Happy Weekend!

Happy Friday everyone! This has been such a busy week, and I’m not even exaggerating when I say that I’m looking forward to cleaning my house this weekend! My house is normally pretty crazy thanks to the two little muchkins running around, but we haven’t even had a chance to unpack from going away for Thanksgiving! Yikes. I’m also looking forward to getting our Christmas tree this weekend and pulling all the decorations out of storage! But in the meantime…

Oh So Beautiful Paper Wreath / Instagram

A little behind-the-scenes peek at something we worked on this week, via my Instagram

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

That’s it for me this week! Check back a bit later for this week’s cocktail recipe – and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I’ll see you back here on Monday! xoxo

How to Use Vintage Stamps

I love, love, LOVE using vintage postage stamps on envelopes. They add a little something special to everything from wedding invitations to dinner and cocktail party invitations to baby announcements. Vintage stamps offer a wonderful opportunity to represent your personal style, whether chosen thematically or by color palette. And since unused postage never expires, there are endless options to suit every type of occasion – from a formal black tie wedding to a casual backyard gathering. Here are a few of my tips for how to use vintage stamps – plus, I put a collection together with some of my favorite vintage stamps that you can use in your own projects!

How to Use Vintage Stamps / Oh So Beautiful Paper for eBay

How to Use Vintage Stamps / La Happy

Photo Credit: La Happy Design & Calligraphy

1. Add it Up

First things first: vintage postage must add up to current postage rates. While searching and shopping for stamps, make sure that you have one stamp worth at least 25¢ (or more!). Wedding invitations and birth announcements mailed in a larger envelope usually require a minimum of 71¢ postage. The 3¢ and 8¢ stamps are great for rounding out a color palette or subject theme, but you’ll need a 29¢ or 33¢ stamp in the mix to make up the difference in the total postage amount.

How to Use Vintage Stamps / Wondrous Whimsy

Photo Credit: Diana McGregor Photography / Calligraphy by Wondrous Whimsy

How to Use Vintage Stamps / Anne Robin Calligraphy and Underwood Letterpress

Photo Credit: Stephanie Collins Photography / Calligraphy by Anne Robin / Vintage Postage by Underwood Letterpress

2. Plan it Out

Plan your stamp arrangement ahead of time to make sure you leave room for an address – and to maximize visual impact. Some stamps look best in a straight row across the top of an envelope, while others look best in a puzzle piece arrangement in the corner. It all depends on the stamps you select!

How to Use Vintage Stamps

Calligraphy: The Weekend Type / Floral Styling: The Moss & Rose / Styling: Two Be Wed / Photo Credits: Korie Lynn Photography

How to Use Vintage Stamps / Anne Robin Calligraphy and Underwood Letterpress

Photo Credit: Stephanie Collins Photography / Calligraphy by Anne Robin / Vintage Postage by Underwood Letterpress

3. Color Theory

The easiest way to group vintage stamps together? By color! Let your wedding color palette guide your vintage stamp selections and your envelopes will shine! You can even address the envelopes using ink in a complementary color to make your envelopes even more special and complete the overall look.

How to Use Vintage Stamps / Antiquaria Design

Photo Credit: Antiquaria Design Studio

4. Personal Geography

I love it when couples share a glimpse of their personal history – and geography! – in their vintage stamp selections. It can be as simple as a stamp with the city or state where the couple met, along with stamps of their home state. Perhaps they grew up in Montana and Texas but met in college in DC. When placed together on an envelope, these stamps tell such a fun story!

How to Use Vintage Stamps / Coral Pheasant

Photo Credit: Coral Pheasant

How to Use Vintage Stamps / Lauren Chism Fine Papers

Photo Credit: Lauren Chism Fine Papers

5. Stick to a Theme

Love science? Have a passion for architecture? Maybe you’re both crazy for horses, or you met while working on a political campaign. Whatever your interests, let them shine in your envelope postage! You can find vintage postage stamps for practically any topic or theme, from travel to modern art.

How to Use Vintage Stamps / Blue Eye Brown Eye Calligraphy

Photo Credit: Blue Eye Brown Eye Calligraphy

6. Pretty Botanicals

If themes aren’t your thing, go with flowers! My favorite vintage stamps feature floral designs – and they look so incredibly beautiful when grouped together on a wedding invitation envelope! My favorite floral stamps are the Mississippi and Alabama statehood stamps, along with this love stamp.

p.s. Where to find (and buy) vintage stamps and more inspiration for mixing vintage stamps

This post was created in partnership with eBay. All content and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that make Oh So Beautiful Paper possible!

