Introducing Invitation Crush

October 19, 2010 // kristen // 9 replies

I’m so excited to finally be able to tell you about Invitation Crush! This site has been a long time in the making, but it feels like a natural progression for me. I’ve always wanted to have a nice balance of different types of paper goodies here at Paper Crave, but there are certain facets of the paper and stationery niches that call out for more. And, as I delved much deeper into all things wedding during my time as co-editor of Nonpareil, I realized that there was just so much out there in the world of invitations that I couldn’t possibly begin to share at Paper Crave if I wanted to keep the balance. So, Invitation Crush was born!

Invitation Crush is all about, well, invitations … and announcements and save the dates. Period. This means that I’m on the hunt for crushworthy custom projects, as well as ready to order items, for all occasions — weddings, birthday parties, anniversaries, births, and whatever else catches my eye. I’m so excited about this project, and I’m hoping that it can become a great source of inspiration and a helpful resource for those of you who are looking for the perfect invitation or announcement, and for those of you who simply love looking at pretty things.

If you have an invite, announcement, or save the date that you think would be a good fit for the site, then I want to hear about it!

PS Brooklyn Wedding Invitations

October 19, 2010 // kristen // 0 replies

My heart always gets a little fluttery when I see gorgeous new paper goodies, and it was fluttering all over the place (don’t worry, I didn’t have to go to the doctor or anything scary like that) when I found out about PostScript Brooklyn, a new online wedding invitation shop from the creative team at Lion in the Sun, who have teamed up with their favorite Brooklyn artists to create the stunning new invite collection.

The collection features invites that speak to the urban bride and groom, with designs that include metropolitan skylines and iconic architecture, but I don’t see this as a line that will only appeal to city couples. There are so many gorgeous, nature-inspired and modern graphic suites in the collection that will undoubtedly appeal to both urban and non-urban couples. Customers also have the ability to customize any of the invitations in the collection by selecting paper weight and color, font color and style, and either letterpress or digital printing.

Much of the PS Brooklyn collection was designed by the creative team at Lion in the Sun, inspired by custom design work and client favorites that they’ve gathered over the last 8 years. For the rest of the collection, they’ve teamed up with some of their favorite local designers, including Jane Buck of Foxy & Winston, Liz Libre of Linda & Harriett, Rebecca Kutys of Moontree Letterpress, Nicole Block of The Nic Studio, Karen Van Every of Serimony, and Breck Hostetter of Sesame Letterpress. You can check out all of the wedding invitations in the PS Brooklyn collection at psbrooklyn.com.

images from PostScript Brooklyn

Leather Craftsmen Wedding Album

October 18, 2010 // kristen // 0 replies

Photographer April Rocha sent over this absolutely gorgeous wedding album that she created with the paper-loving bride in mind. April searched through 80 bookcloth options for the album cover before deciding on this lovely shade of subdued blue from Leather Craftsmen, and she chose Envelopments “Repousse” paper in Dove for the album liner for the cover page, the end paper, and the album’s invitation page.

As hinted above, the album features a page for the couple to incorporate their invitation into the album, and April inserted a love poem from Elizabeth Barrett Browning into this version of the album, which was showcased at the recent LA Printers Fair (no surprise – it was a big hit!).

More details from this beautiful wedding album:

images from April Rocha

Kevin + Satsuki’s Hand-Lettered Letterpress Wedding Invites

October 13, 2010 // kristen // 6 replies

Oh, my. Pink, gray, and creme plus hand-lettering and letterpress? Hello, gorgeous! Satsuki Shibuya, who recently launched the Los Angeles based graphic design and product design studio, Zakka Nouveau, created these lovely, hand-lettered invitations for her upcoming wedding to Kevin, and the project was absolutely a labor of love.

As Satsuki says, she was actually more excited about designing her invitations than she was about finding her dress, and that excitement really comes through in the finished invites. Satsuki and Kevin decided on a one-sheet, double-sided card in order to conserve paper while still conveying the necessary information to their guests, and the couple wanted to incorporate both traditional and modern elements into the design both because they were inviting guests in a wide range of ages and because they sometimes feel like “old folks stuck in young bodies” (I can relate!).

The custom hand-lettered names, created by Satsuki, represent the “young”, while the different families of Bodoni used in the design represent tradition. The traditional chevron pattern on the reverse, given a fresh look in pink and creme, ties together all of the elements in this oh so lovely wedding invitation.

images from Satsuki Shibuya / Zakka Nouveau

My Bohemian Summer Origami Bouquets

October 06, 2010 // kristen // 4 replies

I am completely in awe of these handmade origami bouquets at My Bohemian Summer. Can you believe that these roses are made of paper? Wow. Summer Skillman, the origami artist who creates these beautiful bouquets, also creates origami flower favors and embellishments that are a wonderfully creative choice for bridal showers, weddings, and even for gift wrap embellishments. Here’s a little more origami eye candy from My Bohemian Summer, and you can check out all of the available bouquets and favors at Summer’s Etsy shop.

P.S. Today is the last day to enter the Red Oak Press Letterpress Birth Announcement giveaway, so head on over and enter if you haven’t already!