11/09/2015

How to Use Vintage Stamps

I love, love, LOVE using vintage postage stamps on envelopes. They add a little something special to everything from wedding invitations to dinner and cocktail party invitations to baby announcements. Vintage stamps offer a wonderful opportunity to represent your personal style, whether chosen thematically or by color palette. And since unused postage never expires, there are endless options to suit every type of occasion â€“ from a formal black tie wedding to a casual backyard gathering. Here are a few of my tips for how to use vintage stamps â€“ plus, I put a collection together with some of my favorite vintage stamps that you can use in your own projects!

Photo Credit: La Happy Design & Calligraphy

1. Add it Up

First things first: vintage postage must add up to current postage rates. While searching and shopping for stamps, make sure that you have one stamp worth at least 25Â¢ (or more!). Wedding invitations and birth announcements mailed in a larger envelope usually require a minimum of 71Â¢ postage. The 3Â¢ and 8Â¢ stamps are great for rounding out a color palette or subject theme, but youâ€™ll need a 29Â¢ or 33Â¢ stamp in the mix to make up the difference in the total postage amount.

Photo Credit: Diana McGregor Photography / Calligraphy by Wondrous Whimsy

Photo Credit: Stephanie Collins Photography / Calligraphy by Anne Robin / Vintage Postage by Underwood Letterpress

2. Plan it Out

Plan your stamp arrangement ahead of time to make sure you leave room for an address â€“ and to maximize visual impact. Some stamps look best in a straight row across the top of an envelope, while others look best in a puzzle piece arrangement in the corner. It all depends on the stamps you select!

Calligraphy: The Weekend Type / Floral Styling: The Moss & Rose / Styling: Two Be Wed / Photo Credits: Korie Lynn Photography

Photo Credit: Stephanie Collins Photography / Calligraphy by Anne Robin / Vintage Postage by Underwood Letterpress

3. Color Theory

The easiest way to group vintage stamps together? By color! Let your wedding color palette guide your vintage stamp selections and your envelopes will shine! You can even address the envelopes using ink in a complementary color to make your envelopes even more special and complete the overall look.

Photo Credit: Antiquaria Design Studio

4. Personal Geography

I love it when couples share a glimpse of their personal history â€“ and geography! â€“ in their vintage stamp selections. It can be as simple as a stamp with the city or state where the couple met, along with stamps of their home state. Perhaps they grew up in Montana and Texas but met in college in DC. When placed together on an envelope, these stamps tell such a fun story!

Photo Credit: Coral Pheasant

Photo Credit: Lauren Chism Fine Papers

5. Stick to a Theme

Love science? Have a passion for architecture? Maybe you’re both crazy for horses, or you met while working on a political campaign. Whatever your interests, let them shine in your envelope postage! You can find vintage postage stamps for practically any topic or theme, from travel to modern art.

Photo Credit: Blue Eye Brown Eye Calligraphy

6. Pretty Botanicals

If themes aren’t your thing, go with flowers! My favorite vintage stamps feature floral designs â€“ and they look so incredibly beautiful when grouped together on a wedding invitation envelope! My favorite floral stamps are the Mississippi and Alabama statehood stamps, along with this love stamp.

p.s. Where to find (and buy) vintage stamps and more inspiration for mixing vintage stamps

This post was created in partnership with eBay. All content and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that make Oh So Beautiful Paper possible!

11/09/2015

Miami Architecture-Inspired Wedding Invitations

Happy Monday everyone! Designer Kate Holgate is an absolute master at blending modern and vintage-inspired details, and these wedding invitations are no exception! Kate designed these invitations for a recent wedding in Miami, combining custom patterns inspired by the architectural details of the wedding venue with modern type and color choices. How gorgeous are those blind impression patterns??

From Kate:Â Dane and Jenn are a lovely couple recently marriedÂ in Miami. I really enjoyed getting to know them as we collaborated on their invitation suite. Not only were they incredibly gracious, they had impeccable taste and fantasticÂ ideas.Â The location of the ceremonyÂ â€‹is a gorgeous historic Italian estate on Biscayne Bay called the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. The villa isÂ a National Historic Landmark bursting with visual inspiration â€” fromÂ beautiful, ornate architectural details to gorgeous flowers and fountains.

Dane and Jenn wanted a sophisticatedÂ design that incorporated elements from the pastÂ yet still lookedÂ modern. To accomplish this, I designed several custom patterns inspired by interior details of the villa (floors, stained-glass windows, tiles)Â paired withÂ modern typography and hand-written accents. I used aÂ clean color palette ofÂ bright white andÂ grays withÂ pops of blush and sea foam green to balance the heavily-textured design.

Boxcar Press did an outstanding job withÂ intricate letterpress work andÂ Miami calligrapher Natalia OtaloraÂ added her special touch to the envelopes. I couldn’t be happier with the elegantÂ results. Cheers to Dane and Jenn!

Thanks Kate!

Design: Kate Holgate

Save the Date Printing: HiTech Color

Wedding Invitation Letterpress Printing: Boxcar Press

Calligraphy: Natalia Otalora

Check out theÂ Designer RolodexÂ for more talÂentedÂ wedÂding inviÂtaÂtion designÂersÂ andÂ theÂ real inviÂtaÂtions galleryÂ for moreÂ wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits:Â Kate Holgate

11/06/2015

Happy Weekend!

