08/24/2017

NSS 2017: A Few Favorites

I’m like a kid in a candy store during the National Stationery Show each year. There’s so much to see! So many people I want to talk to, catch up with, new booths to see, and more! The only problem with being a stationery addict at a trade show dedicated to stationery and paper goods is that I genuinely love ALL OF IT and would take every single thing home with me if I could! Each year, there are a few extra special things that really stand out and make a connection with me, from greeting cards to gift items. So today I’m closing out our coverage from this year’s National Stationery Show with a few show favorites that, for whatever reason, didn’t fit into one of our other round ups. Let’s start with two of my favorite greeting cards from this year’s show from Dahlia Press and Smitten on Paper!

Smitten on Paper (check out the full booth here!)

Dahlia Press (check out the full booth here!)

I’m seriously crazy about these letterpress printed baby milestone cards from Rachael of Pistachio Press â€“ a new mom herself! In addition to number cards for monthly photos, there are milestone cards for when baby learns to roll over, crawl, smile, and more. SO CUTE!!

Pistachio Press (check out the full booth here!)

I’ve made and broken a lot of resolutions over the years, but I think I might actually stick to a resolution with this kit from Baltic Club! It’s undated, so you can start a new resolution any time of year, and comes with cute gold stickers to help keep track of progress!

Baltic Club (check out the full booth here!)

So many gorgeous bags and pouches at this year’s show! These wine and booze bags from Dahlia Press are so cute, and I’m absolutely crazy about the new zipper pouches from Our Heiday and Parrott Design Studio!

Dahlia Press (check out the full booth here!)

Our Heiday (check out the full booth here!)

Parrott Design Studio (check out the full booth here!)

Iron Curtain Press (check out the full booth here!)

Emily McDowell (check out the full booth here!)

Cityscape totes (in all the major cities!) from Albertine Press (check out the full booth here!)

Notepads! I love, love, love the gorgeous color blocked notepads from Moglea and the genius notepads from Smudge Ink that fold up into paper boats, airplanes, and secret messages!

Moglea (check out the full booth here!)

Smudge Ink (check out the full booth here!)

Hologram foil was everywhere at this year’s show, much to my delight! The Social Type had TONS of hologram foil, including hologram foil matchboxes and envelope note sets. Wild Ink Press debuted a new birthday gemstone card collection with every type of shiny, iridescent, and metallic foil imaginable. So fun!

The Social Type (check out the full booth here!)

Wild Ink Press (check out the full booth here!)

417 Press (check out the full booth here!)

Ashkahn (check out the full booth here!)

Alright, that’s it from this year’s show! I hope you enjoyed all of our round ups! In case you missed any of our previous recaps from the 2017 National Stationery Show you can find them all right here â€“ and you can find photos from all the NSS 2017 exhibitors right here!

Photo Credits: Nole Garey and Hannah Nowack for Oh So Beautiful Paper

08/23/2017

NSS 2017: Party Party Party!

We’re wrapping up our coverage of this year’s National Stationery Show this week with a couple final posts â€“ starting with some of my favorite party goods from this year’s show! We’ve got some seriously fun party plates, hologram favor bags and banners, printed party balloons, and so much more! Let’s kick things off with the most amazing cocktail napkins from Lionheart Prints!

I mean, are these not just the most perfect cocktail napkins EVER???

Lionheart Prints (check out the full booth here!)

These iridescent party plates are my everything!

Meri Meri (check out the full booth here!)

Totally obsessed with these rainbow plates from Knot & Bow!

Knot & Bow (check out the full booth here!)

I neeeeeeed this hologram letter banner in my life! (Photo via Alexis Mattox Design)

Alexis Mattox Design (check out the full booth here!)

I’m seriously obsessed with these glittery hologram plates from Bash Party Goods â€“ and the grid pattern plates below!

Bash Party Goods (check out the full booth here!)

