Passion Fruit Mezcal Sling

Like I said last week, Tequila is pretty perfect for spring. But Tequila isn’t the only agave spirit out of Mexico that’s pretty good this time of year. We’re talking about Mezcal! Mezcal has been popular among cocktail nerds for years, but it still hasn’t caught on among the wider drinking public. But I’m a big fan, so I wanted to show off another way of approaching Mexican spirits before Cinco de Mayo. This Passion Fruit Mezcal Sling combines the tropical tartness of passionfruit, the smokiness of Mezcal, and Campari for a drink that is more tropical and exotic than your average margarita. –Andrew

Passion Fruit Mezcal Sling Cocktail Recipe by Liquorary

Passionfruit Mezcal Sling

2 oz Silver Mezcal
1 oz Passion Fruit Syrup*
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Campari

To make the passion fruit syrup: combine equal parts passion fruit juice and raw sugar in a sauce pan. Simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, until all the sugar is melted. Bottle and refrigerate.

Combine everything in a cocktail shaker filled two-thirds with ice and shake well. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and enjoy!

Passion Fruit Mezcal Sling Cocktail Recipe by Liquorary

This is a refreshing, lively cocktail, with lots of tropical fruit and verdant vegetal notes. There’s a definite smokiness, but, paired with the Campari, comes across more as an exotic complexity than an in-your-face edge. The Campari gives the drink a bit of bitterness on the finish, which helps balance the sweetness of the passion fruit syrup.

Mezcal is, like Tequila, made from the agave plant, a relative of aloe. (Technically, Mezcal covers all agave spirits, and Tequila is a subset of Mezcal, but we’re not going to get too deeply into this.) Mezcal is made from the heart of the agave plant, which is cooked in earthen pits, lending Mezcal the same sort of smokiness that Scotch whiskey gets from burning peat to dry malted barley. The agave is then crushed and mashed, traditionally with a horse-drawn stone, and then fermented and distilled.

Passion Fruit Mezcal Sling Cocktail Recipe by Liquorary

Mezcal has the same sorts of earthy vegetal notes as Tequila, along with a luscious smokiness. It’s a spirit that pairs well with lime, tropical fruit, melon, and cucumber, the sorts of flavors that bring out a fresh, almost juicy character from the Mezcal. So, when mixing a drink in a few days to celebrate all things Mexico, consider trying Mexico’s other great spirit.

*A quick note about passion fruit syrup: Passion fruit syrup is most properly made by simmering the juice with the pulp of whole passion fruit, which are tiny and hard to come by and difficult to work with. If you’d like to use pre-made passion fruit syrup, we like the syrups from BG Reynolds and Liber & Co. But if you’d like to try making your own syrup, follow the directions above for a version that is much easier to make!

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Glassware by Liquorary

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

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Understated Green Calligraphy and Fern Wedding Invitations

We loved sharing these minimalist black and white invitations from Grace of Grace Niu, and today we’re over the moon to share her personal wedding invitations with all of you! Grace clearly prefers a softer, more minimal design aesthetic – all of which definitely comes through in her own understated green calligraphy and fern wedding invitations. Hand painted greenery, delicate calligraphy and soft brush lettering, and the tiniest dose of gold ink. So pretty!

From Grace: Being a graphic designer and invitation designer, I obviously knew I would be designing my own wedding invitations when it came time. I had never given the invitation much thought before getting engaged, but it made it so much easier once I established my mood board and vision for the wedding in general.

A lot of graphic designers say that sometimes the hardest person to design for is yourself, but luckily I wasn’t too hard on myself and didn’t try to second guess myself too much. After looking at my Pinterest board, I curated a few select images and designed a mood board to serve as the aesthetic vision for the whole wedding. It was a modern organic feel, full of greenery, lots of white and light gray, and gold accents.

When it came time to design the invitations, I went for a minimalist design on the main invitation, keeping the color of the lettering and type to a very light gray. I wanted it to be beautiful, quiet and elegant. On the reply card, I added a small hand-painted fern to serve as a color accent, but otherwise kept everything else the same light gray. For the details card, I did something similar and used a hand-painted eucalyptus stem to break up the blocks of text a bit and to add a little color.

I completed the suite by choosing a light gray paper for the belly bands, and hand-painted our initials in gold ink on every belly band. I used the same light gray for the reply envelopes, which were individually hand-lettered with our first names and reply address. For the main envelope, I chose a sage envelope to coordinate with the hand-painted greenery elements, and calligraphed each one in black ink. To finish off the suite and tie everything together, I found the most perfect fern stamps to use on our envelopes. Looking back on these, I’m so glad to have had the chance to design these invitations for myself and to show our guests what I love doing.

Thanks Grace!

Design & Calligraphy: Grace Niu

Printer: Geographics Inc.

Gray paper and envelopes: Neenah Paper

Green envelopes: Carnival by Mohawk

Paper: Mohawk SuperFine Eggshell

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Erika DenHoed of Mayden Photography

May Desktop Downloads!

