The Secret is Reveled!!

I am so glad to finally reveal this secret!! It's been in the works since May and I'm so glad that I have finally gotten the okay to share this with all of you. For a few years now, I have had the great pleasure to work with Miss Susan Southerland of Just Marry. She is my hero!! I can't believe how many hats she wears. She has a million things going all, all successfull and she is always on the go! Some of you may know her through Perfect Wedding Guide, some of you may know her as the amazing wedding coordinator she is. Her company Just Marry, is how we met. I've been doing design work for her for the last several years and you've probably seen me blog about her a time or 2. (See previous posts 1 and 2). She has been a great supporter of me and all the work I do here at The 2u Collection!

I have also had the pleasure of working with Susan and Kristy Chenell on Susan's latest venture. The Susan Southerland Secret! I don't want to reveal too much but I got the okay to share the logo and the character illustrations we've developed here at The 2u Collection. But knowing these two ladies, it will be a huge success and their are some great unexpected things right around the corner! And I thank them for trusting the look of the company and the characters that will represent it to us here at The 2u Collection. I want to also thank Matt Fuller and Heather Campbell- they are both part of the illustration team here at The 2u Collection. We all had our hands in this and we all had a hand in the development of the characters below! This was hours of hard work, and I know we are all proud of how they turned out. And thank you again for Susan and Kristy for trusting us with their vision!

Introducing the logo:


The Savvy Bride:

The Functional Bride:
The Bewildered Bride:
The Visionary Bride:

It's Here!!!

After lots of hardwork, tears and sweat.. The newly designed 2u Collection Website is up and running!!! Much Props to Heather for all her hardwork in taking our brand to the next level.. It was a collaborative effort!! Phew... time to get some sleep!!

VISIT IT NOW!

Website Teaser!

I'll make this short. It's a teaser afterall! Heather and I have been working tirelessly on our new website design. As most of you know, when you do something for a living, your own get's ignored.. Ummmm.. The plumber with leaky pipes, and the roofer who get's wet when it rains.. Well, sometimes i get so caught up and excited in my client work that it's easy to put my own stuff off.. So the current website is a victim.. It was put up over a year ago in a weekend rush. Finally, Heather and I have spent the time to feel proud and excited about our own voice to the public. We will get to showcase all of the great work that we are proud of that we have accomplished in the last 6-8 months! April 15th is the Launch date! But in the meantime.. here is a teaser of the new home page!

Hope you like!

Paper Couture Stationery Warm & Fuzzy Give-Away!

Okay- so I've decided to have a Contest!



I don't know about all of you, but I'm soooooo sick of the Doom and Gloom on the news!! So I've decided it's time to share warm and fuzzies with each other.. Nominate your favorite co-worker, employee or boss!! Post a comment, give me your nomination and tell me why this person is fabulous and why you think they should win! If you are a freelancer or independent business owner you can nominate someone you've worked with recently, that you just couldn't do without...

Make sure you leave a contact email so I can reach you!! Both you and your nominee will win a set of Career Compliments and Compliment Postcards from our Limited Edition Paper Couture Stationery Line! CONTEST WILL LAST UNTIL FEB 28th!

This is our way to start spreading the love!! Let's spread the positivity, you'd be surprised how many people don't realize how much they are appreciated. Be the one to tell them!!

The most deserving Nominee will WIN!

I'm starting the ball rolling... I nominate:

Heather Campbell: my right hand (literally at one point)-- without her I would have gone mental months ago.. Her feedback, help and willingness to tackle just about any project I throw at her is why I love her and think she's fabulous!

New Bio Shots!! by Abby Liga

I've said it so much at this point you all are probably are sick of it.. I love Abby Liga (of Liga Photography).. Not only is she one of my BFF's personally and as a business colleague, she is amazing talented.. Blah, Blah, Blah.. I know she will appreciate my Blah, Blah, Blah.. she's amazing with a lens, light, and camera and these are just more examples to prove it... She took my first bio shots, in 2006-- photographed my husband and I in 08 (see Look what Abby Liga did), and now it's 09 and time for new professional bio shots. Also, I've mentioned before Heather Campbell, my right hand.. amazing gal who throws her heart in soul into 2u, also needed some photography to mark the fact she has 2u in her blood whether she likes it or not! :)


So here's a sneak peek at some of the amazing shots she got. And when I say amazing.I mean AMAZING!! She will tell you everytime I am crazy uncomfortable in front of the camera, and thank goodness for me.. she works around it and makes me look like a movie star!!

A few of us goofing around and a few of the real deal..


Thanks Abby!! As always you make me look way better than I do in real life! And below a quick homage to Lisa from E-events.. we all thought she'd love our shoes!!

In the Garden.. Robyn & Andrew will Wed!