Watermelon place cards from Hester & Cook? Yes, please! The die cut tropical leaf card below comes with an envelope so you can send it as a notecard, or repurpose it as a place card for a party or wedding!

Hester & Cook (check out the full booth here!)

Hologram foil party napkins by Ginger Ray (check out the full booth here!)

The cutest candles, party plates, and printed party balloons from My Little Day!

My Little Day (check out the full booth here!)

Non-traditional acrylic cake toppers (and cocktail stir sticks) from The Roc Shop (check out the full booth here!)

So many cute party plates from Australian exhibitor We Love Sundays (check out the full booth here!)

More recaps from the 2017 National Stationery Show here â€“ and you can find photos from all the NSS 2017 exhibitors right here!

Photo Credits: Nole Garey and Hannah Nowack for Oh So Beautiful Paper

08/22/2017

Fifteen Awesome 2017-2018 Planners and Agendas!

Since it’s back-to-school week here in DC, I figured this would be an excellent time to share our annual round up of beautiful planners and agendas! And we’ve got a seriously good crop of them this year! Today we’re sharing FIFTEEN awesome 2017-2018 planners and agendas. Fifteen! Some of the planners below stick to a traditional yearly calendar, but many of them follow the academic calendar â€“ so you can start using them RIGHT NOW. Yay! Ready??

1. Ban.do always has the cutest agendas, and this year is no exception! Plenty of pink, hologram foil, playful phrases, sticker pages, and so much more. Oh, and if your favorite Ban.do agenda is sold out on their website, check their list of stockists to see if you can track one down there! Nordstrom has a bunch of options still in stock!

2. This Egyptian Rose weekly planner (January – December 2018) from Fox & Fallow features shiny rose foil on a pink book cloth cover on the outside. Inside, you’ll find weekly views on each spread and a monthly view at the beginning of each month.

3. Available in three different cover options â€“ and in both 17-month and 12-month formats! â€“ this Wise Words planner from One Canoe Two includes monthly and weekly spreads, with plenty of room to write, doodle, or dream in big open squares (no cramming a full day into a few tiny lines!). Each month includes hand lettered inspirational quotes, along with sections for notes, contacts, and keeping track of important dates and holidays.

4 – 6. I couldn’t resist including an example of each of the three planner formats offered by Rifle Paper Co. this year: A full-size 17-month planner, a compact 17-month planner, and a twelve-month weekly agenda. How will you ever choose just one??

7. How gorgeous is the cover for this 17-month (August 2017 – December 2018) Aurora planner from Hadron Epoch?? Even more beautiful cover options here!

8. For those of you who want to get a head start on 2018 planning, try this 14-month (December 2017 – January 2019!) agenda from Blushing Confetti with weekly views and a gorgeous green floral cover!

9. The Day Designer always comes in a bazillion gorgeous cover options, but I particularly adore the illustrations in this “desk bliss” cover! Choose a midyear (June 2017 – May 2018) planner if you want to start using it now, or wait for a traditional January – December 2018 version!

10. Sleek and modern minimalist planners with beautiful linen book cloth covers from Appointed Co. Choose between 17-month (August 2017 – December 2018) and twelve month (January – December 2018) options, and you can even add gold foil monogramming!

11. How cute is this floral cover on the Simplified Planner by Emily Ley? The twelve month academic planner (August 2017 – July 2018) is available now, and the twelve month 2018 planner will be available for purchase on September 6!

12. I have a long love affair with anything constellation-inspired â€“ loving this cover option on this 17-month agenda (August 2017 – December 2018) from My Mind’s Eye!

13. Brand new planners from Idlewild Co.! These annual planners (January – December 2018) include 220 interior pages with sections for daily, weekly, and monthly planning, along with year-at-a-glance, goal-tracking, and notes sections. Plus, plenty of hand lettered inspirational quotes and colorful stickers! I’m partial to this color blocked cover option, but here are also tropical banana leaves, prickly pear cacti, and a papaya print!

