Happy Weekend!

Happy Friday everyone! It’s peak bloom for DC’s cherry blossom trees right now – the blossoms are everywhere and so, so, so pretty. I could just stare at them all day. For those of you celebrating this weekend, I wish you a happy Easter! We’ll be hunting for these tropical leaf eggs, these pink and gold eggs, and these pale pink marbled eggs. But in the meantime…

Happy Cactus Designs Foliage Embroidery / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Image by Happy Cactus Designs via Instagram

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

That’s it for me this week! Check back in just a bit for this week’s cocktail recipe! I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here on Monday! xoxo

Big Sur Watercolor Wedding Invitations

If you’ve ever seen pictures of Big Sur, California – or been lucky enough to visit – you know that the gorgeous blue green water is one of the area’s most striking features. When Becca from Suite Paperie set out to create invitations for a wedding in Big Sur, she incorporated blue and green hand painted watercolor washes to honor the beauty of the wedding location. Becca paired the invitation suite with nature-inspired kraft paper envelopes. So pretty!

Big Sur Watercolor Wedding Invitations by Suite Paperie / Oh So Beautiful Paper

From Becca: When Katie and Rick approached me for their wedding invitations, we knew we needed to design something that did justice to the overwhelming beauty of their wedding location: Big Sur, California. The double-thick Mohawk paper is flanked on both sides by a digitally printed design that features a rich, hand-painted watercolor wash that evokes images of rich pooling water. We chose modern block lettering to keep the suite from appearing too fussy, which also allowed us to focus on the rich design inherent in the color play.

Big Sur Watercolor Wedding Invitations by Suite Paperie / Oh So Beautiful Paper

A watercolor overlay in a complementary color added interesting dimension to the custom map and schedule of events for this destination wedding. Wanting to keep it natural, the couple opted for an RSVP postcard digitally printed on brown kraft – the minimalistic design includes a Monterey Cypress tree mimicking the forestry of the area (one that we custom drew in our studio specifically for the couple) and simple icon meal choices on the back.

Big Sur Watercolor Wedding Invitations by Suite Paperie / Oh So Beautiful Paper

The entire woodland suite is tied with cotton twine, affixed with a wedding website tag printed on fine wood paper, and tucked sweetly into a crisp white envelope.

Big Sur Watercolor Wedding Invitations by Suite Paperie / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Thanks Becca!

Design and Styling: Suite Paperie

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photography: Lindsay Nathanson

Cuba Libre – and Happy National Cocktail Day!

I can never keep up with national food holidays, but National Cocktail Day? That I can do. And with warmer days on the horizon, I’m looking forward to getting back to chilled cocktails in highball glasses full of ice. So for National Cocktail Day we decided to celebrate with a bonus cocktail recipe for the week – a classic highball cocktail recipe that is super easy to recreate on a hot day: the Cuba Libre!

Cuba Libre Recipe / Oh So Beautiful Paper

As you’ll see in the recipe below, the Cuba Libre is basically a rum and coke with limes and plenty of ice. A classic combination. But you can also dress up that combination by adding your favorite bitters, fresh mint leaves, some extra lime juice, or even a favorite simple syrup. So when Keurig reached out about trying their brand new KOLD drinkmaker, we immediately thought of the Cuba Libre as the perfect fit!

Cuba Libre Recipe / Oh So Beautiful Paper

The Cuba Libre

8 oz Keurig KOLD Red Barn Craft Soda

2 oz rum

Half a lime

1/4 oz ginger-lime simple syrup (optional)

Muddle the lime in a highball glass, then add ice, rum, Keurig KOLD Red Barn Craft Soda, and simple syrup. Give it a stir and enjoy!

Cuba Libre Recipe / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Like the original Keurig (hot), the Keurig KOLD delivers on-demand beverages right at home – this time at the perfectly chilled temperature of 39 degrees. And each KOLD pod contains its own carbonation, so you don’t have to worry about CO2 canisters. For our Cuba Libre, we used the Cane Cola from Red Barn Craft Soda. The pure sugar cane in the cola is the perfect match for a Cuba Libre. I’d also love to try this combination of ingredients with the Persian Lime Seltzer instead of Cane Cola – I think it would be so refreshing!

Cuba Libre Recipe / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Keurig kindly sent me one of their new KOLD machines for review. All content and opinions are my own.

Modern Neon Pink and Yellow Save the Dates

There are so many things to love about these modern neon pink and yellow save the dates from Lily of Lavender & Mint! All that bright color, modern floral patterns inspired by the Otomi dresses that the bridesmaids will wear to the rehearsal dinner, and absolutely gorgeous envelopes with vintage stamps and calligraphy from Blue Eye, Brown Eye! I also love that Lily printed the save the dates to have a diamond shape appearance instead of the traditional horizontal or square shape – such a fun twist!

Modern Neon Pink and Yellow Save the Dates by Lavender and Mint / Oh So Beautiful Paper

From Lily: It doesn’t get much better than a big New Orleans wedding and this wedding is sure to be a PARTY! While the wedding will be a traditional evening black tie event, the bride and her mother wanted a save the date that was far from traditional.

Modern Neon Pink and Yellow Save the Dates by Lavender and Mint / Oh So Beautiful Paper

The wedding is a winter affair, so we decided to bring color to the occasion to let guests know that even though it isn’t quite time for Mardi Gras, the wedding will still be a vibrant New Orleans celebration. The bridesmaids will be wearing colorful Mexican Floral Otomi dresses for the rehearsal dinner so we used those patterns as inspiration for the save the date design. We chose pink, orange and yellow as our colors and used neon ink for the letterpress printing.

Modern Neon Pink and Yellow Save the Dates by Lavender and Mint / Oh So Beautiful Paper

The save the date is printed in a diamond shape to skew even further from tradition. We used 3-ply stock so that the impression from the letterpress could be deep. My favorite is the confetti inspired 3-color letterpress envelope liner that shouts PARTY! when the recipients open their mail. The bride & groom are both from Louisiana but currently live in Texas and wanted an extra personal touch to the save the date. We accomplished that with a series of vintage stamps with colors that fit the suite wonderfully. The envelopes are oversized 7.5” square envelopes with incredible neon pink calligraphy from Blue Eye Brown Eye.

Modern Neon Pink and Yellow Save the Dates by Lavender and Mint / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Thanks Lily!

Design: Lavender & Mint
Envelope Calligraphy: Lauren Essl of Blue Eye Brown Eye Calligraphy
Printing: Littleford Letterpress

Lavender & Mint is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can check out more of Lily’s beautiful work right here or visit the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Lucy Cuneo Photography