Kelly + John’s Modern Wedding Invitations + Save the Dates

Happy Monday everyone!  We’re starting the week off with a beautiful suite of wedding save the dates and invitations from Melissa and Amy at Atheneum Creative.  Melissa and Amy worked with bride and groom Kelly and John to develop a fresh approach to the idea of a magnet save the date.  The save the dates were later followed by beautiful wedding invitations with gorgeous hand lettered text in white ink on kraft paper for a modern and natural feel.

From Melissa + Amy: Kelly and John first came to us with the idea of a traditional magnet save the date.  We wanted to push this design to be more than the standard magnet that most people have seen.  We presented the idea of printing a separate magnet to hold up a digitally printed save the date card (creating a nice keepsake magnet).

 

The magnet was packaged in a custom printed muslin bag.  Kelly and John loved the idea of bringing in natural tones to offset the purple and green in the color palette, choosing to use a muslin bag to hold the magnet within the envelope.

When it came time for the invite, the couple really wanted to push the natural color palette with a touch of the green or purple – which lead us to introducing the kraft and a very playful calligraphy style.  This is a very fun set of materials for a very fun couple. We love it when couples come in with a vision of what they want and we are given the chance to address their wishes and push it even further.

We also created a series of thank you cards that can be used throughout the before and after wedding festivities.  We have some really fun ides in store for all their ‘day of’ materials.

Thanks Melissa + Amy!

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

Photo Credits: Chelsea Davis Photography

Friday Happy Hour: Oaxacan Sunrise

We recently expanded our bar by adding a bottle of Mezcal, a smokey Mexican spirit closely related to Tequila.  Mezcal is delicious but not the easiest thing to mix into cocktails, and there are some (but not many) great Mezcal cocktail recipes out there to try.  So, we played around a bit and came out with (what we humbly think is) a fantastic Mezcal Sour – one that we’re calling a Oaxacan Sunrise.

Read below for the full recipe!

Oaxacan Sunrise

2 oz Mezcal
3/4 oz Pomegranate Liqueur
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/4 oz Simple Syrup

Combine the ingredients and shake over ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass, and enjoy.

 

Mezcal, like Tequila, is made in Mexico by fermenting and distilling the agave plant.  Mezcal, unlike Tequila, is made by first roasting the piña, or heart, of the agave plant in earth-covered pit ovens for a few days before fermenting.  This imparts a powerful, delicious smokiness that evokes Scotch whiskey, though Mezcal has a much deeper vegetal flavor.  It’s probably not for everyone, but it’s worth giving it a try.

Here’s what our Oaxacan Sunrise tastes like: smokey, vegetal and fruity, sweet and tart, delicious and refreshing.  It’s like a sweet tart campfire.  Mezcal is a strong flavor that can easily overpower a drink but we think we’ve found a pretty good balance here.  If you prefer a sweeter drink, you could replace the pomegranate liqueur with pomegranate molasses or grenadine, but the tartness of this recipe helps to keep the smokiness of the Mezcal under control.

 

We haven’t tried it with this recipe, but we’ve had great success with Mezcal Flips at some of our favorite local watering holes.  If you’re feeling adventurous and want to turn this into a Flip, add about half a raw egg or egg white to the mix and shake nice and hard to blend smoothly.  It won’t affect the flavor much, but the resulting texture will be rich and silky.

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

{happy weekend!}

My oh my, after spending two of the last three weeks on the road, I am definitely looking forward to a relaxing weekend at home!  I’m excited to snuggle my cats, hang out with some friends, and otherwise do as little as possible this weekend.  I hope you have something a bit more exciting planned for yourselves!  But in the meantime…

Photo by me via instagram

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

A big welcome to the newest member of the Designer Rolodex – Campbell Raw Press!

As usual, we have a fun cocktail coming up for you this afternoon, 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

NYIGF January 2012, Part 3

Happy Friday everyone!  I have one more NYIGF recap to share before we head off for the weekend – then I’ll be back with more booths next week!  First up, the fabulous Laurel Denise booth, which was full of her beautiful and delicate jewelry and the most adorable little bud vases.  So cute!

 

 

Laurel made this awesome felt garland that she hung up above her main display area.  It was so cool – I want one in my house!

Laurel Denise

I always love the beautiful ceramic wares from Gleena.  The soft colors and organic shapes of the plates, bowls, and even vases and votives are all so beautiful!

 

 

Gleena

Last up for today, Smock – a booth that was packed full of lovely paper goodies, from greeting cards to scratch pads to wrapping paper to patterned boxes.  So much to see in just one booth!  They even had some of the new foil stamp 2012 wedding invitations from Bella Figura on display!

 

 

 

 

 

Smock

That’s it for now!  Check out the rest of the posts from the January Gift Fair right here.

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

*Smock is one of my fab­u­lous spon­sors; for more on my edi­to­r­ial poli­cies please click here.

DIY “Little Blue Box” Inspired Rubber Stamp Wedding Invitations

It’s the ladies of Anti­quaria, back with another cre­ative DIY project for you!  Today they’re sharing a wedding invitation tutorial inspired by the signature blue color of Tiffany & Co.

Have you ever felt the rush of excitement when a special friend, spouse, or loved one presents you with a gift packaged in the little blue box?  This wedding invitation suite was designed to elicit that feeling when your guest receives it in the mail.  Imagine their excitement when this feminine and traditional invitation finds its way into their mailbox.  This DIY is fairly simple yet the colors and packaging tie the whole thing together and give it a feeling of luxury.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step One: Cut your paper to size A6 (4.5″x6.25″).  Since this is a luxurious suite, we would suggest a thick high quality cotton watercolor paper.  Ink your stamp (we used our Vintage Calligraphy Invitation Stamp) thoroughly and center it over your card.  Press down moderately to make the print.  Too hard, the image may be blurry and too light and it may be splotchy.  Let dry.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step Two: In a similar fashion to printing the Invitation piece, you will now print the reply card.  For this piece, you will want to cut a 4bar (3.5″x5″) card out of the same paper used for the invitation.  Again, ink your stamp (we used our Vintage Calligraphy Reply Card stamp) thoroughly and make the print.  Let dry.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step Three: Using your return address stamp (we used our Calligraphy Accent Return Address stamp), stamp both the back flap of your A7 envelope and the front of your 4bar envelope.  This is such a great place to pinch pennies in your stationery budget as you are able to use one stamp for both envelopes and you will have it to use after the event is over!

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step Four: To add a little extra flourish to the suite, we’ve used regular round doilies as an envelope liner.  We love the way that the aqua peeks through the lace and think it would be so fun to be the recipient and have this surprise await us once the seal was broken.  To install the doily liners, you will use spray adhesive.  Make sure to do this outside (or in an extremely well ventilated room).  Spray the back of the doily with a light mist of adhesive.  Slide the doily into the envelope, making sure not to press until the doily is placed in its intended spot (as shown above).  Let them dry & cure overnight.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step Five:  Use a thin ribbon to tie the suite together.  This will keep the components together and give your guest the thrill of “unwrapping” your invitation.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Materials

Stamps:

Vintage Calligraphy Invitation stamp

Vintage Calligraphy Reply Card stamp

Calligraphy Accent Return Address stamp

Stamp Pad (we used black)

Heavy Watercolor Paper (for invitations & reply cards)

A6 Envelopes

4bar Envelopes

Ribbon, 1/8″ thickness

6″ Medallion Lace Paper Doilies

Spray Adhesive

Photo Credits: Antiquaria