FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER I HAVE CALLED MYSELF AN ARTIST. AS A CHILD IT WAS DRAWING, PAINTING, CRAFTING, AND SEWING.  I WAS SO FORTUNATE TO HAVE PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS WHO RECOGNIZED MY DESIRE TO CREATE AND ENROLLED ME IN CLASSES OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL.

WHILE IN HIGH SCHOOL, MY INTERESTS IN CERAMICS, PHOTOGRAPHY, JEWELRY MAKING, MIXED MEDIA SCULPTURE AND DESIGN BLOSSOMED WITH THE HELP OF FABULOUS TEACHERS AT SHAWNEE MISSION NORTH HIGH SCHOOL.  I HAVE TO LIST ALL THE FORMS OF ART I WAS TAKING CLASSES IN BECAUSE TO SAY I WAS FOCUSED ON JUST ONE WOULD BE UNTRUE.

I HAVE ALWAYS HAD THE DESIRE TO WATCH OTHERS CREATE, WHICH IS WHY MY ORIGINAL MAJOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS WAS SECONDARY ART EDUCATION.  I LEARNED THAT MAJORING IN ART ED AT KU WAS MORE ABOUT THE TEACHING PART, AND LESS ABOUT THE CREATING SO I SOON DROPPED THAT MAJOR AND AFTER RECEIVING A SCHOLARSHIP FOR MY CERAMIC ART WORK I CHANGED MY FOCUS TO CERAMICS AND SCREEN PRINTING TEXTILE DESIGN.

WITH MY EMPHASIS CHANGED I WAS ABLE TO CONTINUE TO EXPLORE MANY DIFFERENT FACETS OF ART AND DESIGN. NOT TO LIMIT MYSELF TO THE 3D WORLD, I TOOK A PART TIME JOB IN THE ART & DESIGN BUILDING’S COMPUTER LAB WHERE I BEGAN TO LEARN MORE ABOUT 2D DESIGN PROGRAMS. I CONTINUED TO BE NURTURED BY THE AMAZING TEACHING STAFF AND TEACHER’S ASSISTANTS AT KU.  I WENT TO ITALY TO STUDY PHOTOGRAPHY AND DESIGN AND DISCOVERED A WHOLE NEW PERSPECTIVE OF THE ART WORLD, I THINK IT IS HARD TO FIND IN THE STATES.

UPON GRADUATING FROM KU IN THE SPRING OF 2005, I ACCEPTED THE POSITION OF ART TEACHER IN KANSAS CITY AT A CHILDREN’S DAY SCHOOL.  AFTER TEACHING CHILDREN FOR 2 YEARS, I WANTED TO SEE WHAT OTHER ADVENTURES IN THE ART WORLD I COULD GO ON.  I BEGAN TEACHING MYSELF MORE 2D DESIGN PROGRAMS, AND TAKING ON SMALL FREELANCE GRAPHIC DESIGN JOBS.  WHEN I FINALLY HAD ENOUGH OF A PORTFOLIO BUILT I WAS OFFERED A JOB ONE OF THE NATION'S LEADING APPAREL DESIGN COMPANIES LOCATED HERE IN KC.  ONLY 3 MONTHS IN MY HUSBAND AND I FOUND OUT WE WERE EXPECTING OUR FIRST BABY GIRL!

I CONTINUED WORKING OUTSIDE OF THE HOME UNTIL WE HAD OUR FIRST LITTLE LADY.  WHEN AUDREY WAS 3 MONTHS OLD I DECIDED, ALTHOUGH I ENJOYED JUST SPENDING ALL DAY COOING OVER MY NEW BABY, I NEEDED TO GET MY CREATIVE JUICES FLOWING.  THUS BEGAN MY FAVORITE JOB TITLE, OWNER & HEAD DESIGNER OF ANNOUNCE THIS STATIONERY & CUSTOM DESIGNS.

I FEEL EXTREMELY LUCKY & BLESSED TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO SOMETHING I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT DAILY.  I LOVE CREATING BEAUTIFUL WEDDING INVITATION DESIGNS FOR EVERY KIND OF BRIDE.  I LOVED BEING A BRIDE MYSELF AND LOVE WORKING WITH WOMEN GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS.  

AS OF NOVEMBER 2012, I HAVE RETURNED TO TEACHING CHILDREN 2 DAYS A WEEK, AS WELL AS CREATING INVITATIONS FOR COUPLES!

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO GET TO KNOW ME A LITTLE BETTER!  I CAN NOT WAIT TO GET TO KNOW YOU!

WHEN I WAS GETTING MARRIED, THE THOUGHT OF PICKING MY INVITATIONS OUT OF A BOOK WAS SO UNAPPEALING TO ME THAT I DIDN'T LOOK AT ONE!  AFTER DOING A LITTLE RESEARCH I CREATED MY OWN UNIQUE INVITES WITH MY WEDDING SHADES THAT SET THE TONE FOR THE QUICKLY APPROACHING DAY.

I CHOOSE THE NAME "ANNOUNCE THIS!" BECAUSE I WANT YOUR INVITATIONS TO BE BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL AND ANNOUNCE YOUR EVENT IN THE EXACT WAY YOU WANT!

MY GOAL IN STARTING MY INVITATIONS BUSINESS WAS TO GIVE BRIDES THE OPTION TO HAVE BEAUTIFUL, UNIQUE WEDDING INVITATIONS AT AN AFFORDABLE COST.  THE MAIN WAY I DO THIS IS BY PRINTING DIGITALLY AND USING AN INEXPENSIVE, YET BEAUTIFUL, STANDARD WHITE, GLOSSY OR MATTE PAPER.

FOR BRIDES WITH MORE FLEXIBLE BUDGETS, I DO OFFER A VARIETY OF PRINTING METHODS, I.E. THERMOGRAPHY, EMBOSSING & ENGRAVING.  AND HAVE A WIDE SELECTION OF PAPERS TO CHOOSE FROM.

I PUT MY INVITATIONS INTO TWO CATEGORIES:

CUSTOMIZED & CUSTOM

CUSTOMIZED INVITATIONS COME STANDARD WITH EVERY ORDER.  THIS IS THE SIMPLE PROCESS OF TAKING THE INVITATION YOU HAVE CHOSEN AND CHANGING THE WORDING, COLORS, FONTS AND LAYOUT TO YOUR LIKING.  WHEN CUSTOMIZING YOUR INVITATIONS I CAN SHOW YOU PROOFS ON SEVERAL DIFFERENT TYPES OF PAPERS TO SEE WHAT LOOKS BEST TO YOU.  THERE IS NO ADDITIONAL CHARGES FOR CUSTOMIZING YOUR INVITATIONS.

A CUSTOM INVITATION IS A NEW DESIGN CREATED FOR YOU!  AFTER WE CONSULT IN PERSON, OVER THE PHONE OR THROUGH EMAIL I CREATE SEVERAL ONE OF A KIND DESIGNS FOR YOU TO CHOOSE FROM. CUSTOM DESIGNS ARE AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME FOR NO ADDITIONAL COST!

AT ANNOUNCE THIS, THERE IS ONLY ONE EMPLOYEE, ME.

YOU WILL ALWAYS GET FAST, FRIENDLY AND PERSONAL CARE!