Submissions

Oh So Beautiful Paper accepts submissions from independent artists, graphic designers, calligraphers, stationers and invitation studios. Please read the full submission guidelines below before submitting your product or editorial submission for consideration. Any submission that incorrectly spells the word stationery will be automatically rejected.

Oh So Beautiful Paper warmly welcomes submissions in the following areas:

  • Editorial submissions (custom invitations and announcements, calligraphy, behind the stationery, etc.)
  • Stationery Product Submissions (greeting cards, notebooks, art prints, gift wrap, pens, etc.)
  • Holiday Cards + Calendars (please see below for our seasonal product submissions and editorial calendar)

Please note, Oh So Beautiful Paper respectfully does not accept the following for editorial consideration:

  • Press Releases
  • PDFs or digital mock ups
  • Kickstarter campaigns

Oh So Beautiful Paper is dedicated to showcasing fresh and original content, particularly features on custom design projects and real wedding invitations. Editorial priority will be given to products or designs submitted exclusively to Oh So Beautiful Paper. Please indicate in your email if your submission is currently awaiting decision from another blog or media outlet. Oh So Beautiful Paper reserves the right to reject submissions that have already been submitted or featured elsewhere. Exclusivity requirements do not apply to seasonal stationery products such as holiday cards and calendars.

Due to the high volume of submissions, we are currently unable to respond with regrets for product submissions (greeting cards, shop updates, etc.). If necessary, we will contact you for additional information regarding your submission.

 

Product Submissions

  • If you think your product would suit the Oh So Beautiful Paper audience, please email us with a link to your website/shop and 5-8 attached product images.
  • All images should be 1280 pixels wide and 72 dpi. Please do not send links to image folders on Google drive, dropbox folders, or online galleries.
  • Strong preference for product images against a white background. Styled product photos are also acceptable, but may not work for product round up posts.
  • If this is your first submission, please include a short description of your company.

 

Seasonal Product Submissions

Designers are welcome to submit their products for consideration in seasonal stationery product round-ups. Normal image guidelines apply; please submit one photo of each holiday card. Oh So Beautiful Paper currently does seasonal features on the following products:

  • Calendars
  • Planners
  • Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s cards
  • Valentine’s Day cards
  • Easter cards
  • Mother’s Day cards
  • Father’s Day cards
  • Halloween cards

Please submit cards 1-2 months prior to the actual holiday (e.g. Valentine’s Day cards should be submitted no later than early January). I accept Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year’s card submissions beginning in mid-October. I accept calendar and planner submissions for the following year beginning in August.

Designer Rolodex Submissions

The Designer Rolodex is a curated, invitation-only directory of wedding invitation designers.  You can find more information and an application link right here.

For our full editorial policy, please visit my policies page. If you are interested in advertising on Oh So Beautiful Paper, please click here to request a copy of our ad rates.

Note: Oh So Beautiful Paper reserves the right to edit any photos submitted for editorial consideration, including but not limited to: cropping, re-sizing, brightening, and hue/saturation adjustments. Oh So Beautiful Paper also reserves the right to edit descriptive text submitted for editorial consideration, including but not limited to spelling and grammar corrections.

Thank you!

Have you previously been featured on Oh So Beautiful Paper?  Feel free to download one of our badges here!

Printable Family Activity Advent Calendar

Hi! Hello! Long time, huh? I’ve got a lot I’ve been meaning to share with all of you and a lot that I’m still trying to figure out for myself, but for now I have a quick (and time sensitive!) holiday project that I wanted to share. I’ve made a version of this family activity advent calendar for my family for the past five or so years. We use a felt advent calendar that I picked up from Target and I add tiny cards with all of our favorite holiday traditions, activities, and a few silly activities to keep things fun along the way. We also use a store-bought chocolate advent calendar, but this is a really nice way to spread out holiday-related activities throughout the entire month. My children love checking each envelope daily, and it helps me avoid Christmas burnout. Win win!

