{happy weekend!}

My oh my, after spending two of the last three weeks on the road, I am definitely looking forward to a relaxing weekend at home!  I’m excited to snuggle my cats, hang out with some friends, and otherwise do as little as possible this weekend.  I hope you have something a bit more exciting planned for yourselves!  But in the meantime…

Photo by me via instagram

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

A big welcome to the newest member of the Designer Rolodex – Campbell Raw Press!

As usual, we have a fun cocktail coming up for you this afternoon, 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

NYIGF January 2012, Part 3

Happy Friday everyone!  I have one more NYIGF recap to share before we head off for the weekend – then I’ll be back with more booths next week!  First up, the fabulous Laurel Denise booth, which was full of her beautiful and delicate jewelry and the most adorable little bud vases.  So cute!

 

 

Laurel made this awesome felt garland that she hung up above her main display area.  It was so cool – I want one in my house!

Laurel Denise

I always love the beautiful ceramic wares from Gleena.  The soft colors and organic shapes of the plates, bowls, and even vases and votives are all so beautiful!

 

 

Gleena

Last up for today, Smock – a booth that was packed full of lovely paper goodies, from greeting cards to scratch pads to wrapping paper to patterned boxes.  So much to see in just one booth!  They even had some of the new foil stamp 2012 wedding invitations from Bella Figura on display!

 

 

 

 

 

Smock

That’s it for now!  Check out the rest of the posts from the January Gift Fair right here.

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

*Smock is one of my fab­u­lous spon­sors; for more on my edi­to­r­ial poli­cies please click here.

DIY “Little Blue Box” Inspired Rubber Stamp Wedding Invitations

It’s the ladies of Anti­quaria, back with another cre­ative DIY project for you!  Today they’re sharing a wedding invitation tutorial inspired by the signature blue color of Tiffany & Co.

Have you ever felt the rush of excitement when a special friend, spouse, or loved one presents you with a gift packaged in the little blue box?  This wedding invitation suite was designed to elicit that feeling when your guest receives it in the mail.  Imagine their excitement when this feminine and traditional invitation finds its way into their mailbox.  This DIY is fairly simple yet the colors and packaging tie the whole thing together and give it a feeling of luxury.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step One: Cut your paper to size A6 (4.5″x6.25″).  Since this is a luxurious suite, we would suggest a thick high quality cotton watercolor paper.  Ink your stamp (we used our Vintage Calligraphy Invitation Stamp) thoroughly and center it over your card.  Press down moderately to make the print.  Too hard, the image may be blurry and too light and it may be splotchy.  Let dry.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step Two: In a similar fashion to printing the Invitation piece, you will now print the reply card.  For this piece, you will want to cut a 4bar (3.5″x5″) card out of the same paper used for the invitation.  Again, ink your stamp (we used our Vintage Calligraphy Reply Card stamp) thoroughly and make the print.  Let dry.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step Three: Using your return address stamp (we used our Calligraphy Accent Return Address stamp), stamp both the back flap of your A7 envelope and the front of your 4bar envelope.  This is such a great place to pinch pennies in your stationery budget as you are able to use one stamp for both envelopes and you will have it to use after the event is over!

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step Four: To add a little extra flourish to the suite, we’ve used regular round doilies as an envelope liner.  We love the way that the aqua peeks through the lace and think it would be so fun to be the recipient and have this surprise await us once the seal was broken.  To install the doily liners, you will use spray adhesive.  Make sure to do this outside (or in an extremely well ventilated room).  Spray the back of the doily with a light mist of adhesive.  Slide the doily into the envelope, making sure not to press until the doily is placed in its intended spot (as shown above).  Let them dry & cure overnight.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Step Five:  Use a thin ribbon to tie the suite together.  This will keep the components together and give your guest the thrill of “unwrapping” your invitation.

Tiffany Blue DIY Wedding Invitation Suite

Materials

Stamps:

Vintage Calligraphy Invitation stamp

Vintage Calligraphy Reply Card stamp

Calligraphy Accent Return Address stamp

Stamp Pad (we used black)

Heavy Watercolor Paper (for invitations & reply cards)

A6 Envelopes

4bar Envelopes

Ribbon, 1/8″ thickness

6″ Medallion Lace Paper Doilies

Spray Adhesive

Photo Credits: Antiquaria

NYIGF January 2012, Part 2

Are you ready for a bit more from NYIGF?  Good, because today I have a few more booths to share!  First up, the fabulously talented Shanna Murray and her beautiful illustrated wall decals.  Shanna introduced several new designs – like chalkboard banner decals and garland designs – along with new colorways, including a soft gray and a bright neon pink.  So fun!

 

 

 

Shanna Murray

Next up, the creative ladies of One Canoe Two, making their NYIGF debut at this show!  I loved their rustic wood booth design, which was the perfect complement for their whimsical illustrated letterpress art prints, greeting cards, and recipe card sets.

 

One Canoe Two

The Smudge Ink booth was full of awesome stationery and wrapping paper, from colorful birthday cards to sweet Valentine’s Day cards.  They also set up a letter writing station right in their booth, where visitors could write a quick note to a friend or loved one – and all the cards were mailed out from the show!  Such an awesome idea.

 

 

 

 

Smudge Ink

Last up for today, Chewing the Cud!  Viola is always coming up with creative new products – from her line of fabric gift wrap and gift bags to limited edition stationery packaged in vintage cigar boxes.  I was completely smitten with the recycled canvas buckets (including the little mini versions!) and tote bags.

 

 

 

 

Chewing the Cud

More soon!

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

 

NYIGF January 2012, Part 1

Whew!  Between NYIGF and the Louie Award judging, the last couple of days have been quite a whirlwind.  There were more stationers exhibiting at NYIGF than ever before, which means I have a lot of fun stuff to show you!  Unfortunately the hotel wifi here in New York is kind of terrible, so I may need to wait until next week to share the bulk of my favorites from the show.  But today I’m starting off with two of my favorite booths – both of which happen to be two of the largest booths packed full of stationery awesomeness and which also made their NYIGF debut this week!

First up, Rifle Paper Co.!  I look forward to their beautiful booth at the National Stationery Show each year, but they also did an amazing job with their booth for NYIGF.  Anna and Nathan also have a ton of fun new products coming very soon – from magnetic shopping list notepads to beautiful gold foil and floral pocket journals to new greeting cards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rifle Paper Co.

Next up, Crow and Canary – making their NYIGF debut with a booth representing a collective of several stationers.  Although this was technically a single booth, it was packed full of gorgeous stationery from several of my favorite designers!

 

Pie Bird Press (left) and Two Trick Pony (right)

Red Cap Cards

 

Paper + Cup

 

Susy Jack* – including gorgeous new paperweights and writing sets!

 

Dear Hancock (left) and Gold Teeth Brooklyn (right)

 

The Great Lakes (left) and Enormous Champion (right)

The Great Lakes

 

Sapling Press

 

Ghost Academy (left) and Greenwich Letterpress (right)

Ghost Academy

Greenwich Letterpress

I’m afraid that’s all for now, but I’ll be back with lots more soon!

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper