Hermitage Hotel rehearsal dinner invitation / Nashville

My little brother got married this summer so we whipped up some mighty special details for his big day. First to share is the rehearsal dinner invites. We used the vintage Hermitage Hotel illustration I'd originally scanned from an old letterhead. The card was letterpress printed on ultra thick stock to give it some heft. We then lined the envelopes with another vintage find, a Nashville map scan from an old travel booklet.
Calligraphy by Poppy & Scooter.

 We also illustrated this monogram "B", that is similar to the Hermitage Hotel logo, to use on napkins & menus. 

Teepee Invitations - Will you be my bridesmaid?

One of our brides is marrying in Steamboat Springs next summer and at the tip top of her list was to ask her favorite gals to be in the bridal party. We wanted to come up with something really meaningful and fun to get her friends exited. A teepee is a one of the images we're using in her wedding suite so we created a miniature version for the girls to set out on their desk or dresser.

The card folds in half with a blank space for the bride to write a special note. Then we tied them with twine and tucked in some feathers with a little example included on how to put together. A tiny bit of DIY and there you have your own teepee!

oakes baby announcement featured on oh so beautiful paper

We wanted to create a special birth announcement to welcome Bonnie's baby boy, Preston Oakes Cross, into the world. Our concept took its inspiration from her family farm where she grew up, married, and where Oakes will be baptized this summer.
The property is bounded by a beautiful river which brought to mind the natural world of trees, foliage, deer, canoes, and herons. The announcement is letter-pressed and duplexed with another card printed with all these images. Currier hand painted in watercolor a soft graphic pattern for the envelope liner. The photo was printed on metallic paper to add a crisp note to the overall color palette. And of course Oakes provided his adorable baby face. Don't you just want to kiss those cheeks!
The announcements were featured on the lovely blog: Oh So Beautiful Paper

woodsy rehearsal dinner invitation / franklin, tennessee

Before we get too far into the new year, check out a design we did this past winter. The goal was to create an “outdoorsy, masculine, & preppy design” for a rehearsal dinner. The only other requirement was to include an antique monogram the couple had chosen of their initials. Instead of creating the illustrations ourselves, like we normally do, we found these beautiful deer images and a botanical background.

It all really came together once we lined the envelopes, duplexed the backs with faux-bois paper, and tied up each package with ribbon & twine. Event planner, Elizabeth James had the brilliant idea of using a collection of vintage stamps for postage which was the pièce de résistance!

new year in Nashville

The last few months have been quite a whirlwind! Now here we are, already well into 2014, and Tenn Hens is off to an exciting start. Bonnie welcomed baby Oakes in November and then moved with her family back to Nashville for good - hooray!! Currier has been manning the shop the last few months, wrapping up big projects for the year. She finished out the 2013 Americana Music Awards collateral, designed a holiday card for a music-celeb, worked with new client, The 30A Songwriters Festival for their January event, and basically just kept the wheels turning round here. Thank goodness for business partners! 

Thank you for visiting our humble little blog & we sure hope you stay tuned in for more to come in 2014!

Had ourselves a big old time last Friday lunching & bowling over at Pinewood Social. The place is so cool and no detail is overlooked. From the light fixtures, to the napkins, to the "can-art-installation" by Bryce Mcloud in the bowling alley - it all flows and jives together perfectly.

Took out the littlest hen to lunch.
Spotted this great green gallery wall around town & some more behind the scenes pics.
Field trip to The Frist to see the fantastic Normal Rockwell exhibit. Seeing his works up close was ah-mazing! …And we just might've stopped off at The Southern for a taste of some oysters too. Work perks!

the song workshop

We recently worked with songwriter Tyler Hayes to create an identity for her new business venture. The Song Workshop is a therapeutic songwriting workshop headed by Tyler. We started with logo, business cards, and handouts for the conferences she attends.