14. The Get to Work Book (July 2017 – June 2018) is a daily planner and goal setting workbook specifically for creative professionals and entrepreneurs designed to help you make progress on your big goals by taking things one day at a time. Features include 246 interior pages with 12 motivational text prints, Monday â€“ Sunday week-at-a-glance spreads, space for notes and brainstorming, a â€œyear-at-a-glanceâ€ spread with space to write plans, 14 â€œproject breakdownâ€ pages to help you complete large tasks, 13 â€œreflect and goal-setâ€ pages to celebrate past successes and come up with action items for the next month, and a pocket on inside back cover.

15. This twelve month agenda from Adam JK is undated, so you can start using it at any time! I love all the creative prompts for reflection and inspiration that Adam included throughout the agenda.

p.s. Some of our favorite organizational stationery goodies from this year’s National Stationery Show.

08/17/2017

Printable Illustrated Ice Cream Cone Wrappers

I have a really fun (and easy!) DIY project for you today: printable illustrated ice cream cone wrappers! My girls have been obsessed with ice cream cones lately and also happen to have birthdays coming up real soon, so I’m fairly confident that we’ll be making ice cream cones at their birthday party. I teamed up with Kim from Bright Room Studio to make these colorful illustrated ice cream cone wrappers to bring an extra dose of color to our favorite summer treat!

I absolutely adore the illustrations that Kim whipped up for these wrappers â€“ so colorful and summery! And the sweet treat theme of the illustrations is so versatile, you can use these for any type of event. Wouldn’t they be so cute at an end-of-summer Labor Day BBQ? Or use them at a birthday party any time of year!

Supplies

White text weight or cover weight paper

Printable template (choose sugar/waffle cones or cake cones)

Scissors

Washi tape in your favorite color

To make the printable illustrated ice cream cone wrappers:

Step 1. Print out the free template on white text or cover weight paper. You can use this template for sugar and waffle cones, or this template for cake cones.

Step 2. Cut out each individual ice cream cone wrapper with scissors, being careful to cut just inside the template outline. Wrap around an ice cream cone and secure with a piece of colorful washi tape, and voila!

Gah! I’m obsessed with these adorable illustrations of delicious summer treats!

Sweet, simple, and so fun! Download the printable ice cream cone wrapper templates below!

SUGAR + WAFFLE CONE TEMPLATE

CAKE CONE TEMPLATE

p.s. Printable hologram foil ice cream cone wrappers and printable hand lettered gift tags and favor labels!

Bright Room Studio is a member of the Designer Rolodex â€“ you can see more of Kimâ€™s beautiful work right here!

Photos by Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

08/15/2017

Quick Pick: Good Juju Ink

Before I get into today’s post, I want to acknowledge that our hearts are still heavy hearts after the horrible events in Charlottesville this past weekend. It feels wrong to just jump back into talking about pretty paper without addressing what many of us are thinking and feeling right now. I don’t have all the right words, but I’m completely disgusted by both the hatred and bigotry on display over the weekend and the administration’s deplorable watered-down reaction. There are not many sides to this issue. This is about right and wrong. White supremacists are wrong. Neo-Nazis are wrong. It’s up to us to fight against those views and deny them the space to fester and grow. That means speaking up and standing up for what is right. Racism and hate have no place here. We need to say it, over and over and over. You can find some other ideas for fighting hate in our community at the Southern Poverty Law Center. And now back to your regularly scheduled distractions. Thank you for understanding.

Okay! So today I thought I’d share a few favorites from Good Juju Ink’s brand new Into the Woods collection! I got to see this collection in person at the 2017 National Stationery Show a couple months ago, and it’s full of fun things like beautiful nature-inspired illustrations, copper foil, and quotes to inspire reflection, organization, and observation. The entire collection is inspired by the meditative, woodland whimsy of Thoreau’s Walden and includes copper foil-kissed folders, boxed note cards, notebooks, journals, and notepads. Plus, a portion of the proceeds from Into the Woods will benefit the Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees initiative! Let’s take a look.