{happy weekend + reader survey!}

After all the ups and downs this week, I know I’m ready for a bit of R&R this weekend! But before you go running off, would you mind filling out a quick reader survey? It’s been a while since the last one, and I’d love your thoughts about Oh So Beautiful Paper as I prepare to make it bigger and better over the coming year! You can find the short survey right here! And in the meantime…

Original Image Credit: Aaron Huey

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

That’s it for me this week! Next week I have an AWESOME giveaway that you won’t want to miss – so be sure to check back in early next week. Have a wonderful weekend! xoxo

Sophie at 4 Months

Happy Friday everyone! I’ll admit that I’ve had quite the roller coaster of a week, from the trials of house hunting to being on the receiving end of some really disappointing behavior from someone that I thought was my friend. I usually try to keep Oh So Beautiful Paper a happy place, so I won’t get into too many of the details here. It’s just always a bummer to find out that someone that you care about doesn’t seem to hold your friendship in the same regard. So today I thought I’d help cheer myself up by sharing a few photos of Sophie at the 4-month mark!

Photo Credits: Oh So Beautiful Paper (13) Photo Credits: Oh So Beautiful Paper (10)

The last month with Sophie has really been so much fun – she’s full of smiles, tiny giggles, and we have lots of conversations full of all sorts of funny noises and grunting sounds. She still has plenty of meltdowns, usually when she doesn’t get a long enough nap, but she’s getting easier to soothe. She’s so curious and interested in everything going on around her, particularly people!

Photo Credits: Oh So Beautiful Paper (4) Photo Credits: Oh So Beautiful Paper (2)

Sophie recently went through a crazy growth spurt and gained around a pound in a single week – she’s still such a tiny thing, but she’s now double her birth weight at 12 pounds. She has officially outgrown all of her newborn clothes, which for me is such a bittersweet change. She’ll never be that tiny ever again! But she’s now doing all sorts of fun things like holding her head up and grabbing things!

Photo Credits: Oh So Beautiful Paper (9) Photo Credits: Oh So Beautiful Paper (7)

As you can see from these photos, her new favorite thing is to be a flying baby – she smiles and looks all around whenever we hold her up. I had a hard time getting any decent non-blurry photos because she was moving her head around so much to get a good look! It’s probably only a matter of time before she’s sitting up on her own, too.

 

Last night we took Sophie for her first hockey experience – an open Capitals practice at the Verizon Center – and she LOVED it! I’m not sure she even noticed the activity on the ice, but she enjoyed looking at all the people and the bright lights around the arena. We’ll probably wait a couple more months before we think about taking her to an actual game, but it’s good to know she doesn’t get overwhelmed in such a big setting. Sophie has also been a trooper in our house hunt – that’s her taking a nap (above) in one of the houses we looked at.

 

The house hunt has been pretty frustrating so far… nothing too surprising, we just haven’t seen much that would be a good fit for us. We’ve made one offer so far, which we didn’t get  â€“ also not really a surprise as we were competing with two other offers – but I’m happy to have at least made the leap of making an offer on something. At the same time, we’ve been circling around another property that has a TON of potential but will require some major renovations that could push it just out of our reach, which I think is actually the most frustrating part so far. For now we’re just continuing to look around and hope that something awesome comes on the market soon!

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Emily + Sean’s Engraved Watercolor Burlap Save the Dates

I always expect something creative and one-of-a-kind from designer Kristy Rice and her team at Momental Designs, and these burlap and watercolor save the dates are no exception! Kristy drew her inspiration from nature, combining hand painted watercolor with white engraved text, burlap, and kraft paper – with stunning results!

Watercolor + Engraved Save the Dates by Momental Designs via Oh So Beautiful Paper

From Kristy: The concept for these save the dates was simple but the result; incredibly powerful. We started with the inspiration of rich natural textures, landscapes, and literature. Then we combined richly saturated hand painted watercolor textures with crisp and classic engraved lettering. Mingled with rustic touches of burlap and kraft cardstock, the look is a balance of contrasts and textures.

Watercolor Save the Dates by Momental Designs via Oh So Beautiful Paper (1)

Watercolor Save the Dates by Momental Designs via Oh So Beautiful Paper (5)

Watercolor Save the Dates by Momental Designs via Oh So Beautiful Paper (3)

Watercolor Save the Dates by Momental Designs via Oh So Beautiful Paper

Kristy even sent over a few behind-the-scenes photos of the watercolor process!

Momental Designs Watercolor Process via Oh So Beautiful Paper

So cool! Thanks Kristy!

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

Photo Credits: Momental Designs

Sally + Gray’s Maine Map Destination Wedding Invitations

I’m completely powerless against the beauty of a fabulous map invitation, and these gorgeous destination wedding invitations from the ladies of Gus & Ruby Letterpress are no exception! Samantha and Whitney created these invitations for a wedding in Maine’s Acadia National Park, incorporating vintage maps, bright pops of orange, along with some playful wording. So fun!

