Trendspotting : Navy Blue + Pink

May 11, 2010 // kristen // 2 replies

Navy blue has been one of my color obsessions for the past year or so, and I was (and still am — just look at the color palette on this site) a big fan of the navy blue + hot pink/fuchsia color trend that’s been going on in cards and invitations, but I think that I may have spotted an upcoming color trend that has me just as, if not more, excited: navy blue + pink!

Here are a just a few of the navy blue + pink pretties that I’ve been spotting around the papersphere, and I do hope that I’ll be spotting many more in the upcoming months, because I love this color combo.

From top to bottom:
* Lovely navy and salmon screen printed thank you cards from Rifle Paper
* A stunning, die-cut wedding invitation suite created by MaeMae Paperie for a must see Style Me Pretty shoot
* Little Miss Engaged letterpress couture ready-to-print cards from Mr. Boddington’s Studio
* Ellis Wedding Invitations by BT Elements for Minted

images from their respective owners

Fomato Greeting Cards

May 10, 2010 // kristen // 5 replies

Hee! Okay, if you like hilarious, sometimes irreverent, greeting cards, then you must head over to Fomato. As soon as I saw all of the anthropomorphic food, I knew that I’d love their cards, which are not only extremely funny, but educational, too! For instance, did you know that potatoes are more closely related to eggplants, tomatoes, and bell peppers than they are to yams and sweet potatoes? Your friends will be very appreciative when you give them greeting cards that make them laugh AND teach them all about cheese, potatoes, samurais (this one is too funny), The Nobel Prize, and tyrannical rulers.

P.S. I thoroughly enjoyed learning all about the Fomato staff, too.

images from Fomato

New Advertiser : Green Apple Paperie

May 10, 2010 // kristen // 0 replies

What better way to start off the week than to welcome Paper Crave’s newest advertiser, Green Apple Paperie! Green Apple specializes in creating pretty, modern invitations for weddings and birthday parties, personalized stationery, and all sorts of super cute party printables, like the Choo Choo Train birthday party set above. You can check out Green Apple Paperie’s entire line over at their Etsy shop.

image from Green Apple Paperie

Weekly Wrap #23 : DIY No Sew Ribbon Bows

May 07, 2010 // kristen // 1 replies

A gorgeous ribbon bow can make a package; however, if you’re anything like me and always scored lowest on spatial relations on your Iowa Tests, then Martha’s bow-making diagrams can sometimes look like byzantine mazes and can leave you with a pile of knotted, wrinkled, formerly-beautiful ribbon that has become a stark reminder of the fact that you’re not Martha and probably will never be. Plus, you’re still without a pretty bow for your package.

So, when I spotted this DIY No Sew Ribbon Bow tutorial by Ez from Creature Comforts over on Ruffled, I knew it was a keeper. I find that one of the most difficult things to achieve when tying a bow is that nice, clean, flat square/rectangle of ribbon at the front, and Ez’s technique allows you to achieve this every time because you tie from the back instead of the front. Mix and match colors and patterns to match whatever package or favor you’re embellishing, and scale up for larger bows!

images from Creature Comforts

DIY Personal Library Kit + Printables

May 06, 2010 // kristen // 1 replies

I am so loving this DIY Personal Library Kit by Kathleen at Twig & Thistle. How perfect would this be for a handmade Mother’s Day gift or an anytime gift for a bookworm friend? Kathleen has generously shared all of the paper elements needed to put together this squeeworthy kit as free printables — card pockets and “library cards” to place in the backs of books, a book journal to keep track of who has what, a bookmark, alphabetical tabs to keep things organized, and a decorative wrap for a lovely finish.

images from Twig & Thistle