Oh So Beautiful Paper

Real Invitations - Cynthia + Michael, Part 1

I'm absolutely thrilled to be featuring these real invitations today - they're the invitations of my friend Cynthia (aka Cyd) from her wedding this past summer!  In addition to writing her own blog, The Sweetest Occasion, Cyd also works for Bella Figura, so it's no surprise that she chose to go with a Bella Figura design for her invitations.  And in keeping with her personal style and personality, Cyd also made sure to adjust certain elements of the design to suit her wedding style.

From Cyd:  As soon as we started planning our wedding, I knew I wanted to do things a little differently.  One thing led to another and eventually we ended up planning a two day event with a semi-private ceremony on Friday evening followed by a cocktail party and a much larger formal black-tie-meets-dance-party reception for 150 on Saturday evening.  

This resulted in a few special considerations when planning and designing our invitations.  We needed separate reply cards and an additional piece inviting guests to the ceremony where applicable and I wanted it all to in some way reflect the mood of our casual but formal wedding on the water in the Thousand Islands region where I grew up.

After far more debate than I can even admit to, we decided on the

Keswick design. I had wanted something somewhat modern and my then fiancé was pretty set on something quite traditional so the Keswick was a great compromise for us – the design is rather traditional but the flourishes and the square size made the design a bit more contemporary.  I then worked with our designer, Beth Ann Seal, to play with the colors and fonts and the layout of the design to make it feel more like us. 

I personally hand-lined the envelopes in a custom patterned paper that matched the ink color of the invitations.  Our wedding color palette could best be described as layers of soft muted neutrals (dove gray, champagne and ivory) with the occasional smudge of water-inspired blue so I knew I wanted to work those colors into our paper pieces, although it took some time to figure out the exact colors. 

In the end, our Bella Figura ink colors Mediterranean and Pale Gray were the perfect combination.  Our calligrapher, Debi Zeinert of The Blooming Quill, then hand-mixed the ink for our outer envelopes to a near perfect match to the blue of our invitations.  

I loved how all of the elements came together and think they were the perfect modern-meets-traditional look I was going for with our invitations.

Isn't that calligraphy just so beautiful?  The blue ink is even more gorgeous in person and fits perfectly together with the rest of the invitation suite.  Coming up next, Cyd's wedding programs – so check back soon!

{all photos by Oh So Beautiful Paper}

Hello Handmade Holiday 2009

I really can't think of a better way to start the week off than with two new holiday items from one of my favorites - Hello Handmade!  For those of you who might not remember their totally amazing 2009 calendar and valentines, Hello Handmade is a wonderful collaboration between calligrapher Betsy Dunlap and artist Shanna Murray.  They're back this holiday season with a beautiful tea towel calendar and holiday print:

Both the calendar and print will be available in the Hello Handmade shop this morning.  The Laureled calendar is printed in black ink on snowy white cotton fabric, and of course can be re-used as a tea towel once the year is over.  The O Tannenbaum specimen print is printed in black and white (with Betsy's lovely calligraphy) on sturdy kraft paper.  Shanna and Betsy will also be adding additional items and downloads, including an advent calendar, bunting, and ornaments, as we get closer to the holidays, so be sure to check out the shop for updates!

{image credits: Hello Handmade}

Paperfinger

A couple of weeks ago, when I was up in New York for a few days, I had a chance to (finally) meet up in person with Bryn from Paperfinger.  I've been a big fan of Bryn's work for a while now, and have continued to follow her work via her blog with great interest.  It was so nice to get to know Bryn a bit better, and the best part was that she gave me the most amazing set of business cards with her beautiful calligraphy!  

Each one is completely unique, which of course means I'm absolutely unable to pick a favorite, but here are a few that I just had to share with you:

I love each one so much!  Since they're all unique, each one is like a tiny work of art - and I love the way each one showcases Bryn's different and beautiful calligraphy styles.  Thanks Bryn!

Do you have a favorite from the cards above?

 

{image credit: Oh So Beautiful Paper}

Lovely + Modern Calligraphy from Primele

I love calligraphy, and for me there's really nothing better to start off a Friday morning than truly beautiful, modern calligraphy.  I was so happy to receive an e-mail from Primele, a calligraphy studio from sisters Patricia, Kim and Rachel, introducing me to their beautiful work:  

I love that the Primele calligraphy styles are inspired by primitive americana, influence by the retro palettes of the 1930s and '40s, natural elements, and contemporary design – all of which definitely comes cross in their work.  I particularly love all the little illustrated details and vintage stamps!  If you like what you see above, you can check out more from Primele at their etsy shop and blog.

