Search Results for: watercolor

Midnight in San Francisco Wedding Invitations + A Little Behind the Scenes

Emily and Eric’s wedding invitation design is one of my favorites! They were such a fun couple with a great eclectic design style. And today I wanted to add a little something extra and share a little from behind the scenes of this particular design. –Kim from Bright Room Studio

This design is completely hand-lettered, which means lots of sketching, drawing and scanning! I switch off between using tracing paper and just regular printing paper (often scrap paper from something else) for my lettering, depending on how much I want to sketch before hand. I also use a high-quality marker paper when I use a pointed calligraphy pen. This pile of scans became a bunch of different designs for the bride to choose from.

Behind the Design: Midnight in San Francisco Watercolor Hand Lettered Wedding Invitations by Bright Room Studio / Oh So Beautiful Paper

I typically explore a bunch of different design directions and present many different options to my clients. I think it really helps for them to see a variety of ideas… some that are more formal, more rustic, or more whimsical, depending on the vision they initially share with me. I find that even the designs that the clients don’t choose help them hone in on their aesthetic. From there, we narrow it down, tweak, mix and match until the design is perfect. But not everything makes the cut! The ones that don’t sometimes become elements of the RSVP or details card, sometimes are repurposed for other designs – and sometimes just go to the design graveyard.

Behind the Design: Midnight in San Francisco Watercolor Hand Lettered Wedding Invitations by Bright Room Studio / Oh So Beautiful Paper

My clients and I work together to refine the invitation suite until it is perfect. To me that means that it is cohesive, unique, clean and special. We finesse the little details like envelope color and twine as that can really make a difference in the whole product.

Here is where we landed with Emily and Eric. I like to call this one “Midnight in San Francisco.” I love the personal details, unique textures and cool California vibe.

Midnight in San Francisco Watercolor Hand Lettered Wedding Invitations by Bright Room Studio / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Midnight in San Francisco Watercolor Hand Lettered Wedding Invitations by Bright Room Studio / Oh So Beautiful Paper

The design was digitally printed to  showcase the depth of the watercolor textures. I love how the map has a subtle feeling of tie-dye, which winks at San Francisco’s Summer of Love.

Midnight in San Francisco Watercolor Hand Lettered Wedding Invitations by Bright Room Studio / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Midnight in San Francisco Watercolor Hand Lettered Wedding Invitations by Bright Room Studio / Oh So Beautiful Paper

The details really brought this together. The perfectly sourced vintage stamps, old postcard and subtly-rustic details made this eclectic suite come to life!

Midnight in San Francisco Watercolor Hand Lettered Wedding Invitations by Bright Room Studio / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Midnight in San Francisco Watercolor Hand Lettered Wedding Invitations by Bright Room Studio / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Design by Bright Room Studio

Printing by Mercurio Brothers

Bright Room Studio is a member of the Designer Rolodex  – you can see more of Kim’s beautiful work right here or visit the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Bright Room Studio

Hello from Bright Room Studio

Hi Everyone! Every now and then I love to invite stationers to guest post here on Oh So Beautiful Paper and share more about their business and creative projects. This week Kim from Bright Room Studio is stopping by to say hello. Welcome Kim! –Nole

Hello! I am so excited to be here blogging with you this week! I’m can’t wait to share some of my work and behind the scenes. But first, a bit about me.

My name is Kim and I am the owner and designer of Bright Room Studio based in Oakland, California. I specialize in custom wedding invitations and other fun hand-lettered goods.

hello from bright room studio
Photo by Chiarashine Photography

I graduated college with a degree in business and minor in graphic communications. I entered the world of advertising as an account manager and wasn’t doing anything creative… except for when I got to make my PowerPoints extra pretty (that was one of my favorite parts of the job – perhaps it should have been a sign!). After four years in the ad industry, I was burnt out and craving a more creative career. I then started going to school for interior design. But once again, I found that I was more excited to create logos for my fellow students than do the floor plans. While this was happening, I was also planning my own wedding and creating my own wedding invitations. I loved creating my invitations and paper goods for my wedding, and began to realize that this might be a good fit for me.

hello from bright room studio
Photo By Chiarashine Photography

At the beginning of the following year, I started to advertise myself as a custom invitation designer. Doing custom designs was a nice way to get in to the industry, and I loved the personal interaction I got in addition to the time spent designing. I booked a few key clients who were just the jump start I needed.

