{happy weekend!}

Happy Friday everyone!  I’m super excited for this weekend – tomorrow is Crafty Bastards, the DC area’s biggest craft fair!  Is anyone going?  I go every year and always have the best time wandering all the different booths at the show.  I can’t wait!  But in the meantime…

 

Photo by me.  A few fall flowers and some fresh basil that I picked up at the farmer’s market yesterday. The basil is such a lovely addition to the bouquet!

…a few links for your weekend!

I’m also super excited to announce that the lovely Jackie of 42 Pressed is celebrating her return from maternity leave (you might remember their adorable baby shower invitations) with a fun promotion!  Jackie is offering free save the dates to couples who order their wedding invitation suite from 42 Pressed.  Just enter code RILEYKICKOFF when ordering!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

Welcome to the newest members of the Designer Rolodex!

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

Papel Picado Wedding Invitations from Avie Designs

I’ve always loved the papel picado marriage announcements that Avis from Avie Designs made for her own wedding a couple of years ago – and I’m so happy to see that Avis recently added a papel picado-inspired design to her wedding invitation collection!  The new lasercut papel picado invitation design is available in a range of color options and as part of complete invitation suite, including save the dates, RSVP cards, programs, and escort cards.  So pretty!

You can see the full suite and more details over in the Avie Designs shop right here!

Photo Credits: Avie Designs

National Stationery Show 2011 – Part 9

Today we’re all about weddings – or at least wedding invitations – from the National Stationery Show.  Several designers had booths either wholly or largely devoted to wedding invitations and albums, and of course I was like a kid in a candy store gawking at such lovely wedding stationery.  After making her NSS debut last year, Meredith from Regas was back with a booth dedicated entirely to her new wedding invitation album.  I’m loving all of the little design details throughout the collection, from literary-inspired details to crisp blind emboss patterns and bright pops of color.

Love those pops of (almost-neon) peach!

The suite above was inspired by Victorian-era literature – so library chic!

Regas

The ladies over at The Lettered Olive also had a brand new and absolutely stunning wedding invitation album, with their signature blend of classic southern style and charm.

In addition to a gorgeous wedding album, they also had one of the coziest booths at the show… well, it was really more like a tent – look at that roof!

And please forgive my terrible photo, but I just can’t get over how cool this is – the entire wedding album comes on an iPad along with samples of the actual invitations contained in the album.  The ladies gave me a demonstration at the booth and it’s clear they’ve put a lot of thought, time, and effort into creating an album app that is both easy to navigate and contains a ton of beautiful invitation eye candy.  Well done ladies!

The Lettered Olive

Avis from Avie Designs also premiered a brand new wedding invitation album, along with holiday cards, calendars, party accessories, and imprintable invitations perfect for a low key or last minute party.  My favorite invitation is the papel picado-inspired design based on the invitation from Avis’s own wedding a couple of years ago.

Avie Designs

The team over at Twig + Fig are the masters of unique wedding and party invitations, including some awesome Bar and Bat Mitzvah invitations, incorporating non-traditional materials – from acrylic invitations to cork with gold foil.  So cool!

A license plate Save the Date!

Beautiful calligraphy from Betsy Dunlap

Twig + Fig

Amber from Flywheel Press had a beautiful booth – all chalkboard paint and hand drawn chalk decorations!  Seriously pretty – and full of lots of pretty paper, from wedding invitations to note cards.

Love the split fountain wedding invitations!

Flywheel Press

Jodi from Paisley Tree Press had a booth full of letterpress goodies – from note cards to calendars to coasters, but of course I was particularly smitten with the wedding invitations.  Red accents with a blind impression and letterpress calligraphy?  Yes, please!

Paisley Tree Press

Katrina from Paper Mill Designs sent over a sneak peek of the greeting cards making their debut at the show, but she also exhibited some fun and modern wedding invitations in her booth!

Paper Mill Designs

Of course you’ll remember the gorgeous new Dauphine Press wedding invitation album from the sneak peek last week – it was so great to see the full collection in person at the show!

Dauphine Press

The Gwyneth Paige Couture Letterpress booth was also full of pretty wedding invitations, along with a brand new Bar/Bat Mitzvah album!

 

 

Gwyneth Paige Couture Letterpress

 

Finally (at least for today), Robin from Meant to be Sent, with a collection of patterned and travel-inspired invitations and imprintables!

Meant to Be Sent

I’ll be back with more coverage from the National Stationery Show tomorrow!

