Today I Love… Bedroom Makeovers

My husband returns from his deployment exactly three weeks – I can’t wait to have him back home!  I’ve mentioned some of the house projects I’ve been trying to finish up before he comes home, and today I thought I’d do something a little different and share the inspiration for our bedroom!

Somehow the bedroom received the least amount of decorating attention after we moved into our apartment in early 2010, so my husband’s 6-month deployment seemed like the perfect time to take the entire room apart and put it back together, bit by bit.  So far I’ve painted, ordered the fabric for the curtains, and am in various stages of accumulating the right furniture for the space.  We already have two antique dressers and bamboo roman blinds in the room, so the overall look will be on the eclectic side, but I’m really happy with the way everything is coming together.

The headboard is a longer term project that won’t be finished before my husband comes home; eventually I’d love to DIY our own in a style similar to the Room and Board headboard above, but in the Hable Construction fabric that I’ve always loved.  Of course, my favorite part so far has been finally getting to hang some amazing artwork that I’ve been accumulating over the last few years.  It makes me so happy to see pretty things up on the wall!

 

Whitney + A.K.’s Colorful Letterpress Wedding Invitations

Today I’m super excited to feature the wedding invitations from Whitney of Gus & Ruby Letterpress!  Whitney and Samantha are two seriously talented stationers, so when it came time for Whitney’s own wedding I was dying to see the invitations!  Whitney worked with Love*Jenna Calligraphy, incorporating Jenna’s beautiful script into a bright and colorful invitation suite inspired by dahlias and the bridesmaids’ wedding attire.  Cyd from The Sweetest Occasion is featuring the full wedding today, so check out all the beautiful details right here.  But now, time for the invitations and coordinating wedding stationery!

Letterpress-Calligraphy-Wedding-Invitation-Suite

From Whitney:  The entire wedding was planned around the color of the bridesmaid’s dresses (a vibrant, warm purple shade) and shoes (a bright shade somewhere between peach and coral) and the invitations were no exception.  I felt strongly that while I wanted our invitations to be different, I didn’t want to do something so over the top that it didn’t mesh with my and A.K.’s personalities, which are laid back and fun, but not flashy.  This was a struggle for me as a designer, printer and owner of a stationery boutique, but I think I succeeded in the end.  Overall I wanted the invitation suite to set the tone for the wedding: a fun, backyard garden-party with saturated mid-August colors.

Letterpress-Calligraphy-Wedding-Invitation-Envelopes

Letterpress-Calligraphy-Wedding-Invitation-Muslin-Bag

We used dahlias as our main flower and I created abstract versions of them to use as the design for the paper goods.  I didn’t want them to be obvious flowers so I spread them around the invitation at varying sizes and heights so they would feel celebratory – almost in the way fireworks do.  We chose Jenna Hein from Love*Jenna Calligraphy to write choice words for each piece because of her playful, whimsical style that also has traditional undertones.  The muslin bag came into play because I have never been a big fan of opening an invitation envelope and having numerous pieces fall into my hands.  The bag housed all of the pieces and also tied in to the numerous textures we used throughout the wedding.

Letterpress-Calligraphy-Wedding-Invitations Letterpress-Calligraphy-Wedding-Invitations

The biggest challenge aside from the number of runs through the press (most pieces were 4-color) was hand-mixing the inks to match the fabrics.  None of the colors I ended up with were actual PMS colors!

Letterpress-Calligraphy-Wedding-Invitation-RSVP-Card

Letterpress-Calligraphy-Wedding-Rehearsal-Dinner-Invitation

In addition to beautiful wedding and rehearsal dinner invitations, Whitney created several coordinating day-of stationery elements, including letterpress ceremony programs that honored the memories of family members, beautiful table numbers, and fun cake menus.  And of course, as a stationer, Whitney couldn’t forget to print herself some matching thank you cards!

Letterpress-Calligraphy-Wedding-Ceremony-Program Letterpress-Calligraphy-Wedding-Ceremony-Program

Letterpress-Calligraphy-Wedding-Ceremony-Program

Letterpress-Calligraphy-Wedding-Ceremony-Program

Letterpress-Calligraphy-Wedding-Table-Number-Sign Letterpress-Calligraphy-Wedding-Cake-Menu

Letterpress-Calligraphy-Wedding-Thank-You-Cards

So pretty!  Congratulations again to Whitney, and don’t forget to check out her beautiful wedding right here!

