Book Preview: Yellow Owl’s Little Prints

I grew up in a creative household. We made t-shirts at birthday parties, decorated the light switch plates in our bedrooms, among other crafty projects. I’m looking forward to creative projects with Sophie as she gets older, and I was so excited when Christine from Yellow Owl Workshop released her newest book – Yellow Owl’s Little Prints – dedicated entirely to handmade projects to make for (and eventually with) kids!

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Yellow Owl’s Little Prints features more than 25 creative projects ranging from DIY birth announcements and birthday party invitations to keepsake boxes, book plates, growth charts, rubber stamped bed linens, and nursery decorations. I’ve been in awe of Christine’s amazing creativity for years now and the incredible products she produces for Yellow Owl Workshop. Christine employes some of her favorite materials and techniques in Little Prints, including rubber stamps, stenciling, and hand printing techniques. Most projects can be done during an afternoon nap, and Christine was careful to exclude any projects that might require special equipment. Christine even includes a wonderful introduction with tips for teaching art to children and activity recommendations based on age and skill level. And of course, no craft book would be complete without a list of resources and templates (there’s a whole section of both in the back).

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My two favorite projects? A folk art wall mural using contact paper decals and a custom canvas name banner. So good!

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You can grab your own copy of Yellow Owl’s Little Prints right here!

Photo Credits: Laure Joilet for Potter Craft

Christine and Evan of Yellow Owl Workshop kindly sent me a copy of this book for review, but all words and opinions are my own.

Mona + Bassim’s Calligraphy and Floral Vow Renewal Invitations

Mona of Birds & Honey Events recently celebrated ten years with her husband Bassim – so they decided to renew their wedding vows as part of their anniversary celebrations! Mona worked with Sarah at The Stationery Bakery to create a gorgeous invitation suite featuring lush floral watercolor illustrations and calligraphy. So pretty!

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From Mona: I recently renewed my vows and I just couldn’t get over the beauty of my invitation suite. My dear friend Sarah Donovan from the lovely Stationery Bakery designed the suite of my dreams. I knew that I wanted to incorporate my love of birds on our stationery suite. I also adore anything written by Rumi and Khalil Gibran so it meant the world to me that she incorporated some of my favorite quotes into the invitation.

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Thanks Mona!

Invitation Design: The Stationery Bakery

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

Photo Credits: Katch Studios

Oliver’s Tolkein-Inspired Birth Announcements

We’ve seen Game of Thrones-inspired wedding invitations – and now Tolkein-inspired birth announcements! Meghan of OFD Consulting and her husband Travis are huge J.R.R. Tolkien fans and recently welcomed a beautiful baby boy, Oliver. For his birth announcements, Meghan and Travis knew they wanted to draw inspiration from their literary hero. They worked with Anticipate Invitations and a slew of talented vendors to create a birth announcement that could have come straight out of the pages of The Hobbit!

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From Meghan: My husband Travis and I are a bit notorious among our friends and family for loving all things geeky (our nursery is a great representation), so we wanted to do something particularly memorable for our son’s birth announcements. I handed the reins over to my friend Michael from Anticipation Invitations and let him run with it. I spent years working in the wedding industry and learned early on that you should just trust the professionals, so we gave him little directions other than… “The Lord of the Rings… and go!”

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We were thrilled with the finished product, which is reminiscent of a page out of a Tolkein book. We showcased photos on the front and back, and recipients were delighted to see their mailing address in a Hobbit-esque font.

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Thanks Meghan!

Announcements: Anticipate Invitations

Vintage Stamps: Caity Ash Badashery

Washi Tape: Pretty Tape

Rubber Stamp: Lindsay Letters

Photo Credits: Travis Ely

Jennifer’s Floral Letterpress Bridal Shower Invitations

These floral bridal shower invitations from Dara of Rafftruck Designs are making me so happy on a cold and dreary day! Created for a summer bridal shower, Dara mixed whimsical design elements and a patterned envelope liner with a formal invitation layout. Perfectly sweet and simple, and full of color!

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From Dara: For this summer bridal shower, I was asked to create something that was fresh and fun, but still with a classic style in mind. A whimsical flower paired with bright pinks and oranges brought the invitation to life, while a formal layout kept things traditional.

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Pulling from the layered style of the flower, I created a scalloped envelope liner to round out the design. The invitations were all letterpress printed on 100% bright white cotton paper which added a nice airiness to the set.

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Thanks Dara!

Photo Credits: Rafftruck Designs

Adrienne + Will’s Glamorous Gold Foil Art Deco Wedding Invitations

These Art Deco wedding invitations from Emily and Dianna of Fourth Year Studio are stunning! Inspired by the idea of a sparkly Great Gatsby-style reception, Emily and Dianna incorporated shiny gold foil, Art Deco design motifs, and classic black and white elements for a sophisticated vintage-inspired suite. Beautiful!

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From Emily and Dianna: Adrienne’s fondness for the Art Deco era served as the springboard for our invitation design. We print all of our letterpress in house but it was so much fun to see the masters at Widby Printing print the gold foil for the main invitation on 220lb cotton paper.

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A roll of metallic foil runs through the press and leaves the inverse design behind. Well, it was just too beautiful to throw away so we kept it (as seen above)!  The metal plate used for printing was given as a memento for Adrianne and Will.

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The RSVP card was letterpress printed in black on 110lb cotton paper with a printed black envelope.  The set was wrapped in a black cover and tied together with delicate gold thread.

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Thanks Emily and Dianna!

Design + Letterpress Printing: Fourth Year Studio

Foil Printing: Widby Printing, Knoxville, Tennessee

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

Photos Credits: Julie Roberts