06/30/2014

Watercolor + Gold Foil Edged Letterpress Business Cards

I’m so unbelievably excited to share a very special project with all of you today â€“ my brand new business cards! After launching the new design back in March, it was definitely time to update my business cards. I’ve always been impressed by the amazing custom work from Samantha and Whitney of Gus & Ruby Letterpress, so I immediately turned to them for help translating the beautiful new logo (by Liz from Linda & Harriett) into an equally beautiful business card. When it comes to my own personal projects, my approach is always to pick a designer whose work I absolutely love and then just let them run with it â€“andÂ Samantha and Whitney completely knocked it out of the park! I couldn’t be more thrilled with the way they turned out!

From Samantha and Whitney: We took strong inspiration from the watercolor logo designed for Oh So Beautiful Paper by Linda & Harriett. We wanted the card to complement the logo without feeling visually overwhelming or too busy.

Because we can’t achieve the exact same look as watercolor with letterpress printing, we had to be creative as to how we showcased that tonal variation. We opted to print using three different shades of pink to give an ombre/gradient effect and then added a wash of color along the bottom for a pop of interest.

We brainstormed various ways to add the pop of color (from dip dying using vegetable and fruit dyes to pigment dyes), but ultimately decided that actually watercoloring each card by hand was the way to go. We spent hours testing different watercolor mixes and saturations to come up with the perfect palette of paints.

Every card was individually painted with a wash of watercolor on each side prior to being trimmed down, so each card is unique and has a slightly different look/color scheme due to the variation in concentration of the wash.

All pieces were lovingly printed by hand in our Dover, New Hampshire studio and are printed on thick, 220# 100% cotton. As the final finishing touch, Smock foil edged the cards in metallic gold shine foil!

I hope you love these business cards as much as I do!

Design / Letterpress Printing and Watercolor: Gus & Ruby Letterpress

Foil Edging: Smock

Logo Design: Linda & Harriett

Smock and Gus & Ruby Letterpress are members of the Designer Rolodex â€“ you can see more beautiful work from Smock right here and more wonderful custom work from Gus & Ruby Letterpress here!

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

06/27/2014

Lavender Lemonade Cocktail

It’s almost the Fourth of July and our minds are focused on our favorite things for summer: picnics and barbecue and lemonade, especially that last one becauseÂ it is hot here in DC. So, as a preview of our next summer cocktail party series (coming next week!), here’s a quick and easy lemonade cocktail you can enjoy over the weekend (and with friends!).Â â€“ Andrew

Illustration byÂ Shauna LynnÂ for Oh So Beautiful Paper

LavenderÂ Lemonade Cocktail

6 oz Dry Gin
3 oz Pimm’s No. 1
2 ozÂ Lavender Lemon Simple Syrup
3 Cups Lemonade

Make some lemonade. (Or buy some, we won’t tell.) Combine all of the ingredients in a bottle or pitcher and give the bottle a shake. Pour over ice to serve and enjoy. Makes four servings.

Sweet and tart, with a floral bouquet and a dry, earthy finish from the gin and Pimm’s. Plus some lavender to balance the gin’s dryness. Delicious.

Lemonade is probably one of the easiest things in the world to dress up with booze. Sweet and citrusy tart, it’s pretty much asking to be turned into a cocktail. Gin. Whiskey. Tequila? Why not? Plus, it’s really really hot out there. Get drinking.

If you do make one at home, you can useÂ #osbphappyhour to share photos of these (or your own creations) on Instagram.

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

06/27/2014

Happy Weekend!

Happy Friday everyone! I can’t believe how fast this summer is flying by â€“ I mean, July is just around the corner! We have some fun Fourth of July-inspiredÂ posts coming for you early next week… I can’t wait to share them with you! But in the meantime…

Floret-Flower-Farm-Ombre-Sweet-Peas

Photo via Floret Flower Farm

…a few links for your weekend!

Love this acrylic bracelet DIY idea
Um, how gorgeous is this wedding?? The flowers are ridiculously amazing.
Remember Lucas’s superhero birthday party invitations? Check out the full party here!
Ombre sweet peas. OMG. (see above)
Professors don’t always know best. I had a similar experience in a college art class â€“ so dumb!
A big congrats to Amy from Little Hip Squeaks!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

Colorful hand lettered invitations for a destination wedding in Los Angeles
Gold foil and watercolor crest wedding invitations
Custom illustrated stationery to celebrate a new home!
DIY Tutorial: A beautiful “welcome summer” air plant wreath
Elegant gold foil and black wedding invitations
I rounded up some of my favorite hand lettered greeting cards
Lots of fun and colorful illustrated greeting cards from Hooray Today!
Save the dates inspired by a shared love of the great outdoors
Well Said Type: Woolen
Oliver’s colorful first birthday party invitations
A round up of rubber stamps to liven up your office stationery!
Feeling inspired by playful black + white dots

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

06/26/2014

Oliver’s Colorful First Birthday Party Invitations

Melissa from Atheneum CreativeÂ recently celebrated a huge milestone â€“ her baby boy, Oliver, turned a year old! And while first birthday parties are definitely for the parents, anyone who has been through that first year knows that it’s definitely a milestone worth celebrating with family and friends. Melissa created some adorable invitations to mark the occasion, along with some cute day-of party goodies!

FromÂ Melissa:Â The invitation included a letterpress card and accordion fold enclosure filled with photos from Oliverâ€™s first year. We wanted to fill the party itself with lots of color and energy. We played up the number one through all the party materials.

Plastic plates, water bottle labels,Â and stir sticks were all custom printed with the graphic while the napkins listed a few of Oliverâ€™s favorite foods and activities. For the guest goodie bags we created a stamp to press large muslin bags filled with bubbles and snacks. Each bag included a custom button with the guest name.