I realized about a week ago that I started this blog, but never formally introduced myself or told you anything about me or my business! Well, I have to fix that!!
My name is Dawn and I am originally from Rochelle, Illinois which is about 30 minutes south of Rockford, Illinois. I grew up there and lived there for about 22 years. I have so many fond memories of growing up in northern Illinois in a small town surrounded by family and friends. Growing up in a rural farming community had is share of ups and downs while I was young. But now that I'm older and wiser I can appreciate it.
I attended college at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois where I majored in Physics / Pre-Engineering. After graduating I had a difficult time finding a job so I moved to North Carolina in the hopes I would find something in my field. After about four months I landed a contract position with Carolina Power and Light rolling out Windows 95 at their three nuclear power plants. Seven months later, I was hired on full time and I've been there ever since! In June, I'll have been there 17 years! I've held several positions over the years and have been through two mergers. I am currently a Lead IT Business Analyst in the Nuclear Information Technology department at the now, Duke Energy, the largest utility in the country. I am basically a project manager with a lot of experience in computer software and hardware.
In 2004, I married my husband, Brian, and had the best time planning the wedding including creating all the little details such as the paper products! After the wedding was over, it left me with a creative void, so in 2005 I started Invitation Creations out of a small bedroom in our home.
In 2008, we welcomed our daughter, Sara, and I had to put my business on hold. I still did invitations for friends and family, and of course for my daughter's birthdays, but I really missed meeting new brides and having that creative outlet. So this year, I opened an Etsy shop to start selling my invitations again!
I've worked with so many brides and enjoyed every minute of it! I love the creative process; from the time a bride comes to me with an idea to the designing, printing and assembling of the final product. Most of all, I love getting the emails from brides sharing how much they love their invitations and how their guests have just raved about how beautiful they are! That totally makes my day. I have had the opportunity to work with some wonderful wedding planners in the area and have enjoyed helping to bring their vision to life.
Although I have no formal graphics design training, I thoroughly enjoy creating invitations, programs, menus, banners, cupcake toppers, place cards, buffet cards, favor tags, welcome box tags and everything necessary to create a cohesive feel for any event. I love doing all kinds of different designs from florals to more modern invitations and geometric patterns, using ribbon or crystals to accent a printed piece or just a very simple layout with text and minimal to no graphics. Every project is a fun and exciting experience for me!
I hope you now know a little bit more about me and I look forward to working with you on creating the perfect invitations for your special event!!
