Search Results for: letterpress stationery

Jennifer + James Sunflower Wedding Invitations

I am so excited to be featuring today’s real invitations and wedding stationery, designed by Lisa from Good on Paper for James and Jennifer’s beautiful sunflower-filled wedding:

Sunflower Wedding Beaulieu Garden Napa Valley

You might have seen this wedding, designed by the amazing Gloria Wong, in the latest issue of MS Weddings, but Heidi and Judy from Gertrude + Mabel Photography were kind enough to send over photos specifically of the paper elements:

Jennifer-James-Invitation-Activities

The bride, Jennifer, also shared the inspiration behind Lisa’s beautiful designs:

We loved the casual, rustic style of an outdoor wedding.  We definitely wanted a beautiful outdoor setting that made our guests feel like they were on a mini vacation (even if they only drove up from San Francisco).  Beaulieu Gardens was a perfect romantic choice for us since it had so many different locations for the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception (where we loved dining underneath a canopy of trees).

sunflower wedding centerpiece floral arrangement table signs

Also, it had a very vintage feel to it, and so we were inspired by the look and feel of the South of France.  Our planner used old vintage suitcases as props, a lot of wooden signs, rusted copper and tin containers to hold the flower arrangements, casual french-inspired table cloth runners, mason jars, and sunflowers.

sunflower wedding escort place cards sunflower wedding place card twine

Nancy also did a great job weaving in elements of the two of us.  For example, I love to eat and cook.  For setting arrangements, we labeled each of the tables an herb that I normally use in my cooking.

sunflower wedding wooden herb table name signs sunflower napa valley wedding ceremony programs

We also created a “marketplace” that looked like a farmer’s market (since I love to frequent them) and gave away sunflowers, fresh fruits, flip flops, and a recipe box filled with 12 of my favor recipes to make and a little package of thyme (my favorite herb).

Jennifer-James-Menu

sunflower wedding letterpress recipe card

For the invitations specifically, we worked with Lisa to incorporate the wedding themes too.  The main page had sunflowers that were drawn on them (which was the main flower we used in the wedding).

sunflower letterpress wedding invitation

Lisa also incorporated herbs into the other cards such as the reply card since it tied back to my love of cooking.  We had purchased a herb picture book so that Lisa could get inspired.  Also, everything was very casual with the invitation.  We chose to write everything in lower case for the invitations and all other printed material at the wedding.

I love that Jenny’s love for cooking is reflected throughout the invitations and wedding – resulting in a very personal design and feel to the invitation – and the way Lisa designed the invitation suite to convey central theme without each element being too matchy-matchy.  Plus, the sunflower and herb motif seems like a perfect fit for a wedding taking place just as summer transitions into fall.  So lovely!  Thank you so much to Jennifer and Lisa for sharing these invitations – and to Heidi and Judy from Gertrude + Mabel for providing such lovely photos!

{all photos by Gertrude + Mabel}

Happy Weekend!

Hi Everyone!  I thought I'd follow Alyson's tradition of a Friday afternoon post about all the things making me happy right now.  So here goes!

Queen-annes-lace

I'm so glad:
that I get to sleep in tomorrow (I really need it!).
that the Gus and Ruby stationery and invitation boutique is finally open!  I've been following their progress on twitter - if you're near Portsmouth, NH I hope you'll go check it out.

I'm really loving:
this gorgeous table featuring linen and queen anne's lace by chelsea for project wedding.
these patterned books over at the SeeSaw blog.
french chic at {this is glamorous}.
the invitations – and everything else in this gorgeous wedding photographed by Jose Villa.
these sweet letterpress gift tags.
this post from Liene at Think Splendid. 

I'm looking foward to:
the farmer's market this weekend, and trying out new recipes next week.
a trip to NYC next weekend for the NY International Gift Fair on August 17 and a couple of other fun things that I can't share just yet – but if you're a vendor planning to exhibit at the NYIGF, let me know so I can make sure to stop by your booth!

and I'm greatly honored and thankful:
to Alyson and Maddy for helping me out last week – and that this lovely little blog community has lead me to develop relationships with so many amazing people.

happy weekend everyone!

{photo from here}

postal press sneak peek!

hi there!  it’s Alyson from Unruly Things and I’m having so much fun guest blogging for Nole this week.  yesterday I mentioned my new venture, Postal Press, an online shop filled with letterpress stationery and packaging goodies.  I also mentioned that the Summer Social online sale starts tomorrow at 10am PST.  so, I thought I’d give you a little peak at what’s going to be in the shop from Postal Press.

Journals

Pocket-pad

Wheat

Terrarium

Xs

postal-press-hello-letterpress-card

Ty

love something?  quantities are limted so hop onto the Summer Social online shop at 10am PST tomorrow, Friday July 31 for your first chance at these goodies.

