05/09/2013

DIY Tutorial: Vintage Floral Border Save the Date

Spring has arrived and we couldn’t be happier! It’s always a refreshing and inspiring sight to see all of the little buds form on branches, knowing that soon they will burst into a gorgeous show of flowers. With this save the date design, we wanted to capture this brief moment in time and create something fresh and beautiful.Â â€“Â Bailey and Emma of Antiquaria

Step One: One of the key elements to this save the date is the border card on which you will print your stamp. To start, print out the border card file onto heavy card stock (as heavy as your printer will allow) and trim to size. If you would like to use this spring blossom border design, email us for the free printable download! Other borders can be found onÂ Graphics Fairy.

Step Two: Now that you have your cards printed and cut, you will want to print your stamp (we used our Calligraphy Save the Date Stamp, No.2). Set your card on a firm, hard surface. Ink your stamp well and center it over the card. Press down firmly, making certain that you apply even pressure to all areas of the stamp. Lift the stamp off and set the card aside to dry. For more information about this process, please watch this video.

Step Three: We’ve dressed up the save the date card with a gorgeous sage gray ribbon. Simply cut a length of ribbon and tie it into a bow. Trim the ends with sharp scissors so that they are even and do not hang off of the edges.

Step Four: Next, you will want to stamp your return address (we used our Calligraphy Return Address Stamp) on the back flap of your envelope. Follow the same printing instructions from step two.

Step Five: Now all that’s left to do is to address the envelopes, add postage (we used vintage postage from Verde Studio) and send them on their way! This design is sure to bring a fresh dose of spring to every single guests mail box.

Materials:

Calligraphy Save the Date Stamp, No.2

Calligraphy Return Address Stamp

Stamp PadsÂ (in Wicked Black & Seattle Grey)

8.5×11 Cover StockÂ (needs to be able to run through your home printer) in Eco White

Free Border Card Download (Please email usÂ for the file)

Scissors (or an X-acto Knife & Self Sealing Mat)

A7 Envelopes-in Sage

Hug Snug Rayon Seam Binding in Khaki #503Â Â (it’s actually a sage-grey color)

Verde Studio Vintage Postage

AntiÂquaria is a memÂber of theÂ Designer RolodexÂ â€“ you can see more of their beauÂtiÂful workÂ right hereÂ or visit the real wedding invitations gallery for moreÂ wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Antiquaria

04/26/2013

{happy weekend!}

This week was a flurry of activity, both at home with our never-ending to do list (we’re still unpacking a month after moving in), a very active getting-ready-to-crawl baby, and a ton of prep work in advance of the National Stationery Show in just a few short weeks! I’m so excited to head back to one of my favorite cities and see some of my favorite people, and yes, of course Sophie will be coming along! Thankfully my dad is coming down this weekend to help us get a few things done around the house. But in the meantime…

Photo by me via Instagram

…a few links for your weekend!

Super cool wood log wedding invitations
Loving this kitchen mini-makeover (via Jenny)! It’s so amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do!
I want to take one of Chelsea’s flower classes
Happy Birthday Beck!
We have friends living in Berlin for the next 3 years, so I’m definitely keeping this hotel in mind when we go visit
I can’t wait to add some viburnum to my garden
Dauphine Press just added a bunch of beautiful new styles and a cool newÂ “search by style” featureÂ to their website!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

Wedding invitations inspired by the idea of French garden parties
Nautical and travel-inspired party invitations
Romantic watercolor and lace wedding invitations
Lovely rustic letterpress wedding invitations
Beautiful calligraphy from the talented Holly Hollon
DIY Tutorial: Indigo Floral Wedding Invitations
Congrats to the ladies of Antiquaria on their new letterpress wedding collection!
Bright and colorful screen printed cards and prints
Well Said Type: Harper Font

Check back soon for this weekâ€™s cocktail! Â I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and Iâ€™ll see you back here on Monday!Â xoxo

04/25/2013

DIY Tutorial: Indigo Floral Print Wedding Invitations

We’ve always had a love affair with indigo â€“ in fact, the wedding quilt that Emma’s mother created for her is made from scraps of vintage Japanese indigo fabrics. With its recent rise in popularity we decided that indigo would make the perfect inspiration for an invitation suite. The deep blue and white color scheme, mixed with floral elements and classic typography, makes it a design suitable for any season!Â â€“Â Bailey and Emma of Antiquaria

Tie the square invitation and enclosure pieces together with indigo dyed twine and your guests will feel like they’re opening a gift!

Step One:Â Lay a Â 5.5″ square card down on a firm surface. Ink your stamp (we used our Sophisticate Invitation Stamp) thoroughly and center it over your card. Once it is positioned correctly, press down to make a print. Use both hands to ensure even pressure. Lift off and let the print dry. For more information on this process goÂ here.

Step Two: You will repeat the printing technique from Step 1 for your reply card (we used our Sophisticate Reply Card Stamp) on a 4bar (3.5″x4.75″) card. Â This time, instead of centering the stamp, you will print it toward the bottom of the card. This leaves space to print the floral pattern (we used our Daisy Pattern & Small Leaves Pattern Stamps) at the top. It’s best to start with the larger pattern stamp and then fill in with the smaller leaf stamp.

