04/26/2013

{happy weekend!}

This week was a flurry of activity, both at home with our never-ending to do list (we’re still unpacking a month after moving in), a very active getting-ready-to-crawl baby, and a ton of prep work in advance of the National Stationery Show in just a few short weeks! I’m so excited to head back to one of my favorite cities and see some of my favorite people, and yes, of course Sophie will be coming along! Thankfully my dad is coming down this weekend to help us get a few things done around the house. But in the meantime…

Photo by me via Instagram

…a few links for your weekend!

Super cool wood log wedding invitations
Loving this kitchen mini-makeover (via Jenny)! It’s so amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do!
I want to take one of Chelsea’s flower classes
Happy Birthday Beck!
We have friends living in Berlin for the next 3 years, so I’m definitely keeping this hotel in mind when we go visit
I can’t wait to add some viburnum to my garden
Dauphine Press just added a bunch of beautiful new styles and a cool newÂ “search by style” featureÂ to their website!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

Wedding invitations inspired by the idea of French garden parties
Nautical and travel-inspired party invitations
Romantic watercolor and lace wedding invitations
Lovely rustic letterpress wedding invitations
Beautiful calligraphy from the talented Holly Hollon
DIY Tutorial: Indigo Floral Wedding Invitations
Congrats to the ladies of Antiquaria on their new letterpress wedding collection!
Bright and colorful screen printed cards and prints
Well Said Type: Harper Font

Check back soon for this weekâ€™s cocktail! Â I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and Iâ€™ll see you back here on Monday!Â xoxo

04/26/2013

Brynne + Guy’s Natural Vineyard Save the Dates

I always like to end the week on a happy note, and what could be happier than these beautiful save the dates for a vineyard wedding? Created by Brynne from Harken PressÂ for her own upcoming wedding, the save the dates feature a map of the wedding location and a custom gold wax seal. So pretty!

From Brynne: It can be daunting to beÂ a stationery designer working on your own wedding stationery, but it can be even more of a challenge when both the bride and groom are designers. Guy and I wanted our save the dates to be unique and textural for our nature-inspired vineyard wedding. We also wanted to add fun accents, like our custom wax seal, photo magnet, photo corners and vintage map envelope liners to highlight the location.

The venue in southern California was the main inspiration. The vineyard is in Temecula Valley wine country which is a rural paradise with beautiful rolling hills and acres of lush vines. Hot air ballooning is a popular attraction in the area, so we used the symbol discreetly under the photo magnet. I can’t wait to take a romantic hot air balloon ride before the wedding!

Thanks Brynne!

Check out theÂ Designer RolodexÂ for more talÂented wedÂding inviÂtaÂtion designÂers andÂ theÂ save the date galleryÂ for more beauÂtiÂful cusÂtom save the dates!

Photo Credits: Harken Press

04/25/2013

DIY Tutorial: Indigo Floral Print Wedding Invitations

We’ve always had a love affair with indigo â€“ in fact, the wedding quilt that Emma’s mother created for her is made from scraps of vintage Japanese indigo fabrics. With its recent rise in popularity we decided that indigo would make the perfect inspiration for an invitation suite. The deep blue and white color scheme, mixed with floral elements and classic typography, makes it a design suitable for any season!Â â€“Â Bailey and Emma of Antiquaria

Tie the square invitation and enclosure pieces together with indigo dyed twine and your guests will feel like they’re opening a gift!

Step One:Â Lay a Â 5.5″ square card down on a firm surface. Ink your stamp (we used our Sophisticate Invitation Stamp) thoroughly and center it over your card. Once it is positioned correctly, press down to make a print. Use both hands to ensure even pressure. Lift off and let the print dry. For more information on this process goÂ here.

Step Two: You will repeat the printing technique from Step 1 for your reply card (we used our Sophisticate Reply Card Stamp) on a 4bar (3.5″x4.75″) card. Â This time, instead of centering the stamp, you will print it toward the bottom of the card. This leaves space to print the floral pattern (we used our Daisy Pattern & Small Leaves Pattern Stamps) at the top. It’s best to start with the larger pattern stamp and then fill in with the smaller leaf stamp.