DIY scratch pad notebooks

postal-press-DIY-letterpress-scratch-pad

hi there!  this is Alyson again with Unruly Things and I’m so happy to be here blogging for Nole while she’s out this week.  on Unruly Things I’ve been talking about my newest venture called Postal Press.  Postal Press is a little shop I’ve been working on stocked with letterpress stationery and packaging goodies.

last weekend, I participated in the Summer Social Sale, hosted by Abby of Abby Try Again, and debuted my collection of goods.  one of the hottest sellers was this little scratch pad, letterpressed and assembled by me.  and today is your lucky day because I’m here to share with you how you can make your very own scratch pad notebooks.

diy-scratch-pads

here are the supplies you’ll need:

  • padding compound – the consistency of elmer’s glue and available in white or red.
  • scratch pad covers – for mine I used Crane’s 110lb Lettra paper, letterpressed with my own design and cut to size.
  • interior paper – unless you have a high power paper cutter, I’d suggest having it professionally trimmed.
  • cardboard backing – I used a thin piece of kraft colored cardboard backing, also pre-cut to fit my pads.
  • a small paint brush.
  • a big working table with a good edge.
  • something heavy like a small book, glass jar or that insanely huge quart of padding compound that you have.

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1.  start by gathering all of the paper together for the scratch pad, including the cover and backcover, and make sure that all of the sides match up evenly by striking it on your table or workspace.

DIY-scratch-pad-step-1

2.  next, grip the paper with your pointer finger and thumb on one side and your other fingers on the back for support.

3.  take a small amount of padding compound on your brush {seriously, this stuff will last you forever} and lightly brush it onto the edge of your scratch pad.

DIY-scratch-pad-step-3

4.  brush the padding compound on in a light layer.  {you’ll do a second coat so don’t feel like you need to pile it on there}

DIY-scratch-pad-step-4

5.  wipe off any excess padding compound from the edges of the scratch pad.

DIY-scratch-pad-step-5

6.  set your scratch pads on the edge of your working surface, as close to the edge as you can get them without smearing the compound.  place something heavy on top of them to keep the pages from popping up.  make sure to keep the pressure even over the edge where you’ve brushed the compound.  I like to stagger my scratch pads on top of one another so that I don’t use up too much of my workspace.

7.  once the padding compound has dried, repeat with another light layer.  allow to dry completely.

DSC_6120

et voilà!  you have a handmade scratch pad, ready for use!  and pretty darn cute scratch pad at that.  I’m sold out of these scratch pads at the moment, but I hope to have more ready to put in the Summer Social online shop, which opens this Friday July 31 at 10am PST.  the Postal Press online shop will open in August.

Unique Wedding Invitations with Hand Lettering

This week’s real invitations are some of the most distinctly personal DIY wedding invitations that I’ve featured here to date – and I hope you all love them as much as I do!  The invitations come to us from Haley, whose save the dates you might remember from here.  I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Haley a bit better since I featured her save the dates in April, and her invitations suit her personality perfectly!

Haley-Wedding-Invitation-Full-Suite-hand-lettering

From Haley: When it came to the wedding invitations, I didn’t have to think twice about making my own.  I had so much fun designing the save the dates that there was no way I would pass up the invites.  Plus, I’m probably more picky about stationery than anything else and I don’t think even the most patient designer would want to deal with my paper particulars.

Haley-Letterpress-Wedding-Invitation-hand-lettering-top

At first I  had trouble, thinking my invitations had to be more formal than my save the dates (formality is not my strong suit).  As my wedding planning progressed it was clear that every aspect was going to be pretty DIY and I wanted the invites to reflect that.  I love to draw and I love to hand letter, but I don’t use pencil and I don’t use rulers, haha, so I must have made a billion versions until I finally had one I wanted.

Haley-Wedding-Invitation-hand-lettering-RSVP-detail

I wasn’t sure how I was going to get it printed.  I really had my heart set on letterpress (my love) but had trouble finding someone to do it.  Eventually my co-worker set me up with a printer friend of hers and she wonderfully accepted the project.  She did a beautiful job and printed everything in the AS220 Community Printshop here in Providence.

Haley-Wedding-Invitation-hand-lettering-Envelope-detail

Haley had her invitations printed in a light seafoam color ink on an off-white linen texture paper backed in charcoal gray (see below), while the enclosed rsvp cards were printed in gray ink on light blue paper.  I love how Haley used a consistent color palette of blues, creams, and grays throughout the invitations, from the gray rsvp envelopes (complete with a stamp of Edgar Alan Poe!) to the blue invitation envelopes.  Haley packaged everything together in a half-moon enclosure envelope like these from Paper Source.

Haley-Letterpress-Wedding-Invitation-hand-lettering2

I’m also completely crazy for all of the amazing hand-lettering that Haley did for her invitations!  I can only imagine how effort Haley put into creating the design – although I’m sure it was a labor of love.  Just incredible.  You can see more of Haley’s unique hand lettering in her etsy shop right here.  Thanks so much Haley!

{all photos by Oh So Beautiful Paper}