Search Results for: calligraphy

{happy weekend!}

My oh my, after spending two of the last three weeks on the road, I am definitely looking forward to a relaxing weekend at home!  I’m excited to snuggle my cats, hang out with some friends, and otherwise do as little as possible this weekend.  I hope you have something a bit more exciting planned for yourselves!  But in the meantime…

Photo by me via instagram

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

A big welcome to the newest member of the Designer Rolodex – Campbell Raw Press!

As usual, we have a fun cocktail coming up for you this afternoon, so check back a bit later for the recipe!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here on Monday!  xoxo

DIY “Little Blue Box” Inspired Rubber Stamp Wedding Invitations

It’s the ladies of Anti­quaria, back with another cre­ative DIY project for you!  Today they’re sharing a wedding invitation tutorial inspired by the signature blue color of Tiffany & Co.

Have you ever felt the rush of excitement when a special friend, spouse, or loved one presents you with a gift packaged in the little blue box?  This wedding invitation suite was designed to elicit that feeling when your guest receives it in the mail.  Imagine their excitement when this feminine and traditional invitation finds its way into their mailbox.  This DIY is fairly simple yet the colors and packaging tie the whole thing together and give it a feeling of luxury.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step One: Cut your paper to size A6 (4.5″x6.25″).  Since this is a luxurious suite, we would suggest a thick high quality cotton watercolor paper.  Ink your stamp (we used our Vintage Calligraphy Invitation Stamp) thoroughly and center it over your card.  Press down moderately to make the print.  Too hard, the image may be blurry and too light and it may be splotchy.  Let dry.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step Two: In a similar fashion to printing the Invitation piece, you will now print the reply card.  For this piece, you will want to cut a 4bar (3.5″x5″) card out of the same paper used for the invitation.  Again, ink your stamp (we used our Vintage Calligraphy Reply Card stamp) thoroughly and make the print.  Let dry.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step Three: Using your return address stamp (we used our Calligraphy Accent Return Address stamp), stamp both the back flap of your A7 envelope and the front of your 4bar envelope.  This is such a great place to pinch pennies in your stationery budget as you are able to use one stamp for both envelopes and you will have it to use after the event is over!

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step Four: To add a little extra flourish to the suite, we’ve used regular round doilies as an envelope liner.  We love the way that the aqua peeks through the lace and think it would be so fun to be the recipient and have this surprise await us once the seal was broken.  To install the doily liners, you will use spray adhesive.  Make sure to do this outside (or in an extremely well ventilated room).  Spray the back of the doily with a light mist of adhesive.  Slide the doily into the envelope, making sure not to press until the doily is placed in its intended spot (as shown above).  Let them dry & cure overnight.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step Five:  Use a thin ribbon to tie the suite together.  This will keep the components together and give your guest the thrill of “unwrapping” your invitation.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Materials

Stamps:

Vintage Calligraphy Invitation stamp

Vintage Calligraphy Reply Card stamp

Calligraphy Accent Return Address stamp

Stamp Pad (we used black)

Heavy Watercolor Paper (for invitations & reply cards)

A6 Envelopes

4bar Envelopes

Ribbon, 1/8″ thickness

6″ Medallion Lace Paper Doilies

Spray Adhesive

Photo Credits: Antiquaria

{happy weekend!}

In all the hubbub of Alt last week, I kind of forgot about an important personal milestone – the anniversary of my husband’s deployment to Iraq.  He’s now been home as long as he was deployed, but I still wake up every day feeling grateful that he’s here.  Everything felt so chaotic and overwhelming this time last year; a feeling that continued up until the day he came home.  So if you know of anyone with a spouse or family member deployed overseas, give them a few extra hugs – I’m sure they would appreciate it.  I’m looking forward to enjoying a weekend here in DC before heading up to NYC on Sunday for the New York International Gift Fair and to help judge the 2012 Louie Awards.  But in the meantime…

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

A big welcome to the newest Designer Rolodex members!

