About

Welcome! Oh So Beautiful Paper is a leading lifestyle and design blog that makes beautiful design accessible to everyone. Since 2008, we’ve been sharing awesome entertaining and DIY ideas, gorgeous paper goods, beautiful wedding invitations, home dÃ©cor inspiration, and original cocktail recipes. We’re all about bringing an extra dose of fun and beauty to everyday life. Please have a look around â€“ I hope you enjoy our posts and archives! You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

About Oh So Beautiful Paper

Launched in 2008, Oh So Beautiful Paper reaches an audience of more than 100,000 unique monthly viewers and is a daily read for creative people around the world. Oh So Beautiful Paper also has a loyal social media following, with more than 150,000 Facebook fans, 58,000 Pinterest followers, 16,000 Twitter followers, and 62,000 Instagram followers. Our pins on Pinterest reach an average of 4.2 million monthly viewers, and pins from Oh So Beautiful Paper reach an average of 435,000 daily viewers.

Oh So Beautiful Paper readers value beauty and fantastic design, and they want beautiful things in all aspects of their lives. Our readers are interested in everyday design, DIY projects, food and cocktails, home dÃ©cor, fashion, travel, and more. 85% of Oh So Beautiful Paper readers are female, and the majority of readers are between the ages of 25 and 34.

Interested in working together? Oh So Beautiful Paper offers sponsored content opportunities (blog posts and social media posts), traditional sidebar banner ads, and styling work (prop and food styling). Weâ€™ve worked with a variety of brands, from small independent stationery and design studios to large â€˜household nameâ€™ brands, including Home Depot, Post-it Brand, Fiskars, and My M&MS. Get in touch with us here for more info!

OSBP-Family-Photos-Charlie-Juliet-Photography-17

Photo by Charlie-Juliet Photography

About Founder + Editor Nole Garey

Hi everyone! I’m Nole Garey, and I like to say that I’m a recovering diplomat turned full time creative blogger. I previously worked in international diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State from 2003 â€“ 2010 before leaving to pursue Oh So Beautiful Paper full time. I hold a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Central Florida and an M.A. in International Affairs from George Washington University (where I met my husband Andrew), but I’ve been passionate about design and all things paper my entire life.

I fell in love with the world of wedding invitations and stationery while planning my May 2008 Washington, DC wedding and started Oh So Beautiful Paper in large part to help connect other engaged couples with talented designers. Andrew and I welcomed our first daughter Sophie (you can see her awesome birth announcements here) in 2012 and our second daughter Alice (you can see her beautiful birth announcements here) in 2014. We currently live in Washington DC’s Capitol Hill neighborhood with several adorable cats.

Our Philosophy

At Oh So Beautiful Paper, we believe that stationery is an extension of your personal style. Itâ€™s a nice and all too rare treat to come home to a handwritten letter or card. We believe sending paper â€“ taking the time to buy, write, and send a card â€“ has enormous interpersonal value. Sending handwritten mail has become a signifier: a mark of the importance and value that the sender places on the relationship with the recipient.

We believe stationery has a role to play in a beautiful lifestyle. Our goal is to help you find paper products that represent you and your personality, whether you live in DC or California or Australia, while also helping to support local businesses, small businesses, and eco-friendly businesses. It might not seem so at first glance, but stationery supports all of these goals. We’re not focused on the mass market, but on stationery that is unique and different, just like you and me.

In The Press

Print

New York Times (June 2016)

The Chronicle Herald (January 2017)

Brides Magazine (April 2011 and November 2012)

Southern Weddings (2010, 2011, and 2014)

Stationery Trends Magazine

Online

The Huffington Post: Caipirinha Recipes You Should Be Downing During the World Cup (06/2014)

The Etsy Blog: Guest Curator, Stationery to Make You Smile (05/2014)

Imbibe: The Summer Rose Cocktail Recipe (03/2014)

The Huffington Post: Brunch Cocktails: Booze Recipes for the Time Between Breakfast and Lunch (08/2013)

The National Stationery Show: Capture Press Attention with Booth Design (03/2012)

The Etsy Blog: Guest Curator (09/2010)

Contributing Editors

Emily Blistein / Hello Brick + Mortar

Emily Blistein owns Clementine, a little shop in Middlebury, Vermont where she curates an ever-changing collection of goods to help feather your nest, delight your loved ones and swaddle your little ones. She is a letterpress admirer, typewriter enthusiast, recovering lawyer and lobbyist for women’s health, advocate for small businesses and cheerleader for things handmade. She lives with four boys (aged toddler to husband), is an ENFP (which explains why having a brick & mortar is heaven), and she really, really likes to laugh.

