Monogram help...any artistic people out there?

[Harleigh]

Hello ladies,

I have been trying to put together a monogram for all of our wedding details, but I am having a really hard time...none of my fonts will allow me to do any sort of monogram.

Is there a way to make my own, or do I need to purchase a program that then allows me to do a monogram myself?

I would also be interested in purchasing a custom embosser and/or rubber stamp with our initials if anyone has any ideas about where to get them that isn''t too outrageously priced.

I know some of you are very creative, so here''s the rub...my FI''s last name is V___ V____ (Dutch, of course!

) with two separate V''s, and he always jokes about his last being V 2(squared, you know with the tiny little 2 at the top right?)

So, our names would be R & S V____ V____, and if I have to, will settle for an RVS monogram, but I thought how cool it might be to try to put a smaller v inside of the larger one...would that be too silly looking?

If any of you could be of assistance, that would be great and I thank you in advance for your help!

 

[door knob solitaire]

Sorry I have no clue on what or where...except maybe a notary stamp seal company. They may be cheaper than say a wedding invitation store.

I like you double double V V idea. I am seeing a large V say in black and a small white v directly in the large V. For those who know his name they will see the second v. Others will assume it is shading or an embossment raised in the first V.

If you can picture your letter in chrome...and the light hits them, the reflection will be brighter in the middle of the letter and darker on the outside edges. So the light reflection will be the smaller V.

Or you can double the large V and it will look like a shadow behind the first.

DKS

 

[monarch64]

I would find a stamp lover''s store in your area and draw our your desired design and bring it to them and have a preliminary stamp made, I think. That way you''ll get exactly what you want and get the proof back pretty quickly. It might cost more than doing it online,though.

 

[Clio]

Harleigh,
I''ve made monograms in Powerpoint, which will let you overlap letters. Once you have it the way you want it, you can save it in just about any format you want. It helps if you have a wide variety of fonts on your computer. Here''s one I made for myself:

 

[Clio]

Sorry that''s so huge! Anyway, it''s clearly a first draft, but you get the idea. It''s actually pretty fun to play with the letters.

 

[Mandarine]

Hi Harleigh!!

Have you been to the "Destinations weddings" loccal board on the knot?...all of those girls are extremely creative!!!.

There are a lot of "knotties" that can help you create a monogram (some for a small fee). I had saved this address in my bookmarks because her name came coming up in monogram discussions!. She has some really nice ones! http://gnyc.net/bio/index.html ...she charges $5 (more than your wedding dress, but still a good deal! lol).

Anyway, I hope that helps!!!

M~

 

[Mandarine]

Harleigh, that girl from the link I posted also has directions on how to do it yourself!. You can also try googling DIY monogram help and I''m sure you''ll get lots of good websites.
M~

 

[april diamonds]

Harleigh, have you tried just searching the web for an online place that will make custom stamps and embossers. I know there are a ton because I have searched myself. I don''t have any recommendations for you because I was just doing a cursorary search but I think that one of the more expensive custom embossers I saw was around $60 or something. But then just think you can keep it forever and make your own stationary!

Like Clio said you can use power point but I think you can do it in Word too. If you just make each letter in a Text Box then I believe you can move them around however you like. You can also do it in photoshop, but if you''re like me photoshop is like a foreign language!

mayve you could do the V with a little 2 as an exponent since your FI likes to joke that he''s V squared. Or mayve rVVs but make it so that the V''s are overlapping...

hmm, I just thought about it and maybe that would look too much like a "W"

 

[Harleigh]

Date: 9/21/2007 2:26:03 AM
Author: door knob solitaire
Sorry I have no clue on what or where...except maybe a notary stamp seal company. They may be cheaper than say a wedding invitation store.

I like you double double V V idea. I am seeing a large V say in black and a small white v directly in the large V. For those who know his name they will see the second v. Others will assume it is shading or an embossment raised in the first V.

