Happy Weekend!

Happy Thursday everyone! DC schools and the federal government are observing Veterans Day tomorrow, so I’m taking the opportunity to head out a bit early this week. Plus, I’ve been busy over at Common Room Studio getting ready for three big workshops this weekend! Jenna of Mon Voir is coming out to DC to celebrate her new book, Everyday Watercolor, and teach three of her floral watercolor workshops. If you’re local, we still have a couple spots in the class on Sunday morning – you can sign up right here! We’re also getting ready to announce some exciting workshops and events in December, so jump on our mailing list if you haven’t already! But in the meantime…

Hanwriting Watercolor Leaf Placecards

Photo by hanwriting via Instagram

…a few links for your weekend!

Make handmade holiday cards for retired soldiers at the Old Soldiers Home/ Armed Forces Retirement home here in DC. I know I’ll be making some with my girls this weekend!

Have you seen all the amazing shoes in the Nordstrom fall sale??? These knee high leather boots are the perfect winter boot (and they’re 50% off!) and I love the side cut outs on these black leather booties (30% off!)

A Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade centerpiece! This would be so cute for a kids table design! (p.s. I’m also loving Brittany’s version)

How cute is this pink parka??

MAKE: Fettuccine with Avocado-Garlic Sauce (yum!)

I desperately want this pink chaise lounge for Common Room Studio!

Card of the week!

This is fascinating and horrifying: A toxic city on the edge of the world

 

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

Blush and gray desert-inspired wedding invitations

We went all the way to Brisbane, Australia to go Behind the Stationery with Fox & Fallow!

Add color to your wardrobe with vintage accessories!

One of my favorites from the DIY archives: DIY hand lettered dinner plates (perfect for holiday dinners!)

 

That’s it for me this week! I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here on Monday! xoxo

 

Blush and Gray Desert Wedding Invitations

Are you ready for some seriously dreamy wedding invitations? Alex of Goodheart Design combined a soft color palette, whimsical hand lettering, and sweet floral illustrations to create these blush and gray desert wedding invitations. You’ll definitely want to check out the ombré lettering on the save the date below. Absolute perfection!

Blush and Gray Desert Wedding Invitations by Goodheart Design

From Alex: Nicole and Justin got married in Ojai, California at the best time of year. The venue was open, airy and bright with a hint of desert vibes mixed in. We wanted to reflect that in the save the date and wedding invitation suite with soft colors, foliage, and classic calligraphy.

Blush and Gray Desert Wedding Invitations by Goodheart Design

We started with the save the date and made it a little more fun and outgoing. The save the date itself was a unique 4 x 9 inch size with ombré letterpress printing done by Czar Press, moving from blush to light grey. That piece was also accompanied by a fun photo booth reel with pictures of the two of them. I love when photos are included in a save the date in a unique way!

Blush and Gray Desert Wedding Invitations by Goodheart Design

As we moved to the invitation suite we wanted to keep the style, colors and look the same as the save the date but a little more classy and elegant. We started with creating a crest for the couple with their first name initials. That crest was used for the return address on the envelopes as well as other wedding ‘day of’ items.

Blush and Gray Desert Wedding Invitations by Goodheart Design

The crest then inspired the blind letterpress printed vines on the main and rsvp pieces. By having them blind letterpress printed into the page, we were able to add a little bit of the desert Ojai vibe while still keeping it light and airy. The blind letterpress makes them more of a texture rather than a heavy focus. In order to make the details piece stand out a little bit, since it had lot of important information on it, it was printed on blush paper. One side had a fun map of Ojai on it and the other had a link to their wedding website. While the suite had different colored papers from the main piece to the details to the envelopes, it all flowed together in such a beautiful way.

Blush and Gray Desert Wedding Invitations by Goodheart Design

Blush and Gray Desert Wedding Invitations by Goodheart Design

Blush and Gray Desert Wedding Invitations by Goodheart Design

Thanks Alex!