Paper Party 2015!

I’m so excited to FINALLY share the photos from this year’s Paper Party during the National Stationery Show! I can’t believe the party was almost two weeks ago already – the whole evening went by so fast! I shared the party invitations designed by Moglea and printed by Bella Figura a couple of weeks ago, and the invitations really helped guide the overall party design. This year’s party had a tropical vibe, with a color palette inspired by the party invitations – shades of pink, dark blue, and gold – and lots of tropical details from foliage to flamingos!

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This year’s party was again held at Hudson Terrace – but this time in their rooftop terrace! My talented friend (and professional event planner) Janice from Bellwether Events helped me plan the party and kept the entire evening running smoothly and Mandy (one of our resident DIY mavens) helped with a lot of the party décor. We also partnered with an incredible team of sponsors and creative companies to bring the party to life, including The National Stationery Show, Minted, Etsy Wholesale, Silhouette America, Smock, Simply Framed, Rifle Paper Co., Hester & Cook Design Group, Legion Paper, Postable, Mailchimp, May Designs, Flower Muse, StationeryHQ, Foryourparty.com, and Swiss Cottage Designs.

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Mandy made the most amazing sign for the Paper Party this year! She hand painted some white canvas fabric in our party colors then cut out the letters and backed them with gold fabric! We accented with lasercut tropical paper foliage and pineapples from Alexis Mattox Design. Our tables featured gorgeous table runners and placemats from the new Chilewich + Hester & Cook collaboration (so pretty!) and table confetti from Minted! Michele from Meant to Be Calligraphy also lettered our menu selections on Chilewich + Hester & Cook place cards.

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Courtney from Swiss Cottage Designs offered to help out with some of the day-of stationery pieces – didn’t she do the most amazing job?? Courtney designed a fun tropical-inspired cocktail menu, name tags, cocktail stir sticks, coasters, matchboxes, and a giant welcome sign! For Your Party printed the coasters, matchboxes, and stir sticks in rose gold foil.

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Coasters, stir sticks, and matchboxes from For Your Party!

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Stripey party straws and drink flags from Minted!

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I had a blast making signs for the party! I used my favorite DIY technique for making spray painted acrylic signs – but instead of a paint pen I used my Silhouette CAMEO to cut out vinyl decals! Michele from Meant to Be Calligraphy and Jenna from Mon Voir kindly provided lettering, which I cut out in white and hot pink vinyl. The signs ranged in size from 5″ x 7″ to 18″ x 24″ and were seriously so easy to make!

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We also had a table with a demo of the Silhouettte CAMEO for party guests – we cut pineapples out of yellow and navy vinyl to wear as stickers around the party. They were such a hit! Mandy made a pineapple garland from navy card stock (so cute).

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These cascading honeycombs probably made the biggest visual impact and were one of my favorite decorations at the party! We mixed 5″ honeycombs with crepe paper streamers and Mandy‘s DIY air plants. We had 4 or 5 of these cascades around the party. I love how they turned out!

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The team from Smock made a couple of these “chandeliers” using strips of their gift wrap! They looked so beautiful blowing in the breeze.

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This gallery wall in collaboration with Simply Framed was hands down my favorite element of the party! We mixed original calligraphy artwork from some of my favorite calligraphers with tropical-inspired illustrations, and I looooooove how it all came together! The prints all look amazing together and Simply Framed did a wonderful job matching each print to its perfect frame. Stay tuned for a little something special involving these prints tomorrow!

Artwork sources top row from left: Moglea, Idlewild Co., A Fabulous Fete, Ashley Buzzy Calligraphy and Letterpress, Meera Lee Patel, Rifle Paper Co.

Bottom row from left: Fleur de Letters, Idlewild Co., Mon Voir, Blue Eye Brown Eye Calligraphy, Meera Lee Patel

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For this year’s party gift bags we partnered with the amazing Rifle Paper Co.! The bags feature a gorgeous custom Rifle design created just for the party – and don’t worry, I set some bags aside for a few lucky readers! Stay tuned for more details soon!

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Can we talk about the AMAZING floral arrangements for a few minutes? Dawn from Soirée Floral absolutely killed it! We combined gorgeous peonies, garden roses, ranunculus, and greens from Flower Muse with a few tropical flowers like king protea and pink ginger flowers. We mixed a few large arrangements with smaller cocktail-size arrangements that guests could take home at the end of the evening. I’m still dreaming about these amazing blooms!