"She's created a restorative, healthful, and unique approach to the process of emotional and spiritual healing. It's a gentle way to share your story, while simultaneously having it turned into a song. Tyler guides the process and in it’s culmination provides the client with a complete professional recording of the created song."

summer supper invitation

Autumn is slowly moving in with cooler temps, but there was one last summer bash to wrap. Along  side event planner Elizabeth James we came up with a beeea-utiful letterpress invitation! The brick red letterpress on great cotton stock really popped. And we created a custom envelope with an old pattern printed on the inside & topped 'em off with calligraphy from the fabulous Val Cole. The weather vane stamps we'd been hoarding ever since the Post Office ran them earlier in the year turned out to be the perfect fit for this job. Now bring on the pumpkins and sweaters, because we're ready for Fall temps!

americana music festival 2013

 

some snippets from The Americana Music Honors & Awards show last evening… from AMA
 
Americana's Honors & Awards reflected the breadth of the genre's musical reach tonight during a sold-out show at the Ryman Auditorium.

While performances by legends including Stephen Stills and Richard Thompson, and upstarts such as John Fullbright and The Milk Carton Kids, were mesmerizing, it was two of the genre's most prolific and vocal forebears that owned the evening, as Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell took home Duo of the Year, Album of the Year for "Old Yellow Moon," and then anchored an all-star finale performance of the Crowell co-penned 1978 Harris hit "Leaving Louisiana in Broad Daylight."

Close behind Harris and Crowell was another duo deeply dedicated to roots music--Charleston, South Carolina's Shovels & Rope--who received the Emerging Artist of the Year honor plus the Song of the Year trophy for "Birmingham" from its 2012 "O' Be Joyful" album. Nicki Bluhm and Sam Bush awarded Song of the Year; John Stirratt and Pat Sansone of Wilco and The Autumn Defense announced Emerging Artist. 

"We might very well not be here, as a genre and as an association, were it not for Emmy and Rodney," said Jed Hilly, Executive Director of the Americana Music Association. "That we are celebrating them tonight not for the work they did 35 years ago, but for the work they did this year, on the same show that we're awarding another duo that is only on its first album, speaks volumes about where we're headed. What an amazing night."

Americana's commitment to its roots was apparent from the show's downbeat, when an unannounced Delbert McClinton joined the Buddy Miller-led Americana Honors & Awards house band on the Hank Williams' classic "Hey Good Lookin'." The thread carried through when historian and filmmaker Ken Burns, currently at work on a multi-part documentary on country music, began the night by announcing the President's Award to Hank Williams. Presenting the award to Holly Williams, Hank's granddaughter, Burns spoke of Williams' "songs of heartache and loss, abiding humor and deep faith ... that come from deep within America."

From there the night became a crash course in why Americana, as a genre, has had one of its strongest years. Between award presentations, Fullbright performed "Jericho," from 2012's "From the Ground Up"; Hunter, after being awarded a lifetime achievement award from show host and frequent co-writer Jim Lauderdale, performed "Ripple," his first public performance in a decade.


Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dr. John--a purveyor of American roots music forms that have included the blues, jazz, zydeco, and rock and roll for over 50 years--picked up a Lifetime Achievement Award from Dan Auerbach (the producer of Dr. John's "Locked Down" album and a member of The Black Keys) before taking to the piano to perform a blistering version of "I Walk on Gilded Splinters."

In a nod to the youthful appeal of Americana and the ABC hit show "Nashville," Lennon and Maisy Stella, who play the daughters of Connie Britton's character Rayna James on the show, joined the house band for The Lumineers' ubiquitous hit "Ho Hey." Charles Esten, who plays Deacon Claybourne, introduced them.

americana sneek peek

We have the coolest job. Have I said that before? Probably, but it bears repeating. We are wrapping up the 2013 Americana Music Festival materials and each year tops the previous. More acts, more folks, and the music continues to blow us away. Anyway… on to the work. Here's a peek at what's been cooking for the festival happening later this month:

spring scenes

Nature has certainly come alive the last couple weeks. There's been some heavy rains followed by some seriously gorgeous spring scenes. Peonies blooming in the yard and office windows letting in the breeze. Life is good around here and was made even sweeter by my visit to Nashville last week. Currier and I got straight down to business with a long to-do list, but we snuck in a whole 'lotta fun after hours. Steeplechase at Percy Warner was a big day and then a criquet match followed on Mother's day. Good excuses for dressing up and sipping on Pimms.