Rachel + Nick’s Ombre Letterpress Wedding Invitations

How pretty are these wedding invitations from Lesley at Inclosed Studio? The invitation design was inspired by the bride and groom’s original wedding venue – a peach orchard – with a soft peach ombre on the main invitation and cute peach details throughout the suite. Beautiful!

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From Lesley: Rachel and Nick got married on a rooftop in downtown Omaha, Nebraska. Their original wedding location at a peach orchard had fallen through and they were hoping to still incorporate peaches into their new city vibe.

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The invitation is letterpress printed on peach ombré paper with hints of peaches and gold throughout. For the finishing touch, their logo was foil stamped in gold on kraft paper tag … love!

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Thanks Lesley and Lauren!

Invitation Design: Inclosed Studio

Envelope Calligraphy: Melissa at The Pretty Paperie

Inclosed Studio is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can see more of their beautiful work right here and visit the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Inclosed Studio

Nina’s Colorful Hot Pink + Turquoise Birth Announcements

As a busy working parent, I can totally relate to being behind the curve on sending out important announcements: we still haven’t sent out moving announcements after nearly 7 months in our “new” house! It may have taken these parents a while to send out the announcements for their second daughter, Nina, but they made up for the delay with these beautiful announcements from the team at Noteworthy Paper & Press. I’m loving all the bright pops of color, from the turquoise flourishes to the hot pink envelope liners!

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From Taylor at Noteworthy Paper & Press: We printed these belated birth announcements earlier in the summer for Pam and Tony, who welcomed a second baby girl into their busy lives last October. Both mom and dad work full time, so the announcement took a back seat as they settled into being a family of four. The couple’s only requirement was that the card be bright and fun and they loved the idea of using the current “chalkboard art” trend as inspiration.

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Thanks Taylor!

Photo Credits: Noteworthy Paper & Press

Krista + Josh’s Whimsical Woodland Wedding Invitations

High school sweethearts Krista and Josh love nature, so it made total sense for Krista to draw her inspiration from the great outdoors while designing the invitations for her wedding last summer. Krista incorporated a tree, clouds, and a whimsical script font into the design, which was enclosed in a woodgrain pocket folder. Ironically, Krista and Josh had to cancel their southern New Jersey reception at the last minute due to the derecho that pummeled the East Coast last summer – you’ll definitely want to click the link below for the incredible story!

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From Krista: My husband Josh and I love the great outdoors. We camp. We hike. We got engaged on a mountain. We basically grew up in the woods, in the same small square-mile town in New Jersey: Tree City USA aka Wenonah. So naturally, the first thing that came to mind was: a tree. Little did we know that our reception would be cancelled due to a power outage from downed trees of a high wind derecho storm the night before, but that’s a whole other story.

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I started with the tree and then incorporated the butterflies, hearts, clouds, and little frog prince… and a lot of color. Next came the very important part of finding a hand-script font to match, which in the end, really made our little fairytale-land come to life. Once the actual invitation design was complete, I was able to carry the look and feel to the rest of the suite: the directions, accommodations, reception and reply cards, and envelopes.

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I knew from the start that I would use a natural white linen card stock, since it’s my favorite paper and has that rustic vibe. But then, I had my O-M-G moment when I found the most perfect pocket fold card stock – textured woodgrain! The final touch was tying it off with a natural green raffia ribbon and a pink paper butterfly.

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Beautiful! Thanks Krista!

Invitation Design: Kake Stationery

Script Font: Bookeyed Suzanne

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

Photo Credits: Kake Stationery

Friday Happy Hour: The Bufala Negra

Usually these posts take some time. I do some reading about classic cocktails and try out the recipes for myself, or I play around with my own recipes until I get it just right. There’s a lot of research and a lot of experimenting before I’m ready to write about a drink. But not this one. I came across this modern cocktail a few days ago, tried it out, and loved it so much that I didn’t take any convincing to post about it right away. So enjoy this amazing combination of bourbon, balsamic, and basil – the Bufala Negra. – Andrew

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Illustration by Shauna Lynn for Oh So Beautiful Paper

The Bufala Negra

2 oz Bourbon
3/4 oz Balsamic Syrup

2-4 oz Ginger Beer
3-4 Fresh Basil Leaves

To make the balsamic syrup, combine equal parts balsamic vinegar with simple syrup over low heat, stirring frequently, until the vinegar and syrup are combined and slightly reduced.

To make the Bufala Negra, muddle the balsamic syrup and basil leaves together in a shaker.  Add the bourbon and lots of ice, then shake well.  Strain into a tumbler filled with fresh ice, then top with ginger beer and garnish with more basil.  Enjoy!

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The Bufala Negra is the creation Jerry Slater, owner and operator of the Atlanta, Georgia bar H. Harper Station. Needless to say, I am now scheming up an excuse to visit Atlanta. Jerry’s Bufala Negra is sweet and tart and herbal and spicy at the same time. The balsamic and basil lend the drink an air of Italian cuisine without being gimmicky. (I’m a huge fan of balsamic vinegar in cooking, but I’d only ever used it in cocktails to make shrubs, so I find its use here pretty ingenious.)

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I did make a couple of changes to the recipe. First, I upped the bourbon a bit; there are lots of strong flavors in the Bufala Negra and I didn’t want the bourbon to get lost. Second, I replaced the original recipe’s inclusion of some brown sugar with more balsamic syrup. I’m not a big fan of brown sugar, which is basically white sugar colored brown with molasses. Using a raw or cane sugar, like turbinado, in your balsamic syrup will give your cocktails a much richer and more honest flavor.

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A word of warning: the Bufala Negra can go down easily.  They’re light without being insubstantial, sweet and rich without being cloying, perfect to have with dinner. In other words, you might find yourself having more than you meant to without realizing it. Yeah, it’s a good cocktail.

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Happy Weekend!

Happy Friday everyone! We’re looking forward to a beautiful fall weekend here in DC, which is a welcome change after what felt like an eternity of rain last weekend. My dad and step-mom are coming to visit this weekend, so we’re looking forward to taking them to pick pumpkins at our favorite farm and checking out the fall foliage at the National Arboretum (now that the ridiculous shutdown is finally, thankfully, over). Yay! But in the meantime…

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Photo Credit: Doug McMillen

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

Check back soon for this week’s cocktail! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here next week! xoxo