10/08/2018

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 â€“ let’s take a look!

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 â€“ 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 â€“ each month features one of his poems in a different lettering style!

10/03/2018

October Workshops at Common Room Studio!

Yay October! We have a bunch of fun workshops coming up at my studio space, Common Room Studio, that I wanted to let you know about! If youâ€™re in the DC area, weâ€™d absolutely love for you to join us. We’ll be decorating some pumpkins, of course, and we’re also hosting a DIY upholstery workshop and a brush lettering workshop! Come hang out with us â€“ and learn a new skill while youâ€™re at it. Itâ€™ll be so fun!

First up, pumpkin decorating! I’m so excited to offer not one but TWO pumpkin decorating opportunities at Common Room Studio this year â€“ one weekend workshop and one weeknight workshop. Come to whichever workshop works for your schedule, or come to both for maximum pumpkin fun!

I’m offering a pumpkin decorating workshop on October 13 focused on making these fun Matisse-inspired pumpkins that I shared as a DIY tutorial last year! We’ll supply all the necessary materials and a variety of pumpkin sizes for you to decorate. Light sips and snacks will be served, and you’ll head home with beautiful seasonal dÃ©cor. Sign up for our Matisse pumpkin workshop here!

If you’d like to expand your DIY skill set, come learn upholstery with Nicole Crowder on October 7 with the amazingly talented Nicole Crowder! Nicole will teach you how to properly and safely tear down and reassemble chairs using certain tools, how to calculate the fabric and yardage necessary for various projects, materials needed for padding and upholstering, and short cuts to help achieve the job with maximum results. Plus, youâ€™ll be able to take your completed project home with you! Sign up right here!

Want to learn the beautiful art of modern brush lettering? Join Michele of Meant to Be Calligraphy at Common Room Studio on October 21! Michele will show you how to use brushes, brush pens, and different types of ink and paint to create gorgeous brush lettering with a modern twist. Youâ€™ll learn how to create the expressive thick and thin brush strokes that set brush lettering apart from both regular handwriting and modern calligraphy. Plus, youâ€™ll go home with all the materials youâ€™ll need to continue practicing and showing off your new brush lettering skills. Sign up right here!

Hope to see you there!

If youâ€™d like to learn about more upcoming workshops and events at Common Room Studio, sign up for our newsletter right here!

10/02/2018

October 2018 Wallpapers!

Happy October everyone! This is when it really starts to feel like fall in DC â€“ cool and crisp mornings, a hint of changing leaves, switching from iced to hot coffee… and of course tons of pumpkins all over town! It’s one of my favorite months of the whole year. We have a couple of beautiful calligraphy and illustrated wallpapers from Black Lamb Studio and Plume Calligraphy for your phones, desktop computers, and iPads to help celebrate the new month. Pick your favorite below â€“ or download one of each for different devices!

iPhone | iPad | Desktop

For personal use only. All illustrations by Black Lamb Studio and Plume Calligraphy for Oh So Beautiful Paper

p.s. If youâ€™re interested in walking down memory lane a bit, here are the wallpaper designs from October 2017, October 2016, and October 2015!

If youâ€™re a designer or illustrator interested in contributing your own designs to this column, please email your design to hello(at)ohsobeautifulpaper.com with the subject line â€œdesktop downloadsâ€ and image files in both desktop and iPhone retina screen sizes. If itâ€™s a good fit Iâ€™ll add it to the post for the following month!

09/28/2018

I Believe Women

I usually try to end the week on a positive note, but I don’t know how to do that this week. I watched Dr. Ford’s testimony yesterday in tears, followed by more tears today as sexual assault survivors bravely confront Senators only to be told their pain and experiences don’t matter. I’m heartbroken. I’m angry. I’m dumbfounded that anyone truly believes that Judge Kavanaugh is the most qualified person to serve a lifetime appointment to the highest court in our country. We can do so much better, and I personally think the Administration could nominate someone much more appropriate. But at minimum, we owe it to ourselves to require our elected officials to hold themselves, and this nomination, to a higher standard. The full Senate vote has been postponed to allow for a full FBI investigation, so now is the time to make your voice heard! Today I’m partnering with three talented designers â€“ Ladyfingers Letterpress, Boss Dotty, and Jennifer Vallez â€“ to offer printable versions of their artwork to help you express your views to your Senators. Call, email, write letters, join a protest, or march yourself down to your Senator’s office if you are able to do so!

