National Stationery Show 2012, Part 8

We’re moving right along with more awesome booths from the 2012 National Stationery Show!  After focusing on some of the newest exhibitors, let’s turn our attention to some of the veterans delivering awesome stationery year after year.  First up, Kathryn from Blackbird Letterpress and her growing menagerie of die cut animal cards.  Some of the animals even make an appearance on her new calendar designs!

 

 

 

Blackbird Letterpress

Fugu Fugu Press is another perennial Stationery Show favorite – I love their Scandinavian-meets-Japanese design style, and they always have the cutest letterpress greeting cards!

 

Fugu Fugu Press

It’s so fun to see designers doing something a bit different at the Stationery Show, and I can always count on Figs + Ginger to show up with something new and innovative.  I already love their collection of laser-engraved wood banners and cake toppers, and the new wood guest books are equally amazing!

 

 

Love these pocket-size brass calendar + note pad combination!

 

Figs + Ginger

Night Owl Paper Goods is another perennial favorite – I always love their cute and quirky letterpress and wood veneer stationery.  This year they introduced some fun new recipe card books and notebooks, along with tons of new greeting card designs.

 

 

 

Night Owl Paper Goods

The illustrated cards, prints, and calendars from Dear Hancock just make me happy.  My favorite was the new pop-up peony card – perfect for folks like me with cats that like to chew on the real thing!

 

 

 

Dear Hancock

There’s always so much to see in the One Canoe Two booth, and this year was no exception.  New calendars, notebooks, coasters, notepad lists – even new letterpress art prints and card designs!

 

 

 

 

one canoe two

The Albertine Press and Studio Carta booth is always one of my first destinations at the Stationery Show.  I love the travel-inspired notebooks and letterpress card sets from Albertine Press and all the fun new ribbon and twine colors from Studio Carta!

New boxed holiday card sets from Albertine Press

 

The leaf and straw collaboration between Studio Carta and Moontree Letterpress – love!

 

Albertine Press + Studio Carta

I love the way the ladies of Banquet Atelier + Workshop mix pattern and color throughout their collection, from art prints to greeting cards to gift wrap.  I was particularly smitten with the large-scale guest book and temporary tattoos.  So fun!

 

 

Banquet Atelier + Workshop

I’ll be back tomorrow with more from the show!

Photo Credits: Stephen Michael Garey and Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

National Stationery Show 2012, Part 7

As I mentioned last week, there were a LOT of new exhibitors at this year’s National Stationery Show, and they brought a lot of really awesome paper along with them.  I profiled a few first-time exhibitors last week, but I thought I’d do the same thing today!  First up, the new-to-me Grey Cardigan, with an awesome and well-curated booth full of graphic art prints, gift wrap sheets, and stationery.

 

 

 

 

Grey Cardigan

The Farewell Paperie booth was an explosion of color and lots of really beautiful (and funny!) stationery.  Designers Lisa and Jen started out in advertising and their background shines through in their fantastic copywriting.  So much pretty paper!

 

  

Farewell Paperie

Garrett and Jessica from Wednesday might have been one of the most enthusiastic new exhibitors at the show – they were still smiling even on the last day when everyone else is completely exhausted and in quasi-zombie mode!   I loved all of the fun greeting cards and wedding invitation designs in their booth.

 

 

Wednesday, Inc

I’ve known Suann from Simplesong Design for years, but this was her first exhibitor appearance at the National Stationery Show!  Suann presented a collection that was perfectly curated and representative of her clean, minimalist design style.

 

 

 

Simplesong Design

Joel and Ashley from This Paper Ship had one of the sweetest booths at the show, with a fun nautical theme that served as both a nod to their business name and helped display their collection of whimsical prints and cards.

 

 

 

This Paper Ship

Allison from Lettuce Press made her trade show debut with a wonderfully styled booth and beautifully curated collection of letterpress greeting cards and stationery.

 

 

Lettuce Press

I loved the old-timey and masculine style from The Victory Special Press – including a wood type letterpress printed calendar and some really fun cocktail recipe note cards!

 

 

The Victory Special Press

I love the way Brannon from Happy Cactus incorporated the hand drawn patterns from her stationery into her booth design with a hand drawn booth border – such an adorably whimsical touch that helped draw the focus directly to her beautiful cards.

 

 

Happy Cactus

I’ll be back with more from the National Stationery Show soon!

Photo Credits: Stephen Michael Garey and Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

National Stationery Show 2012, Part 6

Happy Memorial Day Monday everyone!  Despite the long weekend, we’ve got a lot more from this year’s National Stationery Show to cover – so let’s get right to it!  Color was definitely back in a big way at this year’s show, and it was fun to see how different designers incorporated bright pops of color in their own unique ways.  First up, The Great Lakes, which had some really fun color-dipped pieces and new split fountain screen printed gift wrap sheets along with art prints and greeting cards.