Map Travel-Inspired Destination Wedding Invitations by Gus & Ruby Letterpress via Oh So Beautiful Paper (15)

From Samantha and Whitney: The suite was designed for an amazing couple (she’s a doctor who recently returned from Africa doing Doctor’s without borders, he’s a retired professional hockey player and they live in Anchorage Alaska, now!) who were married in gorgeous Acadia National Park in Maine. They wanted their stationery to reflect their love of Maine and the great outdoors while also showcasing their seriously fun-loving personalities.

Map Travel-Inspired Destination Wedding Invitations by Gus & Ruby Letterpress via Oh So Beautiful Paper (10)

We played primarily off vintage maps of Acadia National Park and fun language which spoke to the fact that this was a destination wedding for almost all the guests. Each invitation was mounted into a custom folio featuring a map of Maine and the latitude and longitude of their wedding location. The folio was held shut with an oversized belly band with sassy language that got guests excited for the weekend-long fête.

Map Travel-Inspired Destination Wedding Invitations by Gus & Ruby Letterpress via Oh So Beautiful Paper (14)

Map Travel-Inspired Destination Wedding Invitations by Gus & Ruby Letterpress via Oh So Beautiful Paper (8)

Map Travel-Inspired Destination Wedding Invitations by Gus & Ruby Letterpress via Oh So Beautiful Paper (9)

We used an inspiring color palette of peaches and oranges with pops of blue and gray to give nod to the autumn season without being super literal. Color backing papers, and a mixed variety of fonts helped to punch up the look. Of course, all the pieces were lovingly letterpress printed by hand on our antique press (c. 1896) on beautiful, textural, super thick 100% cotton paper.

Map Travel-Inspired Destination Wedding Invitations by Gus & Ruby Letterpress via Oh So Beautiful Paper (6) Map Travel-Inspired Destination Wedding Invitations by Gus & Ruby Letterpress via Oh So Beautiful Paper (4)

Map Travel-Inspired Destination Wedding Invitations by Gus & Ruby Letterpress via Oh So Beautiful Paper (5)

Each guest also received individual guide booklets containing a schedule of events detailing the many fun things taking place over the weekend. The schedule of events booklet also doubled as a travel journal with blank pages at the back for notes and stories from the weekend. The covers of each booklet were letterpress printed on the outside and featured a full-flood map on the inside; flat printed, text weight pages were bound inside.

Map Travel-Inspired Destination Wedding Invitations by Gus & Ruby Letterpress via Oh So Beautiful Paper (3)

Just stunning!  Thanks Sam and Whit!

Gus & Ruby Letterpress is a member of the Designer Rolodex – check out more of their beautiful work right here or visit the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Brea McDonald Photography for Gus & Ruby Letterpress

Janine + Craig’s Chevron Stripe Fabric Pocket Wedding Invitations

This wedding invitation suite from Janine Rae Design has so many elements that I love – a bold color palette, chevron stripes, and a fabric pocket to hold everything together. But the best part? Janine and her now-husband Craig incorporated their beloved dog Abbey into the invitation design and made a donation to their local SPCA in lieu of wedding favors. So perfect.

Chevron Stripe Fabric Pocket Wedding Invitations by Janine Rae Design via Oh So Beautiful Paper (7)

From Janine: Craig and I adopted our sweet dog, Abbey, while dating and she has certainly become an important part of our relationship. When thinking about the design for our wedding invitation I knew I wanted to have fun and also make the design deeply personal to us. The silhouette of Abbey with her collar flower pulled all of our paper goods together and represented our support of the local SPCA with a donation in lieu of favors at the wedding.

Chevron Stripe Fabric Pocket Wedding Invitations by Janine Rae Design via Oh So Beautiful Paper (6)

Boxcar Press did a beautiful job of letterpress printing our invitations, as well as the ampersand tags (which were later sewn to the fabric pockets) and our reply cards. I sewed each fabric pocket from the same fabric used as table runners at our reception and tucked all the enclosure cards inside for mailing.

Chevron Stripe Fabric Pocket Wedding Invitations by Janine Rae Design via Oh So Beautiful Paper (2)

Chevron Stripe Fabric Pocket Wedding Invitations by Janine Rae Design via Oh So Beautiful Paper (3)

The garden of love stamps fit perfectly with the invitations and our backyard wedding. Yellow striped envelope liners matched the design printed on the back of the invitations and thank you notes.

Chevron Stripe Fabric Pocket Wedding Invitations by Janine Rae Design via Oh So Beautiful Paper (1)

Thank you so much Janine!

Design: Janine Rae Design

Letterpress Printing: Boxcar Press

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

Photo Credits: Robyn Van Dyke Photography