Printable Family Activity Advent Calendar

To make a family activity advent calendar of your own, just grab the printable files below and print your preferred version (with or without text) on any light color cardstock paper. After printing, I used my paper trimmer to cut the edges off the paper, then used this one inch square punch to make the individual advent calendar insert cards. You could also totally cut them by hand. There are very light squares around each illustration to help serve as guides for scissors or paper trimmers. Then sort the individual cards into your own reusable advent calendar – you can also save and reuse the insert cards every year!

Printable Family Activity Advent Calendar

Printable Family Activity Advent Calendar

I know some of you will have already started your Christmas decorating and activities over the Thanksgiving weekend, and I’m sure some of you will have your own family traditions to add. I made a version of the printable advent calendar with just the illustrations so you can add your own traditions and activities. Or if you prefer, you can use the version with text and pick your favorite activities and traditions to incorporate – there are 30 cards, so you should have at least five extra if you choose to use the version with text!

Printable Family Activity Advent Calendar

Grab the printable files below:

Printable Family Activity Advent Calendar (WITH text)

Printable Family Activity Advent Calendar (NO text)

Printable Family Activity Advent Calendar

Illustrations © 2018 Riley Sheehey Printable advent calendar created exclusively for Oh So Beautiful Paper. All artwork is made available for personal use only. By downloading the advent calendar you agree to the terms of use.

Photos by Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

2018 Gift Guide: Gift Ideas for Creatives

We’re kicking off our first official gift guide of the season with some gift ideas for creatives! I did things a bit differently this year and asked for input through Instagram stories – and you guys all had some really great suggestions! We’ve got a little bit of everything below, from books and art supplies to my favorite styling resources. So whether you’re searching for gift ideas for your creative friends or planning to send this gift guide to your well-meaning family and friends, hopefully you’ll find the perfect holiday gift below!

2018 Gift Guide for Creatives / Oh So Beautiful Paper

1 – 4 Styling Supplies: So many of you said you’d love to receive styling supplies and equipment as a gift! My favorite styling boards and backdrops come from One Stone West (I especially love their canvas backdrops) and Woodville Workshop. I also love using small ceramic dishes from Suite One Studio and The Object Enthusiast in photos to hold small things like cute paper clips, wax seals, and vintage postage stamps. Finally, a good telescoping tripod and light diffusers are essential pieces of equipment for taking beautiful photos. Plume Calligraphy and Angela Liguori offer some beautiful styling pieces, including vintage ink wells and glassine envelopes – you can also browse eBay for vintage ink wells! This handmade ceramic watercolor palette is both a beautiful piece of equipment and would look gorgeous in photos!

5 – A desk calendar is a wonderful gift idea! I love this simple black and white calendar from Our Heiday, but you can find even more calendars right here!

6 and 8 – Apple Pencil and Procreate Brushes: I heard from a number of calligraphers and illustrators out there with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil on their holiday wish list! But if you’re lucky enough to already have those powerful tools in your arsenal, Isidore Augustine just released a brand new set of Procreate brushes just for calligraphers

7 – Scissors: Every creative person needs a beautiful set of scissors, and Angela Liguori makes the most beautiful scissors on the planet! These Fiskars scissors are my go-to for everyday crafting.

9 – Gift Cards! I know gift cards can seem like a lame gift idea, but they have the potential to be a really personal and thoughtful gift if done well! A few gift card ideas: an Airbnb Gift Card to help your favorite creative go on a solo weekend creative retreat, a gift certificate for a manicure at a local nail salon (especially for calligraphers and stationers), And for someone just starting out might really appreciate a gift certificate to a high-end supplier like Artisaire (wax seals) or Pressed Paper (handmade paper), or even to Blick Art Supplies or a local art supply store.

10 – Artist Supplies and Equipment: So many options! Choose from shiny crafting machines like the Minc Foil Applicator or Silhouette Cameo (I have both and LOVE them!), invest in a heavy duty paper trimmer, or keep things simple with paint, paper, and pens. It’s the perfect chance to try something new, like this Artist Pad Collection from Legion Paper with twelve 9×12 drawing and watercolor pads, this Coptic pen set, or this watercolor set from Sakura of America. Oh, and don’t forget a nice bag to carry things with! I’ve had my eye on this Madewell leather tote and this Everlane tote

11 – Books and Magazines: So many great book ideas for artists! Check out the shopping widget below for a few of my favorite suggestions, including The Designer’s Dictionary of Color and The Gift of Calligraphy. A subscription to a cool magazine like Uppercase is also a great gift idea!