Photo Credits: Flywheel Press, Paisley Tree Press, Paper Mill Designs, Dauphine Press, Gwyneth Paige, and Meant to be Sent by Brian Tropiano Photography for Oh So Beautiful Paper, all others by me.  Please ask permission prior to re-posting.

National Stationery Show 2011 – Part 6

I’m back with more goodies from the 2011 National Stationery Show!  Are you all enjoying the recaps from this year’s show as much as I’m enjoying putting them together?  I hope so, because there’s still a lot more to come!  Toronto-based Pantry Press made a return to the Stationery Show after a 7-year absence, and I was thrilled to see their beautiful letterpress work up close.

Loving this collaboration of letterpress imprintable invitations and note cards featuring Lena Corwin’s artwork

Pantry Press

Dear Hancock displayed the most adorable collection of illustrated note cards and art prints – from sweet Father’s Day cards to thank you cards to an adorable papel picado love note card that was my particular favorite.

Dear Hancock

Hammerpress is another perennial show favorite; I always love the layered colors and delicate letterpress texture in their card and calendar designs.  I’m super excited to see the tear-away wall calendars making a return this year along with lots of other new designs!

Hammerpress

Artist Leah Duncan wasn’t technically at the Stationery Show – but I couldn’t resist including her in these round ups.  Leah exhibited at an art licensing show called Surtex, where she displayed her illustrated patterns and collaborative projects.

How awesome are the Keds with Leah’s illustrations?!  I want a pair!

Another cute project – fabric business card holders

Leah Duncan

The Sweet Bella booth was chock full of awesome office stationery, from notebooks to washi tape, along with bright note cards and travel-inspired post cards.

Love message bottles!

The fabric calendar actually unravels – so cool!

Sweet Bella

For those of you with a slightly more sarcastic sense of humor, you’ll adore the cards from Walk Up Press.  I’m also loving the customizable letterpress prints and less snarky love note cards.

How cute are those letterpress lunch bags?!  And I’m loving the personalized letterpress prints as a wedding or engagement keepsake, or even as an alternative guest book.

Walk Up Press

Check back tomorrow for more from the 2011 National Stationery Show!

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Laser Cutting with Candyspotting

Candyspotting is a laser cutting studio based in Portland, Oregon and founded by Sarah Holbrook in 2009.  Though Sarah cuts many different mediums, she tends to focus her efforts on paper.  The laser’s ability to both cut and etch allows for some stunning results and it never ceases to amaze me how detailed the final product can turn out.  The fine art foray into laser cutting paper is a fairly new trend.  Historically, laser cutters have been used for more industrial applications.  It’s very exciting to see more artists and designers using this medium – I love discovering new stationery lines that are working with cut paper.

Sarah was kind enough to cut the Oh So Beautiful Paper logo (featuring calligraphy by Bryn from Paperfinger) as a demonstration of the laser’s intricacy.  Since Candyspotting specializes in cutting paper, Sarah is an expert at calculating the laser’s settings for the cleanest cut and the least amount of residual burning.  The end results are simply breathtaking.

OSBP laser cut

OSBP laser cut 4

This piece took over five minutes to cut.  If you are interested in reading more about the technical side of the process, be sure to visit Candyspotting’s blog.

Rhode Montijo

Rhode Montijo’s papel picado style Skeletown card will soon be for sale at the very first Latino Comics Expo in San Francisco next month.

Saelee Oh

Saelee Oh’s limited edition cut (this piece is sold out) “All Together Now”. The equally stunning “Infinite Path” is currently available in Saelee’s shop.

Béatrice Coron

Béatrice Coron creates the majority of her paper cuts by hand, but has recently begun offering a small selection of laser cut pieces. “BZCT” is available in a numbered edition of 500.

Squirrel Loves Nut

Squirrel Loves Nut is my own small line of cards. As a rep for so many talented designers, I’m inspired on a daily basis – it’s been a treat to have my very own creative outlet.

Wedding Invitation

This wedding invitation, designed by Candyspotting, combines laser cutting and etching.

Business Card

Catchy business card design, by Brian Behrens.

Scraps

Laser cut paper scraps are particularly cute.

Thank You cards

Test cuts for a Thank You card designed by Candyspotting.

Many thanks to Sarah for allowing me to invade her studio.

“Laser Cutting with Candyspotting” is a guest post by Carina Murray of Crow & Canary.