new year & comments!

i keep thinking it's january already. : ) anyone else with me on this?

i'm really excited for the new year though, because it'll bring tons of new things along with it! new designs, new creations...i'm already working on a few new invitation/stationery pieces that i'm really excited about, and a few custom designs too.

in light of the new year that's coming up, we'd like to ask any of you that stop by this page to leave a comment/email us at papersilk@gmail.com with any comments or suggestions you have for us (something you want to see in the shop, how we update you guys, etc). since we started up this summer, these would be really helpful to us. please keep them constructive! thanks!

enjoy this week-between-christmas-and-new-years! : )

* grace

love and elegance

we've been quite busy with orders and the christmas season and such, but in honor of our first full invitation set being posted on etsy...we think it deserves a post! to see the full set, click here!

in the time that we've been MIA, a bunch of new items have also popped up on our etsy page, so we hope you'll check those out too!

reply card

christmas!!

sorry it's been so long since we updated! we've been working on tons of christmas cards, listing a bunch of new items, and busy with many other things : ) but we hope you guys are as excited about the holidays coming up as we are!

head on over to our shop to check out our many handmade christmas cards which we just listed today! here's a little preview:

the warmth of home - hand stamped tree card

ribbons galore

it's been a while since we updated, but we've been working on some new things for our shop that we're really excited about : ) crystal has added a bunch of new items, so go check those out when you have a chance! [www.papersilkmade.etsy.com]

and one thing i was really excited about this past week when i opened up one of my craft drawers..

beautiful ribbons!

it made me so happy : )

one other big announcement! we now have a twitter! if you follow us on twitter, we're giving you 20% off any item in our shop. isn't that a sweet deal? : ) head on over here to get in on this deal!

thanks for reading! more to come soon!

* grace

christmas is coming! christmas is coming!

once october hits, there's usually only three things on my mind: hot caramel apple cider, super chic scarves, and christmas. yes, that's right, i skip those other two major holidays and go straight to christmas.

i can't wait for the lights! and the snow! and all the decorations everywhere! and the muuuusiccc that lasts forever and a day.... oh the joy :D

so i like to get a head start on making my yearly (except last year, which i skipped..) christmas cards! and this year it'll be two of us, so there will be plenty for all to help spread the christmas spirit. here's a couple, and keep a lookout in our shop for more to come... :)

signed, sealed & delivered.

today was a great day : ) besides the perfect crisp & sunny fall weather, crystal and i got together and packaged some of our items to be sent out. we thought the packages were so cute that we just had to take pictures of them and post it..so here you are!

cute little brown packages, waiting to be mailed out


a close up. remember those tags? :)

in other news, i think i'll post some save-the-dates soon that can be customized and will match with those pretty placecards i posted about before. : )

have a great weekend!

* grace

moodboard 1

today is a very gray, gloomy day...very cold and rainy. but i found this picture while browsing on flickr (from user haani) and it brightened up my day : ) hope it does the same for you!

click on the image to enlarge

happy almost friday!

* grace

favorited :)

i don't even know who more than half these people are...but i just wanted to say thanks for favoriting our shop! : )

look, isn't this beautiful?


more posts and items coming soon! definitely a color moodboard on the way : )

* grace

busy little silkworm

the &silk side has been a little quiet on the blog... i've been working to finish a custom order after finaallly getting my beads in the mail, and it probably doesn't help that i'm not very partial to blogging..

anyway, good news! our shop is having our first sale! we're celebrating the beginning of fall and our new shop :) enjoy 25% off your purchase at paper&silk when you mention "grandopening" in your order!

more items will be posted soon too! i've been working on some headpieces and i loooove them! i just need to figure out a way to take good pictures with my camera phone, or have someone take them for me. which reminds me.. anyone interested in taking pictures or modeling for us? :)

pix for the road:

new ribbon belt and matching headpiece, coming soon to etsy!

lovely afternoon

the sun is shining through my window, and the leaves are beginning to get crinkly and brown..the wind is swishing around, and it smells like fall. i love fall!

today i'm sitting at the table with some goodies. not of the paper and silk kind, but the edible kind.

goodies + my laptop


close up of the delicious strawberries


the yummy swedish raspberry cookies

i bought both the strawberries and the cookies yesterday and am very content with both.

in other news, we'll be posting up some pictures of the packaging soon, so keep your eyes out for that! : )

* grace

introducing...

