{happy weekend!}

Whew!  What a week… but I hope you’re all enjoying the coverage from the 2012 National Stationery Show so far!  I’m looking forward to a relaxing weekend at home, and hopefully giving a little care and attention to our poor neglected apartment and garden.  But in the meantime…

Constellation Print by Sycamore Street Press

…a few links for your weekend:

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

That’s it for me this week!  Cocktail Fridays will be back this afternoon – and we have a special cocktail just in time for Memorial Day weekend, 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

National Stationery Show 2012, Part 5

Some stationers decide to combine efforts and share booth space at the National Stationery Show, either by working with a rep who oversees the whole booth or by simply dividing the booth square footage amongst the participating stationers.  This year there were three such booths, so I thought I’d end the week with these three booths since there’s a LOT of stationery eye candy in each one!  First up, three Seattle-based stationers sharing a booth – Ilee Paper Goods, Orange Twist, and Tutta Lou.

 

 

Ilee Paper Goods

 

 

Orange Twist

 

 

Tutta Lou

I always have a great time visiting the Ladies of Letterpress booth at the Stationery Show.  I love that the organization provides an opportunity for their members to test the wholesale waters – and it’s so fun to see members go on to exhibit in their own booths year after year.  This year there were eleven talented letterpress stationers exhibiting in the booth!

 

Sixpenny Press (left) and Bowerbox Press (right)

I loved the combination of hand-carved wood block illustrations and gold foil text on these holiday cards!

Bowerbox Press

Shauna and Stephen from Seed House did such an amazing job with their stationery debut – everything was so soft and delicate and full of vintage-inspired charm!

 

 

Seed House

Meg from Moglea also made a big splash at this year’s show with her collection of letterpress cards and stationery sets.  I also loved her illustrated quarterly wall calendar!

 

 

 

Moglea

Fancy Seeing You Here is a new-to-me stationery company, but I was smitten with the collection of bright and colorful letterpress cards!

 

Fancy Seeing You Here

 

 

Shed Letterpress

Tella Press

 

Pepper Press

 

Petal Press (left) and Pink Orchid Press (right)

Pink Orchid Press

Carina from Crow and Canary is one of my favorite people in the stationery biz and she put together an awesome booth at this year’s show with some of my favorite stationers, from Paper + Cup to Enormous Champion and lots, lots more.

 

Enormous Champion

 

Lark Press (left) and a.favorite design (right)

 

Gilah Press (left) and Greenwich Letterpress (right)

 

Paper + Cup (left) and Candyspotting (right)

 

Ghost Academy (left) and Red Cap Cards (right)

 

Two Trick Pony

 

Pie Bird Press

 

Eieio

 

Rock Scissor Paper

That’s it for now – coverage of the 2012 National Stationery Show will continue next week!

Photo Credits: Stephen Michael Garey and Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper, please ask permission prior to reposting any photos.

National Stationery Show 2012, Part 4

Sigh… the 2012 National Stationery Show is officially over.  And while I’m happy to be back home (and even happier to rest my aching feet!), I’m already going through pretty paper withdrawal and missing all my friends in the stationery industry.  I was excited to see a ton of new exhibitors at this year’s show, so today I thought I’d focus in on a few of the first-time exhibitor booths.  First up, the whimsical stationery from Rocket Ink; every design features hand lettering and/or a hand-drawn illustration or pattern.  Beautiful!

 

 

 

Rocket Ink

Pei Design might win the award for most adorable stationery collection from this year’s show.  I love the clean and modern aesthetic of the letterpress cards and fill-in invitations, not to mention the foil stamp pattern note cards and edge painted notebooks!

 

 

Pei Design

I loved all the modern black + white minimalism happening over at Pawling, from an incredibly cool topographic 2013 calendar (and corresponding cards) to geometric pattern newsprint gift wrap, art prints, tote bags, and notebooks.

 

 

Pawling

The Regional Assembly of Text was one of several Canadian exhibitors at this year’s show.  This Vancouver-based duo presented a collection of super-cute note cards and corresponding buttons.  So fun!

 

 

 

Regional Assembly of Text

There were so many fun things happening over in the Jigsaw Graphics booth!  I’m constantly re-organizing and re-arranging things in my home, so I instantly fell in love with the dry erase labels and tags – so perfect for someone like me.  And the customizable letterpress stationery is pretty amazing; Jigsaw Graphics can take any signature and/or illustration, scan it in, and create personalized note cards for kids and adults.  Turns out that kids really love to write letters to their friends, so hooray for the future generation of letter-writers!

