I love a pretty pattern, and today I’m completely smitten with these beautiful patterned cards from Happy Cactus Designs.  Brannon at Happy Cactus draws her inspiration from flora and fauna, traditional Indian textiles, and Batik block prints, incorporating those influences into colorful and unique cards featuring Brannon’s hand drawn illustrations.
Thanks Brannon!
Photo Credits: Happy Cactus Designs
Pistachio Press recently printed these amazing wedding invitations for a Hindu/Jewish wedding, and I fell in love the minute I saw them. Â The invitations were designed by the bride’s sister, seamlessly blending the cultures of the bride and groom into one complete design. Â I love the blue and copper color palette and the use of complementary symbols and both hindu and hebrew text to bring the suite together!
From the bride’s sister, Cheena: Our goal was to capture two religions and both the Indian and Jewish cultures in a single invitation. Â Essentially, we wanted the invitation to reflect traditional Indian themes, but allow the Jewish cultures to also be reflected. It was a challenge to incorporate (evenly) two very different cultures, but by using similar symbols like the Hamsa Hand and the Jain Ahimsa hand, we were able to help develop a unified design sensibility.
I incorporated a Hindi script (a blessing of peace) counter balanced with the Hebrew (a saying about love) as well as the image of the drum (dholak) and peacock feathers, which are traditional for a “Sangeet” invite. Â The Shabbat/Shalom prayer as a symbol of the Shabbat service that will take place at the wedding also helped unite the theme. Â Since it was hard to find usable Hindi, the text was handwritten and then vectorized so that we could have something to match with the Hebrew saying that we wanted to incorporate.
I wanted to incorporate a border that has some level of Western culture (the pattern was created from an ornament in the font Brownstone that pays homage to New York City, which has a deep meaning to the bride and groom), but also created a masking of this pattern in a way that made it very eastern and Indian in some ways. Â The invitation is a symbol of the unitying of two cultures with this marriage. Â It’s almost the first step the bride and groom have taken to do this aside from overall wedding planning.
So stunning!  A big congratulations to the bride and groom – and you can see more of Cheena’s design work right here and beautiful letterpress work from Pistachio Press right here!
*Pistachio Press is a sponÂsor of Oh So BeauÂtiÂful Paper.  For more on my editorial poliÂcies, please click here.
Happy Friday – and long holiday weekend – everyone!  I’ve always heard that Memorial Day is considered the unofficial start of summer, and here in DC it certainly feels that way.  We’ve been having a hot and humid stretch – just a hint of what to expect once summer really gets going in a couple of weeks.  This is the time of year that I usually start dreaming of beach vacations and any excuse to get out of the city.  Sigh.  But in the meantime…
…a few links for your weekend!
This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:
That’s it for me this week! Â I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend, and I’ll see you all back here next week! xoxo
Photo Credit: Laura Taylor via Design for Mankind
This just might be my new favorite moving announcement idea! Â Indiana-based wedding photographer Ann Lang managed to track down postcard-size paint chip samples that she ran through her home printer to make a perfect and totally budget-friendly moving announcement.
From Ann: My husband and I wanted to find an inexpensive way to let our family and friends know our new address. Â We were picking out paint colors for our new place and found these paint chip samples that were the perfect size for mailing! Â We ran the chips through a laser printer and covered the backs with large white labels. Â We stamped and mailed them as postcards!
So cool – thanks Ann!
Photo Credits: Andrew & Ann
Every time I see photos from an Indian wedding, I can’t help but ooh and aah over the beautiful combination of bright colors and intricate patterns, all of which come together to create a sense of joy and celebration.  Ellie from Hello Tenfold (and Mint!) was lucky enough to recently design some day-of stationery for a Hindu wedding and reception – including table numbers, ceremony programs, menus, and place cards:
See? Â Vibrant colors, beautiful henna-inspired illustrations and patterns, and totally gorgeous. Â Love it! Â Thanks Ellie!
{image credits: Ellie Snow}
*Hello Tenfold is one of my completely awesome sponsors, but this is not a sponsored post. Â For more on my editorial policy, please click here.