...placecards! these are based off a placecard i did for someone else, and i really loved how they turned out, so i'm offering them to all of you now, with a few fresh variations : )

swirly placecards at etsy

these can be customized with the colors you want (instead of blush and charcoal), and with or without names on them. go check it out on etsy for more details!

* grace

newfound invitation loves.

i was browsing through my blog subscriptions today, and i found a link on one of the blogs to these wonderful invitations designed by izzy girl. aren't they pretty? i love the second one, how it's wrapped in paper and tied with thread and charms.

invitations from izzy girl

invitations from izzy girl

looking at all these (and other) custom invitations was making me think even more about different things i want to offer in our shop, so look out for new things coming soon! (hint: they might just be paper goods you see at receptions...)

* grace

duck journal & thank you tags

i am so excited about this post ! i've got 2 new awesome developments to post about, so here we go!

spotted duck journal
i just finished making this cute spotted duck journal...and it's hand-stitched with yellow thread for the binding, so it's definitely special. i think this is my favorite paper product so far : )

spotted duck journal at etsy

isn't it cute? go check it out at our etsy shop!

thank you tags
i had so much fun making a whole bunch of these yesterday that i had to post them up here. i was cutting circles and handwriting and punching holes -- a labor of love :)

this is a little sampling of what you'll receive with your order when it's shipped to you
: ) we have some really nice packaging in mind, so there's something else to look forward to when you order from us!

thank you tags [sneak peek of packaging]

excited yet? i definitely am! happy friday!

* grace

yummy yummy in my tummy

completely unrelated to weddings, our shop, or the like....

...look at this adorable fruit tart!

i just want to eat it up! ... oh wait. I CAN!!

nyaam nyaam nyaam nyaam...

purple fabulousness

signature clutch on our etsy shop

before i forget, (i really should be getting to bed right about now) i wanted to post about one of our items that crystal made, because it's simply beautiful, and i really want one for myself. : ) she told me she had made a clutch and i hadn't seen it in person, but when i saw it up in the shop, i immediately loved it.

isn't it beautiful? i absolutely love the flower and the stitching. and of course, the purple. i love this shade of purple...it reminds me of fall.

if you're thinking along the same lines as i am, go check it out on our etsy shop and get one!

* grace

first paper product!

finally, finally. right? : )

go check out our first paper product here!

* grace

business cards!

our business cards just came in yesterday! i was so excited when i opened my mailbox...we're finally legit now : )

if you like them, it's a little bit of what you'll be seeing in terms of printed goods and stationery. if you know us personally, feel free to ask for one! and we'll start including them with all our etsy orders too.

front of the card


back of the card

leave a comment and let us know what you think!

* grace

another post about etsy

so as you guys might have realized, we are paper AND silk. obviously the "silk" part is up on etsy..but where is the paper?? oops. that's me : ) i've been busy with projects for a class, freelance things, meetings, etc. but i guess i like being busy...life feels weird when it's not.

i'm still working on getting some things together to put up on etsy, so here's what you should anticipate in the coming weeks: cute birthday cards, thank you cards, blank cards, pre-printed fold-it-yourself boxes, and maybe more : )

i'm excited!!

* grace

Etsy store is open! (kinda)

Our etsy store is open, and we've already had our first sale! It's quite exciting... I was pretty much bouncing in my chair at work when I found out :)

We only have 5 items listed, and I'm still amazed that people are even viewing them. How do they find our things? When I listed my first headband and searched for it, it took me forever to find it, and I was searching for my own listing! Ah, the wonders of the world wide web.

Here's a preview of a custom order I'm working on now...

I'm surrounded my flower-shaped fabric.

