Attorney Privilege

Sometimes, recipes work when they don’t seem like they should. This is one of them: an Old Fashioned variation that combines oaky, dark bourbon and sweet, nutty orgeat syrup – an ingredient usually associated with summery Tiki drinks – that seems like it should be a sticky, sweet mess. But instead, it’s a well-balanced drink that put together two unusual ingredients in a really innovative way. – Andrew

Attorney Privilege Bourbon and Orgeat Cocktail Recipe / Liquorary for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Attorney Privilege

2 oz Bourbon
1/2 oz Orgeat
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Maraschino Cherry

Combine the bourbon, orgeat, and bitters in a mixing glass with ice and stir well. Strain into a chilled tumbler glass filled with fresh ice and garnish with the maraschino cherry. Enjoy!

Attorney Privilege Bourbon and Orgeat Cocktail Recipe / Liquorary for Oh So Beautiful Paper

The Attorney Privilege in on the sweet side, but not obnoxiously so. I expected a full half ounce of orgeat to overwhelm this recipe, but I was surprised by how smooth and drinkable and flavorful it turned out. The bourbon’s complex notes of toffee and oak and lots of other things pair with the almond nuttiness of the orgeat in a drink that’s warm and sip-able and very perfect for November.

Attorney Privilege Bourbon and Orgeat Cocktail Recipe / Liquorary for Oh So Beautiful Paper

I found this recipe in Imbibe magazine while doing research on fall cocktails featuring orgeat. (Are you reading Imbibe? If you’re interested at all in cocktails, you should be.) It’s originally a recipe from Polite Provisions, a bar in San Diego. We usually try to put our own spin on the recipes we feature here, but this one was pretty much perfect just the way it is and such a revelation that I had to share it unaltered.

(Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, where we’ve been posting our experiments before they make their way onto this column!)

Glassware by Liquorary

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

How to Use Vintage Stamps

I love, love, LOVE using vintage postage stamps on envelopes. They add a little something special to everything from wedding invitations to dinner and cocktail party invitations to baby announcements. Vintage stamps offer a wonderful opportunity to represent your personal style, whether chosen thematically or by color palette. And since unused postage never expires, there are endless options to suit every type of occasion – from a formal black tie wedding to a casual backyard gathering. Here are a few of my tips for how to use vintage stamps – plus, I put a collection together with some of my favorite vintage stamps that you can use in your own projects!

How to Use Vintage Stamps / Oh So Beautiful Paper for eBay

How to Use Vintage Stamps / La Happy

Photo Credit: La Happy Design & Calligraphy

1. Add it Up

First things first: vintage postage must add up to current postage rates. While searching and shopping for stamps, make sure that you have one stamp worth at least 25¢ (or more!). Wedding invitations and birth announcements mailed in a larger envelope usually require a minimum of 71¢ postage. The 3¢ and 8¢ stamps are great for rounding out a color palette or subject theme, but you’ll need a 29¢ or 33¢ stamp in the mix to make up the difference in the total postage amount.

How to Use Vintage Stamps / Wondrous Whimsy

Photo Credit: Diana McGregor Photography / Calligraphy by Wondrous Whimsy

How to Use Vintage Stamps / Anne Robin Calligraphy and Underwood Letterpress

Photo Credit: Stephanie Collins Photography / Calligraphy by Anne Robin / Vintage Postage by Underwood Letterpress

2. Plan it Out

Plan your stamp arrangement ahead of time to make sure you leave room for an address – and to maximize visual impact. Some stamps look best in a straight row across the top of an envelope, while others look best in a puzzle piece arrangement in the corner. It all depends on the stamps you select!

How to Use Vintage Stamps

Calligraphy: The Weekend Type / Floral Styling: The Moss & Rose / Styling: Two Be Wed / Photo Credits: Korie Lynn Photography

How to Use Vintage Stamps / Anne Robin Calligraphy and Underwood Letterpress

Photo Credit: Stephanie Collins Photography / Calligraphy by Anne Robin / Vintage Postage by Underwood Letterpress

3. Color Theory

The easiest way to group vintage stamps together? By color! Let your wedding color palette guide your vintage stamp selections and your envelopes will shine! You can even address the envelopes using ink in a complementary color to make your envelopes even more special and complete the overall look.

How to Use Vintage Stamps / Antiquaria Design

Photo Credit: Antiquaria Design Studio

4. Personal Geography

I love it when couples share a glimpse of their personal history – and geography! – in their vintage stamp selections. It can be as simple as a stamp with the city or state where the couple met, along with stamps of their home state. Perhaps they grew up in Montana and Texas but met in college in DC. When placed together on an envelope, these stamps tell such a fun story!

How to Use Vintage Stamps / Coral Pheasant

Photo Credit: Coral Pheasant

How to Use Vintage Stamps / Lauren Chism Fine Papers

Photo Credit: Lauren Chism Fine Papers

5. Stick to a Theme

Love science? Have a passion for architecture? Maybe you’re both crazy for horses, or you met while working on a political campaign. Whatever your interests, let them shine in your envelope postage! You can find vintage postage stamps for practically any topic or theme, from travel to modern art.

