Wedding Dessert Bar Inspiration

Alicia is rounding up the week with some lovely dessert bar spreads to drool over.  Indulge your sweet (or savory!) tooth! - Jen

 

This colorful backdrop was from a Beer Garden inspired wedding.  The cake has charming German folk art details.

This styled inspiration shoot features savory foods rather than sweets, and still looks delicious. 

The decor on this table is very simple: wood, white dishes, and simple wildflowers. 

Multi-layered and gorgeous

"Just cutesy enough" - we love the bunting and the world travel theme

Beer Garden Wedding on Green Wedding Shoes

Organic Glamour Inspiration Shoot on Style Me Pretty

Elegant Rustic California Ranch Wedding on Green Wedding Shoes

Confetti Fair is Coming to Town on WHITE magazine

Charlotte & Dave's Australian Wedding on Green Wedding Shoes

What kind of ink should I use?

Hello, friends!  Jen here, with the first of a series of helpful info and tips to get the best imprints out of your lovely Paper Sushi stamps.

What kind of ink should I use?  This might be one of the most common questions I get.  The number one most important quality your ink should have is…quality.  That's right!  You will work very, very hard and never get quite the beautiful look you are going for if you start with an inferior ink.  So, skip the low price brands and the convenient but low quality business stamp pads at your local office supply shop and start with virtually any ink made by ColorBox or Tsukineko (Versacraft, Versacolor, Encore, Versafine, Memento and a million other lines).

Both companies make a variety of different inks formulated for many different purposes.  

We'll start with one of my very favorites - pigment inks.

Pigment inks are formulated to sit on top of the surface you stamp on.  This means that they give wonderfully richly colored imprints and they work very well for embossing.  Because they don't absorb into the surface, they require some drying time.  And, they don't work well on non-porous surfaces like wood or glassine.  The ink pad itself is spongy and porous because the ink is thicker in consistency.  Colors are vivid and look similar on the pad itself and on the paper once stamped.  Pigment inks are best for stamping on matte papers and for embossing.

Archival dye inks absorb into the surface you are stamping on.  This means they dry very quickly.  They're permanent and tend to be somewhat waterproof once dry, but can tend to fade in color over long periods of time.  The ink pad itself is usually more dense, and will look much darker than the ink once stamped. Archival dyes should not be used on exceptionally absorbent papers, as they will tend to bleed. Archival dye inks are best for stamping on matte papers and for projects like painting with watercolors over stamped images.

Versafine is a funny hybrid.  It's a natural oil based pigment ink that dries very quickly and can have watercolors or markers drawn over it, once dry.  It picks up very fine details exceptionally well.  Versafine is best for stamps with small details and fine lines as well as projects that require less drying time.

Versacraft is formulated for non-paper surfaces like fabrics, woods, and other non-porous surfaces.  Versacraft is the one you want if you'd like to stamp on wood slices or other similar projects.  If you'd like your stamping to be colorfast (like these lovely stamped napkins that Alicia made), you'll need to heat set the imprint with an iron before washing.  Versacraft is best for stamping on fabrics, wood and glassine.

Find all of Paper Sushi's favorite inks in the shop!  Happy stamping, friends!

Wedding Flowers Roundup

Welcome to this week's roundup of some of our favorite things!  We've got our eye on beautiful blooms and lovely bouquets this week.

This bride's bouquet has feathers tucked in with lush pink flowers and earthy greens.  The entire wedding was idyllic. 

This wedding had great green textures tucked in the cascading floral arrangements.  

Pink and white florals spill down this arrangement. 

Rich and lush and GORGEOUS - and be sure to check out the bride's floral headband, too!

Paper Sushi has a fondness for the color orange, and this bouquet, and the wedding it comes from, really stole our hearts.

"Romantic Country Wedding Inspiration at Mali Brae Farm" from Style Me Pretty Australia

"Romantic wedding Inspiration at Lindenderry At Red Hill" from Style Me Pretty Australia

"Elegant Martha's Vineyard Wedding" from OnceWed

"Rustic Winter Wedding Inspiration" from Green Wedding Shoes

"Old World Florida Inspiration" from Grey Likes Weddings

wrap roundup

Christmas is over, but gift giving occasions never are!  Paper Sushi is a big fan of dressing up gifts beautifully and we've rounded up more stunning wrapping ideas for those baby showers, birthdays, weddings, housewarmings, and thank-yous.

Enjoy!

-Alicia

Love letter wrapping paper by A Subtle Revelry

Ribbon Twist Box via Martha Stewart Weddings

Colorful Paper Present Topper by Kitiya Palaskas 

via Broadsheet Melbourne

Polka Dot Wrapping Paper with Roses by The House That Lars Built
(make your own lovely wrap with Paper Sushi's geometric mini stamp set)

Pom-Pom gift wrap by Two Shades of Pink

Cranberry

I love all the brilliant colors my favorite ColorBox pigment ink comes in!  We're starting a new thing here on the blog, focusing on those colors.  Alicia is putting together round ups of lovely things, inspired by our favorite ColorBox colors.  She's kicking it off with Cranberry - a winter favorite!  Enjoy!  - jen

ColorBox Pigment Ink in Cranberry on Paper Sushi Shop

Red dining chairs from Lantliv
Fab red coat on Kendi everyday
Asa clutch
"This Way Wonderland" by Raceytay on etsy
Cranberry Red Thistles Cloth Napkins by MargotBianca on etsy


-Alicia