12 – Classes and Workshops: Online classes and in-person workshops are a fantastic way to develop creative skills and find new inspiration. Look around for in person workshops in your area, including letterpress printing, screen printing, calligraphy, watercolor painting, paper marbling, weaving, macramé, etc. If in-person classes aren’t an option, look for online classes you can gift – or gift a Skillshare membership! I love the online weaving and natural dyeing classes from Rachel at Smile and Wave, and Simply Jessica Marie offers a range of online watercolor and brush lettering classes.

13 – This amazing Wood Drawing Board and Portable Easel would be such a lovely gift for a painter or illustrator!

14 – This adorable enamel pin by Cami Monet would be a perfect stocking stuffer for your favorite artist!

Quick Pick: And Here We Are

We’re about to jump head first into calendar and holiday card round ups, but first – some really cute greeting cards from And Here We Are! I love the way Meghan uses color in her greeting card designs – from ombré and letterpress overprinting to black and white illustrations with a pop of color – and the way she expresses emotion in her designs. I need like five each of the UGH and fingers crossed cards below to send for a whole range of situations, and the little baby hand is my go-to card for new mamas. Take a look!

Quick Pick: And Here We Are

Fingers Crossed

Literally the Best Feeling

Heart You

Woah Mama

Ugh

Hearts and Hands

To Have and To Hold

You Are Magic

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

 

Lots more from And Here We Are right here! And if you’re looking for more card round ups, you can find all of our past card round ups here!

Thirteen Beautiful 2019 Calendars

I’ve had calendars on the brain the last couple of weeks, so I thought we’d start the week with a round up of thirteen beautiful 2019 calendars! We’ve got everything from food puns and an animal swimsuit calendar (!!) to delicate floral illustrations and colorful abstract shapes. In many ways, this round up is a reflection of some of the major design trends we’ve seen over this past year. Oh, and I feel like stationers finally heard everyone begging for more space to write appointments on their calendars, since there are more appointment calendars this year than ever before – let’s take a look!

Thirteen Beautiful 2019 Calendars

1. Love, love, LOVE the colors in this abstract shapes wall calendar from Worthwhile Paper. You can even order it with the wood frame kit!

2. Loving the delicate illustrations on this botanical calendar from Esther Clark Co.

3. A colorful monthly wall calendar from Katharine Watson featuring a different gouache painting inspired by her traditional block print work and stationery designs

4. Loving the simplicity of the floral line drawings in this year’s calendar from Our Heiday – and plenty of space for notes and appointments!

5. Each year, Dear Hancock produces the cutest calendar featuring illustrations of their signature bunny. This year, bunny is arranging flowers! So cute.

6. Add an extra dose of positivity to your day with this Positivity wall calendar from Fox & Fallow! Rose gold foil on alternating pink and black pages. They also have a more traditional floral appointment calendar!

7. Rifle Paper Co. is always a safe bet for beautiful calendars. I’m particularly fond of this garden party floral appointment calendar.

8. I cannot resist a birth month floral calendar, and this beauty from Juliet Meeks is no exception! Each month features a unique floral pattern hand painted by Juliet and representative of that month’s birth flower.

9. If you prefer your calendar to double as wall art, look no further than this XL calendar from One Canoe Two! They also have a beautiful appointment calendar and illustrated desk calendar.

10. Food puns from ilootpaperie! I mean, can you think of a more perfect calendar to hang in your kitchen?? I think not.

11. This animal swimsuit calendar from Paper Wilderness CRACKS ME UP. Each month features a different watercolor illustration with an animal wearing a swimsuit, from a bikini-wearing shark to a bear hanging out in a swan pool float. Ha!

12. This big write-in calendar from Wild Ink Press makes my mom heart so happy. Two months at a glance, with plenty of space for notes, chore charts, special events, and more! Available in black (just use a white gel pen or paint marker) or kraft paper. 

13. A beautiful desk calendar from Page Stationery x Atticus – each month features one of his poems in a different lettering style!