Search Results for: papel picado

Derby de Mayo Party Invitations

For those of you who celebrate Cinco de Mayo or the Kentucky Derby, you’re going to want to go ahead and save/pin/bookmark these adorable Derby de Mayo party invitations from Lauren Chism Fine Papers for future inspiration! Lauren and her husband host an annual Kentucky Derby party (you can see some past examples here), and she faced a wee bit of a design challenge when the Kentucky Derby fell on Cinco de Mayo earlier this year. The resulting papel picado-inspired invitations are super cute – take a look!

Derby de Mayo Party Invitations by Lauren Chism

From Lauren: As our annual derby party comes around each year, the (self-imposed) pressure mounts – how do I keep designing something new for the same party, year after year? It’s always a challenge, but this year, the universe threw me a bone and the Kentucky Derby fell another celebratory day, Cinco De Mayo! The excitement mounted… Fascinators and Sombreros? Mint Juleps and Margaritas? Southern Snacks and Tex Mex Treats? Yes please! So just like that, Derby De Mayo was born!*

Derby de Mayo Party Invitations by Lauren Chism

*(Side note: I then googled it, and being that the derby is the first weekend in May, this turned out to not be the most unique idea in the world, but whatever, it was a new original theme for us!)

Derby de Mayo Party Invitations by Lauren Chism

Apparently, all I need is a good theme to kick-start my creativity, because from there, the ideas were flowing. I really wanted to do some kind of papel picado inspired design, but I wanted to make it reasonably affordable (I can get carried away sometimes), so I found a way!

Derby de Mayo Party Invitations by Lauren Chism

The ‘flags’ are just A2 cards, digitally printed and die-cut with the scallop shape that my printer offers. To make them more realistic, I went through and punched holes in every scallop… one. by. one. My toddler even got in on the action ‘pretending to help me’, so it was a family affair. It actually wasn’t that bad and made it more affordable than ordering a custom die.

Derby de Mayo Party Invitations by Lauren Chism

Derby de Mayo Party Invitations by Lauren Chism

I don’t typically design with a lot of color, but with the Derby Day invitations, I tend to get some practice and this was the ultimate color exercise. Over the years, we’ve made some reusable derby items, like napkins and koozies, so I picked our ‘signature’ green and blue and paired them with pink and orange. They are bright, fun and festive. I love how they turned out and our guests seem to love them, too!

Derby de Mayo Party Invitations by Lauren Chism

Thanks Lauren!

Photo Credits: Lauren Chism Fine Papers

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Creative Garlands

Garlands are such a beautiful way to add color and texture to your wedding day. No matter your wedding theme or budget, there’s a garland that fits right in! And so many of our favorite garlands are made from paper – which just makes us love them even more! From hand stained coffee filters that look like flowers to papel picado banners to modern geometric triangles, here are some ideas to get you started. â€“ Annie

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Creative Garlands / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Those aren’t flowers hanging from the ceiling. They’re hand stained coffee filters! | Photography: Sargeant Creative, Event Planning: Brandi of High Society Event Planning, Larrissa of Inviting Occasion via Sargeant Creative

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Creative Garlands / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Cute strands of paper triangles. | Photography: Byron Loves Fawn via 100 Layer Cake

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Creative Garlands / Oh So Beautiful Paper

These papel picado banners add so much color to the space! | Photography: Mandee Johnson, Event Design: Outfit Home, Planning: Magic Hour Marfa via Green Wedding Shoes

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Creative Garlands / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Love these white papel picado banners, too. | Photography: Phil Chester, Event Design: SELVA, Paper Goods: Oblation Papers via Green Wedding Shoes

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Creative Garlands / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Add a personal touch by hanging family photos. | Photography: Fearless Photography via The Knot

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Creative Garlands / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Hang an assortment of colorful ribbons, flowers, and candles for an eclectic look. | Photography: Cinzia Bruschini, Event Styling, Design, & Planning: Chic Weddings in Italy via Modern Wedding

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Creative Garlands / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Love the combination of fabric and string lights. | Photography: Phil Chester, Event Design: Bright Night and Tera Hatfield, Event Planning & Florals: Bright Night via Green Wedding Shoes

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Creative Garlands / Oh So Beautiful Paper

String fresh flowers for an eye-catching display. | Photography: Lacie Hansen Photography via The Knot

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Creative Garlands / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Or make your own paper flowers! | via The Artisan Life

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Creative Garlands / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Personalize your own simple, graphic garland. | Photography: Therese Winberg Photography via Junebug Weddings

