Vintage Stamps: S.O.S.!

Lately, I’ve been feasting my eyes on a lot of wedding blogs that feature handmade invites and/or envelopes that use vintage U.S. stamps that still serve as valid postage. I have e-mailed a couple of people regarding where I might find some of these vintage delicacies, but to no avail. Apparently people don’t want to share the wealth. Which is fine. But… if any of you out there *do* want to share the wealth, please Please PLEASE leave me a friendly comment with any links/info as to where I might get my paws on some vintage stamps. 

I and my vintage and repurposed paper addiction thank you.

In the meantime, here’s some of my inspiration as of late:

Wedding invitations and envelope packaging by 100 Layer Cake, via Oh So Beautiful Paper:

Calligraphy and envelope design by Betsy Dunlap, via Oh So Beautiful Paper:

And finally, one of my absolute favorite finds, Love, Jenna Calligraphy:

Fortunately, the U.S. Postal Service undertook a task of aesthetic brilliance recently in their adoption of the following (now available!) stamp design… which I am thrilled to be able to use for my sister’s wedding invitations:

Wordshop Wednesday: Linea Carta!

Linea Carta is the brainchild of Diva Pyari, an artist, calligrapher, and designer living in Northern California. Her beautifully illustrated gift tags and uniquely elegant calligraphy are sights to behold. I particularly enjoy beholding the Italian influence on her creations.

All images below are either taken from her website or her Etsy shop, both of which I encourage you to visit soon and frequently. Enjoy!

Alphabet gift tags:

Calligraphy:

Letterpress:

Pencil cases that I need to buy:

My sister’s upcoming wedding…

My oldest sister is getting married in June! It’s a very exciting time, and I’ve been enjoying helping her out by creating business card-sized registry cards to include inside her wedding invitations, for which I’ve addressed the envelopes and embellished them with patterned paper petals (umm, tongue twister). It’s been a wonderful, relaxing, satisfying way to enjoy the calm before my Dissertation Storm that will touch down later this week and last ALL FREAKING SUMMER. FULL-TIME. So… I thought I’d share with you some samples:

*Envelopes, cards, and paper purchased from Paper Source.

French Friday: Au Petit Bonheur la Chance

I spent the summer of 2007 living in a charming little studio in the Marais, quite literally a stone’s throw from the Place des Vosges. I would wander haphazardly throughout the neighborhood (and not-so-neighborhood!) everyday and always stumble upon some amazing treasure — whether a somewhat hidden park, a quaint corner café, a chock-full used bookstore, or (my personal favorite) a hodge-podge overstocked vintage store. I discovered Au Petit Bonheur la Chance about my 4th week in Paris that summer; from that point onward, I visited the shop at least once per week. And by “at least once per week,” I really mean “twice or more.” It’s a teeny-tiny place with a GARGANTUAN personality, chock-full of varied papers (think vintage children’s school notebooks, vintage wine labels, vintage postcards…) and kitchenware and toys and old signs. It’s located at 13 Rue St. Paul, just off the Rue St. Antoine in the historic St. Paul neighborhood of the Marais (close to the Place de la Bastille and the Seine).

Serendipitously, I was clicking on a bunch of random links earlier, when I came across the Interior Divine blog, which just so happened to feature a post (yesterday!) that provides beautiful illumination into precisely that dear little shop!! I was BESIDE MYSELF! (not literally, though. That would be awkward.)

So, without further ado, I offer you the following images, which I’ve graciously pilfered from Interior Divine, since I’m a total loser and was clearly way too busy gawking at all the vintage finds and drooling over myself to even entertain the thought of whipping out my camera while I was there. (D@mn!)

So, here you go…

Mother’s Day (Part 2): Homemade Mother’s Day Message Box

HO. LY. CRAP. My subscription to Paper Crave once again proved invaluable today, for it introduced me to the following impeccably sweet Mother’s Day gift idea from Cathe at Just Something I Made (which I will now obsessively visit): a homemade Mother’s Day message box. Feast your eyes on the message box creation below, brilliantly constructed by Cathe (all images from JSIM):

Mother’s Day, letterpress style (Part 1)

From Dutch Door Press:

From Smockpaper:

From Fourteen Sisters:

From Byvik Ink:

From Letterary Press:

And, for those seeking a bit more humour in their Mama’s Day…

From Miss Cline Press:

From Todd Brant Press (inside: “You rock”):

And, my personal favorite (though not letterpress, but hand-stitched and awesome)…

From Pink Mist Industry:

NO MORE WIRE HANGERRRRRRS!!!!

French Friday: Famille Summerbelle!

Famille Summerbelle consists of Julie & Simon Summerbelle and their adorable daughter Ophelia. Their designs, as you will see below, are intricate, whimsical, and always impressively crafted (see, particularly, Julie’s papercuts!). The following images are graciously borrowed from both their online store and their blog, which I encourage you all to visit immediately. And often. Just trust me. 

Family trees…

… and “Learn For Fun” prints…

… and cushions…

… and papercuts…

(Papercut of London)

(Papercut of Paris)

(Holidays)

(Des fleurs!)

… and decorative tape…