Guest Blogger : Karisa Winkel

This week I am excited to introduce guest blogger Karisa Winkel! I met Karisa in college as we took some letterpress and design classes together and she is just one of those fantastic gals who lights up any room that she walks into, exuding a charismatic spark, and fun personality of someone you just want to get to know better. She is stylish, memorable, and has a great eye and sense for design. I am thrilled that she has recently opened up her own letterpress + design studio because her impeccable taste and flare shown in her unique designs. Say hello and welcome Karisa!



After 3 years of being an Art Director in NYC, I finally gathered the courage to start my own design boutique (a life-long dream). Though I market myself as a wedding stationery designer, I also do custom projects and love to take on a unique project. You can check out the work at KarisaWinkelDesigns.com—but check back because we're updating our wedding suites in a few weeks.

I believe that your personal style reflects upon what kind of person you are, what you believe, and who you'd like to become. Style-wise, I love anything that has modern, clean lines, reflects your unique personality, and has a story behind it. I love design that is concept-driven and means something to the bride-- projects are much more fulfilling when they have a soul and represent more than just "looking pretty."

I just finished a project that was a lot of fun-- the bride wanted something with old New York style, is meaningful, and is totally unique-- so needless to say I was eager to accept the job. For her Save the Date, we decided to use vintage handkerchiefs and silkscreen the message on them. Although it wasn't easy finding 82 handkerchiefs (I was this close to robbing a Grandmother) we finally found them all and I silkscreened them myself. (It's this kind of stuff that I love-- give me a challenge and a creative idea and I'll go nuts) For the invitation, we decided to use a fancy, romantic images with lots of detail to show off the letter press. I'm crazy about letter press because it really shows off the design and has such a rich, tactile feel.


Things are going really well so far—thanks to a lot of hard work and support from family and friends. Karisa Winkel Designs has been featured three times in Modern Bride and the fourth will be in the June/July issue '08. For now we're located in Provo, UT but we're moving the company to San Francisco in June of this year. Thanks Rachel for this opportunity to be a guest blogger this week!



(Me and my husband, McKay Winkel—best friend and business partner)