Design and Letterpress Printing: Gus & Ruby Letterpress

Calligraphy: Love *Jenna Calligraphy

Photo Cred­its: Brea McDon­ald Photography

Amanda’s Cartography-Inspired Letterpress Business Cards

Miami-based designer Sarah Rusin sent over these fabulous business cards that she designed for photographer Amanda Reynolds, and I’m just completely smitten with the beautiful travel-inspired details that Sarah managed to incorporate so well into such a tiny space!  Since Amanda is a travel and lifestyle photographer, Sarah incorporated antique cartography design elements into both Amanda’s website and her business cards, working with Travis from Bon à Tirer on the letterpress printing.  Gorgeous!

Letterpress-Map-Business-Card-Front

From Sarah:  I designed these business cards for travel and lifestyle photographer Amanda Reynolds.  Amanda is a total sweetheart and is a self-described urban hippy with wanderlust.  I wanted to capture her love of travel (and especially Italy) with a piece of a map printed on the back with a blind deboss with a slight varnish.  I used various antique cartography details to design the cards, which suited Amanda’s style perfectly.  My favorite bit is the small compass rose hidden in the fleuron in her logo.  I also love the positioning of her website on the back, right where you should see the words Tyrrhenian Sea. The printing of the cards was tricky because of all the tiny details but I’m thrilled with how they turned out!

Letterpress-Map-Business-Card-Back

Letterpress-Map-Business-Card-Detail

Letterpress-Map-Business-Card-Detail

Thanks Sarah!  For more of Sarah’s work, check out her portfolio right here!

Design: Sarah Rusin
Letterpress Printing: Travis Staton / Bon à Tirer

Photo Credits: Sarah Rusin

New Giveaway! Letterpress Recipe Card Sets

Happy Tuesday everyone!  As you all know, I’m still celebrating my one-year anniversary as a full-time blogger, and that combined with the long holiday weekend has me in the mood to do something fun.  Do you remember these awesome letterpress recipe card sets from the National Stationery Show?  Amber from Fly­wheel Press organized the recipe card sets as a cool scavenger hunt at the Stationery Show and the folks at Legion Paper kindly donated the paper, and today I’m super excited because Legion Paper sent TEN of these recipe card sets for me to give to you!

Each set includes a total of 15 recipe cards from the following designers and printers: a. favorite design, Alber­tine Press, Black­bird Let­ter­press, Blue Barn­house, Ding­bat Press, Fly­wheel Press, Igloo Let­ter­press, Mag­i­nat­ing, May Day Stu­dio, The Nic Stu­dio, Old Tom Fool­ery, Paper Mill Designs, Pis­ta­chio Press, Sapling Press, and Wild Ink Press.

To enter the give­away, just leave a com­ment below with the name of your favorite recipe!  You’ll have until 11:59 p.m.EST on Fri­day, July 8 to enter – bonne chance!

*Please limit one entry per person; U.S. and Canadian residents only.  Legion Paper, Pis­ta­chio Press, Ding­bat Press, and Wild Ink Press are spon­sors of Oh So Beau­ti­ful Paper; for more on my edi­to­r­ial poli­cies please click here.

This giveaway is now closed.  All winners have been notified via e-mail.  Thank you for entering!

{happy weekend!}

Not only is this a holiday weekend, but it also happens to mark the anniversary of a very important personal milestone.  One year ago today I officially became a full time blogger.  I worked a final day in my old office, bid farewell to my former colleagues, and practically skipped down the hallway and out of the building.  The transition was a long time coming, but it was still a huge (and terrifying) decision and I had no idea what would unfold over the coming weeks and months.  A year later, I’m so happy that I made the leap and incredibly grateful that I get to share beautiful paper with all of you each and every day.  So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all for reading (and thereby making this blog possible), and I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend!  But in the meantime…

summer-sunglasses

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!  I’m taking Monday off, but I’ll see you all back here on Tuesday (along with a fun little surprise!). xoxo

Photo Credits: Wiissa found via Creature Comforts