Search Results for: navy

Sarah + Jeff’s Modern Wedding Invitations and Save the Dates

It’s always a great day when something from designer Kate Holgate shows up in my inbox!  Kate created these awesome wedding invitations last year, and today she’s back with another gorgeous suite.  Kate combined letterpress and digital printing, along with geometric patterns and lots of fun color, to create a modern and truly unique invitation suite for Sarah and Jeff’s Chicago wedding.

From Kate: Sarah and Jeff will be married in Chicago next month.  They wanted a unique design that combined lots of texture, geometric patterns and interesting typography.  Their gorgeous color pallet consisted of navy blue with accents of aqua and fuchsia.

Sarah and Jeff were a dream to work with; they had impeccable taste and were very open to ideas.  Their production budget allowed for two of the pieces to be letterpress printed; we chose to letterpress print the save the date and invitation packet cover piece.  Both incorporated a blind impression and navy blue ink.

 

The rest of the suite was digitally printed.  We alternated patterns and colors on the backs of the individual pieces for a fun, colorful effect.  Sarah and Jeff love to kayak on the Chicago River together, so I subtly incorporated paddle icons to personalize the design.  Custom calligraphy gave a nice finishing touch.  Overall, I think that the invitation suite turned out elegant and fresh.

Thanks Kate!

Letterpress Printing for Save the Date: Paper Mill Designs
Letterpress Printing for Invitation Cover: Ladybug Press
Design: Kate Holgate
Calligraphy: Danica Cindell

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Kate Holgate

Friday Happy Hour: The French Gimlet

It’s not summer yet, but with 70-degree weather like yesterday’s (at least here in DC) you might think it is.  In that spirit, here’s one of the most refreshing drinks out there: the French Gimlet.

Continue reading for the recipe!

French Gimlet

2 oz Dry Gin
1 oz St. Germain
1 oz Lime Juice

Combine all the ingredients and shake with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with a lime wheel and enjoy.

 

The Gimlet – gin and lime juice or lime cordial – is a fantastic drink by itself, crisp and tart, citrusy and fantastically refreshing, the perfect thing to cool off on a muggy summer night.  The addition of the elderflower-flavored St. Germain liqueur adds a layer of floral complexity and a bit of sweetness to the French Gimlet that makes this an easy drink to sip.

The Royal Navy claims one of its own naval surgeons, Sir Thomas D. Gimlette, invented the Gimlet (or Gimlette as it was reportedly known at the start) sometime around the start of the 20th century.  Gimlette was apparently looking for a way to ensure sailors would drink the lime juice they needed to stave off scurvy.  It’s a good story, and it was an even better idea.  I, for one, am scurvy-free.

 

The Gimlet was probably made originally not with fresh lime juice, but with lime cordial, a sweetened preserved lime juice.  Lime cordial was invented in the 1860s to keep fresh the sailors’ lime ration that they were, apparently, so reluctant to drink that Sir Gimlette had to dump gin into it.  I do not recommend you use a lime cordial, like Rose’s, in the French Gimlet: the St. Germain adds plenty of sweetness on its own, and the tartness of fresh lime juice is a good balance to the drink’s other ingredients.

That said, I wonder how this drink would work with Old Tom Gin in place of dry gin, or even Genever…as always, experiment away.

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

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

Calligraphy Inspiration: Paperfinger

Each month, we’ve been showcasing a calligrapher here on Oh So Beautiful Paper.  This month, I’m delighted to share the work of none other than the creator of OSBP’s logo!  Computer scientist turned calligrapher Bryn Chernoff started Paperfinger in 2008 and offers full service invitation design and production.  (She even supports green and eco-friendly projects)  Bryn’s calligraphy style and hand drawn text are some of the most beautiful and charming I’ve seen.  You may have seen it too, at Anthropologie, on TV, or even tattooed on a passerby.  – Julie

paperfinger invitation & rsvp

Even Bryn’s illustrations are lovely; simple yet striking.  I love this invitation suite and its mix of hand lettering and calligraphy with illustration.

paperfinger letterpress invitations

paperfinger addressed envelope

paperfinger signs & props

Thinking of having your own photo/smilebooth for an event?  Paperfinger can supply you with custom props to make those photos even more memorable!

paperfinger transcribed love letter

Written on Italian stationery and with an option to be wax sealed, Paperfinger offers a love letter transcribing service, bringing a bit of the old world to this technological age.  Currently available in her shop along with stamps and customizable ribbons.

paperfinger navy escort cards

In addition to custom calligraphy services, the brand new Paperfinger invitation collection will be launching in May!  Bryn will also be starting a workshop series in New York and Portland, Oregon.  To stay up to date on these and other visual goodies from paper to food, head over to her daily blog Papertastebuds.

Photo Credits: Red invitations and illustrated invitations, photobooth prop (left), addressed envelope: Jen Huang Photography; Photobooth prop (right): Les Loups; Love letter: StudioAlex; Escort cards: Emilie, Inc

Marcus + Jillian’s Whimsical Kraft Paper Letterpress Wedding Invitations

I love the whimsical design elements and natural color palette in these kraft paper wedding invitations, sent over by Matthew from A Fine Press.  Designed by Laura Helm of Ashton Events, the invitation features hand drawn illustrations and hand lettering – all letterpress printed in soft white and gold by Matthew – and accompanied by navy and lavender envelopes for a fun pop of color.

From Matthew: We did a tone-on-tone theme for these invitations, using a transparent white ink for the return address, a shimmery lavender ink for the RSVP envelopes, and white and gold inks for the invitation and RSVP.  The whole invitation was printed on French Paper (Muscletone 140# kraft paper, Construction nightshift blue A7 envelopes, and Pop-Tone grapesicle 4-bar envelopes).

This is a great example of the compatibility between letterpress printing and  hand-drawn illustrations.  Laura created the illustrations in black ink on white paper, at which point they were scanned and sent for platemaking. 

Thanks Matthew!

Design: Ashton Events

Letterpress Printing: A Fine Press

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Matthew R Photography

p.s. Don’t forget to enter the save the date giveaway from Delphine!  Check out details right here!