02/01/2018

February 2018 Wallpapers!

Welcome to February! After a loooooong January, I feel like we’re all kind of ready to celebrate the season of love, yes? February is such a transitional month, when we can just start to glimpse the light of Spring after so many dark and cold winter nights. This month’s illustrated wallpapers from The Good Twin definitely pick up on that optimistic vibe, with lots of pink and fun rainbow lettering! Pick your fave and download the files via the links below!

Desktop | iPhone

For personal use only. All illustrations by The Good Twin for Oh So Beautiful Paper

p.s. If youâ€™re interested in walking down memory lane a bit, here are the wallpaper designs from February 2017, February 2016, and February 2015!

If youâ€™re a designer or illustrator interested in contributing your own designs to this column, please email your design to hello(at)ohsobeautifulpaper.com with the subject line â€œdesktop downloadsâ€ and image files in both desktop and iPhone retina screen sizes. If itâ€™s a good fit Iâ€™ll add it to the post for the following month!

01/31/2018

Bright and Cheerful Floral Watercolor Wedding Invitations

With spring (hopefully) around the corner, we’re loving these bright and cheerful floral watercolor wedding invitations from J. Gregory of Grey Snail Press! This beautiful suite features illustrated florals inspired by the bride’s wedding flowers â€“ including on the envelope liner! â€“ and whimsical hand lettering. The pink and navy blue envelope colors are a fun added element and everything ties together in such a fun and festive way!

From J Gregory: I’ve had the pleasure of knowing this sweet bride for several years, so I was thrilled when I was asked to create the wedding invitations for her wedding in the Smokey Mountains. Hannah is unfussy by nature and really down-to-earth. To say she was easy to work with is an understatement; she was completely open and flexible with the design, letting me take her ideas and run with them.

She elected not to do a rustic or mountain-themed invitation suite, despite their mountain venue. Instead, she wanted something simple, that would include her wedding colors of navy and pink, with lovely, loose florals. I was immediately inspired to get out my watercolors (my new obsession) and start painting. I painted a variety of pink and blue flowers with greenery for the invitation itself, being careful to tie in the colors of her wedding palette. I chose different portions of the original floral design to carry over onto the other cards, focusing on smaller blue flowers for the rsvp card cascading off the top and sides of the card.

All lettering was done by hand and kept very simple and clean with a mix of script and print. We chose to print all text in navy blue ink. Hannah even came up with her own creative wording for the invitation to make it special for them.

Invitations and the corresponding rsvp and reception cards were all printed digitally on white 110lb. Classic Crest card stock, so they were nice and thick. The bright white provided the perfect background for the watercolor florals to really shine while keeping with the simplicity she desired.

With a little input from her mom and sister, the bride chose a cotton candy pink outer envelope for the invitation and navy envelope for the rsvp card. She elected to include a matching floral envelope liner for the invitation envelope. I was so pleased when I discovered that because of the shape of the envelopes, we could actually get an additional envelope liner for the smaller rsvp envelope out of the scrap paper left over from the larger liner. What a bonus not to have any waste!

Instead of having the rsvp envelopes calligraphed, we placed a rectangular return address label on the rsvp envelopes with some flowers peeking around the edges to complete the suite. This can be a fun way to save a little money in the budget. Plus, they’re super easy to assemble and completely customizable. It was truly a labor of love creating this suite for Hannah and Jason, and I really love how they turned out!

Thanks J!

Design: Grey Snail Press
Printing: Zebra

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more talÂented wedÂding inviÂtaÂtion designÂers and the real inviÂtaÂtions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Grey Snail Press

01/29/2018

Quick Pick: Snow & Graham Ebony Snow Collection

We had a string of 60 degree days here in DC â€“ and now I have major Spring Fever even though it’s still in the middle of winter! I’ll have to wait a few more weeks until Spring officially arrives, but in the meantime I’m tiding myself over with these vibrant floral art prints from the Ebony Snow collection at Snow & Graham!

I have a major weakness for anything floral pretty much any time of year, and I love the bold hand painted brushstrokes and vibrant colors in these beautiful prints. Created from original paintings by artist Ebony Snow (owner and creative director of Snow & Graham), each 8×10 print features archival inks on heavy weight paper. Grab a few prints to create a gorgeous grid pattern gallery wall, or choose a couple favorites to go above your nightstand! I’ve got my eye on the Cosmos and Tulips prints above. Several of the paintings have also been turned into greeting cards â€“ and even a wall calendar!

