Monogram Note Cards

I often feel like the world’s worst giver of holiday gifts.  Gift selection is an incredibly personal process (at least for me), and with the pressure of the holiday season all of the great ideas I had during the rest of the year seem to go right out the window.  So around this time of year, and really any time of the year, monogram stationery and initial note cards become my go-to gift idea.  I’ve been keeping track of some favorites for my own holiday gift list, so I thought I’d share a few of my picks:

Rifle-Paper-Co-Handpainted-Monogram-Note-Cards Rifle-Paper-Co-Handpainted-Monogram-Note-Cards

Floral monogram note cards from Rifle Paper Co.

Sugar-Paper-Crown-Monogram-Note-Cards

Sugar Paper crown monogram notes with gold foil and gold bordering

Ruby-Press-Modern-Monogram-Note-Cards

Modern monogram note cards from Ruby Press

Delphine-Monogram-Letterpress-Note-Cards

These monogram notes from Delphine are one of my longtime favorites

Studio-827-blind-impression-letterpress-initial-note-cards

Beautiful blind impression initial note cards from Studio 827

Austin-Press-Floral-Monogram-Note-Cards

Beautiful initial note cards with floral detail from Austin Press

Simplesong-Letterpress-Initials-Note-Cards

Suann from Simplesong offers a range of correspondence cards, including these blind impression note cards with both the first and last initial

Lucky-Bee-Press-Paisley-Initial-Note-Cards

Pretty paisley note cards from Lucky Bee Press

Bumblebee-Letterpress-Ornate-Monogram-Cards

Ornate monogram note cards from Bumblebee Letterpress

Missive-Regency-Monogram-Note-Cards

These regency-inspired initial note cards from Missive are available in your choice of ink color or a blind impression

Yellow-Owl-Workshop-Correspondence-Sets

These correspondence sets from Yellow Owl Workshop don’t have monograms, but I love them anyway!

In addition to those listed above, here are a few other options to consider – Hijirik Studio, The Paper Peony, BDR Studio, Invited Ink, Sunlit Letterpress

{all images via their respective sources}

*Delphine is a sponsor of Oh So Beautiful Paper

2011 Calendar Round-Up, Part 6

Now that November is upon us, I’m getting ready to move on from calendars to holiday cards.  But before we wrap up the calendar round-ups for 2011, I’ve got a few more lovely designs to share with you!  If you missed any of the previous round-ups, you can check out Parts 1 – 5 right here!

First up, I love the limited edition 2011 letterpress calendar from Parrott Design Studio – featuring some of Sarah’s favorite vintage illustrations and calligraphy from Li at Fat Orange Cat Studio!

Parrott-Design-Studio-2011-Calendar

Parrott-Design-Studio-Calendar

{parrott design studio}

This circus-theme calendar print from illustrator Judy Kaufmann would be perfect for a child’s bedroom!

{judy kaufmann}

The annual calendars from Hello Handmade are always incredibly romantic – and this year is no exception.  The calendars are divided by season, each featuring a quote from Mary Oliver along with Betsy Dunlap’s gorgeous calligraphy and Shanna Murray’s beautiful illustrations:

hello-handmade-2011-calendar

hello-handmade-2011-calendar-feathers

{hello handmade}

I’m loving the bursts of color in this year’s desktop calendar from Delphine.  In addition to the brightly colored illustrations for each individual month, the back of each month is also printed with a solid ink color for an extra punch. The calendar comes with a magnetic bull clip so you can hang it on your fridge, magnetic bulletin board, or even a filing cabinet:

Delphine-2011-Calendar-May

{delphine}

For those of you from or living in the Pacific Northwest, this calendar from Mossière is the one for you.  Screen printed in four colors, the design features 13 flora and fauna specimens from the region, along with calligraphy from Kathryn Murray.  Bonus – it can be trimmed and framed as a square print at the end of the year!

{mossière}

The 2011 letterpress calendar from Lark Press has a different theme for each month of the year:

{lark press}

Albertine Press has two calendar formats this year, a wall calendar with beautiful illustrations and a star-shaped accordion calendar in an argyle pattern.  The accordion calendar is really cool – it can sit right on your desk or table, spinning around as the year progresses!

Albertine-Press-Wall-Calendar

Albertine-Press-Star-Accordion-Calendar

{albertine press}

The 2011 calendar collaboration from Bird Dog Press and WonderBound Press features twelve amazing handmade woodcut illustrations of heritage breed farm animals – all designed to pay respect to homesteading. Each month includes a month of days, the phases of the moon, a heritage breed, an heirloom crop, a feedsack-inspired pattern and is handprinted on an antique letterpress on sustainable bamboo paper:

{available for pre-order here}

This colorful 2011 wall calendar from Perideau Designs has plenty of space for keeping track of upcoming appointments, events, and tasks:

Perideau-Designs-Wall-Calendar

{perideau designs}

For bright color in a monthly format, check out this illustrated desktop calendar from Alex Winjen:

Alex-Winjen-2011-Calendar

{alex winjen}

In addition to other larger-format calendars featured earlier, both Pistachio Press and Blackbird Letterpress are releasing these cool tear-away calendars:

tear away letterpress 2011 calendar

{pistachio press}

blackbird-letterpress-pelican-calendar

{blackbird letterpress}

{all images from their respective sources}

*Delphine is one of my fantastic sponsors; for more on my editorial policies please click here.