So this one is close to my heart! I am not only excited about this invitation because the project has been fun and Fabulous, but the Bride and Groom are close to my heart! Robyn Thomas and Andrew Dixon have been great friends of my husband and I for the last 4 or 5 years. In fact, I was the one who said all along they would end up together, and with my husband's persuasive game of Elimidate.. The rest is history..

This project has been fun and I'm so proud of it for several reasons! I get to work with one of my closest friends, she pretty much let my imagination go wild, and it challenged me in more ways than one. And of course I'm getting to work with the amazing Lisa Konecny of E-events.. What more could I ask for! (and special thanks to Abby Liga of Liga Photography for once again making my work look amazing! Heather, I haven't forgotten you either, without you these crazy ideas of mine would be dead in the water!)

The Wedding will take place on February 28th, so I have to keep alot of things we are doing secret until after the wedding, but I can share with you the invitations and save the dates!

They are having a small affair of about 75 people to their home to get married in their English Garden! So the invitations needed to reflect both Robyn's style and Andrew's English heritage. So off I went, with pretty much no other guidelines than that.. Robyn, for that I thank you.. A designers dream..
FREE REIGN.

So off I went, with Classic White Linen Paper, English Rose Accent Paper, And Pastel Green Linen Envelopes.. So far so good.. Then I found this amazing ribbon, sheer, with leaves and flowers imprinted on it in this perfect earthly green color.. And let's not forget the Antiqued Brass Rose Button, that I used as an embellishment! It's all coming together now.. So after I spent some time with.. It all became clear, and Photographed below is the result.. We've had great feedback and both Robyn and Andrew loved both the Save the Dates, and Invitations!





Again, this is just a teaser, there are a few other innovative things I've tried for this wedding that I've never done before, and the result.. I must say I'm proud of myself for pulling it off. But MUMMS the word.. I can keep a secret, be sure March 1st I will blog first thing, with images and details from the reception and post wedding collaterall!

HAPPY 09!

HAPPY 2009!

After a whirlwind Holiday Season, I'm finally sitting down to get you all caught up. So First off I want to thank all of you who were supportive of The 2u Collection in 2008.. It was an exciting year of growth and learning. Not only did I get to meet some of the best people as both clients and friends, but the 2u portfolio of Custom Design and Paper Products grew and is now a more rounded comprehensive collection!

There are lots of exciting things coming up in 2009, and I hope you all continue to follow and support us as we take some of these ventures on..Here are a few teasers for what we have coming up this year!

This year we are so pleased to announce that Heather Campbell who has been with us as an intern for all of 08' will join us at 2u as staff member. She is amazing and has been invaluable to me in the past year as the work came. Not only is she a talented designer but a busy little production elf when the deadlines approach.

Also, coming up in February we will be participating in a Valentine's Day Trunk Show at Lavish Boutique. Be sure to come and check it out, there will be great gifts for your sweetie, husband or wife. There will be another post on this soon with all the details.. If you want to be on the invitation list please email me amy@2ucollection.com.

And my last teaser I have to give you is we at 2u will be launching a new website this year.. Hopefully by end of first quarter, (but don't shoot me if it's a little later than that!) We did so many innovative and creative things in 2008, and finally had the time to further develop our Brand. We can't wait to share them with you. And think a re-vamp of our website is just the way! And of course quick props to Abby Liga of Liga Photography-- she shoots all of our product and we get so many compliments on how great our images look, we wouldn't leave her out.. The new website photography will of course be done by Abby.

Here's to a Successful 2009 for us all. Stay tuned, and be sure to check back to see what we are up to!

Collini Graduation was a huge Success!!

So This is long overdue-- one of my favorite clients and favorite projects of the summer was the Collini Graduation Project. Susan trusts my creative mind and let's me go.. even when the ideas are a little out there. Her son Joe Collini graduated High School this year, and they were going to celebrate with a Poolside Extravaganza.. Being Pennsylvania makes it a bit hard to sell the whole, Summer Fun at the Beach idea, but we wanted to give it a try anyway!

These invitations were a large project, from the wood-grained paper, to the Handmade Surfboards embellishments-- made by the creative John Beck- to the personalized Thank You's. Each part of the project was personal, fun and creative! The guests loved them, and Susan got all kinds of calls of excitement the day they arrived in guests' mail boxes!

A little side note- John Beck was amazing. I found him on Etsy, and described what my mind had conjured up! He did not disappoint. He created what I described, and not only was it reminiscent of the 50s surf culture, it was lightweight enough to compliment the paper! Thanks John..

A couple more shout outs! Heather Campbell, Intern here at 2u-- was also invaluable! Without her help this project just wouldn't have happened. And her production work is so tight.. Sometimes she shows me up.. :)

And of course Susan Collini, Thank you for trusting us at The 2u Collection help create the look and feel of Joe's send of into the real world!