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Yay for Etsy Wholesale! This was the second year that we’ve had an Etsy Wholesale lounge and I love that it’s becoming a little tradition at the party!

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Our Smilebooth backdrop featured more lasercut tropical paper foliage from Alexis Mattox Design: palm fronds, philodendron leaves, and even a few pineapples! We also had some plastic flamingos for props, along with real philodendron leaves, protea, and ginger flowers. So. Much. Fun!

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You can find the full photo gallery from Paper Party 2015 right here – and the Smilebooth photos right here!

Finally, a HUGE thank you to the wonderful sponsors and people who made the evening possible:

  • Infinite thanks to Janice and Mandy for all of their invaluable help over the past few months and throughout the evening – and Carrie, Kristina (and husband!) and our small army of friends who helped stuff gift bags or with set up before the party. We couldn’t have done it without you!

And of course a big thanks to Charlie Juliet Photography for the gorgeous photos and Hudson Terrace for having us! See you all next year!

Party Sources

Event Coordination: Bellwether Events

Floral Arrangements: Soirée Floral

Flowers: Flower Muse

Gallery Wall: Simply Framed

Day-of Calligraphy: Meant to Be Calligraphy

Day-of Stationery: Swiss Cottage Designs

Coasters, Stir Sticks, and Matchboxes: For Your Party

Table Confetti, Stripey Straws + Drink Flags: Minted

Tropical paper foliage for Smilebooth backdrop: Alexis Mattox Design

Table Runner, Placemats, and Place Cards: Hester & Cook Design Group

Venue: Hudson Terrace

Photo Credits: Charlie Juliet Photography

Fresh Cut Paper Flowers: Anemone

You guys, I am not a winter person. Like, at all. Here in the Mid Atlantic the trees are bare and everything is brown and gray and lifeless – and I’m just completely over it. But spring? I live for spring. Cherry blossoms, lilacs, peonies, wisteria… I can’t get enough. So how could I resist when Rachael from Appetite Paper offered to stop by Oh So Beautiful Paper on a regular basis to share some of her gorgeous paper flower creations?? Today Rachael is here to share her first creations and give us something pretty to look at in the doldrums of winter. Welcome Rachael!

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When you’re in the dead of winter, some fresh cut paper flowers certainly do the trick. These cute, dainty paper flowers are inspired by a personal favorite of mine, the Anemone. They are always so welcoming with their cheerful bloom. Made famous by their classic black and white combo, I couldn’t resist playing around with some fun coral hues and blush pink petals for some paper inspiration today! – Rachael

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Photo Credits: Appetite Paper for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Brown Paper Bags

I’ve always had a soft spot for all things kraft paper and any lookalikes. Who knew there were so many ways you could incorporate it into your wedding beyond the expected favor bag?! Besides it being the perfect addition to almost any wedding style from shabby chic to modern, it’s easy on the wallet. Score. So, I did a little research to find out just how many ways brides and grooms are getting creative out there. Here are a few of my favorites. – Lauren

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Brown Kraft Paper Bags via Oh So Beautiful PaperWedding Stationery Inspiration: Brown Kraft Paper Bags via Oh So Beautiful Paper

Bag up the bread in printed kraft bags. Image: Sacramento Street | Use as a menu. Image: by Sarah Kathleen via Wedding Chicks

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Brown Kraft Paper Bags via Oh So Beautiful Paper

Make a garland. Image: 10 Paper Lane

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Brown Kraft Paper Bags via Oh So Beautiful PaperWedding Stationery Inspiration: Brown Kraft Paper Bags via Oh So Beautiful Paper

 Bag up your snacks. Left image: Weddingful | right image: by  jose villa via Design Sponge

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Brown Kraft Paper Bags via Oh So Beautiful Paper

Decorate your entryway. Image: Party Ideas by a Pro

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Brown Kraft Paper Bags via Oh So Beautiful PaperWedding Stationery Inspiration: Brown Kraft Paper Bags via Oh So Beautiful Paper

Bag up the utensils. Image: Elizabeth Anne Designs | Make a hangover kit for guests. Image: Be Collective

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Brown Kraft Paper Bags via Oh So Beautiful Paper

This etsy shop recycled the bags to make confetti that is plantable seed paper. Image: KaBloomz

Wedding Stationery Inspiration: Brown Kraft Paper Bags via Oh So Beautiful Paper

This shop turned bags into fans. Image: Anna Lou Avenue

How would you incorporate kraft paper into your wedding day?