11/08/2016

Vibrant Blue and Red Watercolor Wedding Invitations

What do elephants, lemons, and stained glass windows have in common?? They’re all sources of inspiration for these vibrant blue and red watercolor wedding invitations by Caroline of Lovely Paper Things. The couple drew inspiration from various components of their relationship for their invitations, including odes to where they were engaged, where they went on dates, and what they received as an engagement present! We absolutely love how Caroline artfully crafted all these elements into a cohesive and festive design for their wedding guests to enjoy!

From Caroline: Elephants, lemons, and stained glass windows, oh my!! Over the years Iâ€™ve had the delight of working with some pretty amazing couples, and after getting to know each of them Iâ€™ve had the joy of finding at least one special element that was important to their relationship, which we have woven into their suite in one way or another. From colors and symbols, to subtle shapes, textures, and florals, these elements can take many forms. However, itâ€™s not every day that I receive a request for a wedding suite to incorporate art, elephants, lemons, Korean and Chinese details, swords, rocks, and flowers! So, when Maria and Paulâ€™s sweet email came through wanting to incorporate these goodies from their love story, I knew this was going to be one special couple and one amazing wedding suite! Oh my goodness it was a blast!

We started by creating their circle die cut, stained glass window save the date, which was inspired by the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. where Paul proposed. And we wove lemons and flowers into the watercolor painted window as a teaser to the rest of the the fun to come in the other pieces of their suite!

Then we created a custom crest which brought in Mariaâ€™s romantic and whimsical side, and Paulâ€™s love for classic details. It included a dancing elephant (representing both their love song and one of their favorite dates at the zoo) wearing a Korean Hambock, a Chinese quail (to represent Paulâ€™s military service and travel around Asia), lemon branches galore (his father gave his mother a lemon tree as a symbol of good luck and years later they gave Maria and Paul a basket of lemons from the tree as an engagement present!), flowers, and all sorts of goodies the couple collects! Even their bold color palette represented their love for Washington D.C. in the fall!

Each piece of the suite incorporated at least one of their special love story details, making them super vibrant, personal, and oh so inviting! This is one of my all time favorite suites because Maria and Paul were such sweethearts and it was so fun to create something so personal for them!

Thanks Caroline!

Design and Lettering: Lovely Paper Things

Styling: To La Lune

Printer: Czar Press

Check out theÂ Designer RolodexÂ for more talÂentedÂ wedÂding inviÂtaÂtion designÂersÂ andÂ theÂ real inviÂtaÂtions galleryÂ for moreÂ wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Jen Wojcik Photography

11/08/2016

Quick Pick: Sugar Paper for Target 2016

You guys, these Sugar Paper for Target collections just keep getting better and better! The newest collection just arrived in stores and I’m absolutely LOVING all the new holiday gift wrap, gift bags and gift boxes, and ribbon! Plus adorable gift tags, wax seal kits for dressing up your holiday card envelopes, gold washi tape, and so much more. Oh, and some fantastic gift ideas for the stationery obsessed (like us!), including document folders, new planners and agendas, desk accessories, even a gold business card holder. Here are just a few favorites!

1. I’m seriously obsessed with these new wax seal kits â€“ choose between “xo” or a heart, or use both!

2. Super cute gold foil gift tags with matching gold and white baker’s twine

3. Modern black and white pens for all your holiday correspondence needs

4. Love the subtle dove gray of this document folder

5. Festive kraft and gold foil wrapping paper

6. One of the brand new 2017 Sugar Paper for Target agendas!

7. These round gift boxesÂ in the most lovely shade of holiday red

8. I love the scalloped edges on these gift boxes

9. Gold washi tape in super cute patterns

10. + 11. Gorgeous blush pink and gold star gift wrap with matching blush pink grosgrain ribbon

Lots more right here! What are your favorites from the new collection??

This post contains affiliate links. By clicking onÂ these links, youâ€™ll help support Oh So Beautiful Paper while also purchasing some gorgeous paper goods. I only recommend products that I truly love and trust that youâ€™ll love, too. My full disclosure policy can be found here.

11/07/2016

Election Night 2016 Bingo!

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been feeling some major election-related anxiety over the past few months. Well, the good news is that the election is finally coming to a close tomorrow, but I thought a fun little game might help calm nerves while we’re all watching the results come in on Tuesday night. Introducing: Election Night 2016 Bingo!

So here’s my plan for election night: put the kids to bed after dinner, grab a glass of wine (or get the husband to make up some cocktails), and sit down to watch the returns with my bingo board in hand. There are four different game boards, so you can play with a small group if you’re hosting an election night party with friends â€“ or play twice with your significant other if it’s just the two of you. You can grab the printable bingo boards right here, print them out on letter size cover weight or text weight paper, then trim down to size using scissors or a paper trimmer. I printed mine on pastel card stock because that’s just how I roll these days!

My version of Election Night 2016 Bingo is meant to be totally bipartisan so you can play along regardless of your political affiliation. I tried to incorporate words that you might hear from the pundits on any network, including the names of key swing states, election terms, policy terms, and keywords from some of the more recent election-related scandals (sigh) â€“ all with a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek humor. Also, a big thanks to Courtney of Swiss Cottage Designs for the flag illustration for the center free space!

