I have a well documented weakness for geographic art, so naturally I’m loving this series of state prints – called “Home is Where the Heart is” – from Rocket Ink. Each 13″ x 18″ print features the silhouette of an individual state with a gold leaf heart lovingly applied by hand. Artist Katie Gastley has a limited number of states available in the series, and I’m hoping she’ll add more soon!
 
 
 
Available over at Rocket Ink!
Photo Credits: Rocket Ink
I haven’t shared any photos of Sophie recently, so I thought I’d end the week with a little update on my sweet little girl. She’s 2.5 months now (11 weeks to be exact), smiling up a storm, and interested in everything and everyone. She had a blast meeting new friends and family members over Thanksgiving weekend! I also hinted on twitter earlier this week that we’ve encountered some sleeping issues, so I’m one tired mama these days! Sophie is at the stage where she really wants to be awake for longer stretches but just can’t quite handle it, so we’re trying to find the right balance between awake time and nap time during the day so that we both minimize her meltdowns and can hopefully get her to sleep for longer stretches at night. I think I might do cartwheels the first night we get 6 or more hours out of her! Seriously. Anyway, this weekend we’re hoping to check out Holiday Heap in Baltimore and maybe even visit the National Aquarium (I’ve never been!). But in the meantime…
 
 
Photos by me via Instagram
…a few links for your weekend!
This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:
Designer Kristen Ekeland sent over these sophisticated birth announcements that she created for her best friend (and proud mama of a new baby girl). This sweet baby girl was named in memory of her grandfather, who sadly passed away just a month before she was born. Kristen faced the tough challenge of designing a birth announcement that was fitting for a baby and as a memoriam of her namesake. The resulting design is extremely touching and incredibly beautiful.
From Kristen: My best friend lost her father, John Casey, to cancer a month before she was due with her first baby girl. My friend and her father were extremely close. He was the most warm hearted, generous man I know and was very much like a second father to me. At his funeral, my friend announced that they would name their baby girl Casey after her grandfather. I was beyond touched to design Casey’s birth announcement. As her father held such an important place in my heart and memories, I was more than honored to create something special for them.
 
I wanted the design to be beautiful, sweet, and classic. I also wanted to make sure that everyone knew that Casey has been named after her grandfather and that his memory and love of life would carry on through this little girl. I thought the garland of spring flowers was the perfect symbol of the circle of life and chose a palette of canary yellow and warm gray that felt appropriate for a baby, but was sophisticated enough to serve as a memorial for such a wonderful man.
Thanks Kristen!
Design: Kristen Ekeland
Letterpress Printing: Letterpress Chicago
Photo Credits: Maggie Marlin
Happy Monday everyone! We’re starting the week with a fun modern wedding invitation from the talented team of Sofia and André of Brancoprata, a wedding design company based in Portugal. For this invitation, Sofia was inspired by the concept of organic romance. She started with a neutral color palette of kraft paper paired with black and white, then incorporated illustrated details for a sweet and modern design.
From Sofia: Our inspiration was a modern take on organic romance. We started with the idea of designing a simple garland for the names of the bride and groom. Silhouettes, graphic stripes, and playful fonts complete the design.
 
Since we were going for a modern look, stripes seemed perfect for the envelope containing the couple’s contacts! Here in Portugal we don’t use rsvp cards, so instead I paired a smaller envelope with a card that guests could use to write down messages for the bride and groom!
 
 
Thanks Sofia!
Check out the Designer Rolodex for more talÂented wedÂding inviÂtaÂtion designÂers and the real inviÂtaÂtions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!
Photo Credits: Brancoprata
Happy Friday everyone! I managed to come down with a nasty cold this week, which is still lingering despite my best efforts to chase it away with lots of soup and tea. Ick. Hopefully it’ll be gone by next week, and thankfully my husband has a three day weekend – because trying to care for an 8 week-old baby while sick? No fun. But in the meantime…
Caramel Apple Cider (I want like a million of these right now) via A Pastry Affair
…a few links for your weekend:
This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:
That’s it for me this week!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here on Monday! xoxo