Seasonal Stationery: 2013 Holiday Cards, Part 1

One month until Christmas! Which means it’s officially time to kick off my annual holiday card round up! I’ve been busy gathering the best of the best holiday cards from independent designers – you can find all 300+ (!!) selections in the full round up right here. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll highlight some of my favorite new releases here, starting today!

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1. Belle & Union; 2. Idlewild Co.; 3. Emily McDowell Illustration; 4. Parrott Design Studio; 5. Duet Letterpress; 6. Yellow Owl Workshop

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7. Egg Press; 8. The Paper Cub; 9. Smudge Ink (available in lots of cities and states!); 10. Bespoke Letterpress; 11. Wild Ink Press; 12. Fine Day Press; 13. Laura Hooper Calligraphy

I’ll be back with more favorite holiday cards tomorrow. In the meantime, check out the full holiday card round up – with 300+ holiday cards – right here!

p.s. Today is the final day to enter the Minted giveaway! You can find all the details here!

{images via their respective sources}

DIY Tutorial: Rubber Stamp Clay Save the Dates

Texture is subtle but boy does it make a huge impact! When we found some paper clay at the art store a while back, we knew it would make a great DIY but we weren’t quite sure what to do with it. After obsessing over textured clay pottery now for ages, we decided that a “pottery” save the date was in order. The natural off-white color of the paper clay comes alive when paired with a mix of floral patterns and a unique lilac, eggplant, and ochre color palette! – Bailey and Emma of Antiquaria

DIY Tutorial: Rubber Stamp Paper Clay Save the Dates by Antiquaria for Oh So Beautiful Paper

DIY Tutorial: Rubber Stamp Paper Clay Save the Dates by Antiquaria for Oh So Beautiful Paper

DIY Tutorial: Rubber Stamp Paper Clay Save the Dates by Antiquaria for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Step One: Gather your paper clay supplies: bag of clay, wooden cutting board (you don’t want any texture in your rolling surface – unless it’s the look you’re going for), clear plastic wrap, and a rolling pen. Break your paper clay into approximately 2 oz pieces. There will be scraps that you can re-roll together.

DIY Tutorial: Rubber Stamp Paper Clay Save the Dates by Antiquaria for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Step Two: Squish the paper clay into a small rectangle with your fingers (this doesn’t need to be precise). Place it in the middle of your plastic wrap and fold the other end of the wrap over the top. Now, you’ll start rolling! It’s basically like rolling out a pie crust or cookies – just keep the thickness even and it will be good. We suggest a thickness of around â…›” or maybe a little less. Remember: it does need to fit in an envelope!

DIY Tutorial: Rubber Stamp Paper Clay Save the Dates by Antiquaria for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Step Three: Once it’s rolled out thin and even (and approximately the size of your stamp mount, you’re ready to print the design. With an un-inked stamp (we used our Vintage Label Save the Date stamp) center it over the clay and carefully set it down. With your fingertips, press each section of the design evenly to make the print. This printing method feels different than printing paper so it may take some extra time to get the hang of it! Not to worry though, you can just re-roll the clay so there is no waste in the practice process!

Once you get a good print, trim the clay around the design with a kitchen knife (we used the mount size as a guide). Carefully flip the clay over in your palm and transfer it to a plastic lined tray or baking sheet. Let dry 1 – 3 days or until firm.

DIY Tutorial: Rubber Stamp Paper Clay Save the Dates by Antiquaria for Oh So Beautiful Paper

DIY Tutorial: Rubber Stamp Paper Clay Save the Dates by Antiquaria for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Step Four: Now that your clay save the dates are complete, you can move on the the rest of the pieces that you’ll need for the design. Cut patterned card stock (we used our Annabelle Violet Paper) into A2 sized cards (4.25″ x 5.5″) with a craft knife and ruler on a self healing mat. You will get four cards out of one 8.5″ x 11″ sheet.

DIY Tutorial: Rubber Stamp Paper Clay Save the Dates by Antiquaria for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Step Five: Stamp your accommodations and website information on the back of your patterned card. We used our Calligraphy Accent Accommodations and Calligraphy Accent Website stamps for this design. You can watch our step-by-step video tutorial about the stamp printing process here.

DIY Tutorial: Rubber Stamp Paper Clay Save the Dates by Antiquaria for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Step Six: A coordinating liner really dresses up an envelope, don’t you think? For this design, we used our daisy paper. The process is simple! Trace the template with a pencil and cut out the pattern. Use double sided tape or stick glue to adhere the liner into the envelope just below the gumming.

DIY Tutorial: Rubber Stamp Paper Clay Save the Dates by Antiquaria for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Step Seven: Now we’ll switch our focus to the outside of the envelope! We stamped our Scripted Return Address  stamp in eggplant on the back flap. To coordinate, we addressed the front in an eggplant colored ink as well and used (our favorite) seed packet postage to finish it all off!

Materials

Vintage Label Save the Date Stamp

Calligraphy Accent Accommodations Stamp

Calligraphy Accent Website Card Stamp

Scripted Return Address Stamp

Annabelle Violet Patterned Paper

Daisy Patterned Paper

Paper Clay

Cutting board, plastic wrap, rolling pen and knife

Trays or baking sheets for air drying

Self healing mat, kraft knife and metal ruler

Envelope liner templates

Pencil and Scissors

Stamp Pads in Ochre and Eggplant

A2 Envelopes in Luxe Blush

Calligraphy Ink for addressing in Red Violet

Grecian Pink Tailors Ribbon to tie the suite together

USPS Postage

Anti­quaria is a mem­ber of the Designer Rolodex – you can see more of their beau­ti­ful work right here or visit the real save the dates gallery for more save the date ideas!

