12/11/2017

Eucalyptus and Vellum Birthday Party Invitations

With the winter months upon us, these fresh and whimsical invitations are a fun deviation from the usual deeper hues of this season. Juliann Ford of Mint for Hue designed these eucalyptus and vellum birthday party invitations to celebrate her daughter’s first birthday. Don’t you simply love all the small details, especially the stamp and address formatting on the envelopes? The embossed details and gold leaf accents are perfect finishing touches!

From Juliann: For my daughter’s first birthday, I wanted to create an elegant yet chic invitation collection that was simple, youthful, and whimsical. Since her birthday lands on November 3rd, it’s the final days of fall leaves in Wisconsin, but not quite winter. Knowing I wanted to stay away from everything Fall, I chose to use bright whites, deep greens, and a pop of peachy-pink and dark purple to welcome the colder days ahead of us.

For the birthday invitations, I knew immediately that I wanted to include embossing to some degree and showcase my love of calligraphy and hand-lettering. Therefore, I kept the rest of the invite simple, only utilizing fonts and lettering on the actual invitation. I added a simple embossed border to the top and bottom of the invite to frame the content. To add interest to the whole piece, I wrapped the invitation in a vellum overlay with a soft hand-drawn eucalyptus wreath.

Since the invitation itself did not have any fancy wording, and I wanted to specifically include that it was her first birthday, I embossed a “1” on a tag and accented the corners with gold leaf foil detailing. I secured the tag to the invitation with a metallic gold thread to hold the entire invitation set together. I chose a soft peachy-pink envelope and designed floral blooms for the custom postage. To keep the entire piece clean & elegant, guest addresses were printed on each envelope, adjacent to the custom stamp. Lastly, I included a simple design on the back flap of the envelope, highlighting my daughter’s first birthday.

I love the simplicity of this invitation set, but there is also a lot of texture and depth that creates so much interest to this piece. These invitations are an exact representation of who my daughter is, and I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out.

Thanks, Juliann!

Design, calligraphy, & printing: Mint for Hue
Paper: Paper and Moore
Envelopes: Cards and Pockets
Custom Stamps: Zazzle

Photo Credits: Juliann Ford

12/11/2017

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday everyone! Normally I do these link round ups on Fridays, but we had an assembly at my girls’ school and the day got away from me. So I thought I’d save it for Monday instead! Did you have a good weekend? We got our first little snowfall on Saturday afternoon, and my girls were in HEAVEN. There’s a chance we might get a bit more later this week â€“ fingers crossed! But in the meantime…

…a few links for your Monday!

This California ranch is home to over 500 animals, and they just lost their entire ranch to the fires in the area. All the animals and people made it out safely, but you can support their recovery and rebuilding effort here.

Baby2Baby has also organized an Amazon registry so you can help by purchasing items for families that lost everything in the fires.

This DIY “gingerbread” house idea is absolutely genius

My dream winter coat! It’s pink! There are ruffles on the sleeves! Be still my heart.

Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2018. What are your thoughts?

Can’t stop watching this hilarious video

This dress would be so pretty for New Year’s Eve

Did you catch my little DIY advent calendar on Instagram? All you need is some watercolor paper, paint, and a star craft punch or a pair of scissors!

YOU GUYS. Have you seen this rainbow Christmas tree??? It’s incredible!

MAKE: Creamy sweet potato agnolotti

Last week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

New illustrated wallpapers for December!

Vintage-inspired dusty blue wedding invitations

Sweet and simple calligraphy baby announcements by Bourne Paper Co. and Anne Robin!

Winter wedding stationery ideas

Beautiful envelope inspiration

12/07/2017

Envelope Inspiration

I realized that I often share envelope inspiration from the #dailydoseofpaper hashtag on Instagram â€“ but I don’t really share those envelopes here. So today I’m fixing that! It’s such a joy to open up our mailboxes and find a hand addressed envelope â€“ even if you don’t have the skills of a professional calligrapher â€“ among all the bills, junk mail, and catalogues. Any time I see a colorful envelope, I know it’s going to be something good! And even when I’m browsing through envelopes on Instagram, I’m probably more likely to stop and comment on an envelope post than any other type of image. Envelopes jump out at me for different reasons: sometimes it’s color palette, sometimes it’s the gorgeously curated vintage stamps, sometimes it’s the lettering style, or even something else completely. Today I’m definitely noticing a color theme in this round up, from terra cotta envelopes (so obsessed with this color right now) and brown walnut ink to deep navy and dark green. So much pretty!

Gorgeous walnut ink on handmade paper envelopes â€“ just look at those deckled edges! â€“ by Hello Maurelle

Ooooh copper envelopes with white brush lettering by Bare Ink Co.

Gorgeous green brush lettering with floral stamps for these baby shower invitations by Mary Kate Moon

Navy blue and lilac has to be one of my all-time favorite color combinations â€“ and that wax seal! Calligraphy by Alison Vaz Designs with art direction by Sincerely, Jackie Paper

A modern take on classic black and white from Willow Wynn

When the postage stamps become artwork by Mary Kate Moon

Loving this gorgeous dusty navy blue with white ink by Bare Ink Co.