{image credits: Primele}

Modern Wedding Invitations + Calligraphy

Before we start off with the first of the week's giveaways, I just had to share these unbelievably gorgeous invitations from Parrott Design Studio featuring the gorgeous calligraphy of Betsy Dunlap:

Sarah from Parrott Design Studio sent over photos and some background on the design process.  The bride, Rae, is an art historian and sent Sarah a huge folder of images she found inspiring, including floral arrangements by Saipua, work by some of her favorite artists, and images of Betsy's calligraphy.  Sarah recommended that Rae ask Betsy to do the hand lettering for the invitations, and then found ways of incorporating Rae's other inspiration sources throughout the invitation suite: 

Rae and Sarah worked with Betsy on all of the lettering for the main elements of the invitation suite – including the bride and groom's names for the invitation, and the words "RSVP" and "Directions" for the invitation enclosures, the return address for the RSVP post card – as well as the calligraphy for the invitation envelopes:

The overall design of the invitation was kept elegant and simple – just Betsy's calligraphy and type letterpress printed in a single color on super-thick cotton paper.  Before printing, Sarah hand-lined each invitation with a gorgeous floral pattern paper that Rae found to add a bit of color to the invitation:

Only the main invitation was letterpress printed, while the RSVP postcard and directions card were screen printed, also in a single color, to keep the overall cost of the invitation suite down:

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Check out Sarah's blog for more on this gorgeous invitation suite and additional tips on ways to save on letterpress invitations.  Thanks so much for sharing these Sarah!

Oh, and stay tuned for our first giveaway of the week, coming up in just a little bit!

{photo credits: Parrott Design Studio}

Sponsor Introduction - Grace Edmands Calligraphy

Good morning everyone!  I'm so excited to welcome Grace Edmands Calligraphy as my newest sponsor!  Grace is a relatively new calligrapher, having just started her calligraphy business a year and a half ago, but her beautiful work speaks for her enormous talent as a calligrapher:

I love Grace's calligraphy style - it strikes a perfect balance of classic calligraphy and modern whimsy.  You can visit Grace's website to see more examples of her work, learn more about her calligraphy process, and request rate information. 

I also just wanted to say "thank you!" to Lynette from Lucky Magazine for mentioning this little ol' blog on the Lucky Mag website today - I'm honored!  And to any new readers who might have found me on Lucky, welcome!  I hope you'll take a minute to browse around, particularly through the real invitations gallery and wedding invitation portfolio features, and I look forward to seeing you back here again soon!

{photos via Grace Edmands}

{betsy dunlap cupcake party invitations}

I'm a huge fan of the amazing calligraphy from Betsy Dunlap - and I just about fell over when I saw these invitations she created for a cupcake party:

I absolutely love the banner design on the front AND back of the outer envelope - not to mention those fabulous vintage stamps - all combined with festive red ink for a very cheerful invitation!

{photos by betsy dunlap}

Trimming the Budget without Sacrificing the First Impression

Images from Martha Stewart Weddings (right styled by Rebecca Thuss)

Hello, everyone! It's Maddy from the Inspired Bride blog, here to once again fill in for Nole.

Everybody is thinking of ways to save money nowadays, and the first things to go are the ones that aren't in the "absolutely necessary" column. For a lot of brides, that means sacrificing hand calligraphy - while it's gorgeous, it also can rack up quickly if you have lots of guests. Here are some suggestions on how to cut the calligraphy without losing the great first impression it makes.

Make an investment in a commercial calligraphy face and print your envelopes. Please don't go down the free font route! I've pleaded this case on my blog before because, as a graphic designer, it can be a little painful to see. There's a reason they're free - typographically, they're generally not up to par with pay fonts, and when that craftsmanship is not there from the get go, you won't be leaving the impression with your guests that you want. There are plenty of typefaces available for affordable prices, and I've covered some on the Inspired Bride. A great resource for affordable fonts is MyFonts - I would recommend you start there. Remember that the more you use the fonts, the better deal you're getting, so consider using them on favors, place cards, and programs, as well - anywhere you would have originally considered using calligraphy.

Do the wrapping label. Normally, it's considered a faux pas to put labels on an invitation, and in most cases I'd agree - however, the trend of making a wrapping label (as shown above), I think, is incredibly modern and gives an added element of "specialness". Plus, it just looks great - I loved the look so much, I nixed the hand calligraphy on the envelopes of my escort cards and used wrap labels instead in my own wedding two months ago.

DIY, literally. I came across a brilliant idea a few months back, but I definitely would recommend this only for those of you with steady hands and a heck of a lot of time and patience. This blogger had the brilliant idea to print her envelopes with a slightly darker ink on dark envelopes to use as a "trace line". She then went back over the slightly visible letters with an opaque white ink pen to give the quirkiness of hand calligraphy to the letters without being a trained professional.

{illustration + hand lettering - kristine lombardi}

When illustrator Kristine Lombardi sent over a few photos from her portfolio, I literally almost fell out of my chair - I love her work that much!  Kristine has worked mostly on editorial and publishing assignments but says that she's recently been doing lots of work for weddings, including hand-drawn and lettered maps, invitations, announcements, and other invitation elements. 

Here are a few examples of Kristine's work:

So, so lovely - from the maps to the ee cummings poem, I just love each piece.  Kristine also has an absolutely adorable website, which you can check out - along with the rest of her portfolio - right here!


{images via Kristine Lombardi, thanks Kristine!}

{EAD} Calligrapher Spotlight

Today over at EAD I'm featuring the lovely calligraphy of Jenna Hein - I hope you'll come on over to check it out!

{photo via Love, Jenna}

 

p.s.  I'm having one of those days where I just can't seem to catch up with the pace of the day.  Anyone else have those days?