Royal Steamline The Blog | Inspiration for Brides & Grooms

Ready to Go! {Bob Burman image courtesy of LOC via Flickr Commons}

Our 48-hour Code Update Jamboree was a great success! The flagship (royalsteamline.com, natch) has never been as powerful or as clean “under the hood.” We’ve reopened the shop and are ready to help you with your unconventional wedding invitation needs!

And we must thank Sarah Neuber and her team at SN WebDesign & Development. She has really gone above the call of duty to help us with our intensive adaptation of her code. Vielen Dank!

We just heard from a bride that she and her betrothed will be getting elements of a Royal Steamline invitation design incorporated into matching tattoos for their wedding!

Hopefully, they'll be happier than this gent... {Via Flickr Commons}

Wow, soon we’ll be giving Ruedi a run for the money!

All kidding aside, we think this is amazing and we are very flattered to be included in the wedding in such a lasting way.

{A related aside: we think we’ve decided on Atlas Tattoo for our next tattoo. It’s become a Royal Steamline tradition to be tattooed in each city we’ve lived in and, after checking off New York, LA and San Francisco, we’re finally getting around to Rip City!}

Strangely enough, our posts last year concerning our garden were quite popular with some readers. So we thought we’d post a few images of Vampiric Gardening 2010! (Oh, and in case you don’t recall, we’ve given our gardening efforts that name since we rarely get started out in the yard before nightfall — as Severen says in Near Dark, “We keep odd hours.”)

It’s been rainy for the time of year (yes, even in Portland), so we’ve had a late start. Even so, the strawberries are ripening nicely.

Find the red in there?

Aerin’s planters, dubbed “Spice Row,” are doing well, too. There’s dill, oregano, thyme, sage, mints, chives, and a couple of types of basil growing in the planters (the two saplings are apple trees).

Spice Row

Flourishing dill

And of course we’ve got beets (a perennial favorite here at RS headquarters). See them here among freshly planted peppers (several varieties), potatoes and carrots.

A few of the main rows.

Finally, here’s the melon patch. Currently, you’ll notice, it’s mostly empty as it should be this early in the season. We’ll post another shot of this planter in late August for comparison. Oh, and we’ve opted for two types of watermelon after our success with one variety last year. Nothing’s better than fresh melon on a scorching hot summer afternoon!

Le Melon Patch (sans melons)

We’ll keep you posted as things develop!

We just had to point out that America is being overrun by giant squids.

Don't get too close...

…Sorry for the hyperbole, but we get excited by shoals of Humboldt mounting a concerted attack against the US. While the fishermen have won the battles so far, we’re sure that it’s just a matter of time until a 400-pounder shows up to teach Man a lesson about Mother Nature.

In the meantime, our Coney Island 1896 design will just have to serve as inspiration…

There’s no denying that the holidays are quickly approaching. In the stores, holiday music is already on heavy rotation and the obligatory Christmas trees and lights are on display. And yes, it’s not even Thanksgiving. I typically have a general rule that I don’t even think about Christmas until after Thanksgiving in order to give the turkey (and my birthday month) its fair share. But after stumbling upon the “Holiday Art Exchange” post on Haute Macabre, I decided to break my rule.

I typically design my own wacky holiday cards with aliens, pirates or other atypical holiday figures, but since we’re busy here at Royal Steamline working on a slew of new designs to launch in the new year, I was worried I wouldn’t have the time. Now I don’t have to worry. These zombie holiday cards have just the right amount of nostalgia and comic relief that will put a smile on the face of the recipient. And really, isn’t that what the season’s all about?

Thank you tinaseamonster for making this awesome zombie holiday card and saving me from having to design my own!

{Zombies are More Scary Than Santas Lap}

"Atomic No. 1" Wedding Invitation by Royal Steamline

“What a grand day for the launch! And what a sight it was!”

We’ve added several new designs recently — please do have a look!

{Warning: This has absolutely nothing to do with weddings…}

One of the things that was so exciting about moving to Portland was the chance to have our own garden. After years of living in small apartments set in large cities, this is our first real backyard. The other thing that we love about Portland is the fact that most of the year means minimal sun and heat (really, we like the rain). That all changes in the summer, where we can have some surprisingly warm days. So in an effort to maintain our garden while avoiding the long sunny days, we’ve taken to gardening at dusk. This weekend we outdid ourselves with a late harvesting session that struck me as rather vampiric. Did I mention that we both got sick from eating too much garlic? You never know…

{Believe it or not, these are potatoes}

{Shallots galore}

{Some of the carrots had fascinating mutations with three legs}

{Depending on which vampire lore you believe, some aren't affected by garlic}

{My favorite area of the garden: our 8 varieties of tomatoes}

From Out That Shadow...

For the lucky ones in Charlottesvile and Austin…This is the real thing, friends. Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday bicentennial is being celebrated with an exhibition entitled From Out That Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Edgar Allan Poe.

I can’t put it any better than the Harry Ransom Center’s website:

This exhibition commemorates the bicentennial of Edgar Allan Poe, the great American poet, critic, and inventor of the detective story. One of the most comprehensive exhibitions ever devoted to Poe, this collaborative project draws upon the extensive holdings of the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin and the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia, with additional materials from the Free Library of Philadelphia and other museums. Poe is one of the most widely read American author of the nineteenth century, and the exhibition investigates the enduring influence of his works as well as his tragic life. From Out That Shadow features manuscripts, books, art, and personal effects documenting Poe’s career as a hard-working writer, his romantic relationships and mysterious death, the decline and rehabilitation of his literary reputation, and his profound influence on mystery and detective fiction and other genres. Among the exhibition’s highlights are Poe’s writing desk, letters by and about the author, records of his student days at the University of Virginia, manuscripts of landmark works such as “The Raven,” and the original art for Arthur Rackham’s illustrated edition of Tales of Mystery and Imagination.

The exhibition runs all summer in Charlottesville and starts in Austin in September.

“You make me like charity instead of paying enough taxes.”

I’m a sucker for a vocoder…

/A

You’d think a women with 3ft. blue hair would be a little more open-minded about a rocketship wedding cake…