View all of Emily’s Brick + Mortar posts right here!

Megan Soh / Behind the Stationery

Megan is obsessed with beautiful stationery, which makes her the perfect author for our Behind the Stationery column! You can find Megan on her blog, Petitely, and on Instagram.

View all of Megan’s Behind the Stationery posts right here!

Andrew Whitehead / Cocktail Contributor

Andrew Whitehead is a DC-based cocktail enthusiast (and just happens to be Nole’s husband). You can find him on Instagram, where he shares cocktail recipes and a behind-the-scenes peek into his liquorary concoctions.

View all of Andrew’s cocktail posts right here!

About The Design

The design and layout of Oh So Beautiful PaperÂ® was created by Nole with hand lettering and watercolor graphics by Liz Libre of Linda & Harriett and web development by Eli Van Zoeren. For those of you obsessed with pretty fonts like me, I have featured many of of the fonts used on Oh So Beautiful Paper in a weekly column here. If you have any questions or would like to say hello, please email me!

Thanks for visiting!

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12/17/2018

Inspiring Calligraphers: Sam Teich

Hey everyone! No time like the holiday season to appreciate the beauty of calligraphy and lettering work. So today I have a treat for you that’s almost as sweet as a warm mug of cocoa topped with marshmallows. New York City calligrapher and creative entrepreneur Sam Teich takes us through a peek of her stunning portfolio, and shares inspiration behind her lettering work. (She had me at her logo, it’s simply so good!). So let’s dive in! – Jen

Sam working her calligraphy magic at Paper Party 2018! Photos by Charlie-Juliet Photography

Sam even wrote on balloons at the party! Photos by Charlie-Juliet Photography

On how she got into doing calligraphy:

“When people ask me how I got started in calligraphy, I usually say that I was a very nerdy kid! I taught myself cursive (in the backseat of a car during a road trip) and always loved decorating letters and trying to copy other people’s handwriting or fonts and logos that I saw. I went to NYU for photography and graphic design, and worked as a photo editor for editorial publications for a number of years before leaving the office life to pursue calligraphy full time nearly 3 years ago.”

Photo Credit: Ebbe Sweet Photography

On what she regularly works on:

“In addition to working on private and corporate projects and custom pieces, I produce and execute live lettering events, and teach regular modern calligraphy workshops.”

On her favorite unconventional projects:

“Paper is great, but I love applying calligraphy to unconventional materials. Denim jackets are always a favorite, and I really love working on sneakers too! I’ve done a few collaborations with the Italian sneaker brand Superga and they’re some of my favorites.”

On collaborating with the Steelers:

“This fall I also collaborated with the Pittsburgh Steelers on a few events and got to create custom jackets for the wives and girlfriends of the players, and custom luggage tags for all of the players’ game day bags! I also hand-painted calligraphy on leotards for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater to wear during the Steelers’ charity fashion show.”

Photo Credit: Nico Schinco for HeyDay

On seeing her work in neon lights:

“I have a neon sign of my writing for the NYC facial shop Heyday that’s not far from where I live in Greenwich Village, so I get to pass by and see that from the street, which is pretty special.”

On teaching calligraphy:

“I find calligraphy is an extremely therapeutic hobby and it’s very rewarding to create something with your hands. It’s very gratifying for me to be able to introduce people to a new way of thinking. Even if it’s not something you’re going to continue with or pursue in a big way, I believe that we should always be challenging ourselves to learn and try new things.”

Big thanks to Sam for sharing some of the fun ways she’s bringing her lettering work to the world! You can also find her over on Instagram.

All photos via Sam Teich, except where noted.

Want to be featured in our calligraphy column? Reach out to us at submissions [at] ohsobeautifulpaper [dot] com with the subject line “Calligraphy Feature” for more details!

10/08/2018

Thirteen Beautiful 2019 Calendars

I’ve had calendars on the brain the last couple of weeks, so I thought we’d start the week with a round up of thirteen beautiful 2019 calendars! We’ve got everything from food puns and an animal swimsuit calendar (!!) to delicate floral illustrations and colorful abstract shapes. In many ways, this round up is a reflection of some of the major design trends we’ve seen over this past year. Oh, and I feel like stationers finally heard everyone begging for more space to write appointments on their calendars, since there are more appointment calendars this year than ever before â€“ let’s take a look!

1. Love, love, LOVE the colors in this abstract shapes wall calendar from Worthwhile Paper. You can even order it with the wood frame kit!

