milk stout. The first time I tried it it tasted like Robitussin (but I was very sick at the time...) I tried it again about 3 weeks ago and it was so yummy! Nutmeg-y and not too dark for a day in late April.


I designed some handlettered low-fi labels for their first batch that they dubbed "Snow Day Stout." Next up on their roster is a triple ale and then a big batch of a spring saison but they have to taste them before they name them so we'll see what the guys come up with! I'm really excited to be a small part of this fun collaboration!

Cheers!

Part-Time Music

Here's a little something else I have been meaning to share for awhile...
My dear friend, Bryant (who I have known for 13 years!), writes a great blog called Part-Time Music. He asked me to create a new blog header for him and when I took a look at his flickr account I was blown away at the library of great photos he has on there. It was so nice to tap into his personal archives while working on this project.

I highly recommend checking out his music blog, he'll introduce you to something new every week, I can guarantee it!

Secrets Burst: A Reunion

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of working with my friend, Katie, on a poster for the final reading of the Secrets Burst writing group. This group of friends and colleagues has been writing and sharing their work together for a few years now and much of the group has or will be dispersing across the U.S. — hence their "final reading."

I was in Texas busy with my sister's wedding last week so I'm embarrassed to admit that I forgot to post this until now (as the reading was actually last week...) many, many apologies to Secrets Burst and anyone that would have liked to attend!

As always, thank you Katie and Secrets Burst for letting me be apart of the fun!
See the poster that I did last year here.

J+C Invites

Another set of wedding invites went out with today's mail!

*Just a peek! will post details later...

Gathering Place

When I was in college I screen printed this coffee table that I picked up at a thrift shop. It was a lot of fun to make and I got a few good years of use out of it before we moved to Brooklyn (unfortunately there's no space for a coffee table in our apt). For those that are having a hard time it says "Gathering Place," which is, of course, what a coffee table is.

This table is currently homeless. My sister took some photos of it for me before she moved to Florida so I could try to find a new owner for it. It's a little rough around the edges (as you can see!) but the design has been sealed on the top and won't scratch off. It is also very sturdy.

If you are in the greater Lubbock area and would like to give this table a good home (for free!) please email me at: kd.mcnamara85@gmail.com

Wedding 1 of 4 (sneak peak)

Working on four weddings this year, here's a peek at the first. For my darling sister. Kendra and Stephen had to beat me down with sticks to do something simple and monogrammed for them (they're a little more classic that I like to be). But in the end we are all happy!

Dear Spring, you are very lovely but please don't play cat and mouse with us this year. We even got some Sunday-afternoon roof time in... but we need more to lift our spirits!

Belated Christmas...

I put these little e-vites together in a rush back in December for a last minute holiday party J & I had at our apartment. Just thought I would share before the holiday thing got to stale.

We still have our tree up. I couldn't bring myself to take it down before J got back to NYC and it's been such a busy week that it just hasn't happened yet.

We're going to New Paltz in the morning to do a little hiking with some friends (like last year!) I can't wait—it's giving me the motivation to make it through this looong week!

Kendra's Bridal Shower

I got to play hostess just before Christmas at my sister's bridal shower. Of course my main duty was to take care of the invites while the other hostesses did a great job with the food & decorations!


I screen printed (with my yudu, of course!) the doily/snowflake pattern onto grey stock and ran that through my printer for the black text.

I also made some simple recipe cards that people filled out and brought to the shower to help Kendra & Stephen start a good collection of recipes from their loved ones.

Now... to get cracking on those wedding invites!

Welcome to 2010!

Jessica & Windsor's Wedding Invites & Programs

Earlier this year I designed a wedding set for Jessica & Windsor. Jessica came to me with a pretty clear vision. Both of them are musicians but while she is über feminine, classic, all about flowers, organic lines etc... Windsor is modern, clean lines & all about symmetry.

Jessica presented me with the idea of a "city park" something that has a orderly feel but retains some of that organic whimsy and of course flowers. Jessica & Windsor also share a love for Italy and spent their honeymoon there. I developed the pattern based on cobblestone or brick-layed streets and paths in a city part or in an Italian palazzo. I still wanted to get something handmade in there so we wrapped the cards in hemp and use a wax seal to hold it all in place.

Jessica did a great job of finding the wax seal & embellishing the envelopes herself.

The photos below are of the programs that I designed at their wedding. Below photos by Lauren Walker.