Fun Finds: Calligraphy & Stamps!

Once in a while I'll come across something pretty fabulous and I can't help but want to share it with all of you.  It may be wedding related and it may not.  But either way - it's definitely something fun!

The credit goes to my friend Sara from Stinkerpants for this cool find.  I love Lettergirl's calligraphy and handwriting.  She has an etsy shop and also offers self inking address stamps.  I want to get my hands on one of these for sure!

I think these would be great gifts for anyone who loves pretty handwriting and stamps.  I'm planning to buy one of these for myself for Mother's Day!

Writing on Vellum

Have you ever tried writing on vellum before? It's a total pain. And I love vellum paper. This all started when I was sending out birth announcements last year and I really wanted to use vellum envelopes. But I had a problem finding the right pen to write on them without smearing. So I searched around and finally found something that works!

I contacted Kimberly from Tokyo Pen Shop and she was so nice! She helped me choose the right pen for the job. She said that this was the best pen to write on vellum and she was right! I love it. You can buy it here.


And if you are looking for some cute gift ideas you should take a look around the shop. I bought these cute little ladybug note cards to keep in my purse just in case. I think this would be a really cute item to include in bridesmaid gift bags.

I love this!

And now I'm trying to find an excuse to buy these adorable holiday paper clips. They have a bunch of different animal shapes to choose from. Check them out here.

A Christmas Gift

Back in October, I read about Karl with Cut Arts from BV Weddings Blog. My initial thought was,"How fricken cool - I want to hire this guy - how can I convince my husband to get married again?!" But then reality kicked in - I have already tortured this poor man with my "we could have done this or that" bit with the wedding AND usually when I bring up the wedding in this way the conversation of how we went "over budget" is also thrown into the mix. I am immediately put in my place and decide that my wedding was wonderful just the way it happened. But I digress...

So when I read about Karl from cut arts - I bookmarked his page and decided it would make a cool gift. I love his work and really appreciated this somewhat "lost" form of art. Fast forward to the holidays. I was scouring my brain to try and think of a cool present for my in-laws and came up with nothing. Then it finally occurred to me to contact Karl and see what sort of gift I can put together for Ed & Trudy (aka the in-laws). So I sent some pictures to Karl and to see what he could.

This is the picture I sent. I found it on my husband's computer and loved it.

So Karl gave me a quote (I won't say since Ed & Trudy are known to visit this blog) but if you want to know the cost just shoot me an email. About 4 weeks later I had one of the BEST Christmas gifts to give. I bought the frames and matting from Aaron Brothers and it was ready to go. It looks exactly like them - it's amazing!


I loved it so much - I hired Karl to do another one for my husband! Here are the pictures I sent...

I wanted him to cut a landscape and silhouette

He asked for some more pictures that showed more details of Ben.
Like how he stands and a close-up of his profile.

This was the best profile picture I found of Ben.
Please ignore the 5 chins I have in this picture.

Karl was great to work with - he called me to make sure we were on the same page and even made some suggestions on how he could make the picture better. He checked to so see if it was okay and answered all of my questions and concerns.

So the final product...


I love that the gift is so personal. I think this would be a GREAT gift for anyone - who wouldn't like a cool portrait of themselves?!

Loco for Gocco

A couple of weeks ago my friend invited me over for a "Crafty Gocco Fun Day". She had just bought a Gocco Machine (if you don't know what this is check out the info here). We thought it would be fun to make some stationary sets as gifts for friends and family.

I really had no idea what I was getting myself into but I left the house at 9am on a Sunday and told my husband I wouldn't be back until dinner time. I was THAT serious about it. So after MANY trials and errors (and some chatting and lunch) we were able to print these puppies out....

First Try: Thank You cards. We didn't want to do anything too crazy and to be honest - this was REALLY our 2nd try at it. The first try was well...not very successful.
First lesson learned: Printing graphics that bleed (come off the edge) is tricky.

Second Try: Birthday Cards: I really wanted to print something
with white ink and colored paper. They turned out pretty cute!
Lesson 2: Make sure to use DARK paper to print with white ink. For some reason
the ink kept clumping and getting goopy (official gocco words). So it was a pain
to make sure the ink printed with clean lines.


It was hard to see the white ink on pink, sage green and light blue paper.


Third Try: Hello cards. I wanted to make the olives a different color but it was hard to block the coloring on it. The big pain here was the dotted lines on the bottom.

Lesson 3: Avoid lines if possible and avoid lines that Bleed. Yikes.
This was hard to register and if the paper wasn't aligned correctly
you could tell immediately after printing one because the lines on the
bottom would be crooked. I know - they are so darn cute but the cuteness does not
outweigh the number of gray hairs it gave us.

Overall, I was very happy with the results and ordered my own Gocco this week!!
Can't wait to start some more projects and share then with you.

Oh - and thanks (I think) Nicole for getting me hooked :)

A Present For Me!

My friend Nicole took a letterpress class over at the San Francisco Center for the Book. I took a couple myself it's a lot of fun learning about letterpress and you get to make stuff to take home! If you are even remotely interested in letterpress I suggest you check out their workshops. Spots fill up quickly so I suggest you sign up soon if you want to get in on some of the action.

Anyway - Nicole made some super cute coasters and wrapped them in a really cute way.

She used petal enclosures from Paper Source - punched a whole in it and srtung some ribbon through and voila! Super cute presentation.


Cute lining

Snow & Graham Gifts

These are wonderful gifts for any occasion. You can give these to the host/hostess of your bridal shower, baby shower or as a birthday present!

Snow & Graham Coasters $13



Or how about some box sets (this would be a gift I would LOVE!) But I would never use them. I would just hoard them forever...

Sets are $17





And check out their beautiful Thank You cards!
Boxed sets are $12 for 6 cards. Great for shower gifts.







You can find all of these on line at Luxe Paperie.

Gifts

I was looking around etsy for a purse (it's time for a new one for me) and I found these cute wristlets. I love the colors and designs and the size is just perfect for a night out. Ideal for a friends birthday or for your bridesmaids. These are made by Theresa M. Goodwin Studio.

Zipper pouches and wristlets $18-$22

Messenger Bags and Totes range from $65 to $105

This Chelsea Bag is $72

I Heart Etsy!

Have you checked out etsy.com yet? This place has all the cool handmade goods you can dream of. There are some seriously creative people out there. Some of my favorite finds...

Handbags & Clutches

Bandamy has modern handbags that are knit and adorned with ribbon.

Chunky knit sweater meets sweet clutch! $68

Lined with cute plaid material.

Cable knit handbag $79

Cable knit clutch shades of browns. $64

Classic cable knit meets cute mini-tote style! $79

Letterpress Invites & Cards
Blackbird Press specializes in letterpress stationery and invitations.
Thank You cards: Set of 5 for $8.50

Blank Notecards: Set of 8 for $16

Custom Personal Notecards: Set of 10 for $25

Guestbooks

Beautiful handbound books by Little Put Book Shop $40