I love the hand drawn quality of these cards from Linea Carta – which is no surprise since each card features an original illustration then hand screen printed by artist Diva Pyari.  Perfect for sending someone a short + sweet note!
So pretty! Â She also has such lovely handwriting and beautiful wedding invitations…
{image credits: linea carta}
Today’s real invitations come from one of my very favorite bloggers, the lovely Alyson from Unruly Things!  You might remember Alyson from her guest posts last year.  In addition to her fabulous blog, Alyson also runs a letterpress studio called Postal Press, so when Alyson first got engaged and started planning her wedding, I knew the invitations would be incredible no matter what.  Then Alyson mentioned vintage botanical imagery as her main inspiration and I got even more excited!  So as you can imagine, I’m absolutely thrilled to welcome Alyson back to Oh So Beautiful Paper  with her stunning wedding invitations!
From Alyson: When Levi {most commonly known as DLB on my blog} and I started planning our wedding, we looked at only one venue and knew it was for us. Â If you know me at all from Unruly Things, you know that Levi and I have a strong love for all things nature inspired.
Our wedding was at beautiful lake in the middle of the old growth forest in the Columbia River Gorge. 95% of our guests traveled from out of town for our wedding, so we wanted them to get a really good feel for the venue as well as our wedding style from the invitations. Â We opted for fonts with a classic feel and botanical illustrations inspired by vintage book plates.
I collected vintage postage stamps during our engagement that we used for our envelopes and contacted Kathryn Murray to write the beautiful calligraphy for our guest’s addresses. Â Months before the wedding, I taught Levi how to letterpress so that he could help with the printing.
We letterpressed our invitations on brown bag paper and included fun extra details: an illustrated map to the venue, a letterpress kraft tag with hotel accommodations and, my favorite, a Columbia River Gorge wildlife cheat sheet – complete with typical specimen of plants and animals our guests might see during the event  {no one saw any elk, but we heard that one of our guests came upon a baby bear late in the evening!!}  Over all, I couldn’t have imagined our wedding any other way.  It was entirely us.
Alyson also sent over a few photos from her wedding, captured by Erin Grace Photography, including the gorgeous botanical place cards and ceremony programs!
Stunning… seriously just stunning. Â Each detail fits together perfectly, from the kraft paper invitations details to the amazing botanical elements (hello gorgeous ferns and moss!) to the apothecary glass centerpieces. Â Congratulations Alyson!
{image credits: invitation photos by alyson graves brown, wedding photos by erin grace photography}
Happy Friday everyone!  The siren call of the weekend is absolutely calling my name today.  I find myself getting more and more excited for each weekend to arrive, since I know that Fall is only a few more weekends away.  I can’t wait for cooler weather and everything else that Fall brings – the ability to turn off the AC, fall clothing, and changing leaves.  I’m heading off for a weekend with no specific plans, which is actually kind of a nice change – but in the meantime…
{love this William Morris quote from the Wild & Wolf booth at NYIGF}
…a few links for your weekend!
And in case you missed it, a quick round up of posts from this week:
That’s it for me this week! Â I have stunning wedding invitations from one of my favorite bloggers to share with you next week, so I’ll see you all back here on Monday!
{photo by my dad}
This past weekend I went to check out the New York International Gift Fair, a huge trade show held twice a year at the Javits Center (the same convention center where the National Stationery Show takes place in May).  It was wonderful to see some of my favorite stationers also exhibit at NYIGF – like Albertine Press, Carta Inc., May Day Studio, and Pistachio Press (you can check out their booths from the Stationery Show right here) – and to catch up with other friends.  Smock made their first appearance at the NYIGF, with a super cute booth full of paper pinwheels and bunting made from their gift wrap sheets:
{smock}
I absolutely loved the Laurel Denise booth design this year! Â The book page wallpaper and manzanita branches were the perfect way to showcase Laurel’s lovely jewelry:
I am completely in love with these new wooden silhouettes and necklaces from Figs and Ginger – not only are the necklaces gorgeous, but the wood veneer silhouettes can be customized as a beautiful keepsake!
Cute new holiday cards and boxed note card sets from 9 Spot Monk:
I also came across this amazing booth from Mex Events (warning – the website plays music) full of gorgeous papel picado banners, everything from little skeletons to mini-banners to full-size banners for parties and holidays.  I was in complete heaven!
Mex Events will also work with brides and grooms on custom designs for wedding invitations and save the dates, as well as custom banners for wedding receptions. Â So cool!
Stay tuned for more from the Gift Fair coming up soon!
{smock photos by stephen michael garey for oh so beautiful paper, all other photos by me}
Happy Friday everyone! Â This will be a working weekend for me, as tomorrow I’m heading up to the New York International Gift Fair for a couple of days. Â It’ll be fun to catch up with the stationery exhibitors at NYIGF and friends in NYC. Â But after a busy couple of weeks I’ll be looking forward to a quiet and relaxing weekend next weekend… the Florida girl in me misses my summers by the beach, so I’d love to escape to a tiny town by the water for a weekend. Â But in the meantime…
…a few links for your weekend!
And just in case you missed it, a few favorite posts from this week!
That’s it for me this week!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend – I’ll be back next week with photos from the Gift Fair and lots of other goodies.  See you on Monday!