Happy May everyone! May is one of my favorite months of the entire year. It’s the month of my wedding anniversary, all my favorite flowers are blooming, and my kids are thrilled that it’s finally warm enough for afternoons at the splash pad! It’s also one of the craziest months of the year thanks to a little shindig called the National Stationery Show, which is coming up in just a few short weeks! So for this month’s illustrated wallpapers from The Good Twin, we’re giving a little nod to my favorite trade show and a note of encouragement to any exhibitors making their way towards the finish line – or anyone else who might be in need of a little reassurance these days. 

iPhone | Desktop

iPhone | Desktop

 

Illustrations © The Good Twin. All artwork is made available for personal use only. By downloading the wallpapers you agree to the terms of use.

p.s. If you’re a designer or illustrator interested in contributing your own designs to this column, please email your design to hello(at)ohsobeautifulpaper.com with the subject line “desktop downloads” and image files in both desktop and iPhone retina screen sizes. If it’s a good fit I’ll add it to the post for the following month!

Ethereal Vellum Wedding Invitations

We aren’t exactly shy about our love of vellum here at OSBP, and today we’re loving these ethereal vellum wedding invitations from Raymond of KidGolightly Calligraphy! Combine beautiful translucent vellum with handmade cotton paper, deckled edges, and romantic calligraphy, and you’ve got a recipe for one seriously gorgeous invitation suite!

Ethereal Vellum Wedding Invitations by KidGolightly Calligraphy

From Raymond: An invitation suite represents the whole wedding, giving guests even more insight into the couple’s love story and glimpse of the mood and theme of the upcoming wedding. I imagined a classic and romantic wedding on a vineyard, and that led me to create this ethereal invitation design with vellum and handmade paper.

Ethereal Vellum Wedding Invitations by KidGolightly Calligraphy

I always find myself drawn to features with muted tones, soft color palettes, and organic textures. I wanted to create a timeless piece so I stayed with a traditional classic layout. The focal point is the names of the bride and groom, so I used my signature gossamer-like calligraphy style in lithe movement for that elegant and delicate feel.

Ethereal Vellum Wedding Invitations by KidGolightly Calligraphy

I was drawn to the romance of the vineyard venue as I designed this suite. The highlight this inspiration an illustration of the venue is the main element on the details page. I imagined the couple on a swing under a jasmine vine with flowers delicately falling on them as the swing. This image in my mind’s eye is what led to the falling jasmine on the vellum overlay. I also carried this accent on to the main card as well.

Ethereal Vellum Wedding Invitations by KidGolightly Calligraphy

Ethereal Vellum Wedding Invitations by KidGolightly Calligraphy

To complete the design, I used a geometric sans serif font throughout the suite just to give it a little modern twist. The invitation is printed entirely in a soft muted gray. Since there were so many other delicate details, I didn’t want an overwhelming color palette that detracted from the design. The invitation is printed on a 100% cotton rag handmade paper from Fabulous Fancy Pants, leaving the natural deckled edges untouched for that organic textural element.

Ethereal Vellum Wedding Invitations by KidGolightly Calligraphy

The envelope was addressed with walnut ink, which was also used on the vellum place cards, to keep that nostalgia flowing. This was the perfect chance to pay homage to the original queen of romantic movies, Audrey Hepburn, with a curated vintage postage stamp. Tying everything together is an exquisite raw silk and soft blush dyed ribbon from Shastabell.

Ethereal Vellum Wedding Invitations by KidGolightly Calligraphy

Thanks Raymond!

Design & Calligraphy: KidGolightly Calligraphy

Handmade paper: Fabulous Fancy Pants

Ribbons: Shastabell

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: My Sun & Stars Co.

Elderflower Tequila Rickey

It’s spring, and springtime means Tequila for us! Tequila’s bright, vegetal earthiness is the perfect spirit to complement all this green bursting out of the grown around us. We decided to pour some Tequila into one of our favorite spring cocktails, the Rickey, and combine it with another Spring favorite: Elderflower! You’ll want to drink this delicious Elderflower Tequila Rickey all Spring, and possibly all Summer. –Andrew

Elderflower Tequila Rickey Cocktail Recipe by Liquorary

Elderflower Tequila Rickey

2 oz Silver Tequila
1/2 a Lime, Juiced, Plus the Spent Lime Shell
Elderflower Tonic Water

Combine the Tequila and lime juice in a highball glass and toss in the spent lime shell. Add ice and top with the tonic water. Give it a stir, garnish with fresh mint, and enjoy!

Just like a traditional Rickey with gin or whiskey – DC’s official cocktail! – a Tequila Rickey is airy and effervescent and tart and deeply refreshing. Using a bright, fresh silver Tequila gives this drink, normally herbaceous and spicy if made with gin, an earthy but still light character. Lime is, of course, the perfect partner for Tequila.

Elderflower Tequila Rickey Cocktail Recipe by Liquorary

We used a delightful elderflower tonic by Fever Tree, which is bittersweet with gentle floral notes. Combined with the Tequila, these are perfect for spring; it’s like drinking a blooming garden. If you don’t have elderflower tonic handy, you could add a splash of St-Germain for the same effect, though your drink will be a touch sweeter as a result.

Elderflower Tequila Rickey Cocktail Recipe by Liquorary

That mint is not really a traditional Rickey garnish, but our garden is exploding with mint this spring. So, to keep it from completely taking over, we’re throwing it into drinks as fast as it grows back. Expect to see lots of mint in our drinks this spring! And remember, nothing beats fresh ingredients in your cocktails, so consider growing some of the simpler, hardier plants (like mint!) at home in your very own cocktail garden. Just grow it in a pot, because if it gets loose…

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Glassware by Liquorary

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

This post contains affiliate links. By clicking on these links, you’ll help support Oh So Beautiful Paper while also purchasing some wonderful products. We only recommend products that we truly love and trust that you’ll love, too. Our full disclosure policy can be found here.