My husband said this is probably the nerdiest thing I’ve ever posted, but that’s okay with me. We’re lucky enough to live in a place where we get to choose our own leaders and help determine the kind of country we live in, and that’s something to celebrate. If you voted early, good for you! Otherwise, let’s all go vote tomorrow and play Election Night 2016 Bingo together in the evening!

11/07/2016

Traditional Black and Gold Screen Printed Invitations

Kids often have all the fun when it comes to celebrating birthdays. I’m always so happy to see adults celebrate some of their own milestone birthdays, especially when the invitations are this pretty! Clara of Goldie Design Co.Â created these traditional black and gold screen printed invitations for a 40th birthday party at an historic hotel full of southern flair. Clara broughtÂ the elegant feel of the venue into the invitation design with the moody black and gold color palette and a crest inspired by the hotel logo, along with custom watercolor envelope liners inspired by the hotel’s tile floors. Beautiful!

From Clara: This design was for the invitations for Courtney’s 40th birthday celebration to be held at the Hotel Emma in San Antonio, Texas. This hotel is Courtney’s all time favorite, and she wanted the simplicity and elegance of this hotel to shine through in the paper pieces. The Hotel Emma is a historical building that used to be a brewhouse, but now houses the 146 rooms of this riverfront hotel. The elegant and traditional, yet modern and warm southern feel was exactly the look we were going for with the birthday party invitation suite.

CourtneyÂ wanted to incorporate her initials into a crest similar to the hotel’s logo, which she planned to use throughout her stationery for the event. This crest sits centered at the top of the invitation card, with a simple double lined border around the text to give it a traditional feel.

The invitation card was screen printed in metallic gold ink on a smooth black paper. The typefaces used in the invitation were kept fairly simple, except for her name done in a flowing modern calligraphy, that would tie together with the hand addressed calligraphy envelopes.

The black and gold color palette brought in that moody southern feel of the hotel, but we wanted to incorporate a pop of color. CourtneyÂ mentioned that she lovesÂ the beautiful tile floors seen throughout the hotel. AfterÂ researching these gorgeous floors, I decided that a soft watercolor painting of the tile pattern would provide the perfect pop of color for the invitation suite. So each envelope was adorned with a custom envelope liner featuring a hand-painted watercolor of the floor pattern. It really tied the suite together and gave it that last bit of southern flair.

The outer envelopes were addressed with calligraphy in metallic gold ink and dressed up with some hand picked vintage stamps to go along with both the theme and color scheme. My favorite stamp used is the Texas statehood one that not only is perfect for the venue of the the party, but also brings out the blues of the watercolor envelope liner. The back flap of the envelope is blind embossed with a simple return address. The invitation was wrapped in a very thin white twine.

Thanks Clara!

Design, Calligraphy, and Styling:Goldie Design Co.

Screenprinting: Atmosphere Printing Company

Envelopes: Cards & Pockets

Photo Credits: Clara Odgen

11/04/2016

An IPA Jungle Bird

Ok folks, one more beer cocktail before we switch to our next big project: punches! So far, we’ve been adding beer by topping off our drinks with some suds. This gives our drinks some fizz, some extra body, and all those bitter or spicy or fruity flavors that come with the beer. But what if you want those flavors without all the fizz? Just turn some beer into a syrup! We took a bitter, floral IPA and turned into a syrup to use in an unexpected place: a Tiki drink, the Jungle Bird.â€“Andrew

An IPA Jungle Bird

2 oz Jamaican Rum
3/4 oz IPA Syrup
1 1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice

To make the IPA syrup: add 8 ounces of IPA and 8 ounces of sugar to a saucepan over low heat. Stir frequently until the sugar has completely melted, then remove from the heat. Strain into a bottle and refrigerate.

To make the IPA Jungle Bird: combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled two-thirds with ice. Shake gently to incorporate, then strain into a tumbler glass filled with fresh crushed ice. Garnish whimsically and enjoy!

The Jungle Bird is a relative newcomer in the world of Tiki, probably invented in the 1970s at a bar in Malaysia. It pairs dark rum with fruity pineapple and Campari, the intensely bitter Italian liqueur. It’s a dark, rich, intense Tiki drink. We lightened it up a bit by replacing the Campari with our IPA syrup. IPAs–India Pale Ales–are loaded with hops, which give the beer bitterness, along with lots of other flavors. Hops can be piney, floral, citrusy, or even fruity. So we retain some of the original’s bitterness and replaced some of those herbaceous Campari notes with the IPA’s complex flavors.

The result is a light, fruity Tiki drink, with lots of funkiness from the Jamaican rum up front, followed with tropical pineapple and just a bit of complex bitterness from the IPA. It’s tremendously refreshing!

And remember: the whole point of Tiki is to be a little ridiculous, a little over the top, so we came up with a pretty ridiculous garnish to go with our IPA Jungle Bird. Some fresh pineapple, some cloves for eyes, and some pineapple fronds give us our very own Tiki jungle bird. Go wild.

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Glassware byÂ Liquorary

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper