Happy Weekend!

Happy Friday everyone! Sophie and I are up in New Jersey for the weekend to celebrate my dad’s 75th birthday! We took the train up yesterday afternoon and our arrival was a total surprise for my dad. Then my sister showed up and also surprised him! She flew in all the way from California, and we’re all excited to spend a few days together to celebrate our dad’s big milestone. But in the meantime…

The Lovely Ave Paper Flower Bouquet via Instagram / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Paper flower bouquet by The Lovely Ave via Instagram / Photo by Elisha Braithwaite

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

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

The World of Illustration: Kelsey Oseid

I’m so excited to share the work of our first illustrator here on The World of Illustration: Kelsey Oseid. Kelsey is a freelance illustrator and artist located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her work first caught my eye on Instagram when I scrolled by one of her beautiful moth illustrations. I particularly love her use of colors and shapes along with her choice in subject matter. Kelsey was kind enough to speak to us a bit about her profession and personal inspirations. – Julie

The World of Illustration: Kelsey Oseid / Oh So Beautiful Paper

What is your background?

I took lots of art classes growing up, and my father, who is a watercolor painter, taught me to paint as well. I also have a degree in Visual Communications from Loyola University Chicago.

How did you begin your journey of becoming an illustrator?

I’ve really always wanted to be an illustrator. When I graduated college I worked for a publishing company as a production artist for a while, but I craved more creative outlets. I left my steady job to become a “piecemeal creative” freelancer, taking design and art related jobs wherever I could get them. Finally in the last year I’ve been able to focus primarily on my illustration work, which I love!

The World of Illustration: Kelsey Oseid / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Who or what inspires you?

A lot of my work is about the natural world. So of course, nature is an inspiration! And I absolutely love studying natural history — museums, nature documentaries, books — I am fascinated by the ways humans have tried to interpret and connect to the natural world. Also, David Attenborough is my hero.

What do you love most about your profession?

So many things — getting to make stuff every day, creating pretty things, learning about my subject matter, feeling that loving feeling for my career! I am very lucky.

The World of Illustration: Kelsey Oseid / Oh So Beautiful Paper

What sort of advice would you offer someone who is thinking of pursuing or trying to advance their career in illustration?

The one thing that has had the biggest impact on my career and business has been social networking (big surprise there, right?). I started a project in 2015 to post a new piece of art on social media every day, and I think I’ve landed more jobs from that project than from any other avenue. Also, to just make a lot of work. Try to illustrate every day!

The World of Illustration: Kelsey Oseid / Oh So Beautiful Paper

The World of Illustration: Kelsey Oseid / Oh So Beautiful Paper

To see more of Kelsey’s work, follow her on Instagram for a dose of illustration inspiration in your feed, or visit her shop for your very own Kelsey Oseid print or original painting!

Delicate Black and White Leaf Wedding Invitations

Black and white is undoubtedly the most classic of color palettes, but it’s also a bit unexpected for a botanical-inspired invitation design! These delicate black and white leaf wedding invitations from Anastasia Marie were created for a spring garden wedding in Oregon. Anastasia paired an illustrated leaf pattern with a whimsical script – all printed in classic black on off-white paper. So simple and pretty!

Delicate Black and White Leaf Wedding Invitations by Anastasia Marie / Oh So Beautiful Paper

From Anastasia: These invitations were created for a simple outdoor garden wedding in Oregon. The invitation design features a simple leafy twig pattern, a flowing script typeface for the names, and a classic and straightforward serif typeface for the body text. We incorporated one little illustrated piece to tie everything together.

Delicate Black and White Leaf Wedding Invitations by Anastasia Marie / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Delicate Black and White Leaf Wedding Invitations by Anastasia Marie / Oh So Beautiful Paper

The leaf illustration was drawn up digitally in Illustrator, and given a subtle hand drawn look to bring the design down to a homemade feel. We made a patterned version of it for the back of the invitation to bring life to something that otherwise would have been left blank. It made the invitation feel more garden-y and whimsical.

Delicate Black and White Leaf Wedding Invitations by Anastasia Marie / Oh So Beautiful Paper

When it came to the color palette, we looked to the bride and groom’s wedding attire for inspiration. The bride wore an ivory and champagne-hued dress and the groom wore a classic black suit, so we printed on smooth ivory paper with classic black ink.

Delicate Black and White Leaf Wedding Invitations by Anastasia Marie / Oh So Beautiful Paper

We then tied up the printed pieces with metallic gold and black twine and slipped it all into shimmering gold envelopes for a touch of added elegance. Lastly, we sealed the envelopes with black striped washi tape. Washi tape is a perfect way to add a little bit more personality to an invitation suite, especially if you’re on a budget, and was a great fit with the whimsical feel of this particular invitation suite.

Delicate Black and White Leaf Wedding Invitations by Anastasia Marie / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Thanks Anastasia!

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

Photo Credits: Anastasia Marie Cards & Stationery

Monochromatic Illustrated Floral Wedding Invitations

I love big, colorful watercolor floral illustrations as much as the next girl, but sometimes it’s refreshing to see something more restrained. And while these monochromatic illustrated floral wedding invitations from Jill at Art + Alexander are pared down in color, they don’t sacrifice anything when it comes to elegance and romance. I love that Jill used a calligraphy pen and nib to create the floral illustrations – and how pretty are the deckled edges on that Cartiera Magnani paper??

Monochromatic Illustrated Floral Wedding Invitations by Art + Alexander / Oh So Beautiful Paper

From Jill: I wanted this invitation to be elegant, romantic, organic, and pared down. As an invitation designer, I get a lot of requests for my watercolor florals, which I love creating – but I wanted to try something a bit different for this invitation design.

Monochromatic Illustrated Floral Wedding Invitations by Art + Alexander / Oh So Beautiful Paper

I chose to create the floral illustration using a calligraphy pen and India ink. I wanted the crisp line that a calligraphy pen offers. I opted for a monochromatic design to really keep things simple, allowing the eye to focus attention on the calligraphy and florals. I incorporated pops of color in the invitation suite through the antique postage stamps I used on the envelopes, which I found in an old steamer trunk that belonged to my Grandmother.

Monochromatic Illustrated Floral Wedding Invitations by Art + Alexander / Oh So Beautiful Paper

The invitations were digitally printed on Cartiera Magnani paper, which has long been a favourite of mine and offers a very rich, pulpy, organic feel. I decided on a dark gray envelope to add a touch of contrast, and used white ink for the addresses to pull everything together. These envelopes were sourced from Reid’s Stationer’s here in Calgary, and the address calligraphy ink is white India ink.

Monochromatic Illustrated Floral Wedding Invitations by Art + Alexander / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Monochromatic Illustrated Floral Wedding Invitations by Art + Alexander / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Monochromatic Illustrated Floral Wedding Invitations by Art + Alexander / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Thanks Jill!

Design and calligraphy: Art + Alexander

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

Photographed by: Shannon Yau