Oh So Beautiful Paper

These bridal shower invitations from Kara Anne Design combine three of my favorite things: beautiful calligraphy, kraft paper, and a colorful floral pattern. What could be better for a summer bridal shower in the South? I’m also loving the lace-inspired inner envelopes made from doilies. Such a sweet and feminine detail!

From Kara: For my life long friend, Haley, I wanted to create a beautiful and tasteful bridal shower invitation. The envelope liners are a custom watercolor painting that gave the invitation the perfect pop of color for a summer wedding.

The inner lace envelopes were hand made using paper doilies and silk ribbon that enclosed the invitation.

The invitation was printed on a bright white laid paper to add a little texture to the paper suite. For the final touch I used white calligraphy ink on kraft envelopes. The invitation set the tone for the party! For Haley’s special event, Lulu’s Cake Shop in Montgomery, Alabama created a delicious and beautiful cake that embodied exactly what I had in mind: lace and flowers!

We made a cake banner with kraft paper, little wooden sticks, and white calligraphy ink to match the invitation envelopes.

Thanks Kara!

Photo Credits: Jessie Barksdale Photography

After sharing the photos from Paper Party 2013 the other week, I’m so excited to finally share the invitations for the party! I was lucky to work with a really amazing team this year, including Linda & Harriett, Smock, Mohawk, and Meant to Be Calligraphy – it was definitely a group effort from start to finish! The invitations involve pops of bright neon pink, hand lettering, and a fun pattern. I couldn’t love them more!

I was beyond thrilled to work with Liz from Linda & Harriett on the invitation design; I’ve been dying for an excuse to work with her for years! Liz no longer offers custom design services, but you can her beautiful designs on Minted and Paperless Post. I gave Liz our general inspiration – lots of bright color and geometric shapes – and just trusted Liz to do the rest. I love the resulting design,which features her gorgeous hand lettering and a background pattern of illustrated envelopes. Liz also used her hand lettering to create the envelope return address.

 

The invitations were letterpress printed by Smock on Mohawk Loop Smooth 160 lb White paper in two colors: a light pink for the background and a bright fluorescent pink for the main text (Pantone 812 for those of you interested in such things). I love the texture of the neon pink printed over the light pink envelope pattern background!

The envelopes were printed on Mohawk Via Smooth A7 envelopes in Light Gray, and we used the same neon pink for the return addresses. I love the way the neon pink pops against the light gray envelopes, but oh boy are neon colors hard to photograph!

The talented Michele of Meant to Be Calligraphy addressed the envelopes in her Edwards style in charcoal gray ink. We mailed approximately one hundred invitations before the show, then distributed the rest in person at the Stationery Show.

I hope you all love the invitations as much as I do!

Design: Linda & Harriett

Letterpress Printing: Smock

Paper: Mohawk

Calligraphy: Meant to Be Calligraphy

You can see the rest of the photos from Paper Party 2013 right here!

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Warm and sunny days mean that it’s finally BBQ season! I’m looking forward to lots of BBQs this summer, and I’m absolutely loving these 70th birthday party BBQ invitations and day-of materials from Melissa of Atheneum Creative. Every detail is just too cute, from the pig table numbers to the kraft paper bag menus. Love!

From Melissa: The party was held in a restored barn on the couple’s plantation home, so all the day of materials were rustic to fit the look. The invitations were printed with silver foil on navy paper die cut in the shape of a belt buckle. The menus were printed on a kraft paper bag that held silverware for guests.

 

The table numbers were custom wood veneer pigs, stained and then screen printed. The escort cards were wetnaps attached to a kraft board and bound with twine. As favors, each guest received mini pies that were wrapped in bandanas along with screen printed tote bags filled with southern goodies.

So creative! Thanks Melissa!

Photo Credits: Chelsea Davis Photography

Within the past few months, we’ve had babies on the brain. We’ve had numerous requests lately from crafty moms-to-be wanting chic, custom stamps so that they can make their own birth announcements for their new bundles of joy. This balloon announcement design is sweet, feminine and the perfect way to share the birth of a beautiful little girl with family and friends. – Bailey and Emma of Antiquaria

Combining different pink hues (bright peony pink with the more traditional ballet pink) makes the design a bit more modern. And best of all…it’s super simple!

Step One:  Lay an A2 card (4 1/4″x5 1/2″) card down on a firm surface. Ink your stamp (we used our “Hot Air Balloon” Birth Announcement Stamp) thoroughly and center it over your card. Once it is positioned correctly, press down to make a print. Use both hands to ensure even pressure. Lift off and let the print dry. For more information on this process go here.

Step Two: Using the same technique as in Step One, print your return address (we used our Calligraphy Custom Return Address Stamp) on the back flap of an A2 envelope. To jazz up the back of the envelope, we used some adorable pink & gold washi tape!

Step Three: Now all that’s left to do is to address the envelopes, add postage (we used vintage postage from Verde Studio) and send them on their way!

A quick tip for expecting parents: Since you will have your hands full once the baby is born, it is smart to stamp and address the envelopes before the big day arrives. This way, all you will have to do is stamp the announcement (you will need all the baby’s info for this piece), stuff and mail the envelopes, leaving more time to enjoy your new little one!

Materials List:

“Hot Air Balloon” Birth Announcement Stamp

Calligraphy Custom Return Address Stamp

A2 Card in Luxe White

A2 Envelope in Luxe Blush

Stamp Pad Peony

Washi Tape

Verde Studio Vintage Postage

Photo Credits: Antiquaria

Allie of Allie Ruth Design and her husband Ryan are expecting their first baby later this year (congrats you two!), and they wanted a fun way of sharing the baby’s gender with their family scattered around the country. They put together a sweet little video, burned some DVDs, and Allie printed these DVD covers using a rubber stamp with one of her illustrations. Too cute!

From Allie: For the announcement itself, we made a quirky video, but we needed a cute way to get the news to my family in Florida, and Ryan’s family here in the midwest (without giving it away to any of our friends first). So I burned the video onto some DVDs and created this block-printed sleeve in which to send them.

For the block, I had a custom rubber stamp made of one of my calligraphed illustrations. Our last name is Peach, so I was sure to incorporate a cute little peach at the bottom. I printed the image onto blank kraft DVD sleeves. For the envelope, we went with a gender neutral mint, so as to not give away the secret before our families saw the video.

I used my vintage typewriter to print each set of grandparents’ names onto little handmade, vintage-inspired tags and tied them on with black and white baker’s twine.

Thanks Allie – and congratulations again!

Photo Credits: Allie Ruth Design