Design: Goodheart Design

Printing: Czar Press

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

Photo Credits: Anna Delores Photography

Behind the Stationery: Fox and Fallow

Today we’re taking you all the way to Australia to meet Janet from Fox and Fallow! Her bright designs and style reflect her surroundings in Brisbane. Janet shares her schedule for creating new product collections, how she brings each new product to life from design through production, and how her team helps to get it all done and shipped out each day. Take it away, Janet! —Megan Soh

Behind the Stationery: Fox & Fallow

From Janet: My background is in graphic design and art direction but after spending 10 years in design studios and advertising I felt like I needed a bit of a change. I really wanted to build my own brand after so many years of building other people’s brands. I fell in love with weddings after designing our own wedding stationery and signs and in 2013 we began creating wedding stationery and signs for couples as a side project. After about a year and a half I really wanted to reach a wider audience and create products of my own. So in 2015 we jumped right into the deep end and we launched our brand at the National Stationery Show in New York in 2015 and haven’t looked back!

Behind the Stationery: Fox & Fallow

We’re located in sunny Brisbane, Australia. It’s a fabulous city, the people are laid back, the food and bars are great and we’ve got more sunshine than we can handle! Our style is bright, fun, intricate and we love foil, so most of our paper goods are offset printed and foil stamped. I like to design in collections, releasing 3-4 collections per year, each with a totally different theme and style. This keeps things fresh and interesting and allows us to keep evolving our style each year.

Behind the Stationery: Fox & Fallow

Our studio is part office, part warehouse. All the design work, invoicing etc. gets done in the office and orders and products are checked, assembled, packaged and shipped out of the warehouse.We make a wide range of paper goods including greeting cards, gift wrap, flat notes, gift tags, prints, journals, notebooks, notepads and calendars.

We also make clipboard packs which are a really fun gift item and we make the clipboards in house, which involves sourcing the wood from a local supplier, laser cutting and engraving them, sanding, riveting and shrink wrapping the whole pack together.

Behind the Stationery: Fox & Fallow

We take care of the design, quality checking, packaging and assembly but leave the printing to our local and offshore printers. We make most of our products locally in Brisbane or Sydney, but a few products we had to get manufactured offshore to make sure the price points work for our customers.

Behind the Stationery: Fox & Fallow

I usually start with a double espresso and an attempt to clean out my inbox (which rarely happens)! We’ll get any orders from the previous day and ones that have come in overnight to the team to pick and pack so they’re shipped out ASAP. We try to wrap this up by 2pm so they’re ready to be collected by our couriers. After the orders are done for the day the team often keeps working on quality checking, assembling and packaging products and anything else that needs doing before finishing up around 5pm. If we’ve got a big order to get out, it’s all hands on deck and we’ll do some pretty big hours to get it out in time, but it’s great we can be flexible and have our team take product home to package – which works great! No one wants to be working late in the office right?

Behind the Stationery: Fox & Fallow

I’ll usually grab another coffee and get started on artwork, product sourcing, bill-paying and general day-to-day business things. Darrell and I are both night owls, so we usually work pretty late. I wish my days were filled with painting and making new products, but as I’m sure all creative business owners know, the creative part is a tiny sliver of the running-a-small-biz pie.

Behind the Stationery: Fox & Fallow

Behind the Stationery: Fox & Fallow

I start each collection with a bunch of random thoughts in a notepad file on the computer and on my phone, then I’ll scour Pinterest, Google or books for snippets to create a mood board. I like having the inspiration and colours for each collection all nutted out on a mood board so I can show Darrell and get his thoughts. Once we’re happy with the direction it’s a matter of more research, sketching, scanning, detailed ink sketches, painting, scanning, colouring and refining and deep-etching each element in Photoshop.

Behind the Stationery: Fox & Fallow

Behind the Stationery: Fox & Fallow

I like painting all artwork as separate components so I can change the colours easily in Photoshop and change the size if needed. If I’m working on custom typography I’ll usually start with sketches and then use a brush pen and ink before I scan each word and vectorize them in Illustrator. I composite all artwork in InDesign and send it off to print for the proofing stage. Once we’ve checked and approved the proofs we wait for the finished goods to arrive.

Behind the Stationery: Fox & Fallow

This is the most fun part of what we do and it’s so rewarding when we see our retailers and customers loving our products. We love doing trade shows and pop up events as you really get to see people’s reactions to your products – it’s super valuable having that face-to-face contact. We love it when we meet people who are discovering us for the first time – it makes all the hard work so worthwhile!

