Oh So Beautiful Paper

Archive for August, 2011

For the past three years, Stitch Design Co has designed the invitations for a benefit dinner called Field Feast.  In 2009 they made letterpress seed packets, in 2010 they printed on reusable cloth produce bags and this year (which might be my favorite) they attached the paper invitation to burlap bags with fabric buttons.  I’m sure the event is lovely but I would just go to receive the invitation.

-Melanie

Photo Credits: Stitch Design Co.

Happy Monday everyone!  As I mentioned on Friday, I’m taking this week off to recover from the totally awesome Ladies of Letterpress Conference and hang out with my newly-returned hubby.  I’ve asked two awesome ladies to help out this week – my awesome friend Maggie and the equally awesome Melanie from You Are My Fave.  First up today, Maggie!

Hi everyone!  I’m thrilled to guest-post for Nole while she and her husband enjoy a much-deserved reunion.  Nole and I are old-fashioned neighbors in Washington D.C.’s Capitol Hill neighborhood who met in a decidedly new-fashioned way: through blogging!  Since we both work from home, we like to take advantage of extended lunches or early happy hours in our neighborhood, where I selfishly try to convince Nole to open a brick and mortar stationery shop in the ‘hood.  I like to imagine that this fantasy stationery shop will bring the incredible world of pretty paper that Nole’s created here online right into my neighborhood, where I’d never again have to pay shipping fees to feed my letterpress addiction.  On that note – and in honor of the wonderful city that we call home – here are a few DC-themed items that would be right at home on the shelves of Nole’s hypothetical store.

This DC flag letterpress print made up of local neighborhood names from Grey Moggie Press is so my kind of thing that I actually already own it.  I think I’m going to hang it in our guest room.  Related: you know what kills me about framing letterpress?  It’s impossible to pet the paper when it’s behind glass!  Sigh…

This whimsical letterpress map of Washington from Gooseberry Press would be perfect for a Save the Date… or matted and framed in, say, a home office.  Is this the time to admit that I own this one, too?

Here’s another kind of map that warms my heart, showing typography at its best.  No, I do not own this… but I sure wouldn’t mind it!

I adore Art Shark Design’s red umbrellas series, particularly this Washington Monument piece.  So romantic!  Especially since mine was a gift from my husband when we first moved to DC.

Now that I’ve exposed a little of my DC-themed paper addiction, I hope you’ll join me in the campaign to convince Nole that our neighborhood – and my shopping habits – need her.  Right, Nole?  (I’m pretty sure she’s going to kill me for this post.  Ed Note: Nope, definitely grinning over here!)

- Maggie

{images from their respective sources}

Happy Friday everyone!  Today I’m in Asheville, North Carolina to attend the Ladies of Letterpress Conference – I’m looking forward to meeting so many talented printers over the next couple of days!  Next week I’m taking some time off to relax with my husband, and I have two amazing guest bloggers lined up to fill in while I’m away.  But in the meantime…

…a few links for your weekend!

• Loving this hand lettered logo
• So many paint chip DIY ideas
• Hello airmail inspiration!
• Beautiful notebooks

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

• Ashley + Peter’s yellow and gray wedding invitations
• Organic green + kraft paper wedding invitations
• Modern nautical moving announcements
• DIY Tutorial: How to make a perforated save the date
• Graduation announcements for an architect
• A walk on the wild side: jungle-inspired holiday party invitations
• Adorable watercolor illustrations on these notecards

That’s it for me this week!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  xoxo

Photo Credits: Virginia Galvez via You Are My Fave

I will always love a wedding invitation that incorporates any kind of map detail, and these letterpress topographic map invitations printed by Parrott Design Studio are no exception.  The couple will be married in Maine later this year and created the design themselves, using the wedding location as the basis for the topographic element.  I love the simplicity of the blind impression detail in the topography and the pops of red.

So, so pretty.  Check out more photos and a bit more about the design over at Parrott Design Studio!

Photo Credits: Parrott Design Studio

It’s the ladies of Anti­quaria, back with another fab­u­lous and cre­ative DIY project for you all!  This week they’re here with instructions on creating a perforated enclosure for your invitations or save the dates!

For this Save the Date DIY, we were inspired to create a suite that appealed to a more modern aesthetic.  The clean lines of  the black & white design create a classic look while the handmade touches add texture and personality to these otherwise simplistic pieces.  The most exciting part??  It’s so easy to do perforation yourself!!

For this suite, we combined a printed accommodations/website card with our “Sophisticate” save the date stamp to provide layers of texture.  We recommend sending out the accommodations and website information with your save the date so that guests have plenty of time to make arrangements.  The perforated website card is small and useful.  Guests can take this small piece to the computer or travel agent to book their trip.

Step One: Using a pencil & ruler, faintly mark where you want the perforated line to be.

Step Two: Remove the thread from your sewing machine (top spool & bobbin).  Set your stitch length to be relatively small (we set it on 2 on a scale of 1-4).  Sew along the pencil line.  Since there is no thread in the machine, all that will be left are tiny needle holes that create the perforation.

Step Three: On a hard, flat surface, lay out your paper that you want to stamp.  Ink your stamp (we used the “Sophisticate” save the date) in desired color, lay down gently on paper and give the stamp even pressure. Remove the stamp to reveal your inked image.

Step Four: Tie the pieces together with a string.  Now all that’s left is address and mail them!!

** Please make sure to “hand cancel” the postage if you use the string and button envelopes.  This will help to make sure the Save the Date arrives in pristine condition.

 

Materials:

Custom Rubber Stamp – we used our “Sophisticate” Save the Date stamp

Accommodations/website card – Use a word processing program or design software to create an #10 card.  We have also just recently added an accommodations rubber stamp to our webstore, see the whole collection here.

Paper – We used the Paper Source Luxe, white cover stock (8.5″x11″) for this tutorial. Have the paper cut to size to fit the #10 envelope (3.75″x9″) for the accommodations/website card. Have the paper cut to (3″x4″) for the Save the Date card.

Envelope – We love the string and button tie of this #10 envelope

Ink – We used black for this suite.

Black embroidery thread – you can find this at your local craft or fabric store.

Photo Credits: Antiquaria