Step three: We love to incorporate patterns in to our invitation suites, whether it’s an envelope liner, backer or belly band…it adds so much style and personality to the design. We created this indigo pattern by randomly stamping pattern stamps (we used our Camellia Pattern, Daisy PatternÂ andÂ Small Leaves Pattern Stamps) in frost white ink on 8.5″ x 11″ card stock. The effect that it creates is so lovely!

Step Four: To make the accommodations card, you will need to cut the 8.5″ x 11″ patterned paper into 5″ squares (you will get 2 per sheet). Next, ink and stamp your accommodations information (we used our Calligraphy Accent Accommodations Stamp) on the front of the navy blue card.

Step Five: Using the same printing technique as above, you will print your return address and reply address (we used our Wildflowers Return Address Stamp) on the outer and reply envelopes. Now all that’s left is to tie everything together, address your envelopes, add postage (we used awesome blue vintage postage from Verde Studio) and send them on their way!

Materials:

Sophisticate Invitation Stamp

Sophisticate Reply Card Stamp

Calligraphy Accent Accommodations Stamp

Pattern Stamps â€“Â Camellia, Daisy, Small Leaves

Wildflowers Return Address Stamp

Stamp Pad â€“Â Frost White, Midnight

5.5″ CardsÂ in Luxe Cream

5.75″ EnvelopeÂ in Night

4bar Flat CardÂ in Luxe Cream

4bar EnvelopeÂ in Night

8.5″x11″ CardstockÂ in Night

Vintage Postage Verde Studio

String or twine

AntiÂquaria is a memÂber of theÂ Designer RolodexÂ â€“ you can see more of their beauÂtiÂful workÂ right hereÂ or visit the real wedding invitations gallery for moreÂ wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Antiquaria

04/24/2013

Ashley + Joe’s Watercolor and Lace Wedding Invitations

These wedding invitations from designer Crissie McDowellÂ are so utterly romantic â€“ but what else would you expect from a suite that combines watercolor, a lace doily, and lots of glitter?!? Crissie developed the design with spring in mind, creating a beautiful save the date with a watercolor botanical pattern and wedding invitations that continued the watercolor inspiration. So pretty!

From Crissie:Â Ashley and Joe hired me to photograph their upcoming wedding this May as well as design their wedding invitation suite. Ashley is my boss’s daughter at our marketing agency. Pressure was on. Ashley had a very clear vision of what she envisioned from her day. Her ceremony will be taking place in a botanical garden and her reception will be indoors at a more modern venue. She wants a combination of romantic, soft, elegant and modern. Oh, and a whole lot of glitter.

I hand painted the illustration for her save the dates with a botanical look in mind. We wanted to continue with the hand painted look so I used a watercolor pattern on all of the invitation suites, digitally printed. We did a blind emboss on Ashley and Joe’s names to make them pop.

We wrapped the entire suite in an intricate lace doily. Â For the belly band, we used a textured charcoal paper and did a white foil emboss for the logo. The band was sealed with a piece of glitter tape. The bride had each envelope hand calligraphed.Â

Thanks so much Crissie!

Check out theÂ Designer RolodexÂ for more talÂentedÂ wedÂding inviÂtaÂtion designÂersÂ andÂ theÂ real inviÂtaÂtions galleryÂ for moreÂ wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Crissie McDowell

04/24/2013

Antiquaria Letterpress Wedding Invitation Collection

The ladies of Antiquaria (one of our DIY contributors here on Oh So Beautiful Paper!) just released a brand new (and a la carte) letterpress wedding invitation collection, and I’m thrilled to help share the beautiful designs today! The letterpress collection features some of Antiquaria’s most popular designs, from calligraphy invitation suites to equestrian and western-inspired designs.

Each letterpress design is also compatible with Antiquaria’s custom rubber stamp collection. The letterpress collection is available a la carte, so you can mix and match design styles within an invitation suite â€“ or even mix letterpress with rubber stamps. So fun!