How to Use Vintage Stamps / Blue Eye Brown Eye Calligraphy

Photo Credit: Blue Eye Brown Eye Calligraphy

6. Pretty Botanicals

If themes aren’t your thing, go with flowers! My favorite vintage stamps feature floral designs – and they look so incredibly beautiful when grouped together on a wedding invitation envelope! My favorite floral stamps are the Mississippi and Alabama statehood stamps, along with this love stamp.

p.s. Where to find (and buy) vintage stamps and more inspiration for mixing vintage stamps

This post was created in partnership with eBay. All content and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that make Oh So Beautiful Paper possible!

Productivity and Daily Routines

Hi Everyone! Today I thought I’d do something a little bit different and share a glimpse into my everyday routine. It’s a fairly new routine, since it has only been a couple of months since Sophie started preschool and Alice started full time daycare, and I’m still trying to figure out what works best for me as a mom and creative entrepreneur.

Productivity and Daily Routines / Oh So Beautiful Paper

My day starts with getting the girls dressed and ready to go to preschool and daycare. We’re a single car family, so I drive and drop everyone off in the morning and then pick them all back up at the end of the day. In between I work out of my home office/studio. The round trip drop-off and pick up commute usually takes about an hour, which is tough since that’s a good chunk of work time. Sophie gets out of preschool at 3 pm every afternoon, so my challenge is to squeeze in as much productive work time as possible before I go pick her up. I normally work for a couple of hours at night after the kids are asleep, but I try to get as much done during those daytime hours as possible!

Productivity and Daily Routines / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Productivity and Daily Routines / Oh So Beautiful Paper

If you talk to any creative entrepreneur, they’ll tell you that email is one of their biggest productivity challenges. There’s just so much of it! Responding to incoming emails, organizing and archiving messages, and sending outgoing messages can eat up a huge chunk of my day. I use a service called Unroll.Me to help clean out my inbox and keep it manageable. Unroll.Me allows you to unsubscribe quickly and easily from unwanted newsletters and combine the rest of those newsletters – the ones you want to receive but don’t want crowding up your inbox – into a once daily email digest called “The Rollup.” I’ve actually used Unroll.Me for a few years now and I absolutely love it. I was thrilled when Unroll.Me reached out about helping to spread the word about their new iOS app!

Unroll.Me for iOS / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Unroll.Me is fast, simple, and totally FREE – and it really couldn’t be easier to use. After you sign up, Unroll.Me will scan your inbox to identify subscriptions. Then with a simple click of the mouse you can choose to unsubscribe (Unroll.Me does it for you), add the email to your Rollup, or keep it in your inbox. I even use my Rollup to keep all the newsletters from my favorite stationers and artists in one place! The entire process seriously takes about five minutes. When I first signed up for Unroll.Me years ago I felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Unsubscribing from those emails –instead of having to delete them every single week – got them completely out of my mental space so I could focus on the things that matter. It sounds silly, but that kind of mental weight can have a huge impact on your productivity!

Productivity and Daily Routines / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Productivity and Daily Routines / Oh So Beautiful Paper

After responding to emails and sorting through any editorial submissions that came in overnight, I turn my attention to my to-do list for the day. Every day is different when running a blog depending on what’s on the agenda for that particular week. Some days involve DIY project production and taking photos, while other days involve searching for cards and products to feature in round up posts. I like to keep a colorful notepad on my desk for jotting down reminders and ideas along with a desk pad calendar to keep track of things like doctor appointments and visits from out-of-town relatives. I also find that I’m more productive if I keep a few pretty or inspirational trinkets on my desk, like vintage stamps and business cards from my friends that make me smile every time I look at them.

Productivity and Daily Routines / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Productivity and Daily Routines / Oh So Beautiful Paper

That’s my day! What do you do to stay productive during the day? If you want to give Unroll.Me a try you can sign up right here! I’ve used Unroll.Me to manage over 1200 subscriptions over the years – I’d love to hear how many subscriptions you find!

This post was created in partnership with Unroll.Me. All content and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that make Oh So Beautiful Paper possible!

Stationery A-Z: For the Cat Ladies

Happy National Cat Day everyone! You didn’t think I could let such a momentous occasion go by without rounding up a few favorite cat cards, did you?? I actually found so many great cards that I created an entire page in the Market List dedicated to our favorite feline companions – you can find it right here! Now go snuggle a cat somewhere and send one of these cards to your best cat lady!

National Cat Day Card Round Up / Oh So Beautiful Paper

1. Ladyfingers Letterpress

2. Sapling Press

3. Hello!Lucky

4. Rifle Paper Co.

5. Lucky Horse Press

6. Sue Jean Ko

7. Gold Teeth Brooklyn

8. Hartland Brooklyn

9. Grey Moggie

10. Amy Heitman

11. The Good Twin

12. Dancing Cat Art

Pretty Paper in the Office: Globes

Whether you’re an avid traveler or have been eyeing one simply for décor (or both!), there’s no denying that there’s something enticing about a globe. As a child, I had a globe with topographical relief that I would spend hours with, studying the tallest mountain ranges around the world. Depending on the style, they can be beautiful and functional pieces of art or a touchstone to past adventures and future travels. I’ve put together a roundup of a few different globes you should take for a spin in your office space. – Julie

Pretty Paper in the Office: Globes / Oh So Beautiful Paper

1. Nendo

2. Kristoffer Zeuthen

3. CB2 cork globe

4. National Geographic

5. Anthropologie

6. Replogle