{happy weekend!}

Happy Friday everyone!  Despite some truly gorgeous spring weather over the last couple of days, I’m actually feeling like I might be coming down with a cold – so I’m going to head out a bit early to rest and recuperate.  I hope you all have fun plans for the weekend!  But in the meantime…

Constellation-Place-Cards-Neither-Snow-Calligraphy

Photo Credit: Tec Petaja, Calligraphy by Neither Snow, Paper Goods by Mr. Boddington’s Studio

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

As usual, we have a fun cocktail coming up for you this afternoon, so check back a bit later for the recipe!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here on Monday!  xoxo

DIY Rubber Stamp Floral Wedding Invitations

It’s the ladies of Anti­quaria, back with another cre­ative DIY project for you!  Today they’re sharing a fun tutorial on how to make gorgeous rubber stamp wedding invitations with a floral motif!

We love the versatility and custom look that rubber stamps can give your invitation suite.  This week, we wanted to show how the same stamp designs can lead to two very different wedding invitation suites: one designed for a festive tropical bash, and the other for more traditional, sophisticated affair!  It’s as simple as changing the stamp pad and envelope colors!  Let us show you…

DIY Tutorial: Floral Rubber Stamp Wedding Invitations

Option 1: For the tropical fete… shades of coral, mango, and berry make the floral border.  Lovely pool colored envelopes complement the suite.

DIY Tutorial: Floral Rubber Stamp Wedding Invitations

Option 2: Traditional black and white convey elegance and sophistication.

DIY Tutorial: Floral Rubber Stamp Wedding Invitations

Step 1:  You’ll want to stamp your invitation wording first… it makes things much more simple.  Ink your stamp (we used our classic invitation stamp) thoroughly, and center it over your paper.  Press firmly but moderately, using the handle as your primary pressure point to avoid an uneven print.  Let dry.

DIY Tutorial: Floral Rubber Stamp Wedding Invitations

Step 2: Put a sheet of regular text weight paper underneath your already printed invitation. Using your border stamps, (we used our camellia pattern stamp, daisy pattern stamp and small leaves pattern stamp) begin stamping the motifs around the border, making sure not to cover any text.  Go in a clockwise pattern and stamp the images sparsely first… you can always come back in and add more in each circular pass.  It also helps to stamp off of the page, giving the invitation a full bleed effect.  It  would be wise to start with your largest motif and move to the smaller ones to fill in the border.  If you are using multiple colors, be certain to make the overall border balanced in color and design.

DIY Tutorial: Floral Rubber Stamp Wedding Invitations

Step 3: Print your reply card (we used our classic reply card stamp) in the same manner as you did the invitation text.  If you like, you can also add your floral motifs to this card, like in the tropical suite, or keep it simple, as shown above.

DIY Tutorial: Floral Rubber Stamp Wedding Invitations

Step 4: Stamp your return and reply addresses (we used our calligraphy return address stamp) on your envelopes.  You can re-use the stamp long  after your wedding is over… maybe on all those thank you notes!!!

DIY Tutorial: Floral Rubber Stamp Wedding Invitations

Step 5: We’ve chosen to add a black text weight paper liner to the outer envelope.  This is a great way to bring in some additional color to the suite and to create a nice balance.  It’s simple to do as well… you can find envelope liner template kits or pre-cut liners at Paper Source and local craft stores.  If you’re using square envelopes, you can also have your local print shop cut paper down to your envelope specifications.  Then just put a line  of double stick tape or stick glue across the top, slide them into position and press to secure.  Fold at the crease with a bone folder to get a nice, crisp edge.

DIY Tutorial: Floral Rubber Stamp Wedding Invitations

Now all that’s left is to tie the suite together, address them and hand them off to your post office to deliver to your lovely guests!!

Materials:

For the classic invitation suite

Classic Invitation Stamp

Classic Reply Card Stamp

Calligraphy Return Address Stamp

Camellia Pattern Stamp

Daisy Pattern Stamp

Small Leaves Pattern Stamp

Stamp Pad – in Black

Cover Weight Paper, cut to A7 (5″x7″) and 4bar (3″x5″)

A7 Envelope

4bar Envelope

Liner paper in black, cut to size

Double Stick tape

Twine – in black and white

For the tropical invitation suite

Classic Invitation Stamp

Classic Reply Card Stamp

Calligraphy Return Address Stamp

Classic Monogram Stamp

Camellia Pattern Stamp

Daisy Pattern Stamp

Small Leaves Pattern Stamp

Stamp Pad – in Coral, Mango Tango, Magenta and Antique Pewter

Cover Weight Paper, cut to A9 (5.5″x8.5″) and 4bar (3″x5″)

A9 Envelope – in Pool

4bar Envelope – in Pool

{happy weekend!}

This week felt like it was all about change – the change of seasons from winter to spring, the change of letting some things go, and the change of looking forward to lots of amazing things to come over the next few months.  It was also the first week that I didn’t feel completely overwhelmed by my never ending to do list, so maybe the two things go hand in hand.  This weekend I’m looking forward to heading out to the DC Big Flea and catching up with friends.  But in the meantime…

Photo Credit: flourfight

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

As usual, we have a fun cocktail coming up for you this afternoon, so check back a bit later for the recipe!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here on Monday!  xoxo

Curious George-Inspired Birthday Party Invitations for Lawson

Happy Leap Day everyone!  Julie from Duet Letterpress sent over the most adorable letterpress invitations that she designed and printed for a first birthday party last summer.  These invitations were inspired in part by the invitations that Julie created for her daughter Emily’s first birthday, featuring both an invitation to the birthday celebration along with a certificate marking important milestones during Lawson’s first year.

From Julie: To celebrate Lawson’s first birthday, his parents threw him a party inspired by Curious George.  They wanted something similar to Em’s invitations, but in the style of his party.  In addition to Curious George, the party was a vintage take on classic stories.  Rustic red, pale blue, navy, and a cheerful yellow made up the party’s color palette.

Lawson’s foot and hand prints were letterpress printed true to size.  Lawson was tiny at birth, and his feet were only 1 3/4″ long!  We made the “year of firsts” card a different size from the actual invitation and bound them together with yellow twine.  Finally, a two color, letterpress printed, wraparound mailing label was affixed to each pale blue envelope.

Thanks so much Julie!

Photo Credits: Duet Letterpress

Paige + Michael’s Elegant Calligraphy Wedding Invitations

It’s no secret that I love the combination of beautiful calligraphy script and letterpress printing, particularly when it comes to wedding invitations, so naturally I’m completely smitten with the most recent collaboration between Sarah of Parrott Design Studio and calligrapher Betsy Dunlap!

Sarah incorporated Betsy’s calligraphy into a sophisticated and elegant letterpress wedding invitation that features the roman numeral of the wedding date.  I love the subtle mix of soft gray tones in the text with the delicate matte gold tones of the envelope liner and roman numerals.  So pretty!

Check out a bit more over on the Parrott Design Studio blog right here!

Design and Letterpress Printing: Parrott Design Studio

Calligraphy: Betsy Dunlap

Parrott Design Studio is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can see more of Sarah’s beautiful work right here or visit the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Parrott Design Studio

*Parrott Design Studio is one of my fab­u­lous spon­sors; for more on my edi­to­r­ial poli­cies please click here.