This hunter green is an unusual envelope color choice â€“ and is just so, so stunning â€“ by P + Co. Design Studio

Gold ink on dark blue envelopes is always a good idea â€“ by Twinkle & Toast

What color envelopes are you loving right now???

p.s. Vellum Inspiration and Creative Wedding Menu Ideas

12/05/2017

Sweet and Simple Calligraphy Baby Announcements

Alright, prepare yourself for some seriously sweet baby announcements! We’re loving the combination of a colorful patterned envelope liner and a unique paper size from Alana of Bourne Paper Co.’s â€“ she made these sweet and simple calligraphy baby announcements for her daughter Peyton! This is truly a gorgeous welcome into the world, with custom calligraphy from Anne Robin and a patterned envelope liner inspired by textiles in Peyton’s nursery.

From Alana: To celebrate the birth of our daughter, Peyton, I wanted to design a birth announcement that was simple and sweet with some subtle sentimental touches. Peyton’s nursery is decorated in a color palette of bright pinks and soft blues including several Hmong and mudcloth patterned pillows. I decided I wanted her birth announcement to be a complement to her nursery â€“ modern and clean but with some bright and colorful accents.

The announcement card focused on one of our favorite newborn photos of Peyton taken by The DeJaureguis photography team. I also incorporated hand lettering by Anne Robin. The DeJaureguis team photographed our wedding and Anne did the calligraphy for our save the dates and wedding invitations. Getting to incorporate both of their work into our daughter’s birth announcement felt like a very special and personal touch.

The announcement text was letterpress printed in black ink (as you can tell from our save the dates, I’m a sucker for classic black and white letterpress). I used Crane Lettra in Fluorescent White. I love the textural feel and the way it makes the impression of letterpress stand out.

To add a pop of color, I created a bright blue and pink envelope liner featuring a Hmong-inspired pattern. I also incorporated a hint of the pattern into the address labels. The announcement was finished with a light kraft envelope, a nod to the weathered oak wood of her nursery furniture.

On a personal note, when I was born my paternal grandmother (a talented painter and calligrapher) created my birth announcements. Both of my grandmothers were creative spirits who fostered that same sense of creativity in me. Getting to create my daughter’s birth announcements felt like a fitting tribute to these two wonderful women. I look forward to sharing their stories with my daughter one day.

Thanks Alana!

Design: Bourne Paper Co.
Calligraphy: Anne Robin
Newborn Photography: The DeJaureguis

Bourne Paper Co. is a member of the Designer Rolodex â€“ you can see more of their beautiful work right here or visit the real inviÂtaÂtions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Bourne Paper Co.

12/04/2017

Vintage Inspired Dusty Blue Calligraphy Wedding Invitations

We simply love it when people stick to the classics and execute an elegant suite to the perfection. Raymond Ramirez-Manzo by KidGolightly Calligraphy designed these stunning vintage-inspired dusty blue wedding invitations with dainty calligraphy detailing. Deckled edges, spot illustrations, and stunning ribbon accents: these invitations are simply darling!

From Raymond: I love creating custom wedding invitation designs for ladies and gents on their big day. These invitations pay homage to the very first invitations that I designed four years ago. My mom asked me if I could create a design for their Pearl Wedding Anniversary. At that time, I was in marketing and had no idea what to do. Little did I know, that moment would lead me to my wildest dreams coming true.

So here’s the story: While doing my research regarding invitations, there was a sense of unexplainable thrill slowly filling up my body and that lead me to discover this art called calligraphy: I knew about it but it didn’t dawn on me that a regular person could do it. That discovery shook my soul. From then on, every fiber of my body knew that this was the career path I wanted to pursue. Fast forward 4 years, finally realizing the perfect branding and doing well in my first year doing calligraphy full time. The idea behind this design was to re-create that wedding invitation suite and pay homage to the invitation that started it all.

With my aesthetics, I always thrive to make it feel romantic and timeless, so I wanted to breathe that same vibe into this particular suite. I also wanted it to have structure, so I played with lines in the layout to match the serif font, embossing those lines for added subtle texture. The heart of the design is the couple’s names in my signature calligraphy style, along with an illustration of a Villa on top of a hill. I wanted the design to look effortless, yet fancy.

The invitation is printed on 100% cotton rag handmade paper from Fabulous Fancy Pants, leaving the natural deckled edges untouched for that organic textural element. The same handmade paper envelope was used for the main invitation. I used a Mist colored envelope a with euro flap for the partner envelope for the reply card, with the return address calligraphed as well. For this suite specifically, Little Postage House curated a romantic collection of vintage stamps that I think fits it perfectly. The wax seal stamp from Saint Signora added some old world feel as a beautiful finishing touch.

I am so happy with how everything turned out. Sydney captured everything in film, while Alisha and Bethany added some floral magic to this shoot. The whole thing was extra special and it felt like I came full circle!

Thanks, Raymond!

Design: KidGolightly Calligraphy
Florals: Native Bloom Floral
Postage stamps: Little Postage House
Paper: Fabulous Fancy Pants

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more talÂented wedÂding inviÂtaÂtion designÂers and the real inviÂtaÂtions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Sydney Tolifson Photography