2. Loving the delicate illustrations on this botanical calendar from Esther Clark Co.

3. A colorful monthly wall calendar from Katharine Watson featuring a different gouache painting inspired by her traditional block print work and stationery designs.

4. Loving the simplicity of the floral line drawings in this year’s calendar from Our Heiday â€“ and plenty of space for notes and appointments!

5. Each year, Dear Hancock produces the cutest calendar featuring illustrations of their signature bunny. This year, bunny is arranging flowers! So cute.

6. Add an extra dose of positivity to your day with this Positivity wall calendar from Fox & Fallow! Rose gold foil on alternating pink and black pages. They also have a more traditional floral appointment calendar!

7. Rifle Paper Co. is always a safe bet for beautiful calendars. I’m particularly fond of this garden party floral appointment calendar.

8. I cannot resist a birth month floral calendar, and this beauty from Juliet Meeks is no exception! Each month features a unique floral pattern hand painted by Juliet and representative of that month’s birth flower.

9. If you prefer your calendar to double as wall art, look no further than this XL calendar from One Canoe Two! They also have a beautiful appointment calendar and illustrated desk calendar.

10. Food puns from ilootpaperie! I mean, can you think of a more perfect calendar to hang in your kitchen?? I think not.

11. This animal swimsuit calendar from Paper Wilderness CRACKS ME UP. Each month features a different watercolor illustration with an animal wearing a swimsuit, from a bikini-wearing shark to a bear hanging out in a swan pool float. Ha!

12. This big write-in calendar from Wild Ink Press makes my mom heart so happy. Two months at a glance, with plenty of space for notes, chore charts, special events, and more! Available in black (just use a white gel pen or paint marker) or kraft paper.

13. A beautiful desk calendar from Page Stationery x Atticus â€“ each month features one of his poems in a different lettering style!

06/22/2018

Paper Party 2018 Gift Bags + a Giveaway!

Yesterday I shared the photos from Paper Party 2018, and today Iâ€™m super excited to close out the week by sharing the amazing tote bags that we made for this yearâ€™s party! And because OSBP readers are the absolute BEST people on the planet, I saved a few tote bags from the party to give to you!! These bags are filled with some of the most gorgeous stationery, and I know you’re just going to flip out when you see what’s inside. For the actual tote bag, we collaborated with the ladies of 1canoe2 on this yearâ€™s design (definitely a bucket list item on my collaboration wish list!). I absolutely LOVE how they turned out. The sweetest phrase in 1canoe2‘s signature hand lettering style and totally perfect for carrying everything from groceries to towels and supplies for a day at the beach (or the local pool). Donâ€™t you love it?? I’ve already started carrying mine with me all over town!

And inside the bag? Pretty much the most awesome stationery from some of my favorite stationers: Amy Heitman, And Here We Are, Boss Dotty, Cardtorial, Chez GagnÃ©, Dahlia Press, Emily McDowell, Good Juju Ink, Hester & Cook, Hello!Lucky, Idlewild Co., ilootpaperie, Knock Knock, Our Heiday, Mr. Boddington’s Studio, Party Sally, Paula & Waffle, Pinwheel Print Shop, Ramona & Ruth, Rifle Paper Co., Shannon Kirsten, Smitten on Paper, The Good Twin, The Social Type, Wild Ink Press, Worthwhile Paper, Mixbook, Sakura of America, and a full set of the amazing postage stamp cards sponsored by Legion Paper. Whew!

I wish I could invite every single one of you to the Paper Party, but instead I’m doing the next best thing â€“ giving away THREE of these amazing Paper Party 2018 tote bags! I have three tote bags full of all the stationery awesomeness you see in this post to give away, just for OSBP readers. Theyâ€™re kiiiiiinnnd of the most amazing tote bags ever, so you definitely want to enter the giveaway below!

To enter, just follow the options on the Rafflecopter below â€“ there are three different ways to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Photo Credits: Charlie-Juliet Photography

*Sorry, limited to U.S. readers only. $150 approximate total retail value. Winners will be contacted via email after comments close.

06/20/2018

Paper Party 2018! Colorful Modern Abstract Art Party Inspiration

As promised, Iâ€™m sharing the photos from this yearâ€™s Paper Party during the National Stationery Show! As you saw with the invitations and save the dates, our party inspiration was driven by a non-traditional color palette â€“ mustard yellow, pale pink, peach, lavender, navy blue, and forest green â€“ and modern abstract shapes. For those of you looking for some colorful modern abstract art party inspiration, we’ll be sharing all the fun party details with you today! This year’s party featured a TON of balloons, a gorgeous art print wall, a hand painted paper art installation, and a calligraphy bar! It was such a wonderful evening with some of the most lovely people in the stationery industry, and together we raised more than seven thousand dollars to help support women’s empowerment and equal rights!