NSS 2010 – Part 11

Whew!  Eleven recap installments later and I’m finally ready to wrap up the coverage of this year’s Stationery Show.  I saved the most photo-heavy booths for last, so let’s dive right in!  First up, the Crane booth, where I caught a glimpse of the new Studio collection as well as old stationery and invitation favorites:

Crane-NSS-Studio-Collection
Crane-NSS1{love the grosgrain ribbon lamp and fold-out folio for seating card displays at a wedding!}

Crane-NSS2{cards from the new Studio collection}

Crane-NSS3

Crane-NSS4{gorgeous embossing details on this wedding invitation}

Crane-NSS5{crane & co.}

Did you know that every single card from Crane’s bordered stationery collection is hand painted?  This year, Crane brought two hand-bordering artisans down to the Stationery Show to demonstrate their craft:

Crane-NSS-Hand-Bordering1
Crane-NSS-Hand-Bordering2{a bone folder is the only tool used to create a uniform width for each border}

Crane-NSS-Hand-Bordering3
Crane-NSS-Hand-Bordering4
Crane-NSS-Hand-Bordering6
Crane-NSS-Hand-Bordering7{the final product!}

Next up are a couple of what I affectionately refer to as the “mega booths” with several participating exhibitors in one booth area.  First, the Ladies of Letterpress booth, featuring Pistachio Press, Thomas Printers, May Day Studio, Paper Mill Designs, Ink & Iron, Hazel and Violet, Dandy Lion Press, and Flywheel Press!

Ladies-Letterpress-NSS
MayDay-Studio-NSS1{may day studio}

Hazel-Violet-NSS1{hazel and violet}

Thomas-Printers-NSS1
Thomas-Printers-NSS2{thomas printers}

Pistachio-Press-NSS1{pistachio press}

Ink-Iron-NSS1{ink & iron}

Flywheel-Press-NSS1{flywheel press}

Papermill-Press-NSS1{paper mill designs}

Next, the Let {her} Press booth featuring Bird Dog Press, Paper Stories Letterpress, Paper Parasol Press, Robin Beth, and Lucky Bee Press:

Bird-Dog-Press-NSS1
Bird-Dog-Press-NSS2{bird dog press}

Paper-Parasol-Press-NSS1
Paper-Parasol-Press-NSS2{paper parasol press}

Paper-Stories-Letterpress-NSS1{paper stories letterpress}

Lucky-Bee-Press-NSS1{lucky bee press}

Robin-Beth-Letterpress-NSS1{robin beth}

I also stopped by the Vigo booth to check out the latest from Delphine, as well as cards and gift wrap from 1973 and many others:

Delphine-NSS1

Delphine-NSS2{delphine}

Foil-Stamp-Metallic-Cards-NSS{I love the foil stamping details on these cards from sanna annukka}

Vigo-NSS1
The-Claudettes-NSS{cute cards from the claudettes}

Vigo-Gift-Wrap-NSS{awesome gift wrap}

So that’s it from this year’s show!  If you missed any of the recaps from the show, you can check them all out right here.  I’m already looking forward to next year’s show!

{all photos by Oh So Beautiful Paper}


*Delphine is one of my fantastic sponsors, for more information about my editorial policy please click here.

Jen + Dan’s Wedding, Part 2 – Details and Our Invitations

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Hello again! Jen here from the haystack needle.  Yesterday I left you on a Maine farm with many ways to craft together a wedding with rubber stamps.  Still following?  Here are some more details from our wedding (no stamps involved.)

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I outsourced the paper cocktail napkins and drink stirrers to For Your Party.  I love how they turned out. And I picked one of my favorites in the paper world, Delphine Studio, for the napkin design.

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My father-in-law is my hero.  We needed a bunch of signage to point to where to park, where to go for the ceremony, and even where to find the loo.  He made us wooden signs that looked adorable.  All I did was paint them.

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We turned the back room of the barn that served as our wedding venue into a lounge where everyone could eat cupcakes and blueberry cobbler and check out old photos of Dan and me (and our families.)  My friends decorated the cupcakes with fresh blossoms and set a few birch paper flowers around the table.

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Our wedding invitations!  I decided to splurge on letterpress, because I love it so.  I saved on costs by opting for a postcard rsvp card and handling the map and envelopes myself.  Stacy of Pancake & Franks designed our wedding invites.  She was so much fun to work with and Stacy really understood my vision.  I made the maps by simply photocopying our Maine atlas, glued the map squares to cardstock, and then I punched a hole to mark where the event was taking place.  I couldn’t swing the cost of a calligrapher, but I really wish I had ordered a custom return address stamp, which would have saved time and looked prettier on the envelopes.

All photographs by the ever-talented Charlotte Jenks Lewis.

Tomorrow, I’ll be sharing our save-the-dates!

Happy Weekend!

This week has been Operation Apple Recipe week for me – we've got tons of apples from our orchard excursion over the weekend and have been trying to put them to good use.  So far I've made soup and stuffing, but this weekend I'm planning to make individual serving apple pies and possibly an apple crisp if I don't put myself into a sugar coma first.  I do have photos from the apple orchard to share with you next week, and may share photos of my baking adventures depending on how things turn out, but in the meantime…

Apple-orchard 

Here are a few things I've enjoyed this week:

That's it for me this week!  I hope you all have a warm + cozy weekend, and I'll see you all back here on Monday!

{image credits: bloom, grow, love via abby sharp}