Happy Friday everyone! We’ve definitely entered cold and flu season here in DC â€“ my entire family has been through the ringer over the last week! Today it’s poor little Alice’s turn to have a cold. So I’m off to snuggle my sweet almost toddler and hope that she feels better soon!Â But in the meantime…

Lettering by Jess LevitzÂ via Instagram

…a few links for your weekend!

Such a fun idea for an advent calendar
Love this new collaboration betweenÂ Design Crush x fashionABLE!
And now I want to move to North London
It’s officially impossible for me to resist a pair of gold shoes (especially gold ankle boots)
Congrats to Sycamore Street Press on their new curated goods shop!
I love everything about this coat
MAKE: Double Chocolate Banana Bread
My favorite pin of the week

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

Gorgeous new illustrated wallpapers for your phone and computer
Still in love with these DIY marbled holiday place cards!
What to grow in a cocktail garden
Quick Pick: Sugar Paper for Target 2015
We kicked off the 2016 calendar round up with a few illustrated calendars!
Host a pie baking party!
How cool are these dinner party invitations??
An awesome Amy Poehler quote in the casual script font family Lifehack for this week’s Well Said Type
Finding the Paper: Type Twenty Seven
Wedding invitations inspired by Moonrise Kingdom and printed almost entirely with rubber stamps!
On productivity and daily routines

Thatâ€™s it for me this week! Check back a bit later for this weekâ€™s cocktail recipe â€“ and I hope you allÂ have a wonderful weekend! I’ll see you back here on Monday!Â xoxo

11/05/2015

Rustic Moonrise Kingdom-Inspired Wedding Invitations

Rubber stamps are such an underutilized method for printing wedding invitations! Michael of Anticipate Invitations created these Moonrise Kingdom-inspired wedding invitations for a rustic wedding in Maine â€“ and almost the entire suite is printed using rubber stamps! I love the attention to detail in these wedding invitations, right down to the vintage postcard hexagon tag!

From Michael:Â Alexis and Brian drew inspiration for their custom wedding invitation from Wes Anderson films (think Moonrise Kingdom and Grand Budapest Hotel) and the vibe of their rustic venue, Josias River Farm in Cape Neddick, Maine. It had to be colorfulâ€”but not bold, vintageâ€”but not campy, and modernâ€”but not unwelcoming. Although with the venue being a farm it could skew rusticly romantic, the couple requested something a bit more unexpected. We were happy to accept the challenge and the couple was a breath of fresh air to work with. They were able to articulate what it was they wanted their guests to feel, and that was a great starting point from which to jump from.

Since materials were just as important as the design to the couple, we turned to the beautiful handmade quality that only rubber stamps can give for printing. The printing was done on large sheets of paper and then later cut down to size so that less precision was needed to ensure they were printed straight. Aside from the full-color vintage postcard hexagon card, all the pieces were printed using this method.

The invitation card was printed on pale blue paper, backed with an off-white, speckled recycled paper for thickness, and then printed using an extra-large custom rubber stamp. The coral RSVP postcard was cleverly written in a Mad Libs style and was also backed with a contrasting paper color to give it rigidity and cohesiveness. All the pieces were packaged together with coral bakers twine and a hexagon card made from a vintage Maine postcard. A brown kraft pastry bag stood in for an envelope and added just the right amount of quirkiness and vintage flair.

Return address labels were printed on the same blue green paper as the invitation and sealed the pastry bag closed for mailing. A collection of nature-themed, vintage postage stamps were sourced by the bride and completed the whole package.

Thanks Michael!

Check out theÂ Designer RolodexÂ for more talÂentedÂ wedÂding inviÂtaÂtion designÂersÂ andÂ theÂ real inviÂtaÂtions galleryÂ for moreÂ wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Anticipate Invitations

11/04/2015

“Dinner With Thieves” Menus and Paper Goods

Well, these areÂ superÂ cool! Shanleigh of August & Osceola created these beautiful paper goods for a mysterious dinner party, including menus, questionnaire cards, and event calling cards. TheÂ menus feature gold foil on black paper and were individually hand washed and distressed for an even more mysterious vibe and unique texture!

From Shanleigh:Â I love when a client has a vision that really challenges me creatively. Jessie (House of James Parker) and Heather (RTTO Events) were looking for custom paper goods to accompany their design of a “Dinner with Thieves.” Picture an evening with an abundance of delectable meat platters and a mysterious vibe. The paper elements had to be the perfect complement: masculine yet intricate; refined yet worn-in.Â

I posted a picture on Instagram a while back of my business cards that had taken a trip through the washing machine â€” a happy accident. We used this as inspiration for a menu design that was heavy on texture and full of character. Each menu was foil stamped in gold and then very carefully washed and distressed by hand. The processÂ leftÂ the paper feeling like leather and looking like it had been around for years. In addition to the menu, we designed questionnaire cards for guests to fill out and contact cards that were edge painted in gold.Â These were a labor of love.

Thanks Shanleigh!

Photo Credits: August & Osceola