Seasonal Stationery: Valentine’s Day Cards, Part 1

I tend to view Valentine’s Day as less of a romantic occasion and more as a general celebration of love all around. Besties, family members, kids, and even work colleagues are all just as deserving of a Valentine’s Day card as spouses, partners, boyfriends, and girlfriends. Because we can always use a little bit more love, right? I have a few friends that actually send annual Valentine’s Day cards instead of holiday cards and I love that idea SO much! It’s a wonderful bright spot in post-holidays winter dreariness to find a cheerful Valentine’s Day card in my mailbox. Here are a few of my favorite Valentine’s Day Cards this year!

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

1. Odd Daughter

2. Sycamore Street Press

3. Idlewild Co.

4. Our Heiday

5. Hennel Paper Co.

6. Hello!Lucky

7. Cardtorial

8. Moglea

9. Dahlia Press

10. Bespoke Letterpress

11. Sugar Paper

12. Ladyfingers Letterpress

Industrial Glam Wedding Invitations

These gorgeous industrial glam wedding invitations from designer Liz Blumeyer combine beautiful vintage-inspired flourishes with modern details. The overall design was inspired by her wedding venue and her grandmother’s wedding dress from the 1950s (which Liz wore down the aisle!), with a classic ivory and black color palette and antique gold envelopes. I’m also loving the hand painted pink watercolor wash on the save the dates and invitation card. Such a subtle and beautiful detail!

Industrial Glam Wedding Invitations / Design: Liz Blumeyer / Oh So Beautiful Paper

From Liz: Our wedding stationery suite was inspired by our venue, The Guild KC – an industrial glam space featuring an enormous 1930s chandelier. Like the venue, the suite evokes a dramatic, moody feeling with a hint of vintage charm. The border on the invitation card was a nod to the ’30s, but since my dress was my grandmother’s from the 1950s we didn’t want an overwhelming Art Deco style in any of our printed pieces. We opted for a classic look without a defining influence from any particular era.

Industrial Glam Wedding Invitations / Design: Liz Blumeyer / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Industrial Glam Wedding Invitations / Design: Liz Blumeyer / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Our color palette was primarily black, ivory, and antique gold with small touches of orchid pink and emerald. The majority of the suite was letterpress printed on ivory paper in black ink. The response and website enclosures were letterpress printed on black paper in metallic gold ink. I was wary of adding too much color, so I opted for blind printed embellishments on the enclosure pieces to add a subtle texture without adding too much visual weight. I wanted an organic detail to balance the largely structured look of the suite, so I hand painted a soft pink watercolor wash on each invitation and save the date card before printing.

Industrial Glam Wedding Invitations / Design: Liz Blumeyer / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Industrial Glam Wedding Invitations / Design: Liz Blumeyer / Oh So Beautiful Paper

The pieces were tied together with a length of emerald embroidery floss before being inserted into the envelopes. We had a custom wax seal stamp made with our monogram, which we used as an embellishment on the envelopes as well as the ceremony programs.

Industrial Glam Wedding Invitations / Design: Liz Blumeyer / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Industrial Glam Wedding Invitations / Design: Liz Blumeyer / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Industrial Glam Wedding Invitations / Design: Liz Blumeyer / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Thanks Liz!

Design: Liz Blumeyer

Letterpress Printing: PaperSnaps

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Liz Blumeyer

Best of 2015: Babies + Kids

Oh So Beautiful Paper: The Best of 2015 / Calligraphy by Cast Calligraphy

Image by Cast Calligraphy

Nothing makes me happier than a beautiful baby announcement or colorful birthday party invitation. It’s hard to resist anything that involves an adorable photo of a newborn baby, and birthday party invitations can be so much fun – especially in those first few years when you can really do whatever you want! Ha! Baby announcements and birthday party invitations are a fabulous opportunity to create beautiful stationery (but without the added pressure that can come with creating a wedding invitation). My favorite baby announcements and birthday party invitations are those that manage to be whimsical, sophisticated, and kid-appropriate all at the same time while somehow not being overly cutesy. Some favorites from the year include a simple and modern hand lettered birth announcement, woodland critter birthday party invitations, gold foil polka dot baby announcements, watercolor popsicle birthday party invitations, and some SUPER fun invitations for a 5th birthday party!

