paper presentation

a few weeks ago, we took a trip to new york for a wedding. i managed to find a few spare moments to check out paper presentation in the flatiron district. they have a ton of cool stuff though i didn't take any photos of the interior because their staff have a bit of a reputation and i was kind of intimidated going in. it's a large store with a fantastic selection of gifts, card/invitation making supplies, art supplies and scrapbooking goodies.

once i found the scrapbooking section i was terrible... i lost all self control and went on a shopping spree. they had so many of the brands that i've been eyeing lately and i couldn't help myself even though their prices were a little on the high side.

love these dear lizzy fabric papers by american crafts.

amy tangerine papers by american crafts. look at all those bright and juicy colors!

i don't have a plan for this one but i couldn't resist this sashiko-like paper by pebbles.

papers by kaiser craft, hello summer by echo park, dear lizzy neapolitan and i do both by american crafts. i'm totally giving into the trendy chevrons.

amy tan(gerine) did a recent post about hoarding pretty papers. i'm definitely guilty of that. i save papers because they're too pretty to use and then years go by until they're no longer in style or my tastes have changed. such a waste! so my goal is to use these all up this summer and enjoy seeing them in my layouts rather than in my box of papers.

garnish

have i mentioned my love of garnish yet? they have all the packaging basics, all like a blank canvas just begging to be filled with loving made baked goods or a thoughtful "just because" gift. and now they have an online magazine too! they share several wonderful ideas just in case you need a little inspiration to get you going.

some of my favs include...

berry boxes

little white (and kraft!) boxes

perfect for mailing baked goods to starving college students ^_~

paper straws

glassine bags

oh i love that natural burlap one too!

spoonflower

pst! have you heard of spoonflower? it's a place where you can design your own fabrics and purchase fabrics designed by thousands of people everywhere! there are a lot of talented people out there and countless designs to choose from. if you're looking for a very specific theme, look no further. they seriously have everything!

for black friday, they had a buy one get one free offer for fat quarters and i had to exert some major self control to avoid buying more fabric than i could afford. now i just have to decide what project is worthy of such cute fabric.

mini paper bags

mini paper bags - olive manna

seeing these everywhere all of the sudden. someone please give me an excuse to buy them :P

shop love: mochithings

an innocent search for instax mini photo albums lead me to mochithings. oh dear. i've been toying with the idea of getting myself a belated birthday present (i turned 28 last week! ah!) and this may have just pushed me over the edge.

hello! lucky + chicago

everyone knows that hello! lucky is amazing. i adore everything that they do but their "visit chicago" design makes me extra giddy.

i love how whimsical it is! and it has a vintage but modern feel to it which i'm really loving these days. i'm crossing my fingers that they'll add a "visit chicago" template to the hello! lucky wedding website templates offered at mywedding.com. hello! lucky also has designs for london, LA, new york, san fran, paris, las vegas, and london.

shop love: purl soho

on our last trip to new york, we went shopping in soho and i took the opportunity to sneak off and visit purl soho.  it had been on my list of things to do in new york for awhile and i really wanted to see their shiny new shop.  i stepped in and instantly discovered my happy place.  i wanted to cuddle up in one of their shelves and live there forever like a little elf.  can't make it out to new york?  lucky you, they have an online shop as well www.purlsoho.com.  once you have your pretty supplies, visit their blog, the purl bee, for inspiration.

yellow owl workshop

dreaming of the stamps in the yellow owl workshop.  my favorite is the cityscape stamp set. 

image from yellow owl workshop

i dream of pretty baker's twine

i'm seeing this everywhere in places like oh happy day and twig & thistle. good ol traditional baker's twine in blue and red make me dance around but when they come in candy colors...

photos from divine twine by whisker graphics

well that just knocks my socks off :) i'm going to go write a love letter to whisker graphics.

paper parasols

okay last one! my cousin and i got the idea to surprise my sister with paper parasols for the bridal party. we thought it would make for some cute pictures :) we got white parasols for the bridesmaids and a pink one for the bride and a tiny matching pink one for the flower girl. luna bazaar had the best selection and great prices by far. and they're a favorite of martha stewart so you know it's got to be good. the woman who helped me with my order was so helpful and they shipped it out in record time! the girls loved the parasols. the only bummer was that we never got any pictures of the bride and the flower girl with their parasols! things got kind of crazy and it totally slipped my mind. bummer. they also have a huge selection of lanterns and i had to remind myself over and over again that i really don't need any. but they're so bright and colorful! i want to host an outdoor party and hang tiny ones from trees like little birds' nests



the wedding party :)

if you have time, you could paint a design on the parasols to personalize them. i thought a monogram would nice but i figured now was not the time to experiment with my non-existent painting skills.