If you can picture your letter in chrome...and the light hits them, the reflection will be brighter in the middle of the letter and darker on the outside edges. So the light reflection will be the smaller V.

Or you can double the large V and it will look like a shadow behind the first.

DKS

Hi DKS,

I have looked at several, but their embossers run about $40-60, with a set-up fee that usually starts anywhere from $15-40.

I like your chrome idea...silver is sort of incorporated within the girls dresses and their shoes for the ceremony will be silver and their fuschia flip flops have silver and white rhinestones on them, so that could be a great incorporation!

Thanks for the ideas, as always!

 

[Harleigh]

Date: 9/21/2007 2:29:33 AM
Author: monarch64
I would find a stamp lover''s store in your area and draw our your desired design and bring it to them and have a preliminary stamp made, I think. That way you''ll get exactly what you want and get the proof back pretty quickly. It might cost more than doing it online,though.

Hi Monnie,

Thanks for the ideas! I may try to print out the letters I like and see if a stamp store could do something, but though I am creative, I don''t think I can draw something like that out myself elegantly enough that I would actually want to use it! =0)

 

[Harleigh]

Hi Clio,

Around midnight last night, I finally found a link to how to do a monogram in PP...guess what? I don''t HAVE PowerPoint! Agghhhh! So, I tried everything I could think of as my computer shows I have PP, but that it''s not a current subscription, so I will continue to research it or try to do some things at work with it. I also like the option of trying to do it in Word, too. I won''t be home this weekend, but I''ll play with it on my FI''s computer and then fiddle around when I get back to work on Monday...today I have to go sit through a teacher inservice meeting all day...ugh!

Here is the link I found online to use PowerPoint to make a monogram...I found it very informative! LINK

You will need to click on the video to watch it...I REALLY wish I had PP!!!

Thanks for all of your help, Clio!

 

[april diamonds]

Harleigh, I took a quick spin in Word just to make sure what I told you was true...and then just felt inspired to try making one period! I couldn''t remember your wedding colors, but I thought I remembered a hot pink bridesmaid dress at one point so I just used black and pink. I made two options, they were really quick and dirty but I think if you have the patience you can really sit down in word and play with the fonts and placements. Here''s the pic. (if you want the word file I can upload it too if you actually like these...it''s ok if you don''t!)

 

[jcrow]

i can take a spin at it, but i''ll have to do it later today. i have a couple of meetings this morning.

 

[Harleigh]

Date: 9/21/2007 8:16:59 AM
Author: Mandarine
Hi Harleigh!!

Have you been to the ''Destinations weddings'' loccal board on the knot?...all of those girls are extremely creative!!!.

There are a lot of ''knotties'' that can help you create a monogram (some for a small fee). I had saved this address in my bookmarks because her name came coming up in monogram discussions!. She has some really nice ones! http://gnyc.net/bio/index.html ...she charges $5 (more than your wedding dress, but still a good deal! lol).

Anyway, I hope that helps!!!

M~

Hi M,

Nope, I haven''t spent much time on there, but I''ll go check it out later. I will definitely look into the gal you mentioned, and at $5, it could be worth it to SAVE my sanity!

And, um, the 99 cent dress isn''t gonna work, so, I, uh, well, have bought a few more dresses on ebay... Let''s see, one was 50 cents, one was $5.76, one was under $10, and I have a few others coming that didn''t cost very much, even with shipping...my mom laughs that when it''s all said and done, I STILL won''t have spent what I would''ve on a new dress, and at this rate, I can pick and choose which one I''d like to wear...we''re even considering taking the top of one and the bottom of another and putting it all back together, but I''m still waiting on 2 of them. Did I mention that all of these dresses are either new or NWOT''s??? Hee hee hee...I told my friend I was just gathering stock for when I open my own bridal shop for petite, skinny girls! I plan to resell whatever I don''t use on Craig''s List or ebay! I know, it''s a sickness!

