05/20/2011

National Stationery Show 2011 – Part 7

Happy Friday everyone! Â We’re about halfway through the coverage from this year’s National Stationery Show, and after looking back through all of the photos from the show I can’t believe what we managed to pack into just a few short days. Â So much beautiful stationery! Â First up today, a new-to-me exhibitor from the Pacific Northwest, Bison Bookbinding and Letterpress. Â I’m absolutely smitten with Bison’s collection of hand lettered note cards and brightly colored geometric letterpress notebooks.

Bison Bookbinding and Letterpress

After somehow missing them last year, I was absolutely determined to visit the Gold Teeth Brooklyn booth this time around. Â This simple-yet-vibrant collection of screen printed note cards and art prints is incredibly refreshing, and was accompanied by a sweet and simple booth design that really let the cards shine.

Gold Teeth Brooklyn

Another new exhibitor that made a big impression â€“ Lucky Bird, who came to New York all the way over from the United Kingdom. Â Lucky Bird’s collection includes some seriously adorable foil blocked illustrated note cards and gift tags.

Lucky Bird

I’m seriously loving all the new patterns and colorways in the SusyJack* collection this year. Â The blue and yellow ikat patterns? Â Love it! Â And the flower pattern for the 2012 calendars is so lovely…

SusyJack*

From Ink + Wit this year, some new rubber stamp sets, wood veneer notebooks, and gift wrap â€“ and of course lovely notecards all featuring Tara’s signature modern nature-inspired illustrations and patterns.

Ink + Wit

It was such a pleasure to finally meet Rebekah from Wild Ink Press after admiring her work from afar for so long! Â Rebecca had one of the prettiest booth displays at the show, with gold logo signs on top of gray chalkboard paint along with a hand drawn chalk border and illustrations â€“ a perfect complement to her beautiful letterpress cards.

Wild Ink Press

Another big Stationery Show debut this year â€“ OneCanoeTwo! Â This booth was packed full of awesome letterpress goodies, from greeting cards to a monthly calendar to art prints. Â And don’t let the black and white walls fool you; this booth was absolutely packed full of color!

OneCanoeTwo

I was also seriously loving The Great Lakes booth this year â€“ from the sweet and funny cards to the most adorable mobiles featuring wood acorns and dip dyed feathers.

Love these acorn and dipped feather mobiles!

The Great Lakes

Last (for now) but definitely not least, Sesame Letterpress. Â Those crosshatch pattern silhouette greeting cards and silhouette note cards are totally calling my name…

Sesame Letterpress

Photo Credits: Bison Bookbinding, The Great Lakes, One Canoe Two, and Sesame Letterpress by me, all others by Brian Tropiano Photography for Oh So Beautiful Paper; please ask permission before reposting.

*Wild Ink Press is a sponÂsor of Oh So BeauÂtiÂful Paper; for more on my editoÂrÂial poliÂcies pleaseÂ click here.

05/17/2011

National Stationery Show 2011 – Part 2

It’s already been a whirlwind couple of days at the National Stationery Show, and I can’t wait to share more images with all of you, including some seriously creative booth displays! Â Of course, booth styling is always a huge part of exhibitor experience at the National Stationery Show, and this year’s show is no exception. Â Mr. Boddington’s Studio had one of my favorite displays at last year’s show and this year they’re back with another stunning booth â€“ both created by artist Donald Graham Hersey:

Gorgeous new boxed note sets from Mr. Boddington’s Studio

Mr. Boddington’s Studio

Another creative booth display, this time from a first time exhibitor: Nashville-based eco-friendly stationer Arboreal. Â I’m loving the moss displays and the gorgeous wood sign, along with the beautiful Italian-inspired cards and gift tags.

Arboreal

Love the royal blue walls from another first time exhibitor Banquet Atelier and Workshop, which served as the perfect backdrop for Banquet’s nature-inspired prints, note cards, and patterned gift wrap.

Banquet Atelier and Workshop

I’ve been so happy to see (and meet!) so many new exhibitors at this year’s show. Â Portland’s Two Guitars made its trade show debut this year, with an adorable selection of screen printed and letterpress note cards and notebooks.

Loving this vellum card layered over a vintage map!

Two Guitars

I’m totally smitten with the brand new wedding invitation and greeting card collection from The Nic Studio â€“ all featuring Nicole’s playful and whimsical illustrations:

The Nic Studio

Even with all of the new exhibitors, it’s so nice to catch up with favorites from previous show. Â I first fell for Urubbu‘s folk art and nature-inspired note cards at last year’s show, and I’m loving the new additions for this year’s collection!

Urubbu

That’s it for today, but I’ll have lots, lots more again tomorrow!

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

05/12/2011

National Stationery Show Recipe Card Scavenger Hunt

Designers often have cute little promotional items at trade shows, from tote bags to pencils to yummy snacks. Â Not only do they help make trade shows even more fun, but if done correctly they can also be a fun memory for years after the show (like Lisa’s awesome tote bag from last year). Â For this year’s Stationery Show, Amber from Flywheel Press has partnered up with 14 amazingly talented designers and Legion Paper to create this fun letterpress recipe card promo â€“ sort of like a letterpress scavenger hunt at the Stationery Show!

From Amber at Flywheel Press: I love how people create calendars and other clever promotions for the Stationery Show. Â But I wanted to do something a little different, something without a shelf life, something that celebrates the timeless art of letterpress printing. Â The idea of the recipe card seemed to work hand in hand with celebrating the diversity and collaborative essence of the letterpress community.

If you happen to be attending the Stationery Show next week, don’t forget to collect each recipe card! Â Here’s a list of all the participating companies and booth numbers:

a. favorite design/#1551
Albertine Press/#2142
Blackbird Letterpress/#1653
Blue Barnhouse/#2267
Dingbat Press/#2152
Flywheel Press/#1666
Igloo Letterpress/#1747
Maginating/#1962
May Day Studio/#1955
The Nic Studio/#1455
Old Tom Foolery/#2141
Paper Mill Designs/#1966
Pistachio Press/#1664
Sapling Press/#1667
Wild Ink Press/#1671

Once you have all 15 recipe cards, don’t forget to stop by the Legion Paper booth (#1574) in the Supply Side section to pick up the recipe card box. Â Such a wonderful idea â€“ I can’t wait to collect all 15 designs!

*Pistachio Press, Dingbat Press, and Wild Ink Press are sponsors of Oh So Beautiful Paper;Â for more on my ediÂtoÂrÂial poliÂcies pleaseÂ click here.

05/09/2011

Rebecca + Nick’s Rocky Mountain Colorado Wedding Invitations

Happy Monday everyone! Â We’re starting the week off with a fabulous set of Colorado mountain wedding invitations from Samantha and Whitney at Gus & Ruby Letterpress in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Â Sam and Whit created this invitation suite for a wedding that took place last year on Pikes Peak in the Rocky Mountains. Â When it came to the design, Sam and Whit were inspired by the wedding’s rustic lodge venue and the beauty of the Colorado mountain landscape.

From Sam and Whit: The suite was designed for a lovely couple getting married on Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The couple adored the beautiful rustic lodge where they were getting married and really wanted to play up the venue in their stationery. Â From the save the date to the thank you notes, we focused on the beauty of Pikes Peak, the Colorado landscape and details from the gorgeous hotel where they were to be wed.

We started with the beautiful blind impression save the dates. Â There were big antlers hung all over the venue, so the blind impression antlers were a little nod to the lodge decor and hinted at the mountain top theme.

The invitation itself is a die-cut silhouette of Pikes Peak mountain that we then adhered to a navy backing paper (as we did on the save-the-date). Â We loved the depth and interesting shape that the die-cut gave the invitation and that the silhouette was actually the real silhouette of the mountain where the couple would be married. Â On the reply card, we featured illustration of an aspen tree â€“ the type of tree most prominent on the mountain.

For the suite, we found inspiration for the color palate and envelope liner pattern in the rug design and pattern found inside the lodge. Â The envelope liner pattern is a direct imitation of the rug on site at the lodge!

Colors and fonts tied everything together and we really loved the mix of pattern, shape and illustration â€“ it gave the whole suite a funky, mountain-y feeling without being too theme-y. Â Of course, all the pieces were lovingly letterpress printed by hand on our antique press on beautiful 100% cotton paper.

Absolutely stunning work, as always. Â A big thanks to Samantha and Whitney for sharing these invitations â€“ and you can check out more of their custom design work over on their blog!

Photo Credits: Brea McDonald Photography

05/04/2011

Margie + Morgen’s Queen Mary-Inspired Save the Dates

Kathryn from Blackbird Letterpress sent over a fun set of save the dates that she recently created for an upcoming wedding. Â With a double-sided postcard format, these playful save the dates were actually inspired by the wedding venue â€“ the historic Queen Mary ship-turned-hotel in Long Beach, California. Â So fun!

From Kathryn: This save the date card is for a destination wedding, on the Queen Mary! Â I worked closely with the bride and it has been such a treat to have our thoughts so in sync. Â The postcard was printed on Legion Bamboo paper, in ocean blue ink with coral and warm gray accents for the lips & mustache.