Photo Credits: Antiquaria for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Maggie + Trevor’s Modern Campaign-Inspired Baby Shower: The Details!

As promised, I’m back with more of the day-of stationery from Maggie and Trevor’s campaign-inspired “unshower” – along with some photos from the evening! Sara and I wanted the day-of stationery to complement the invitations, with a similar color palette and lots of graphic patterns. Michele from Meant to Be Calligraphy kindly calligraphed a few signs for us, Sarah from August Blume created a few special pieces, and our friends at Minted were kind enough to share a few items from their new party decor collection!

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Since we planned the evening more like a cocktail party than a traditional baby shower, Sara and I wanted to make sure we had lots of good food and plenty to drink. Our menu included chili, cornbread, a cheese plate, pies – even s’mores over the backyard fire pit! Our drink menu included a hot apple cider station (with brandy close at hand for an alcoholic version) and our fall harvest punch.

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Minted sent some of their striped paper straws, flag stickers, garland, table confetti, and striped bunting from their party decor collection in shades of red and aqua.

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Minted also sent over some of their large decorative tissue paper fans, which I supplemented with smaller fans from Party City. We used the fans to create a fun tissue paper installation behind the dessert buffet, then arranged a few more fans in the windows and along the mantel.

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Sarah from August Blume designed cards for party guests to fill out cards with advice and wishes for Maggie, Trevor, and their baby girl, which we placed next to a sign featuring Michele’s calligraphy. Sarah also designed custom cocktail napkins and drink stirrers, and a sign for the front door welcoming guests to the party.

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The happy soon-to-be-parents!

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Such a fun night! And a huge congratulations to Maggie and Trevor!

Event Planning: Bella Notte and Oh So Beautiful Paper

Drink Stirrers, Cocktail Napkins, and Welcome Sign: August Blume

Calligraphy: Meant to Be Calligraphy

Tissue Paper Fans, Stripe Straws, Table Confetti, Garland, and Bunting: c/o Minted

Photo Credits: party photos by Jessica Del Vecchio, detail photos by Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Maggie + Trevor’s Campaign-Inspired Baby Shower: The Invitations!

A couple of weekends ago, my friend Sara and I co-hosted a baby shower for our friends Maggie and Trevor. Maggie co-hosted my own baby shower last year, so it was an absolute honor to be able to return the favor! Maggie and Trevor wanted a fun night with friends before their baby girl arrived, so we planned the evening as more of a cocktail party  (aka “unshower”) than a traditional baby shower. Naturally, I was responsible for the paper details – and today I’m so excited to share the invitations and day-of stationery with you! We’ll start with the amazing invitations by Sarah of August Blume, with the rest of the details to follow a bit later today!

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Maggie and Trevor had the most beautiful campaign-inspired wedding four years ago, so Sara and I decided to run with that as our inspiration for the party. Inspired by Maggie’s plans for the nursery, we chose a color palette of red, white, and aqua. Maggie also loves graphic prints and patterns, which we also wanted to incorporate into the invitations and party stationery.

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I’ve been a fan of Sarah from August Blume since featuring Beth and Michael’s save the dates in early 2012, and I thought her aesthetic would be a good match for Maggie and our overall party style. I sent Sarah links to Maggie’s blog, wedding invitations, and a Pinterest board that Sara put together with inspiration for the party. The invitation suite that she created could not have been more perfect!

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From Sarah: I was thrilled to design for such a special project! The campaign-themed “unshower” had my creative wheels turning right from the start. Creating a mini campaign pin to include with the invitation seemed like the perfect, interactive touch. I wanted to incorporate something that had a hint of “baby” to it – and the elephant and donkey push toys have ended up being one of my favorite aspects of the whole design. Michele’s beautiful lettering kept the tone soft and her calligraphy on the wrap labels tied everything together. What an honor to be a part of Baby H’s unshower!

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Sarah designed the invitations to be mailed in pool blue box mailers. The invitations feature calligraphy by Michele from Meant to Be Calligraphy. A red and white twill ribbon – and a custom campaign button! – tied the invitation and registry card together. Sarah honored our request for pattern with two fun graphic patterns: one lining the inside of the box mailers and another to back the invitation.

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Wrap around address labels – calligraphed by Michele – and reissued Inverted Jenny stamps were the perfect finishing touch!

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Check back soon for the fun day-of stationery from Maggie and Trevor’s shower!

Invitation Design: August Blume

Calligraphy: Meant to Be Calligraphy

August Blume is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can see more of Sarah’s beautiful work right here!

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Quick Pick: Rotolino Greetings

I love it when creative friends join forces, which is exactly how Angela Liguori’s new Rotolino greetings collection came together! The collection features words calligraphed by artist Susy Pilgrim Waters, then letterpress in charcoal gray ink printed onto long strips of cotton paper by Albertine Press, and finally wrapped around hand dyed wooden spools and secured with red thread by Angela. Such a unique way to send love and wishes to a special person!

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The collection currently features two designs: Love (with the words amore, dolcezza, per sempre insieme, ti amo, gioia, abbracci, baci, xoxo) and Holiday Greetings (with the words warm wishes, joy, gratitude, celebrate, best wishes, kindness, peace, season’t greetings, xoxox). Each spool measures 2″ by 1.25″ with strips of paper 7/8″ tall and 17″ long. The spools are packaged in kraft paper gift boxes.

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Thanks Angela!

p.s. Angela is celebrating the new collection with a giveaway on her blog! Check out the details right here.

Photo Credits: Angela Liguori