Artwork by Boss Dotty (available as a card here!)

CONTACT YOUR SENATORS

This is really the only thing we can do right now. You can look up the address and phone number for your two senators here. This is particularly important if you live in a red state or a swing vote like Alaska, Maine, North Dakota, and West Virginia. Senator Flake has said he will vote to confirm Kavanaugh, but perhaps if enough of you reach out we can change his mind. Phone mailboxes for many Senators are full, but you can also email your Senator directly by clicking the contact link below each Senator’s name on this page.

It’s best to keep things short and to the point when contacting your Senator. Include your name and exact address, then tell them exactly what you want them to do. For example:

My name is Sarah Smith and I’m a constituent at 109 Main Street, Townsville, California. I’m calling to urge Senator Feinstein to demand that the Senate delay any vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh until the FBI investigates the serious and credible sexual assault allegations against Judge Kavanaugh. Law enforcement must assess these claims before Kavanaugh can be appointed to a lifetime seat on our nation’s highest court. Thank you for your time and attention.

My name is Sarah Smith and I’m a constituent at 109 Main Street, Townsville, North Dakota. I’m calling/writing to ask Senator Heitkamp to vote NO on the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh’s open partisanship, flagrant disrespect for many Senators, and basic dishonesty disqualified him from ever serving on the Supreme Court. The American people deserve a better nominee for a lifetime appointment to the highest court in our country. Please vote NO on the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh. Thank you for your time and attention.

And if you get phone anxiety and want to get a message to your representatives out quickly, Resistbot is a texting service that will deliver your message for you. Text the word RESIST to 50409 to get started.

Artwork by Jennifer Vallez Illustration (aka Sophie and Lili)

You can download the postcards through the links below â€“ a big thanks to these amazing artists for making these files available to us! There are several poster options along with printable postcards for writing directly to your Senators. The posters are sized as 11×17 and 12×18 since that seems to be the sizes most commonly used by online printing services. Just be sure to print on cover weight paper or card stock (I’d suggest 80 lb or above) so they’re sturdy enough to carry.

Boss Dotty Believe Women â€“ postcard

Boss Dotty Believe Women â€“ 11×17 poster

Jennifer Vallez Believe Survivors â€“ postcard

Jennifer Vallez Believe Survivors â€“ 11×17 poster

Ladyfingers Letterpress I Believe Survivors â€“ postcard

Ladyfingers Letterpress I Believe Survivors â€“ 12×18 poster

Artwork by Ladyfingers Letterpress

To make the printable postcards:

Step 1. Download the printable Believe Women postcard file and print on any white or light colored card stock. The postcards are double sided, so be sure to follow the instructions for double-sided printing on your home printer.

Step 2. The cards are designed to be a quarter sheet of paper each, so youâ€™ll get four cards per sheet of card stock. Once youâ€™ve printed both sides, cut straight down the middle vertically and horizontally. A paper trimmer is easiest if you have one, or scissors if you donâ€™t have one.

Step 3. Write your text and address of your senator or representative. See the text above if you need a suggestion for what to write! Then add a stamp and pop into the closest mailbox.

Note: If you have any trouble with double-sided printing, just print the front side and cut from there. The back file helps provide a guide for your text, address, and stamp, but isnâ€™t necessary for mailing.

VOTE

The only thing giving me hope right now is this banner from the Suffragette movement, via the National Woman’s Party. It’s a reminder of a time that women banded together to demand the right to vote. If you haven’t already, you can register to vote here. We still have a long way to go, but we now have a powerful voice as women. Let’s use that voice and our voting power to do better.

All artwork Â© 2018 Boss Dotty, Jennifer Vallez Illustration, and Ladyfingers Letterpress. All artwork is made available for personal use only and may not be altered, sold, or reproduced in any form. By downloading the files you agree to the terms of use.