09/07/2010

Birthday Treasures

I mentioned on twitter that, instead of new things, my Mom sends me little family heirlooms and treasures for my birthday each year. Past gifts include some of my grandmother’s jewelry and my grandfather’s Army Air Corps pilot’s wings. I never knew either of my grandparents on my mother’s side, so it’s nice to keep a tiny bit of family history with me. This year, my Mom sent some family photos, and I thought I’d share a few:

{my grandparents on their wedding day â€“ my grandmother made her own dress!}

{my mom, my grandmother Margaret, and my great-grandmother Hazel}

{my Mom and grandmother â€“ the first baby of the family!}

{all photos by me}

08/25/2010

Donna Wilson

I had the pleasure of meeting Donna Wilson at the NYIGF last week, and I totally fell in love with her collection of textiles â€“ from scarves and gloves to lambswool (knitted in Donna’s native Scotland) cushions and throws:

Donna also has the world’s most adorable catalogue, which you can find on her website.

{image credits: donna wilson}

08/23/2010

Alyson + Levi’s Vintage Botanical Wedding Invitations

Today’s real invitations come from one of my very favorite bloggers, the lovely Alyson from Unruly Things! Â You might remember Alyson from her guest posts last year. Â In addition to her fabulous blog, Alyson also runs a letterpress studio called Postal Press, so when Alyson first got engaged and started planning her wedding, I knew the invitations would be incredible no matter what. Â Then Alyson mentioned vintage botanical imagery as her main inspiration and I got even more excited! Â So as you can imagine, I’m absolutely thrilled to welcome Alyson back to Oh So Beautiful Paper Â with her stunning wedding invitations!

From Alyson: When Levi {most commonly known as DLB on my blog} and I started planning our wedding, we looked at only one venue and knew it was for us. Â If you know me at all from Unruly Things, you know that Levi and I have a strong love for all things nature inspired.

Our wedding was at beautiful lake in the middle of the old growth forest in the Columbia River Gorge. 95% of our guests traveled from out of town for our wedding, so we wanted them to get a really good feel for the venue as well as our wedding style from the invitations. Â We opted for fonts with a classic feel and botanical illustrations inspired by vintage book plates.

I collected vintage postage stamps during our engagement that we used for our envelopes and contacted Kathryn Murray to write the beautiful calligraphy for our guest’s addresses. Â Months before the wedding, I taught Levi how to letterpress so that he could help with the printing.

We letterpressed our invitations on brown bag paper and included fun extra details: an illustrated map to the venue, a letterpress kraft tag with hotel accommodations and, my favorite, a Columbia River Gorge wildlife cheat sheet â€“ complete with typical specimen of plants and animals our guests might see during the event Â {no one saw any elk, but we heard that one of our guests came upon a baby bear late in the evening!!} Â Over all, I couldn’t have imagined our wedding any other way. Â It was entirely us.

Alyson also sent over a few photos from her wedding, captured by Erin Grace Photography, including the gorgeous botanical place cards and ceremony programs!

Stunning… seriously just stunning. Â Each detail fits together perfectly, from the kraft paper invitations details to the amazing botanical elements (hello gorgeous ferns and moss!) to the apothecary glass centerpieces. Â Congratulations Alyson!

{image credits: invitation photos by alyson graves brown, wedding photos by erin grace photography}

08/19/2010

NYIGF, Part 4 â€” My Favorites!

My official favorite find at NYIGF was an awesome Australian stationery studio called Lox + Savvy. Â Designer Lisa Loxley creates super fun stationery, note pads, wrapping paper sheets, paper chains, and paper pockets (perfect for scrapbooking) â€“ all in bright colors and bold, graphic patterns:

{lox + savvy}

Another favorite find from this year’s show came from the handmade section â€“ Gauge NYC, a metal crafting shop located in Brooklyn, New York and founded by Paul Smotrys. Â Gauge NYC creates beautiful jewelry and decorative metal letters:

I love these modern alphabet necklaces â€“ you can even layer two on the same chain!

Paul recently began experimenting with these beautiful quotes made from memory wire that can stick directly into a wall or surface like push pins. Â Wouldn’t these be amazing in an office or child’s bedroom?

{gauge nyc}

I’m a huge fan of the ceramic and stationery collections from Bailey Doesn’t Bark, andÂ it was wonderful to see it all in person at NYIGF! Â The letterpress four seasons and heart notecards are still among my all-time favorites:

{bailey doesn’t bark}

I loved the entire kid-focused collection from Florida-based Wee Gallery â€“ from animal flash cards to letterpress art prints to wall decals. Â I also love that they think beyond traditional farm animals, incorporating insects and marine animals into their stamp sets, wall decals, and art cards:

LOVE the stamp sets â€“ there’s even a safari edition!

Gorgeous limited edition letterpress prints!

{wee gallery}

That’s it for me from NYIGF, at least until the January show! Â Which ones were your favorites from this summer’s show?

{all photos by me}

08/19/2010

NYIGF, PartÂ 3

By the third day up at NYIGF I was beginning to run out of steam, but luckily I met up with Jen from The Haystack Needle and I had a blast walking the show with her on my last day in New York. Â I could have spent hours in the Karma Living booth looking at all the vibrant textiles and home accents:

{karma living}

One of my favorite parts of NYIGF is the global handmade section. Â I didn’t take too many photos since most of the global exhibitors only sell wholesaleÂ â€“ but I couldn’t resist these gorgeous ikat boxes and notebooks from Seet Kamal:

{seet kamal}

Jen and I went up to the Aesthetic Movement booth to say hi to our friends at Austin Press and Yellow Owl Workshop andÂ were pleasantly surprised to see a couple new collections making their debut at the show. Â We’re both thrilled to see Virginia Johnson expanding her gorgeous textile collection to include a line of home designs, from quilts and pillows to crib bedding. Â So exciting! Â I totally forgot to take photos somehow, but luckily Jen came to the rescue (check out more right here):

{virginia johnson â€“ both photos via the haystack needle}

Meanwhile, Teroforma is collaborating with artist Leah Duncan on a new collection of patterned linens and accessories:

{teroforma}

Jen and I also came across the booth of International Robot â€“ they have an awesome collection of t-shirts, hoodies, messenger bags, and baby onesies with robots, aliens, zombies, and even Big Foot! Â This would have been my husband’s kind of booth if he’d been with me at the show: