06/30/2017

Happy Weekend!

Happy Friday everyone! And happy almost 4th of July! Are you traveling somewhere this weekend? We’re doing the opposite: we have grandparents coming to town this weekend! My girls are always SO excited when their grandparents come to town, it’s seriously like the night before Christmas. But before we all go running off for the weekend, I have a fun announcement for my stationer friends! These long summer days and nights have been making me so happy lately, spending weekends at the splash pad and hanging out in our backyard to watch the fireflies emerge every night. I want to help spread the summer glow with an advertising special! So starting today, I’m celebrating summer with 30% off all 3-month and 6-month sidebar ads booked in the month of July. And since a 6-month ad would take you through the holiday advertising rush, this is a great opportunity to get in early and save big! You can get in touch with us for ad rates and more info right here. But in the meantime…

Photo Credit: Brandi Smyth Photography from these French Chateau-inspired wedding invitations by Paperglaze Calligraphy

…a few links for your weekend!

So many great quotes from this year’s commencement speeches

Have you seen the newest Land of Nod catalog? So many great items! I’m particularly loving this Ace & Jig wall hanging, this unicorn chair (!!), this super cute bedding, and this cute little rainbow pouf.

I’m totally making this glitter headband with my girls

Just bought this blue and white striped linen shirt â€“ looks so comfy for summer!

Loving this rainbow honeycomb arch!

Adorable embroidered heels for summer soirÃ©es. Wear them with this colorful dress, which is currently on sale and an extra 30% off the sale price!

Great advice if you’re thinking about buying an older home

My next summer manicure

Card of the week!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Iâ€™ll see you back here on Monday. xoxo

06/28/2017

Where to find Handmade Deckle Edge Paper

If I had to pick just one standout wedding invitation trend from 2017, it would easily be the return of beautiful and unique handmade paper with deckle edges. Handmade paper is all over my Instagram feed, and with good reason! Handmade deckle edge papers bring incredible depth to a wedding invitation suite, with gorgeous texture and those beautiful, soft feathery edges â€“ and, since the paper is often custom made by hand, it can be made in all sorts of amazing custom colors. Handmade deckle edge paper is also gorgeous in day-of wedding stationery, like menus and seating cards. Today I thought I’d share a few resources for where to find handmade deckle edge paper for those of you who might be on the hunt!

Photo by Little North Company via Instagram

For those of you who aren’t familiar with deckle edge paper, we’re talking about the thin, imperfect edges that result from traditional paper making techniques. During the paper making process, a deckle â€“ or wood fence â€“ is placed in the mould to keep the paper slurry within bounds and control the final size of the resulting paper sheet. During the paper making process, some of the paper slurry passes under the deckle and forms an irregular, thin feathered edge. You can also achieve a deckle edge look by hand tearing machine-made paper using a ruler (this invitation suite is a great example of hand-torn paper), and some handmade paper may also be hand-torn to achieve a specific paper size without a deckle. But for today’s purposes we’re focusing on handmade paper with a feathered edge resulting from a wood deckle.

Photo Credit: Jenny Sanders of Graceline

Romantic shipwreck-inspired wedding invitations by Poste & Co. / Handmade paper by Share Studios / Photo Credit: Kelli Durham Photography

Large Paper Orders

If you’re a stationer or calligrapher looking to carry deckle edge paper as one of your house paper stocks, I’m really only aware of two options for large quantity paper orders: the deckle edge paper stocks from Legion Paper (Arturo, Mediovalis, and Rives BFK among others) and Arpa from OrangeArt. I’ve seen the Arturo and Arpa papers in person and you really can’t go wrong with either option â€“ I’m particularly smitten with the lavender and pale pink papers from each line. If you know of other wholesale deckle edge paper options, let me know in the comments and I’ll add them to the list!

Ethereal vellum wedding invitations by KidGolightly Calligraphy / Handmade paper by Fabulous Fancy Pants / Photo Credit: My Sun & Stars Co.

Photo Credit: Jenny Sanders of Graceline

Custom Handmade Papers

Oooh, this is where things get fun! There are tons of independent handmade paper making studios across the country, all making unbelievably beautiful handmade paper. Since these are small studios (often just one person), they produce extremely limited quantities and may require longer lead times to produce enough paper and/or envelopes for a full wedding invitation suite. But the results are SO worth it! Here are a few of the folks on my radar (in alphabetical order):

Fabulous Fancy Pants

Photo Credit: Barbara Gregory Design

Fabulous Fancy Pants

Idyll Paper

Photo Credit: Erich McVey

Idyll Paper

Saint Signora

Calligraphy and Photo Credit: Katie Decker Hyatt of Signora e Mare

Saint Signora

Share Studios

Photo Credit: Styletter

Share Studios

Silk & Willow

Calligraphy by Seniman Calligraphy

Silk & Willow

SpurlÃ© Gul

Photo Credit: Jenny Soi

SpurlÃ© Gul

Etsy

You can also find some pretty incredible handmade paper shops from around the world on Etsy â€“ from traditional white and ecru paper to some very non-traditional color and material options. If you’re willing to spend a bit of time searching around, I recommend searching for “handmade paper” and “deckle edge paper” to get the best results. Here are a few of the more interesting shops that I found:

A couple quick tips for using handmade deckle edge paper in your wedding stationery:

Handmade papers vary widely in the materials used, texture, and color of each paper. If it’s your first time using a handmade paper or working with a particular paper maker, it’s probably a good idea to order some samples before placing a larger order.

Tell your stationer, printer, and/or calligrapher as soon as possible if you plan to incorporate handmade paper into your wedding stationery. You’ll want to be sure ahead of time that your favorite paper is compatible with your chosen printing method and invitation design. Writing on handmade paper can be very different from writing on machine-made paper, so your calligrapher will need to know well in advance so he or she can make any necessary adjustments in terms of equipment, paper quantities, or even just the amount of time needed to complete your stationery.

Those are my tips! Are any of you planning to use handmade paper in your wedding invitations?

06/12/2017

Illustrated Tropical Hawaiian Wedding Invitations

Oversized palm frond motifs, dainty pineapple wax seals, and a vibrant color palette; these wedding invitations have it all! Katie of Honey Brush Design designed these illustrated tropical Hawaiian wedding invitations for a bride who also happens to work as a florist! When the bride spends the better part of her days working with gorgeous blooms, you can definitely expect that her wedding invitations are going to be packed to the brim with gorgeous flowers and foliage!

From Katie: This custom wedding suite was created for a destination wedding in the Kona, Hawaii. The bride drew inspiration from some of the favorite unusual blooms that she came to know and love as an assistant florist, as well as from the island the setting of her wedding.

She wanted to step out and do something different than the traditional Hawaiian look. She opted for a wild and romantic feel to accompany her tropical invitations. With lots of greenery and jewel colored blooms, we chose a rich color palette rather than going bright. We went with cream colored paper to go up against the moody tones and to tie in the color of the white sandy beaches of Hawaii.

The Taro Plant is known to many Hawaiians as a life source and has beautiful large green leaves shaped like a heart. The bride loved the meaning behind this element and asked me to use it in the design. She also requested that I sneak in thistles to symbolize Scotland (where they got engaged!). Other details including a pineapple wax seal, monstera envelope liner, and vintage tropical stamps also bring in special touches to these paper goods. The invitation itself is adorned with unique watercolor flowers and brush lettering to add the wild look we were aiming for.

A serif typeface balances out the loose feel of the artwork with a more structural element. The RSVP postcard is coated in an ocean-inspired blue watercolor wash and the information card subtly sports a piece of fan coral. The creamy envelope liner and wax seal pop against the subdued blue envelope which is similar to the color found on the the RSVP card. The pieces of this suite have been flat printed on paper that is similar in texture to watercolor paper in order to highlight the artwork.

Thanks Katie!

Design: Honey Brush Design
Printing: Thikit
Paper: Mohawk Via Felt Warm White Paper

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

Photo Credits: Rebecca Arthurs

05/22/2017

Refined Powder Blue and Vellum Baby Announcements

We love love love watching our Designer Rolodex friends celebrate milestones, like adding to their families! And today is truly a special day, because we get to share the baby announcements that Jackie of Sincerely, Jackie designed for her little guy Richieâ€™s welcome into the world! Jackie is known for her elegant invitation design, so it’s no surprise that she created these stunning and refined powder blue and vellum baby announcements for her own sweet boy. Congrats to the happy, and adorable, family!

From Jackie: We wanted these announcements to be a simple declaration of both Richie’s birth and his coming home, over three months later. When I was first hospitalized with HELLP Syndrome, my husband and I made the decision to be public with our journey. Many, many people kept us in their thoughts and prayers after our son was born 14 weeks early. We ended up mailing several hundred birth announcements, and I never shared the sentimental story behind them.

They may be overly simple, but they’re more meaningful than they appear. I purposefully kept the typography clean, and the colors subtle because I did not want to detract from the three most important things: Richie’s announcement, our two favorite photos, and the song that planted itself in my heart.

The announcements were digitally printed in a soft blue-grey on cotton paper, and contained two cards, each with a photo on one side, and typography on the other. The first, smaller card was our actual announcement containing both the date Richie was born (May 26, 2016, weighing 2lbs 2oz, and only 13.75″ long), and the day he came home from the NICU, 99 days later (September 1, 2016, weighting 7bs 6oz, and 20.25″ long) . The second card contained the lyrics from “Amazing Grace.”

When you go through something as life-changing as what my little family endured, you find peace anywhere it is offered. For me, I found that peace driving to the NICU one morning when “Amazing Grace” was playing on the radio. I hadn’t really cried before that. Not like, cried cried, if you know what I mean. But in the car that day, I had to pull over to the side of the highway to catch my breath. I felt an overwhelming sense that we’d be alright. Nearly every day after that, I would listen to any version of “Amazing Grace” that I could find on YouTube. About halfway through our NICU stay, little Richie was transferred from an isolette (incubator) to an open crib. A nurse, Patti, found a mobile in a storage room and felt compelled to get it to start working again. She stayed late that day to fiddle with the mobile, and proudly announced the next day that she had gotten it to work. The first song it played was “Amazing Grace.” I remember just standing there, in awe, as my little miracle baby slept peacefully under the mobile in his crib.

After Richie came home, I sang “Amazing Grace” every single night while I rocked him to sleep. It’s become the melody of our journey, and I felt it was important to include that in Richie’s birth announcement, although not many people knew the story behind it.

In addition to the two birth announcement cards, we added the invitation to our son’s baptism, which was sent to a select few family members. The baptism invitation featured a verse on one side, and the baptism details on the other, neatly slipped into a vellum envelope.

Thanks Jackie!

Design: Sincerely, Jackie

Styling: Kristen Poissant

Sincerely, Jackie 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: Charlie Juliet Photography

05/20/2017

Happy Weekend!

Happy Saturday everyone! I’m on the train to New York as I write this, making my way towards the 2017 National Stationery Show! If you don’t already, follow me over on Instagram for some real-time updates from the show, and of course I’ll be back here next week to share recaps and highlights from the show â€“ along with some of our regularly-scheduled content. But in the meantime…