The Best Birthday Party Invitations of 2015: Watercolor Calligraphy Popsicle Birthday Party Invitations by Maison Everett / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Watercolor Calligraphy Popsicle Birthday Party Invitations by Maison Everett

The Best Baby Announcements of 2015: Hand Lettered Letterpress Birth Announcements by The Good Twin and Power and Light Press / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Modern Hand Lettered Letterpress Baby Announcements by The Good Twin and Power and Light Press

The Best Birthday Party Invitations of 2015: Wild Kratts Birthday Party Invitations by Good on Paper / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Wild Kratts Animal-Inspired Birthday Party Invitations by Good on Paper

The Best Baby Announcements of 2015: Gold Foil Polka Dot Birth Announcements by Lauren Chism / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Gold Foil Polka Dot Baby Announcements by Lauren Chism

The Best Birthday Party Invitations of 2015: Woodland Fall Harvest Birthday Party Invitations by Swiss Cottage Designs, Photo by Sweet Root Village / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Woodland Critter Fall Harvest Birthday Party Invitations by Swiss Cottage Designs / Photo by Sweet Root Village

More baby announcements and birthday party invitation ideas right here!

Happy Weekend!

Happy Friday everyone! So, apparently I’m a wee bit crazy, because I decided that the last couple of weeks before Christmas was just the perfect time to completely gut and renovate the only full bathroom in our house. Ha! Actually, our contractor just happened to have an opening in his schedule (we’d been on the waiting list for 5 months), so I decided to just go for it. I’ve absolutely loathed our bathroom from the very first time we ever looked at our house, so I’m super excited to see it go – even if our house is a complete disaster zone at the moment. Our contractor is doing all the demo and pre-tile prep work for us, but we’re planning to do all the tiling. So my Dad is down from New Jersey this weekend to help with everything – wish us luck! I’ll be sharing the final results here in January and I can’t wait! But in the meantime…

Jill Rosenwald / Behind the Scenes via Instagram / OSBP

Love this behind the scenes peek from Jill Rosenwald via Instagram

…a few links for this weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

That’s it for me this week! Check back a bit later for this week’s cocktail recipe – and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I’ll see you back here on Monday! xoxo

Classic Gray Birth Announcements

These classic gray birth announcements from Lauren Chism Fine Papers are so refreshing! Not a speck of pink or blue in sight! I love how the neutral tones and clean, classic design allow the sweet baby photo to shine – and of course I’m partial to the name Alice. Such a wonderful keepsake for a beautiful new baby!

Classic Gray Birth Announcements by Lauren Chism Fine Papers / Oh So Beautiful Paper

From Lauren: Now that my husband and I are expecting, designing anything baby related just makes my heart skip a beat. I can’t get enough! I have been wanting to expand my letterpress birth announcement collection, so this is all working out very well 😉

Classic Gray Birth Announcements by Lauren Chism Fine Papers / Oh So Beautiful Paper

These announcements are extra special to me because Laura was my very first wedding client when I launched my business full time. Over the years, I have gotten to design some holiday cards and baby shower invitations for her… and then, this beautiful sweet girl arrived and I had the honor of designing her birth announcements. Birth announcements, much like wedding invitations, are such a special keepsake and something special for the family to look back on for a long time. I love how certain pieces of stationery, to those who love it, are so much more than just pieces of paper.

Classic Gray Birth Announcements by Lauren Chism Fine Papers / Oh So Beautiful Paper 

Back to the design! Once Laura chose the photo, the neutral tones of the image really leant themselves to a more muted ink color. She wasn’t into pink, so we tried out some shades of grays, tans and blues and landed on this pale gray. We paired it with gray envelopes in a lighter shade. This neutral color lover thought they were perfect. They are just so classic and chic, which really is fits Laura’s style.

Classic Gray Birth Announcements by Lauren Chism Fine Papers / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Thanks Lauren!

Design: Lauren Chism Fine Papers

Letterpress Printing: Elefant Press

Lauren Chism Fine Papers is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can check out more of Lauren’s beautiful work right here!

Photo Credits: Lauren Chism Fine Papers