 

 

 

 

 

The Great Lakes

The team at Egg Press always has the cutest patterned and illustrated letterpress note cards, and this year was no exception.  I love the new extra-long floral print cards, coasters with neon details, and bright gift wrap sheets!

 

 

 

 

Egg Press

Color was everywhere in the Smudge Ink booth, from the cool 3D sign to the super fun new gift wrap – even the calendars and greeting cards!

 

 

Smudge Ink

The Fisk + Fern booth is always a riot of color – Laura from Fisk + Fern creates the cutest cards with her unique illustrations screen printed in bold, saturated colors.  The screen printed kitchen aprons and tea towels were equally adorable, and I couldn’t get over the stuffed little lumps of coal!

 

 

 

 

Fisk + Fern

Breck from Sesame Letterpress also incorporated some fun pops of color, from the ink color and envelope liners on her line of silhouette note cards to a new collection of patterned coasters.  I also really loved her 2013 calendar – letterpress printed on thinner paper stock and intended to be mounted on a wall or bulletin board – and the Victorian-inspired floral cards.

 

Sesame Letterpress

Hammerpress is one of my perennial Stationery Show favorites.  This year’s collection includes gorgeous new calendars, new letterpress greeting cards, and everyday cards with colorful patterns.

 

 

Hammerpress

I’m a huge fan of the reusable fabric gift wrap and canvas buckets from Viola of Chewing the Cud – not to mention her gorgeous letterpress greeting cards!  This year, Viola introduced some really fun zippered pouches that can also double as iPad cases along with some beautiful new fabric patterns and color.

 

 

 

 

Chewing the Cud

We saw a sneak peek of the new 42 Pressed wedding collection before the show, but I really was just so impressed with the beautiful new wedding invitation designs.  Jackie incorporated color and pattern into the collection in an elegant and sophisticated way.

 

 

 

42 Pressed

I’ll be back with more from the National Stationery Show tomorrow!

Photo Credits: Stephen Michael Garey and Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Friday Happy Hour: Cherry Caipirinha

It’s starting to feel like summer here in DC, and summer means summer drinks.  Which may be why I’ve been on such a Latin American drinks kick, because so many Latin American drinks are perfect for summer: sweet, with lots of fruit and lots of ice, and a bit of kick, delicious and refreshing.  Here’s another to add to that list, a twist on Brazil’s national cocktail, the Cherry Caipirinha. – Andrew

Read below for the full recipe!

Cherry Caipirinha

2 oz Cachaça
1/4-1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1/2 Lime
3-4 Cherries
Soda Water

Quarter the lime half and pit the cherries, if needed.  Add the fruit and syrup to a rocks glass or tumbler, then muddle everything together very well.  Add the Cachaça and lots of crushed ice.  Top with soda water, give it a stir, then garnish with a bit of sugar cane (optional but pretty cool) and enjoy!

 

The Caipirinha is up there on my list of perfect summer drinks.  It’s sweet and tart, with lots of fresh flavor from the Cachaça, and enormously refreshing thanks to all that ice and soda water.  If you order a Caipirinha in the U.S., you’re most likely to get one made just with lime, which is a pretty great drink by itself.  But Brazilians use all kinds of fruit, from mango to kiwi to pineapple or passionfruit, in their Caipirinhas, so feel free to add or subtract fruit to this recipe.

The Caipirinha’s name reveals its humble origins as a rustic, easy-to-make version of drinks like the Daiquiri: it means something along the lines of “little country bumpkin” in Brazilian Portuguese.  But the Caipirinha has grown to be wildly popular all throughout Brazil and has been winding its way through the States in recent years.  Give one a try and you’ll see why.

 

The same drink might be pretty good, but a bit more ho-hum, without its key ingredient: the Brazilian spirit Cachaça (pronounced, roughly, ka-SHA-sa).  Cachaça is a close relative of rum, but Cachaça – unlike rum, which is usually distilled from fermented molasses – is distilled directly from fermented sugar cane juice.  The cane juice has to be processed soon after it is harvested, which means the Cachaça retains more flavors from the sugar cane, and much more of a sense of the place where it was made.  Cachaça is a funky spirit with lots of complex vegetal flavors, like a much earthier version of your favorite rum.  Fortunately, it’s increasingly easy to find – go pick some up!

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

{happy weekend!}

Whew!  What a week… but I hope you’re all enjoying the coverage from the 2012 National Stationery Show so far!  I’m looking forward to a relaxing weekend at home, and hopefully giving a little care and attention to our poor neglected apartment and garden.  But in the meantime…

Constellation Print by Sycamore Street Press

…a few links for your weekend:

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

That’s it for me this week!  Cocktail Fridays will be back this afternoon – and we have a special cocktail just in time for Memorial Day weekend, 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