This was my fifth year organizing a major party for the stationery industry during the National Stationery Show. In the past, we’ve always done a free party, but this year I wanted to do something a bit different and find a way to give back in a small way. So I joined forces with Writes for Women, an advocacy group for the stationery industry that helps raise money for women’s empowerment and equal rights via the Ms. Foundation. We sold tickets to this year’s party and ended up raising more than $7,100 â€“ more than I had ever imagined in my wildest dreams! Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who came to the party for making this possible!

This yearâ€™s party was again held at Hudson Terrace on their rooftop terrace. My talented friend (and professional event planner) Janice from Bellwether Events helped me plan the party, along with Melinda of Lion in the Sun and Caroline of CW Pencils (my party planning partners in crime from Writes for Women). And of course the party would not have been possible without our amazing sponsors, including Paper & Ink Arts, Mixbook, Legion Paper, Bella Figura, Sakura of America, Hester & Cook Design Group, 1canoe2, and the National Stationery Show, and our fantastic creative partners Ramona & Ruth, Sam Teich, Lillian Farag, Farmette Press, and Meant to Be Calligraphy. Let’s get to all the fun details!

Okay, so first â€“ the balloons! I knew that I wanted to incorporate a balloon installation into our party dÃ©cor this year, and it turned out so fun and colorful! (We used Balloon Saloon for those of you who might need something similar in NYC) We used balloons in shades of pink, peach, deep yellow, teal, and purple â€“ and calligrapher Sam Teich used some of Sakura of America’s Permapaque markers to letter a few fun party phrases on the balloons! It was super easy!

We also made this really fun paper art installation in collaboration with artist Lillian Farag and Legion Paper! I was feeling super inspired by our save the date and invitation design by Ramona & Ruth, so I came up with the idea of creating this installation using sheets of Colorplan and Stonehenge Aqua watercolor paper from Legion Paper. Lillian painted on the Stonehenge sheets in her signature free flowing style, and we layered Lillian’s pieces together with the Colorplan paper in lavender, candy pink, fuchsia pink, citrine, park green, forest green, and imperial blue. Stay tuned for a more detailed DIY post so you can create one of these installations for your own party!

And can we talk about this Mixbook art print wall? So gorgeous! Mixbook works with an amazing roster of artists, including Hello!Lucky, 1canoe2, Black Lamb Studio, Ashley Goldberg, and Amy Tangerine â€“ totally perfect for our colorful evening! The art print wall featured a mix of canvas prints and acrylic block prints, and each print was either super colorful or had a message of women’s empowerment â€“ or both!

Oh! And Mixbook also brought Eunice from Hello!Lucky to sign copies of her brand new book, Be the Change, and do some illustrations on Hello!Lucky for Mixbook stationery. So fun!

I also love having an interactive element at the party â€“ and this year it was a calligraphy bar in collaboration with Paper & Ink Arts! The uber-talented Sam Teich hung out ALL night to do calligraphy demos using a variety of Paper & Ink Arts tools and materials, including this Paint Your Own Oblique Holder, this pointed oblique holder with a Tachikawa G Nib, a Fintec Metallic Palette, Ziller Ink in Wild Viola Violet and Wild Rose Pink, Sumi Ink, and a Size 1 Princeton Series Round Brush.

Farmette Press also sent an assortment of their GORGEOUS handmade papers for Sam to write on! They make the most beautiful paper in an amazing assortment of colors â€“ I want them all!

The CUTEST paper placemats from Hester & Cook! I couldn’t resist these die cut unicorn placemats â€“ that hologram foil on the horn!! â€“ and the black and white swiss dot placemats were perfect for our tall round cocktail tables. Pretty much everything in this Sorbet collection was perfect for the party!

Finally, a HUGE thank you to the wonderful sponsors and people who made the evening possible:

The National Stationery Show, Paper & Ink Arts, Mixbook, Bella Figura, Sakura of America, Hester & Cook Design Group, Legion Paper, and 1canoe2!

Sam Teich, Farmette Press, Lillian Farag, CW Pencils, Ramona & Ruth, Meant to Be Calligraphy

Infinite thanks to Janice, Melinda, Kelly, and Caroline, for their invaluable help over the past few months and throughout the evening â€“ and our small army of friends who helped with set up before the party. We couldnâ€™t have done it without you!

And of course a big thanks to CJ of Charlie-Juliet Photography for the gorgeous photos and Hudson Terrace for having us!