As usual, we have a fun cocktail coming up for you this afternoon, so check back a bit later for the recipe!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here on Monday with some favorite finds from the Gift Fair! xoxo

Photo Credit: Madelene Lindqvist

Amanda + David’s Whimsical Accordion Fold Wedding Invitations

Amanda sent over the invitations from her wedding in Minnesota last summer – I absolutely adore the whimsical calligraphy and accordion fold layout!  Amanda worked with local stationers Watermark Stationery to create an invitation that was elegant yet non-traditional, ultimately settling on a sophisticated design with a playful pop-out for the main invitation.  The entire suite was letterpress printed in a single color and embellished with gorgeous calligraphy from Crystal Kluge.  So pretty!

 

From Amanda: The invitation sets the tone for a wedding, so we wanted to show our invited guests what type of event we had planned: formal, fun, glamorous and somewhat whimsical.  I worked with Gretchen Berry of Watermark Stationery in Excelsior, Minnesota to come up with a fun, unique way to present our wedding invitation.  We knew we didn’t want a traditional invitation; we wanted something unique, different and fun.  

 

Once we came up with a design that we loved, we had some of the text elements custom done by local calligrapher, Crystal Kluge.  We loved the combination of the whimsical, yet formal letterpress calligraphy paired with our over-sized main invitation.  The invitation was paired with a mini envelope and fold-out accordion invitation, reply and direction cards, and a dark gray outer envelope with white ink calligraphy – all tied together with a white silk ribbon.  It was truly our dream wedding invitation.

Thanks Amanda!

Design and Letterpress Printing: Gretchen Berry, Watermark Stationery
Calligraphy: Crystal Kluge

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

Photo Credits: Matt Blum Photography

Calligraphy Inspiration: Fat Orange Cat Studio

Ed Note: Happy Monday everyone!  This calligraphy post would normally have run last Thursday, but I couldn’t fit it in with my travel to Alt.  So instead we get to start the week off with some absolutely gorgeous calligraphy courtesy of Li from Fat Orange Cat Studio!

As Nole has recently shared some great posts about various printing processes, I thought it would be fun to see some of what goes into calligraphy.  And I couldn’t think of anyone better than Li Ward of Fat Orange Cat Studio to show us.  Li regularly shares her many calligraphy drafts with the readers of her blog.  I enjoy seeing the final product so much more when I know how many ways it could have turned out.  Li has many wonderful styles of writing and it’s lovely to see the nuances of each letter and how they can so easily change.  I was definitely not surprised to find that even her drafts are written beautifully! – Julie

Fat Orange Cat Studio chalk menu draft

Fat Orange Cat Studio chalk menu

From Li: “I wrote this with Chalk Pen on a foam board that was spray-painted with chalkboard paint.  I did a rough draft of it with pen on a piece of paper that was roughly the same dimension as the board to determine text placement.”

Fat Orange Cat Studios couple's stamp draft

Fat Orange Cat Studios couples stamp final

From Li: “For each of my wedding photography clients, I calligraph their names, scan them, and use the high-resolution scans to make rubber stamps.  I also use their scanned names on their customizable CD covers.”

Fat Orange Cat Studio wine list draft

Fat Orange Cat Studio wine list finished

“This wine list was done in the same fashion as the chalk menu, using Chalk Pen on some vinyl-covered board which was then framed.”

Fat Orange Cat Studio Logo draft

Fat Orange Cat Studio finished logo

From Li: “As you can see I letter quite a bit.  It’s a form of warm-up.”  A glimpse at the various approaches to a business card for A Creative Mint‘s Leslie Shewring. (Letterpress printing by Parrott Design Studio.)

Make sure you look through more of Fat Orange Cat Studio’s gorgeous calligraphy work, as well as her beautiful wedding and pet photography.

Thank you so much Li for sharing your work and process with us!

Photo Credits: Fat Orange Cat Studio