Search Results for: antiquaria

Quick Pick: Floral Explosion

Happy Monday everyone! DC has apparently decided that ALL the flowers should bloom at the same time: lilacs, tulips, azalea, wisteria… everywhere I look there is something in bloom! And the iris, peonies, and roses aren’t that far behind. After months of winter, it’s so nice to have color in the world again! We’ve been spending our weekends visiting our favorite botanical destinations in the area, from the U.S. Botanic Garden to Dumbarton Oaks Gardens to George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate. Today I thought I’d celebrate my favorite season by rounding up a few floral stationery favorites, from art prints to greeting cards to notepads!

Quick Pick: Floral Explosion! / Oh So Beautiful Paper

1. Floral everyday notepad by Rifle Paper Co.

2. Neon pink and mint letterpress floral birthday card by Parrott Design Studio

3. Paper cut flower and dot card by Evermore Paper Co.

4. The Earth Laughs in Flowers gold foil art print

5. Floral thank you card by Antiquaria

6. Poppies thank you card by Our Heiday

7. Floral embroidery by Happy Cactus Designs

8. Botanical love card by Amy Heitman

9. Watercolor peony art print by Julie Song Ink

10. Navy and pink floral birthday card by Wild Hart Paper

Seasonal Stationery: Valentine’s Day Cards, Part 3

Happy Monday everyone! We’re still VERY much snowed in after getting almost two feet of snow over the weekend, and I’m already starting to get a bit stir crazy after so many days inside (and the kiddos out of school!). So today I thought I’d start the week off with a big dose of happy in the form of Valentine’s Day cards! This round up is full of some gorgeous copper and gold foil, hand lettering and hand painted elements, and food and gems – even enameled pins! And in case you missed them, you can find my previous round ups right here!

Valentine's Day Card Round Up / Oh So Beautiful Paper

1. A gorgeous card from In The Daylight with coper foil on black paper

2. This card from Near Modern Disaster is perfect for the occasion

3. Send this XO pin and post card from The Good Twin to your bestie – the enameled pins make a sweet gift!

4. I love the subtle desert vibes and matte gold foil in this card from Antiquaria

5. Obsessed with this gold foil gem card from BerinMade London

6. Truth from The Paper Cub

7. For all the donut lovers out there from Hello Small World

8. Sweet and beautiful simplicity in this card from E.Frances Paper with hand painted watercolor details and copper foil text

9. This card from Farewell Paperie tells it like it is!

10. Such a sweet card from People I’ve Loved

p.s. More Valentine’s Day card round ups right here!

2015 Gift Guide: For Designers, Calligraphers, and Artists

I’m back with another gift guide, this time with gift ideas for designers, calligraphers, and artists! I started doing this guide a couple of years ago, after a very sweet husband sent an email asking for gift ideas for his wife. This year I turned to a few friends for input, including Katie from The Good Twin, Jenna from Mon Voir, Bailey from Antiquaria Design, Rose from The Great Lakes Goods, and Katie from Idlewild Co. I absolutely love their gift suggestions!

2015 Gift Guide: Gift Ideas for Artists, Calligraphers, and Designers / Oh So Beautiful Paper

1. Colorful baskets to organize the studio. The pom pom baskets from Eliza Gran are my all-time favorites!

2. A pretty sketchbook or a cute notebook is always an excellent gift idea for artists and calligraphers.

3. Calligraphy Starter Kits. There are so many great kits on the market right now – and you can find a full list of the available options here! This starter kit from Maybelle Imasa also comes with a beautiful botanical tote bag, and this booklet from Mon Voir is a great overall introduction to calligraphy.

4 + 5. Calligraphy tools and supplies. This FineTec gold palette is a wonderful gift for established calligraphers, or even serious amateur calligraphers – and it includes rose gold! This Slider Writer is the perfect tool for creating even lines on dark surfaces, and a light box is a must for writing on light surfaces. Or consider gifting a set of Copperplate practice pads, along with this nib sampler set.

6. Beautiful porcelain palette bowls for mixing paint and ink colors.

7. A powerful lightweight light box perfect for illustrators. Also, it’s definitely pricey, but a Wacom Cintiq would be an amazing gift for any illustrator.

8. A Windsor & Newton Cotman watercolor set for painters and illustrators.

9 + 10. Pens and Pencils! Artists never have enough pens and pencils. Both the functional variety – like graphite drawing pencils, Micron pens, and colorful thin line gel pens – and the cute variety. I love the new Rifle Paper Co. pencil sets and these pencils from Betsywhite Stationery for some inspiration around the office, and this pencil set includes fun design puns and inside jokes for the design community. These water brush pens can be used with watercolor and gouache paints (so handy!), and Katie from The Good Twin recommended this Tombow dual brush pen set as a must have for any artist.

11. A lightweight tabletop easel for sketching and painting on the go.

12. The Interaction of Color by Josef Albers. A classic must-read for any artist.

13 + 14. Brass desk accessories to help corral paperwork and display favorite projects or keepsakes, including brass clips from HAY via Nannie Inez and Yield Design Co.’s geo brass stand set.

15. The custom calligraphy pens from Ashley Bush and Yoke Pen Co. are GORGEOUS and would make the most wonderful gift! Bailey from Antiquaria Design also recommended this leather desk blotter.

A couple additional ideas:

Consider gifting workshops and classes, like the Modern Calligraphy Summit, Melissa Esplin’s online calligraphy class, Molly Jacques Workshop, Mon Voir’s online watercolor class, or any other calligraphy, printing, or other artist classes and workshops in your local area.

Magazine subscriptions make wonderful gifts! I love to gift artist and entrepreneur friends with subscriptions to trade magazines in their area of interest – like Stationery Trends, which is an absolute must for anyone in the stationery industry. Rose from The Great Lakes Goods recommended a few magazines for general inspiration, including Gather Journal, The Plant, and The Desert Oracle.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! For those of you traveling, I wish you all safe and uneventful travels. And for everyone I wish a happy, relaxing, and wonderful weekend filled with good food, great company, and tons of pie. I’ll see you back here next Monday! But in the meantime…

Knot & Bow / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Photo (and rainbow beeswax candles) by Knot & Bow via Instagram

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

xoxo

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!