Step three: We love to incorporate patterns in to our invitation suites, whether it’s an envelope liner, backer or belly band…it adds so much style and personality to the design. We created this indigo pattern by randomly stamping pattern stamps (we used our Camellia Pattern, Daisy PatternÂ andÂ Small Leaves Pattern Stamps) in frost white ink on 8.5″ x 11″ card stock. The effect that it creates is so lovely!

Step Four: To make the accommodations card, you will need to cut the 8.5″ x 11″ patterned paper into 5″ squares (you will get 2 per sheet). Next, ink and stamp your accommodations information (we used our Calligraphy Accent Accommodations Stamp) on the front of the navy blue card.

Step Five: Using the same printing technique as above, you will print your return address and reply address (we used our Wildflowers Return Address Stamp) on the outer and reply envelopes. Now all that’s left is to tie everything together, address your envelopes, add postage (we used awesome blue vintage postage from Verde Studio) and send them on their way!

Materials:

Sophisticate Invitation Stamp

Sophisticate Reply Card Stamp

Calligraphy Accent Accommodations Stamp

Pattern Stamps â€“Â Camellia, Daisy, Small Leaves

Wildflowers Return Address Stamp

Stamp Pad â€“Â Frost White, Midnight

5.5″ CardsÂ in Luxe Cream

5.75″ EnvelopeÂ in Night

4bar Flat CardÂ in Luxe Cream

4bar EnvelopeÂ in Night

8.5″x11″ CardstockÂ in Night

Vintage Postage Verde Studio

String or twine

Photo Credits: Antiquaria

04/24/2013

Antiquaria Letterpress Wedding Invitation Collection

The ladies of Antiquaria (one of our DIY contributors here on Oh So Beautiful Paper!) just released a brand new (and a la carte) letterpress wedding invitation collection, and I’m thrilled to help share the beautiful designs today! The letterpress collection features some of Antiquaria’s most popular designs, from calligraphy invitation suites to equestrian and western-inspired designs.

Each letterpress design is also compatible with Antiquaria’s custom rubber stamp collection. The letterpress collection is available a la carte, so you can mix and match design styles within an invitation suite â€“ or even mix letterpress with rubber stamps. So fun!

You can check out the full collection right here! Congrats ladies!

Photo Credits: Antiquaria

04/11/2013

DIY Tutorial: Neon and Kraft Paper Save the Dates

Neon has been the “in” thing for a while…but using it as inspiration for your wedding is definitely not for the faint of heart. We put together a fun and punchy neon save the date design that is perfect for spring. By mixing in kraft paper and black, we were able to tame the neon and make it quite modern.Â â€“Â Bailey and Emma of Antiquaria

Step One: For this save the date, we are using a circular card. It may be a bit trickier to eyeball the placement of the stamp, so measuring out center is a good idea. First you’ll want to trace the circle card on a piece of scrap paper and then mark the center. Mark perpendicular lines through the center. Next you will measure and mark center of stamp and line it up on the circle template guide.

Step Two: We were so excited to find this awesome neon pink embossing powder! Place your circular card on a stable and firm surface. Ink your save the date stamp (we used our Mod Wreath Save the Date stamp) and center the stamp over your card. When ready, press the stamp down with moderate pressure to make the print. Lift the stamp off and quickly move on to adding your embossing powder.Â For more information about inking your stamp or making prints, please watchÂ this videoÂ that shows the process in more detail.

Once youâ€™ve made your print, immediately cover it with embossing powder by sprinkling it across the paper. Shift the powder around until you have covered the entire image. Now, you will pour the excess powder off of the card onto a scrap piece of paper so that you can reuse it for future prints. Heat set the print, using an Embossing Heat Tool. You will be able to see the powder melt into an opaque and solid color when itâ€™s done.

Note:Â One key thing about embossing is that it is wise to try to closely match your ink color with your powder color. By doing this, you will get much more crisp and opaque results.

Step Three: Adding a liner is one fun way that you can add some pattern to your save the date. For this liner, we just stamped our Small Leaves pattern stamp in black on a kraft paper liner. To make the liner, trace the template onto your kraft paper and cut it out with scissors. To install, simply use stick glue or double sided tape to adhere them into your envelope.

Step Four: It’s wise to include a website card with your save the dates so that guests can access all of the travel information and wedding details that they will need in order to make plans to attend your nuptials. For this card, we simply stamped our (Art Deco Website Card stamp) on a cream business card in black, diagonally.

Step Five: Putting it all together: First, we embossed a return address stamp (we used our Mod Banner Return Address stamp) on the back flap of our outer envelope to coordinate with the save the date design. We also embossed our Cross My Heart Initials monogram stamp on the back flap of an adorable polka dot craft envelope that will hold the website card.

Now all that’s left is to address the save the dates, adhere postage (we used Verde Studio’s vintage stamps), add some fun neon washi tape and send them on their way!

Materials

Mod Wreath Save the Date stampÂ (circular option)

Art Deco Website Card stamp

Small Leaves Pattern stamp

Mod Banner Return Address stamp

Cross my Heart Initials Monogram stamp

5 1/2 Circular CardÂ in Luxe Cream

5 3/4 Square EnvelopeÂ in Luxe Cream

Business CardÂ in Luxe Cream

Small Polka Dot Kraft Envelope from Martha Stewart

Stamp PadÂ in black and peony

Embossing Powder