Oh So Beautiful Paper

I’ve always had special affection for fun and creative baby announcements, but of course these days I’m paying extra special close attention to baby-related stationery.  I was thrilled when my friend Claudia from Fig. 2 Design Studio sent over the announcements that she created for her new baby nephew!  Claudia is known for her love of super bright colors and patterns, and for these announcements she went with graphic black and white stripes paired with bright blue neon accents.  I love the playful yet masculine design – perfect for a baby boy!

From Claudia:  I designed this baby announcement for my nephew Felix.  Inspiration came partly from the baby shower invitations I designed earlier, where we used a chevron pattern.  My sister and  brother-in-law like graphic patterns, however, I decided to go with stripes to vary things and not make it too matchy-matchy.  I’ve been feeling black and white patterns a lot lately and was dying to try neon blue ink!

 

I’ve also had a thing for arrows recently and I thought using arrowheads was friendly enough for a baby announcement, while still having that masculine feel.  I was so touched when my good friend and super talented calligrapher Michele of Meant To Be Calligraphy offered to do his name as a gift to my sister!  It was the sweetest touch and now little Felix has lovely letterpress printed personal stationery.

So awesome!  Thanks Claudia!

Design: Fig. 2 Design Studio

Calligraphy: Meant To Be Calligraphy

Styling: My Simple Details

Fig. 2 Design Studio is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can see more of Claudia’s fabulous work right here!

Photo Credits: Mary Kate McKenna

I’m constantly amazed at what happens when talented individuals pool their efforts on a single project – and these incredible wedding invitations are no exception.  Photographer Laura Murray sent over the gorgeous invitations for her sister Erin’s wedding.  Erin worked with Roger from Flourish Letterpress and Victoria of Calligraphos to create a custom invitation suite that combines hand painted watercolor (DIY’d by the bride and groom!), letterpress, calligraphy, and even laser cutting!

From Erin, the bride: Ombre, calligraphy, and letterpress printing.  These are three things I adore and all elements that I wanted in my wedding invitation suite.  After we finalized the design, Roger from Flourish Letterpress cut the paper for the save the dates, wedding invitations, and reception cards and passed them off to me to be watercolored in an ombre effect.

My fiancé and I did an ombre wash on all the paper using a mixture of Holbein Artist’ Water Color inks in Jaune Brilliant No. 2, Shell Pink, and Brilliant Pink.  Once everything had dried, we handed the paper back off to Roger for letterpress printing.

 

Roger used Crane Lettra 220# pearl white paper for the invitations and matching 110# Lettra paper for the save the dates and reception card.  Lettra paper is made from 100% cotton, giving it a unique, smooth texture and the ability to absorb the letterpress impression.  We found that this paper took the watercolor well and maintained its ability to really hold the letterpress texture.

From Roger of Flourish Letterpress: I wanted to combine elegance with a slightly rustic feel for the invitation design.  I incorporated the kraft paper for a nice contrast while tying in the feeling of their wedding venue.  I wanted to try something new, so I used my laser engraving abilities to make a paper wrap with the look of lace and also incorporates Erin and Andrew’s initials.  Erin’s ombre watercolor painting really made the lace wrap pop.

 

Lastly, we created a rubber stamp with their wedding logo so they could stamp their logo on the hang tag and envelopes.  It’s a fun, extra element that they could play with and use to customize each piece.

Gah – so amazing!  Thank you so much ladies!

Design and Letterpress Printing: Flourish Letterpress

Calligraphy: Victoria Lane, Calligraphos

Watercolor: DIY by the bride and groom

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Laura Murray Photography

There’s nothing better than a good look behind the scenes, especially when it involves something as gorgeous as calligraphy.  We’re so used to seeing the final product, but it’s a real treat to see how it came to be.  The beautiful writing, the colourfully styled tables. When Kathryn Murray sent over this behind the scenes video, I knew I had to share it with you!  You may remember Kathryn’s amazing work from a previous post and countless real life weddings.  Here she gives us a glimpse at what goes into showcasing her work in her perfectly styled photos. – Julie

Thank you so much for sharing with us, Kathryn!

Photo Credits: Matt Murray

Today I’m thrilled to feature these wedding invitations by the talented ladies at Gus & Ruby Letterpress!  Samantha and Whitney worked with the bride and groom to create invitations and day-of wedding stationery inspired by one of my favorite cities, Boston!  I love the illustrations of local landmarks combined with fun details like subway map envelope liners.  So great!

From Samantha and Whitney:  The suite was designed for a sweet couple getting married in downtown Boston.  They wanted their stationery to reflect their love of the city while combining both the contemporary, urban sides of Boston with the rich history of the city.  We played off photographs that Whitney turned into line-illustrations of the Boston Common and Zakim bridge (blending a Boston historical landmark with modern engineering).

We then used bold jewel-tone and autumn colors, color backing papers, and contemporary fonts to punch up the look.  Each invitation had blind-printed cobblestone patterning on the back side, which paid homage to the city’s oldest streets, while a custom MBTA subway map envelope liner spoke to the modern transportation of Boston.

The beautiful envelopes were calligraphed by the uber-talented Jenna of Love, Jenna Calligraphy.  Of course, all the pieces were lovingly letterpress printed by hand on our antique press (c. 1896) on beautiful, textural, super thick 220# 100% cotton paper.

 

The couple named each table after a T stop, so day-of pieces featured MBTA sub-way stop inspired graphics, more cobblestone and the Zakim bridge graphic to tie it all together.

Thanks Sam and Whit!

Design and Letterpress Printing: Gus & Ruby Letterpress

Calligraphy: Love, Jenna Calligraphy

Gus & Ruby Letterpress is a member of the Designer Rolodex – check out more of their beautiful work right here or visit the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Brea McDonald Photography for Gus & Ruby Letterpress