My journey into calligraphy and hand-lettering started around the same time. I didn’t know much about it, but I could never find quite the font so I started to write the text out myself. I then took Melissa Esplin’s I Still Love Calligraphy class. The more I learned about letters and began to study them, the more I fell in love with hand-lettering. It’s funny… I realized I had been doodling words and letters for as long as I could remember, I just never realized I could make a career out of it!

hello from bright room studio
Photo by Trynh Photography

As my business has grown, I’ve continued to developing my skills as an artist (it is so hard to call myself an artist, but I’m working on it!). I’ve worked with many couples to create their invitations and other paper goods and wedding signage. I have a line of products that I sell through my Etsy store, and I teach watercolor lettering.

hello from bright room studio
Photo by Bright Room Studio

I feel so lucky to be where I am today… and especially excited to be hanging with you all this week! So stick around for more behind the scenes and design ideas and don’t forget to drop by Instagram and say hello!

Bright Room Studio is a member of the Designer Rolodex  – you can see more of Kim’s beautiful work right here or visit the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Happy Weekend!

Happy Friday everyone! It’s cold and windy in DC today, so I’m all bundled up and trying to stay warm. My dad and step-mom are coming to visit this weekend, which is always great, but my girls are particularly excited to get some quality time with their grandparents! We’ll probably go out to do some fun DC stuff with the girls, so you can follow along on Instagram if you’d like. But in the meantime…

Stephanie Ryan Floral Watercolor via Instagram / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Image by Stephanie Ryan via 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

DIY Marbled Indigo and Gold Place Cards

I’ve been wanting to try paper marbling for so long – and I finally did it! I just love the soft swirls and unique patterns in marbled paper. Marbling is a beautiful (and easy!) way to spruce up your table décor for the holidays, or really any time of year! I put these marbled holiday place cards together with blue food coloring and a bit of liquid gold gilding, and I absolutely LOVE the way it turned out. I can’t wait to use these to set our holiday tables, but they’d be a wonderful addition to any dinner party throughout the year!

DIY Marbled Holiday Place Cards / Oh So Beautiful Paper for eBay

DIY Marbled Place Cards / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Supplies

  • Blank Place Cards
  • Foam Shaving Cream
  • Food Coloring
  • Liquid Gold Gilding
  • Gold Paint Pen
  • Paintbrush
  • Paper Towels
  • Washi Tape (optional)

DIY Marbled Indigo and Gold Place Cards

To make the DIY marbled indigo and gold place cards:

Step 1. Add a thick layer of foam shaving cream to a bowl or rectangular baking dish (I used a disposable baking pan). Then add a few drops of food coloring in your color choice. Use the back of a spoon or a spatula to spread the food coloring around the shaving foam, creating soft swirly patterns.

Step 2. Press a place card into the shaving foam, making sure that the place card makes as much contact with the shaving foam as possible. I chose to only press the front side of my place cards. You could also use washi tape along the top middle edge of the place card to create a crisp line between the marbled and non-marbled section.

Step 3. Gently lift the place card out of the shaving foam. Set the place card on a work surface covered with paper towels (food coloring will leave stains!). Use a ruler or knife to scrape as much of the shaving cream as possible off the place card onto paper towels. Use a fresh paper towel to blot away any remaining shaving cream and set aside to dry.

Step 4. Once the place cards are dry, use a size 14 round paint brush and liquid gilding to paint the front bottom of the place card. Write the name of your guest using a gold paint pen – and voila!

DIY Marbled Indigo and Gold Place Cards

DIY Marbled Indigo and Gold Place Cards

DIY Marbled Indigo and Gold Place Cards

DIY Marbled Indigo and Gold Place Cards

DIY Marbled Indigo and Gold Place Cards

DIY Marbled Place Cards / Oh So Beautiful Paper

 

DIY Marbled Place Cards / Oh So Beautiful Paper

There you have it! Super easy, with a vibrant pop of color and a bit of shimmer! What could be better??

p.s. How to make marbled paper and printable hand lettered wedding favor stationery

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!

Happy Weekend!

Happy Friday everyone! It’s Halloween weekend! We haven’t decided if we’ll take Sophie trick or treating on Saturday; she’s still pretty young and our neighborhood gets a bit crazy (and crowded) during trick or treating. But tonight is our neighborhood Halloween festival, and we’re definitely looking forward to taking both Sophie and Alice! But in the meantime…

Paperfinger Calligraphy Gift Wrap via Instagram / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Photo by Paperfinger via 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 Halloween weekend! xoxo