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Creative Garlands / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Greenery is always a good call, especially when it’s made out of paper and reusable. | Photography: Anna Killian  via The House That Lars Built

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Creative Garlands / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Can you believe these garlands are made from wax paper?! | Photography: Allie Rae Photography via Style Me Pretty

Colorful Mexican Fete-Inspired Wedding Invitations

Well, hello there! Last week ended up being a bit more of a rollercoaster for me than I had originally expected – first, with a trip to New York for the NYNOW trade show (did you follow along on Instagram??), and second, we ended up having to replace our car! We’re a single car family here in DC, but we use our car every day for school drop offs and the commute to the military base where my husband works. Our poor 13-year old car decided to call it quits on us the day after I got back home. We’re super happy to have a brand new car sitting in our garage, even though the whole process took us about three full days. Anyway! I thought we’d start off the week with these colorful Mexican fete-inspired wedding invitations from Erin of BerinMade! I’m loving the bright illustrated florals and pretty gold foil details!

Colorful Mexican Fete-Inspired Wedding Invitations by BerinMade / Oh So Beautiful Paper

From Erin: Alison and Andrew were a dream couple to work with! They approached me last year with a few inspiration images, and wanted their wedding stationery to be loosely based on a colorful Mexican fete, with illustrations of flower, nature, and foil details. The goal is to have these elements as a nod to their fun, playful celebration, without necessarily being too “themed” or feminine.

Colorful Mexican Fete-Inspired Wedding Invitations by BerinMade / Oh So Beautiful Paper

I pulled some inspiration images of Folk art, drawing inspiration from symmetrical patterns, very bright intricate floral patterns as well as papel picado, the art of paper cut flags.

Colorful Mexican Fete-Inspired Wedding Invitations by BerinMade / Oh So Beautiful Paper

I wanted these to be subtle influences, so we decided to have the symmetrical illustrations take centre-stage and to make a separate enclosure pocket with a scalloped edge as an elegant nod to Mexican paper flags.

Colorful Mexican Fete-Inspired Wedding Invitations by BerinMade / Oh So Beautiful Paper

We went for a color palette that was bright and happy without being garish, and set it against the navy background to ground all the colorful elements together. It was after finalizing the illustrations and layouts that we decided to also lift a bit of the illustrations to foil alongside their names and the invitation text!

Colorful Mexican Fete-Inspired Wedding Invitations by BerinMade / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Colorful Mexican Fete-Inspired Wedding Invitations by BerinMade / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Thanks Erin!

BerinMade is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can see more of Erin’s beautiful work right here or visit the gallery for more real wedding invitation inspiration!

Photo Credits: BerinMade

{happy weekend!}

My oh my, after spending two of the last three weeks on the road, I am definitely looking forward to a relaxing weekend at home!  I’m excited to snuggle my cats, hang out with some friends, and otherwise do as little as possible this weekend.  I hope you have something a bit more exciting planned for yourselves!  But in the meantime…

Photo by me via instagram

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

A big welcome to the newest member of the Designer Rolodex – Campbell Raw Press!

As usual, we have a fun cocktail coming up for you this afternoon, so check back a bit later for the recipe!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here on Monday!  xoxo

Printable Papel Picado Wedding Invitations from EM Papers

It’s always so fun to hear the story of how a designer was inspired to create a particular design.  Today, Eleanor from EM Papers is sharing the story behind one of her printable wedding invitation designs – a gorgeous red and white invitation suite inspired by the traditional Mexican folk art known as papel picado.  I love the bold red and white color palette and hand drawn motifs!

From Eleanor: Several years ago, when she turned 30, my sister decided to throw herself a ‘Treintañera’ since she had never had a Quinceañera.  I designed the invitations for her, using traditional design elements found in papel picado and native Mexican folk art motifs, and my dad printed them letterpress. I later turned the invitation into a blank card but always felt that the design was ripe to be extended into a full wedding suite.

One of the challenges when designing my download and print wedding stationery, is that I have to anticipate all of the constraints my customers might have.  For example, not everyone has a home printer than can do borderless printing, so I don’t use full bleeds on items like programs and table numbers.  This design had so many little elements, like the hand drawn lines and sun/starburst figure that it was easy to pick them up throughout the line and keep the whole suite coherent.

Thanks Eleanor!

EM Papers is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can see more of Eleanor’s beautiful work right here or visit the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: EM Papers

*EM Papers is one of my fab­u­lous spon­sors; for more on my edi­to­r­ial poli­cies please click here.