I'm working on making a few clutches soon too, so keep an eye out for those! :)

tips for DIY invitations

today i'm writing some tips for anyone who wants to do their own invitations or stationery. it isn't always a formula, but hopefully this will help you in creating nicely designed stationery. please comment if this was helpful to you, or if you have more questions! :) enjoy.

an example of an invitation I did for someone

1. pick your type.

..typeface, that is. what will it be? script? modern sans-serif? classic serif? some good ones to start with are bickham script pro, avenir, helvetica neue, minion pro, and perpetua. those are some of my favorites :)

feel free to mix and match a few (no more than 2 or 3) typefaces for variety, but make sure it makes sense to use it there (like you probably wouldn't use a script for the detailed information your guests will be reading).

2. do a design.

..or you don't have to! simple is nice too. but for those who want some sort of background design, you can look around a lot of design/wedding blogs for ideas and create your own. make sure it's faded enough if you're putting text on top of it, and make sure it looks nicely placed with the text as well.

3. check your composition.

composition is very important. where does the main block of text sit on the page? where is it in relation to your background design, if you have one? the more classic and traditional style invitations will have centered text much of the time, while more modern style invitations can be either centered or flushed to the left/right. also check the vertical placement of the block of text, giving it enough room to breathe on the top and bottom. for example, if you have a background design on the top, you'd want your text more towards the bottom and vice versa.

4. zoom out.

look at everything you've created as a whole and make sure everything looks nice, not too cluttered, evenly spaced, etc. ask an art-savvy friend or just anyone to take a look at it and make sure everything looks good.

5. it's all about the paper (of course.)

pick a good, thick stock with a nice color and texture. usually something in the range of 80-110 lb paper is a good bet. two good places to look are paper source and paperandmore. get it cut to the size you want your invitation to be.

good luck!

* grace

finally...

my first creation! hoorraayyy...

from paper&silk

sorry for the ghetto and apparently tiny pictures. i am not a photographer.. :(
*edit* HAHA. i figured out how to make it bigger... tricky tricky picasa.... :P. yes, i am a techy person.

i want to put it on etsy!!! but it will be so lonely by itself.. maybe when it has some fellow hairband friends...


crystal

beautiful address labels

I think these have been floating around the paper/wedding blogs lately, but I just had to post it because it is so pretty. :)

image from Rebecca Thuss for Martha Stewart Weddings

The wraparound label look is so clean and it looks really nice. I used to think that translucent address labels printed with the names on it looked nice because you could see the envelope color through it, but this is much nicer. And so easy too!

If you just measure the area that you want to be covered by the label and then make a template for yourself on Illustrator, or even MS Word if you don't have Illustrator, then you can just type in the names and print it.

Um..I am definitely keeping this in the back of my mind so I can do this for my invitations.

Maybe I'll post a template soon..look out for that!

* grace

transitions

i guess you can't really transition within a new blog, since there's nothing to transit from. but my life outside of the virtual is on the move and has a current mode of chaos. moving between apartments (or rather from apartment A, to homelessness/storage, then an unfurnished apartment B. it's hard changing apartments in a campus town.) has been gobbling up chunks of my time, between packing, moving things to storage, and curb shopping for unwanted furniture to fill up the new place.

but i am excited for my new creative outlets, and upcoming projects of transforming abandoned furniture into personalized pieces. and with a new sewing machine on the way, soon i can really get to work! soon we'll be transitioning into our etsy debut :D

maybe after our physical and our virtual moves, it'll be smooth sailing from here on out...


crystal

i dream of letterpress.

images from smockpaper.com

Let's just say that I really need to stop looking at Smock's website or I'm going to get the incredible urge to buy a letterpress machine. Ever since I learned how to letterpress last year on a VanDer Cook, I fell in love with the texture and look of letterpressed designs.

And the PAPER. I love a thick, textured stock. Or even watercolor paper. Siiiiighh. For now, looking at Smock's stuff will have to do.

* grace

paper & silk

unofficial launch post. stay tuned for more!
testing testing testing testing testing testing testing testing testing testing testing testing testing