Thanks for your help!

 

[Harleigh]

Date: 9/21/2007 9:40:13 AM
Author: April Diamonds
Harleigh, have you tried just searching the web for an online place that will make custom stamps and embossers. I know there are a ton because I have searched myself. I don''t have any recommendations for you because I was just doing a cursorary search but I think that one of the more expensive custom embossers I saw was around $60 or something. But then just think you can keep it forever and make your own stationary!

Like Clio said you can use power point but I think you can do it in Word too. If you just make each letter in a Text Box then I believe you can move them around however you like. You can also do it in photoshop, but if you''re like me photoshop is like a foreign language!

mayve you could do the V with a little 2 as an exponent since your FI likes to joke that he''s V squared. Or mayve rVVs but make it so that the V''s are overlapping...

hmm, I just thought about it and maybe that would look too much like a ''W''

Hi April,

Thanks for the help! I unfortunately do not have Photoshop, either, but maybe someone I know does...

I laughed at the rVV''s...my last name starts with a ''W'' and I have been thinking the exact same thing! Too funny! (I guess that means great minds think alike, right???)

 

[Mandarine]

lol Harleigh, you''re too funny.
I have no idea how you find these deals!!! I might tell my BMs to give it a shot. I asked them to find a cute black cocktail dress, I''m sure they could find something in ebay too!!
Back to the monograms, you can download free fonts in many sites and I don''t think you necessarily need powerpoint, you may be able to do it in word or something...
M~

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Just remember metallic ink will run up your print bill.

 

[happy in love]

Hi Harleigh,
I''ve been messing around with one for us... I''ll see what I can come up with for you too. I think you are in the Sacto area... log onto the NorCal Knot board. There is a knottie, she used to be "sake_girls" or something, but she got deleted and now has a new name that I can''t remember. Anyhow, she has done great monograms and logos for lots of brides.
GL!

 

[happy in love]

Here is one idea...

 

[Harleigh]

Date: 9/21/2007 10:05:46 AM
Author: April Diamonds
Harleigh, I took a quick spin in Word just to make sure what I told you was true...and then just felt inspired to try making one period! I couldn''t remember your wedding colors, but I thought I remembered a hot pink bridesmaid dress at one point so I just used black and pink. I made two options, they were really quick and dirty but I think if you have the patience you can really sit down in word and play with the fonts and placements. Here''s the pic. (if you want the word file I can upload it too if you actually like these...it''s ok if you don''t!)

Hi AD,

Thank you for your efforts! I really, really like the first one...is there a way to get the outside letters a little bit closer to the middle V''s? I think it looks very elegant, and I like the scrollier letters...is ''scrollier'' even a word??? Anyhow, I love the look of script monograms, but yours is very simple. You are correct, we still have fuschia bridesmaid dresses and we have chosen the men''s silk print ont print (same color but w/a sort of Hawaiian design imprint) shirts in a sort of celery/celadon color by Haggar from Mervyn''s. Of course they were on clearance...what else would you expect from the ebay queen?

So, I''m not sure if I should try to use both colors or fuschia/black; fuschia/gray; fuschia/celadon or go with greens for the monogram? FI said he''ll wear whatever I tell him to, even hot pink if I really want (which I don''t!!!) but he might not care for pink on the invites, too!

If you could upload the file, that would be awesome...is it something I can play around with myself? I know I have Word on my computer, but the PP is MIA, it seems, both at home and here on FI''s computer, too.

Thanks again for helping me out! I feel like such an incompetent boob when it comes to this stuff...thank goodness it doesn''t spill over too much in my everday life!

 

[Harleigh]

Date: 9/21/2007 12:16:52 PM
Author: happy in love
Here is one idea...

WOW!!! happy in love, I just saw the one you posted, too...that is GORGEOUS!!! May I ask if you did that in PP or Word? That is very definitely along the "swirly/scripty" lines I was thinking of, without being too formal. Can you pass that along my way or in some easy, computer illiterate terms of how to do myself?