Check out the full collection right here!

01/24/2018

Quirky Camping-Inspired Watercolor Wedding Invitations

There’s nothing more quirky and adorable than a watercolor illustration of woodland creatures on a mountain lake canoeing adventure! Designer Rolodex member Amanda of Wide Eyes Paper Co. dreamt up these quirky camping-inspired watercolor wedding invitations for a woodsy wedding in the Pacific Northwest. The invitation features a folded 4-panel design, including a custom watercolor illustration with the bride and groom’s beloved pets (so sweet!), keepsake map, and perforated RSVP card!

From Amanda: In the lingering months of winter, it’s time to start enjoy your buffalo check flannel a few more times and enjoy all the hot cocoa as you start organizing the details of your upcoming wedding. Let the adventure begin! was the motto that this Portland outdoorsy couple chose to tell their story and we loved the idea of creating an invitation that guests would cherish even after the wedding.

Mary and Adam were adamant about sending something to their guests that would both stand out in the mail and truly capture the quirky essence of who they are as a couple. This four-paneled format allowed them to express their wedding adventure as a creative narrative, all while keeping everything organized on one piece of elegant paper. You may choose to see the whole, unfolded invitation as one canvas, or treat each panel as its own snapshot. Mary and Adam wanted to be sure to have a custom watercolor that walked their guests through the wedding details in a fun and whimsical way, with the custom watercolor of their pets in a canoe as the beginning panel and the second panel opening up to complete a more classic 5×7 invitation.

With four panels over two sides, the couple was able to customize up to eight different panels. The option to add vintage perforation allows for a portion to be torn off and mailed back without the hassle of keeping several different pieces of paper together (I know I am guilty of losing a rsvp card or two before they even make it to the mail).

One of the panels is a custom watercolor map created to highlight the important spots of the wedding day while keeping the adventure fun and fresh just like a treasure hunt or trail guide. The map will become a memorable keepsake for their guests as they help the happy couple write their love story on their special day.

Inspired by Wes Anderson’s Moonlight Kingdom we hand-painted the couple with portraits in a quirky camp inspired motif. Adam even had his own Davy Crockett hat! We finished off this set by creating a custom logo for Mary + Adam which is printed on the rustic brown kraft envelopes and custom watercolor envelope liners.

Thanks Amanda!

Design: Wide Eyes Paper Co.
Printing: Paper Jam Press

Wide Eyes Paper Co. is a member of the Designer Rolodex â€“ you can see more of their beautiful work right here or visit the real inviÂtaÂtions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Amanda Franz

01/24/2018

Food Birthday Cards

Cake, candles, presents…all time-honored birthday traditions. Another often includes a dinner out with friends, a breakfast with family or a home cooked meal made by a loved one. Food has long played a role in many a celebration â€“ and birthdays are no exception! Whether it’s hot dogs and hamburgers, ramen two ways, or sushi and sparkling wine, your special birthday cuisine is totally unique to you. Why should your birthday greeting be any different? Soups on with these twelve food birthday cards! â€“Shauna

From top right:

1. Oodles of (long life) noodles seem a more than appropriate choice for any birthday celebration. From Anne and Kate.

2. One banana, two banana, three banana, birthday banana! Loving this cheeky party fruit illustrated by Justyna Stasik for Paperole.

3. Continuing on the theme of anthropomorphic food is this wide-eyed wonder from Lucky Horse Press.

4. Ahh, freedom fries. The perfect meal for birthdays (also: Wednesdays). From Violet Clair.

5. This Egg Press noodle card comes with both a birthday message and free advice (but sadly, no actual noodles).

6. I sleep soundly knowing that these fruity partygoers surely must be smiling on the inside. Illustrated by Jon Klassen for Red Cap Cards

7. It’s a taco HOLDING TACOS. There’s no such thing as too meta in my book. From Shorthand/Iron Curtin Press.

8. My Darlin’ wishes you sunny days and perfectly runny eggs.

9. Send this card from The Good Twin to the hottest birthday recipient you know. Extra points if you can add additional puns to your message.

10. You aren’t getting any younger, so might as well embrace all that ages well. From Hello!Lucky.

11. Really appreciating the food and drink pairings as specified by Party Sally. Also, that sashimi looks delicious!

12. Birthdays do only come once a year, so if there was ever a day to order everything on the menu, this certainly is it. Another gem from Lucky Horse Press.