 

 

Jigsaw Graphics

I loved the home library vibe of the Papillon Press booth (another Canadian exhibitor!).  Their collection of letterpress greeting cards was both pretty and incredibly funny – such a great combination!  I particularly enjoyed the Victorian card series with phrases and tips from an antique etiquette guide.

 

 

 

 

Papillon Press

I’m so happy I came across The Permanent Collection booth – so many fantastic letterpress cards and prints!  And I can’t get over the large scale letterpress prints of wedding vows and birth announcement details… such a great way to commemorate a momentous occasion (and surprisingly affordable, too!).

 

The Permanent Collection

I’m still working my way through all the photos from the show, but I’ll be back with more soon!

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Calligraphy Inspiration: Nancy Hopkins Handlettering

Ed Note: Hi Everyone! I’m taking a quick break from National Stationery Show coverage today to get more photos and posts ready to share with you.  I’ll be back with more from the show tomorrow! – Nole

The thing I love most about calligraphy is its emotive qualities.  Sometimes, it seems we have enough trouble trying to put thoughts and feelings into words.  But to then have those words illustrate these things, simply through line and form, is pretty amazing; it’s quite the challenge.  Nancy of Nancy Hopkins Handlettering seems to enjoy the challenge by the looks of her portfolio.  With 15 years of experience specializing in commercial and event calligraphy, and clients like Saks Fifth Avenue, Bank of America, and Martha Stewart Magazine, she has certainly made a name for herself transforming the written word. – Julie

Nancy Hopkins invitation suite

Nancy Hopkins blue addressed envelopes

A mix of calligraphy and hand lettering along with a great use of space adds charm to addressed envelopes.

Nancy Hopkins warm invitation suite

Nancy Hopkins detail

The perfectly imperfect line quality of some of her styles are swoon-worthy.  The words are given such personality and texture, don’t you think?

Nancy Hopkins addressed and illustrated envelopes

Nancy Hopkins kraft envelopes

Nancy Hopkins grey lettered envelope and place cards

Don’t forget to visit Nancy’s website for more of her work.  She recently updated the website – and with many fantastic examples and with 26 lettering styles available, it’s almost guaranteed that she has a style perfectly suited for your needs.

Letterpress printing: Olivia San Mateo

Photo Credits: Sabine Elser

National Stationery Show 2012, Part 3

I’m so excited to share more from the National Stationery Show!  There has been so much amazing stationery to see at this year’s show, I’ve barely even made a dent in the last two days.  First up for today, I loved all the colorful and modern stationery from Two Paperdolls, from bright greeting cards and a mustache-theme calendar to a gorgeous new album of wedding invitations.  I’m particularly smitten with the line of Mad Men-inspired cards!

 

 

 

 

Two Paperdolls

Last year, Adrienne from Dingbat Press created a booth covered in silver leaf – and this year she switched things up with a booth made from hundreds of coaster-size kraft paper circles.  Amazing!  I love Adrienne’s new collections of initial notebooks and colorful self-mailing stationery sets.

 

 

Dingbat Press

After making her Stationery Show debut last year, Catherine from Printerette Press put together another beautiful booth full of sweet letterpress greeting cards and a brand new wedding collection.  So pretty!

 

Printerette Press

I’m so excited to see more designers producing boxed writing sheet sets, and I love all the whimsical designs from Fawnsberg – not to mention the greeting cards and rubber stamps featuring their signature hand lettering.

 

Fawnsberg

The Dauphine Press booth was ridiculously pretty this year – chock full of gorgeous wedding invitations with metallic foil details, colorful edge painting, and lovely patterns.

 

 

 

Dauphine Press

So much pretty paper eye candy from Fine Day Press – from the beautiful new watercolor calendar to foil stamp patterns and letterpress greeting cards!

 

Fine Day Press

Page Stationery made their Stationery Show debut this year with a brand new wedding album and lots of really fun day-of wedding stationery, including letterpress printed ceremony program covers and double-sided reception signs.  Such a great idea!  I also love their collection of “manly” boxed stationery.

 

 

 

  

 

Page Stationery

I’ll be back tomorrow with more from the show!

Photo Credits: Stephen Michael Garey and Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper; please ask permission prior to reposting any images.