{happy weekend!}

Happy Friday everyone!  It was a beautiful week here in DC, and a few days below 90 degrees has me really looking forward to cooler fall days in just a few weeks.  We also had a busy week of baby preparations, from taking a birth class to scheduling consultations with prospective pediatricians, and with so much information to process and things to think about it has been easy to feel overwhelmed.  We’re slowly starting to feel more and more prepared – as much as we can for first time parents!  But in the meantime…

Photo Credit: Satsuki Shibuya via Design is Mine

…a few links for your weekend:

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

That’s it for me this week!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here on Monday! xoxo

Quick Pick: Sycamore Street Press

Sycamore Street Press debuted a bunch of new letterpress prints at the National Stationery Show back in May, and both the new prints (and some old favorites) have been on my mind ever since as I try to plan out the nursery artwork.  Here are a few of my favorites – I’d love to hear yours!

Letterpress Prints by Sycamore Street Press via Oh So Beautiful Paper (2) Letterpress Prints by Sycamore Street Press via Oh So Beautiful Paper (4)

Letterpress Prints by Sycamore Street Press via Oh So Beautiful Paper (1) Letterpress Prints by Sycamore Street Press via Oh So Beautiful Paper (3)

Letterpress Prints by Sycamore Street Press via Oh So Beautiful Paper (5) Letterpress Prints by Sycamore Street Press via Oh So Beautiful Paper (6)

Letterpress Prints by Sycamore Street Press via Oh So Beautiful Paper (7) Letterpress Prints by Sycamore Street Press via Oh So Beautiful Paper (8)

Check out more over at Sycamore Street Press!

Photo Credits: Sycamore Street Press

DIY Tutorial: Blue and White Rubber Stamp Save the Dates

We love blue and white as a color combo. It’s fresh, clean & add a great vintage touch without going overboard. A few weeks ago, while picking up some paper for my moving announcements (which will probably be a future DIY project), I spotted from across the room, some gorgeous floral fine art paper. This blue and white paper instantly reminded me of an inspiration post we’d written a while back about our very popular Copenhagen China Collection. After choosing the paper as my starting point, this lovely, demure, save the date came together quite quickly!  – Bailey and Emma of Antiquaria

DIY Tutorial: Blue and White Rubber Stamp Save the Dates by Antiquaria via Oh So Beautiful Paper

The blue and white floral patterned paper used as backing adds visual interest and a luxurious quality to the design. It could also easily be used as an envelope liner.

DIY Tutorial: Blue and White Rubber Stamp Save the Dates by Antiquaria via Oh So Beautiful Paper

Step One: You’ll want to first adhere the card to the patterned paper. To do this, use permanent spray mount on the back side of your A2 (4.25″ x 5.5″) card. Let the glue get tacky for a few seconds and then place your card onto the backer paper. Let the two pieces adhere well (like overnight) under a heavy book.

DIY Tutorial: Blue and White Rubber Stamp Save the Dates by Antiquaria via Oh So Beautiful Paper

Step Two: Once you’ve waited for the glue to set, carefully trim the card so that the card and backer are the same size. The easiest way to do this is to use a metal ruler and craft knife on a seal healing mat. Take this step slow so that you don’t warp the size of the A2 front.

DIY Tutorial: Blue and White Rubber Stamp Save the Dates by Antiquaria via Oh So Beautiful Paper

Step Three: Lay your backed A2 card on a hard, flat surface. Ink your invitation stamp (we used our Vintage Calligraphy Save the Date Stamp), using a midnight blue stamp pad and center over the backed card. Press down on stamp making certain to apply even pressure on the entire mount (especially the center). Lift stamp and let the print dry thoroughly.

DIY Tutorial: Blue and White Rubber Stamp Save the Dates by Antiquaria via Oh So Beautiful Paper

Step Four: For a reverse effect, stamp your website card using white ink on a blue card. We used our Art Deco Website Stamp on a standard business sized card. This white ink pad really did the trick and was super opaque!

DIY Tutorial: Blue and White Rubber Stamp Save the Dates by Antiquaria via Oh So Beautiful Paper

Step Five: Before addressing the save the dates, we stamped our return address (we used our Calligraphy Ampersand Return Address Stamp) on our light blue A2 envelopes.  All done!

Materials:

Stamps:

Vintage Calligraphy Save the Date Stamp

Art Deco Website Stamp

Calligraphy Ampersand Return Address Stamp

Stamp Pads: Midnight and Frost White

Paper (available at Paper Source):

A2 Notecards in Luxe White

A2 Envelopes in Bluebell

Business Cards in Lake, for the web card

Fine art paper, used for backer

Other Materials:

Permanent Spray Adhesive

Craft knife, metal ruler, and self healing mat

Photo Credits: Intertwyned

Pretty Paper in the Office: Letter Openers

Recently, I became smitten with and purchased my first letter opener. The only people I’ve ever known who owned one had large desks and shiny name plates. When I finally bought one myself, I felt as if I had finally grown up; that I had a workspace worthy of such a stately accessory! Letter openers are typically dual duty objects. At times, they’re functional sculptures. So for those of you looking to adorn your workspace, I’ve put together a round up of some of the most practical, elegant, and even eco-friendly ways to get at your mail. – Julie

Pretty Paper in the Office Round Up

No. 1 Half moon letter opener from Canoe; No. 2 Birdie letter opener from Een Nieuw Avontuur; No. 3 Ruled letter opener by Izola; No. 4 Handmade Letter opener made from old letters by PLANT Brooklyn; No. 5 Gold metal pine cone letter opener from Birdy City; No. 6 Brass squirrel letter opener by Jonathan Adler

 {images via their respective sources}