Thanks, too, for the knot board advice...I haven''t had too much luck navigating around there, but monnie suggested it, too, so I will go check it out!

I very much appreciate your efforts, too! It is bee-you-tee-fullllll!

(Maybe you should be one of those girls people go to on the knot!)

 

[Harleigh]

Date: 9/21/2007 10:10:14 AM
Author: jcrow
i can take a spin at it, but i''ll have to do it later today. i have a couple of meetings this morning.

Hi jcrow...I am always up for new ideas...anything else you can suggest would be very much appreciated! Thanks so much!

 

[Harleigh]

Date: 9/21/2007 10:58:52 AM
Author: Mandarine
lol Harleigh, you''re too funny.
I have no idea how you find these deals!!! I might tell my BMs to give it a shot. I asked them to find a cute black cocktail dress, I''m sure they could find something in ebay too!!
Back to the monograms, you can download free fonts in many sites and I don''t think you necessarily need powerpoint, you may be able to do it in word or something...
M~

Heh, heh, heh...it is a gift, let me tell ya! I''m staying at my FI''s tonight as I had a girl''s night out while he''s at work, so I had a friend go by my house and check by my door to see if either of the 2 dresses I''m waiting on were there today. No dresses, but the 2 BNWT''s Colin Stuart flip-flops from Victoria''s Secret (one black & one white pair of the high wedge ones someone on here told me about to wear after the ceremony) that I got on ebay for $5 were there! I think those are currently on sale for $15.99 on the VS website, so even w/$6 priority mail shipping, I got a heck of a deal for both pairs! Just think of all of the crap I end up with that I really DON''T need, simply because it was a good deal...maybe it''s a sickness rather than a gift...I don''t really know!

Good luck to your bridesmaids, but they are getting some REALLY cute little black cocktail dresses at Macy''s and Nordstrom''s these days, so maybe they could check those out, too!

 

[door knob solitaire]

I have this embosser. The check places also offer economical embossers.

http://internetrubberstamps.com/monem.html

Look at this ladys work. Monograminc She is incredible. On the last page there is one that is a double W but one on top of the other...sorta like a reflection. I love that. What if you did the same...but the bottom v was smaller and was actually pulled up into the big v and your other letters flank the union of the two v''s.

Look at the ones with vines aren''t they lovely. Some are so intricate you can''t believe you are actually looking at letters. She is pricey to hire...but admiring her work is free!

DKS

 

[happy in love]

I did that in photoshop... if you want to email me I can try to help you out some more. stefsarti at yahoo dot com
Also, I purchased an embosser through Papyrus at the mall. I ordered mine with just the last name initial and our return address, but they have other options too.

 

[sera]

I believe if you download a free trial version of Adobe Illustrator (or Photoshop), it is a full version for a limited number of uses (or time). The "layering" and the ability to lock objects and rearrange them is helpful when overlapping. You can also take an existing font and tweak it.

Also, at DaFont.com, there are free fonts... pretty much whatever you need and I''ve never had any problem downloading from there. The fonts are from various designers, so some are better than others (not necessarily just in style but that the characters are properly spaced, etc.) Before sending your monogram file to the printer, either send the font files with it or "create outlines" of the text so that they are vector based images rather than font files because not all fonts can be embedded in the file.

What style of font did you want? Like a tradtitional serif font? something fancy? or quirky? The font needs to match your wedding style... e.g. it shouldn''t be totally ornate for a beach wedding, etc.

I''ll post some ideas for you... have fun playing around with fonts, arrangement, color variations, etc.

 

[sera]

SERIF style fonts... you can play around with something really traditional like a Copperplate Gothic font or change it around using italic, bold, or modern serif fonts.

 

[sera]

script

 

[sera]

ornate

 

[sera]

less ornate