Notes from the studio
The things I end up explaining on nearly every project, written down so you can read them before we start rather than during. Homeschool transcript notes live here too.
Homeschool transcripts
What is free in the homeschool transcript builder
No yearly fee. Try it without a card. The kit unlocks print, PDF and PNG.
HomeschoolHow the finished transcript actually leaves the house
The PDF is done. This is the envelope, the portal, and the NCAA inbox.
HomeschoolHomeschool records that become a transcript
Keep a thin file this year so senior year is copied, not invented.
HomeschoolWhen the high school record opens
The file opens with the first high-school-level course, not with ninth grade.
Paper and parties
Baptism invitation or baptism announcement
How to tell a come-to-the-service card from one that says it already happened.
PracticalHow to size an invitation for texting
A print file is the wrong shape for a phone. Here's what the two digital sizes are for.
PracticalWhat to check on a printer's proof
The shop sent a proof. Check names and trim first. Colour comes last.
DesignFitting long names on wedding invitations
How I fit a long name, a double-barrelled surname, or two parent lines on the card.
PracticalWhy your invitation file needs bleed
The extra strip past the trim is what keeps a white edge off the card.
ProcessHow to make this project go well
What to send, how revisions work, and better feedback than 'hmm'.
PlanningThe guest list will change. Plan for it.
How to handle late additions without a second print run.
ProcessWhat a First Look is, and what it is not
One concept, $45, credited back if you book. Honestly explained.
ProcessThe six questions that come before the design
Who hosts, where, what time, who is coming, what the room looks like.
PlanningSave the date, invitation, details card
Four pieces, four jobs, and the lines that go on the wrong one.
PracticalQR codes on invitations
When the code earns its place, how big it has to be, and the flyer trap.
PracticalPostage, and the mistakes that cost you twice
Square envelopes, weight, thickness, and why you weigh one first.
DesignRelated, not identical
Repeat one or two things across the set. Never all of them.
DesignIf your grandmother cannot read it, it did not work
Contrast, size and script faces, for the guests who need them.
DesignThe colours that lie to you on screen
Why bright blue prints purple, and what a proof actually proves.
PlanningPlan a year of paper, not twelve separate panics
One design system, a term calendar, and everything batched.
DesignType on invitations
Why invitation type runs small, where that stops working, and the floor.
PracticalWhat to send a printer
Nine lines that make a print quote comparable between shops.
PracticalAddressing envelopes properly
Outer and inner envelopes, titles, children, and and guest.
DesignChoosing a palette from your venue, not a mood board
How to pull colours from a photograph of the actual room.
PlanningHow much paper does a wedding actually need
Nine pieces of wedding paper, and the four most weddings genuinely need.
DesignThe five second test
Five seconds, then take it away and ask what the date is.
DesignWhy your invitation looks different on every screen
Dark mode, compression and calibration, and how to design around all three.
PlanningDigital or printed, and how to actually decide
The four questions that settle it, and cost is not one of them.
PracticalWhat print-ready actually means
Bleed, trim, safe area, resolution and colour mode, in plain words.
Nothing here answers your question?
Ask directly. I would rather answer a real question than write another general article about it.
$45
One real concept for your event, in your colours, before you commit to anything.