10/19/2015

Halloween First Birthday Costume Party Invitations

Okay, this might be the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen: a first birthday COSTUME partyÂ on Halloween! Such a fun way to celebrate a first birthday this time of year! DesignerÂ Lauren Chism designed the fun invitations to appeal to both kids and adults â€“ mission accomplished!

FromÂ Lauren:Â I love designing for my friends. From their weddings to baby showers, to birth announcements and birthday parties, it’s such an honor to get to design for such special celebrations. So when my friend Kristen, whoseÂ colorful baby shower invitationsÂ I designed last year, asked me to design her daughter Drew’s first birthday invitations, I was so excited. However, when she said it was a birthday COSTUME party on Halloween, I was downright giddy.

I haven’t done many Halloween designs, so I started to brainstorm ideas with Kristen’s requests in mind: a design for kids AND adults, not scary, and FUN. I started with classic Halloween motifs and costumes and just started playing with things. I didn’t start with a concept in mind and I love when it comes together in such an organic way. At the end I snuck in a pirate hat (becauseÂ Kristen wore one to my Derby party) as the finishing touch. I love how they turned out and most importantly, Kristen did too!

ThanksÂ Lauren!

Design:Â Lauren Chism Fine Papers

Lauren Chism Fine Papers is a member of theÂ Designer RolodexÂ â€“ you can check out more of Laurenâ€™s beautiful workÂ right here!

Photo Credits:Â Lauren Chism

07/02/2015

Happy Weekend â€“Â and Happy 4th!

Hi Everyone! I’m heading out a bit early for the long holiday weekend â€“ I hope you all have a wonderful Independence Day! This will be Alice’s first fireworks and I’m excited to see how she reacts. We’ve been getting lots of rain and thunderstorms lately, hopefully the fireworks won’t get rained out! Either way, it will be nice to have a relaxing weekend at home. But in the meantime…

Cosmos-The-House-That-Lars-Built-Instagram

Photo by The House That Lars Built (aka Brittany) via Instagram

…a few links for your long weekend!

A gorgeous new Love Wins print from Emily McDowell!
Style meets sentiment
The most adorable 2nd birthday partyÂ EVER
Summertime dress up
Speaking of dressing up, I’m in love withÂ this skirtÂ and this dress
Poppies!
MAKE: Poached Eggs over Polenta with Pesto
Why I defaulted on my student loans (via Gabby)
My favorite pin of the week

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

A DIY tropical palm frond ice bucket!
The sweetest floral and gold polka dot baby announcements
Flamingo cards!
Elegant wine and gold wedding invitations
Julia Rothman’s gorgeous book: Nature Anatomy
New desktop and mobile downloads for July!
Well Said Type: Bellwethers

Check back tomorrowÂ for this weekâ€™s cocktail recipe!Â Have a wonderful weekend, and Iâ€™ll see you back here on Monday! xoxo

06/29/2015

Olivia’s Floral and Gold Polka Dot Baby Announcements

Um, yeah. Gold foil polka dots and the most beautiful baby floral crown? These baby announcements fromÂ Lauren Chism might just be the sweetest announcements I’ve EVER seen!

FromÂ Lauren:Â When wedding industry friends and photographers, Matt and Julie Norine, welcomed their sweet daughter, Olivia, I was so excited to work with them on their announcements.Â What stationer doesn’t love working with beautiful photography!?Â Their weddings are stunning, soÂ I thought the photos would be good, but they really blew me away.Â They photographed Olivia with the sweetest flowers arranged around her and a tiny floral crown. They were so precious and we had so much trouble picking the best one for the announcement. I am glad the final decision wasn’t mine!

When I saw how they used the flowers, I knew that the simple style of letterpress would go beautifully with them. Julie picked this simple polka dot design in gold foil and I love how the florals and polka dots complement each other, without competing.Â Julie picked some soft mint envelopes to pair with the cotton paper and gold foil. I am obsessed with mint right now and love something different than pink for a baby girl.Â From the photos, to the design, to the printing and envelopes – everything together turned out to be soÂ sweet and feminine. IÂ couldn’t love them more!

As I was attaching the photos, I thought how perfectly these could be as mini birth announcements, so I photographed them both ways. I love a classic announcement, but also like getting something surprising in the mail, and I think these cards, while tiny, would certainly stand out in your mailbox! I also love the idea of friends and family getting to frame the photo or you also could include multiple photos if you couldn’t just pick one. You could tie them together with twine or connect them with a little paper clip – just some more fun ideas to make your birth announcements special.

ThanksÂ Lauren!

Design:Â Lauren Chism Fine Papers
Printing:Â Elefant Press
Baby Photography:Â Matt & Julie Weddings

Lauren Chism Fine Papers is a member of theÂ Designer RolodexÂ â€“ you can check out more of Laurenâ€™s workÂ right here!

Photo Credits:Â Lauren Chism

05/29/2015

Happy Weekend!

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you’re all enjoying the recaps from the 2015 National Stationery Show so far! We’ve got lots more coming next week, but in the meantime…

Wildfolk-Studio-Instagram-OSBP

Photo via Wildfolk Studio

…a few links for your weekend!

Wedding vs commercial calligraphy
How to set a table! I definitely needed this.
My friend (and hair genius) Rubi wrote a book! It’s full of DIY hairstyling tricks â€“ and I can’t wait to read it.
I think I need these sandals for summer â€“ and this shirt!
So fun: paper flower party hats

The last two weeks on OSBP:

Our beautiful hand painted invitations with matte gold foil for Paper Party 2015
Violet’s beautiful hand lettered baby announcements
Pretty erasers for your office!
Well Said Type: Gratitude ScriptÂ and Botanica
Behind the Stationery: Steel Petal Press
New spring releases from Modern Lore â€“ including some of my own photos turned into cards!
Versailles-inspired wedding invitationsÂ with a pretty pastel color palette
National Stationery Show 2015, Part 1: Our Heiday, Sea and Lake, Bespoke Press, Antiquaria, and Hen Pen Paper Co
National Stationery Show 2015, Part 2: Snow and Graham, AHeirloom, Hello!Lucky, Katie Leamon, Moglea, and Sugar Paper
National Stationery Show 2015, Part 3: Parrott Design Studio, Fig 2 Design, The Paper Cub, Farewell Paperie, Paper Lovely, Thimblepress, and Wild Ink Press
National Stationery Show 2015, Part 4: Etsy Wholesale + A Lettered Life, Lucky Horse Press, Printable Wisdom, Betsy Olmsted, I Must Draw, and Model Citizen Press

Check back this afternoon for this weekâ€™s cocktail recipe!Â Have a wonderful weekend, and Iâ€™ll see you back here on Monday! xoxo

05/27/2015

Violet’s Hand Lettered Birth Announcements

I LOVE the simplicity of these gorgeous hand lettered birth announcements! Truly a group effort on behalf of their close friend Laura and her adorable daughter Violet, the announcements feature hand lettering by Katie fromÂ The Good Twin, floral styling byÂ Chaparral Studio,Â photography byÂ Laure Joliet, and letterpress printing byÂ Power and Light Press. Katie described the announcements as a love letter from the group to Laura and her family. Such a meaningful way to welcome a new baby into a circle of family and friends!