Behind the Stationery: Fox & Fallow

All photos by Fox & Fallow.

Want to be featured in the Behind the Stationery column? Reach out to Megan at megan [at] ohsobeautifulpaper [dot] com for more details.

Fill Your Cart with Color

This post is sponsored by eBay.

I’ve been an eBay shopper since college, back in the days when I used to spend hours and hours hunting for original vinyl copies of my favorite albums. These days, my shopping habits and tastes are a bit different, but I still turn to eBay when I need to find something really special and unique. I’d been wanting a cute wicker purse to add a bit of whimsy and texture to my wardrobe, so I headed straight to eBay to start my hunt!

Vintage Mint Green Wicker Purse from eBay

I love adding a vintage element to every outfit, whether it’s jewelry, a purse, or even shoes. It’s a fun way to add a layer of individuality and your unique style to an outfit, the same way that vintage pieces add character to home décor. And for me, half the fun is in the search itself! There are approximately 1.1 BILLION listings on eBay at any given time, so you know you’ll always find what you’re looking for. I knew that I wanted something wicker, but I was flexible in the color and shape, so I just searched “vintage wicker purse” and let all the pretty options roll in!

Vintage Mint Green Wicker Purse from eBay

I found the CUTEST mint green wicker purse that I absolutely love. The minute it popped up in my search results, I knew it was the one for me. Everything is perfect, from the rounded shape to the circular handles fit that perfectly over my wrist. The mint green color is the perfect way to add a pop of color to a casual outfit, and this particular shade of mint green happens to be one of my all time favorites. Even the barista at my local coffee shop complimented my bag, which was definitely a first for me. I’ve been carrying this beauty everywhere, from weekday lunch dates with girlfriends to date nights with my husband.

Vintage Mint Green Wicker Purse from eBay

If you’re looking for your own vintage wicker purse, there are plenty of options in this search. I particularly love this white versionthis 1950s purse with gorgeous lucite handlesthis bohemian floral wicker purse, and this black wicker purse with gold handles. Wouldn’t they be so cute for holiday parties??

Vintage Mint Green Wicker Purse from eBay

Vintage Mint Green Wicker Purse from eBay

If you’re not feeling the vintage but still want a cute wicker purse for weekend brunch or special events, you can find plenty of new options on eBay, from Kate Spade to JCrew. I bought my purse instantly with the “Buy it Now” feature and it arrived at my doorstep in less than three days! Plus, 67% of items on eBay ship for free, which is a nice additional bonus. Be sure to shop now to find the perfect purse for your next night on the town!

Photos by Anna Meyer Photography

This post is sponsored by eBay. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that make Oh So Beautiful Paper possible!

Happy Weekend!

Happy Friday everyone! Did you have a good week? A good Halloween? This was a pretty good week for me, but the last few weeks have been super busy so I’m feeling kinda zonked today. Does that happen to you? Where you’re just going, going, going for weeks and then it all just catches up with you all at once? Yeah, that’s where I am now. Time to take it easy for a few days! But in the meantime…

Washington, DC in the fall

…a few links for your weekend!

Gold napkin rings cast from natural herb cuttings – wouldn’t they be so lovely on a Thanksgiving table?

The most amazing Stranger Things viewing party

Nordstrom is having a 40% off Fall sale! I’ve been browsing the shoe selection, and my favorites are these velvet slingbacks, these asymmetrical leather flats, and these peep toe booties

Also from Nordstrom: My dream winter coat in the most beautiful shade of lavender (it’s only $150!)

Cute fill-in party invitations!

Totally obsessed with the color of these chairs

Loving the idea of a cocktailgating party

This woven pendant is my everything

Sweet potato crostini – such a great idea!

MAKE: Salted caramel and apple babka

 

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

New illustrated November wallpapers for your phone and desktop

The design inspiration for Common Room Studio! Plus a free Small Business Best Practices Guide from SunTrust in celebration of National Entrepreneurship Month!

The best colorful walls and murals in DC

Introducing your new favorite Fall cocktail: the Stone Fence

Romantic wildflower-inspired wedding invitations

 

That’s it for me this week! I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here on Monday! xoxo