I spotted this incredible 4th of July DIY project by Kathleen of Twig & Thistle on Twitter the other day, and I just had to give it a mention here, too. What better way to decorate for the summer festivities than with these awesome printables? Kathleen has created super pretty matchbook and straw tags, as well as sparkler cards for you to download and use to deck your fireworks-filled shindigs out in red, white, and blue. Thank you for your generosity, Kathleen!

To everyone in the US (and anywhere else) who celebrates Independence Day, have a fun-filled, safe, and hopefully sunny (we’ll see what happens here in Boston) day! See everyone back here on Monday.

image from Twig & Thistle

Matt Hawkins’ paper toys never fail to make me smile. He’s created two new toys in honor of the upcoming 4th of July holiday here in US, and I’m getting a real kick out of both. Check them out! - via Plastic and Plush
This is Splodey (I love the match detail on the hand):

And this is Splodey’s brother, Dudley (such a sad little bottle rocket, he is):

You can see all of Matt’s fab paper toys over on his blog, and be sure to have a look at his impressive illustration portfolio, too.

images from Matt Hawkins

Please welcome Paper Crave’s newest sponsor, Hide-a-book, home of super stylish book covers that are available in a variety of sizes, including small mass market size, large paperback size, and notebook/journal size. The book covers are made from vinyl with decorative paper inserts and are the perfect way to maintain your privacy while you’re on a bus, on a plane, in a waiting room, etc. The reuseable covers also protect your books from getting mangled and bent when you toss them into a purse or bookbag. What a clever idea!

images from Hide-a-book

I discovered the work of Cindy Tomczyk recently during one of my Etsy browsing sessions, and I can’t stop swooning over her lovely letterpress prints. How awesome is that woodgrain deer?! She also runs Paper Parasol, where you can find her letterpress greeting cards, and she has an inspiration-filled blog right here.

More lovely letterpress prints from Cindy (see the whole collection at her Etsy shop):

images from Cindy Tomczyk

Paper & Cake has so many cute and clever printable party sets that it’s very difficult to choose a favorite! They cover a variety of themes, including the Fourth of July set shown above (love the red, white, and blue pinwheels and drink parasols, not to mention the Abraham Lincoln cupcake wrappers), as well as pirate and race car party sets, which would be perfect for kids’ birthdays.

The sets give you everything, minus the food and people, that you’ll need for a party and include items like super cool cupcake wrappers, jar labels, paper hats, signs and garlands, and invitations. And you don’t have to worry about waiting until the last minute because you can print out the PDFs as soon as you purchase the sets!

images from Paper & Cake

If you haven’t been to the Parrott Design Studio blog lately, then you’ve been missing out on some fantastic wedding invitation design. Sarah’s been a busy little bee and has been posting new client designs on a regular basis, so if you’re looking for some drool-worthy wedding invitation designs, then head right over and check it out! Here’s a little preview:

images from Parrott Design Studio

I’m just loving everything that I’ve seen from The Happy Envelope. Sarah Pattison, the designer behind the fab line, started her career in advertising and design, where she obtained all of the building blocks that she would need to build a stationery company. After designing a few wedding invitations for friends as side work, she knew she had found her passion, and The Happy Envelope was born!

The Happy Envelope’s offerings now include a must see portfolio of four gorgeous wedding invitation collections, custom stationery and invitation design, and a new line of thermography printed boxed and single cards, which Sarah describes as having a “great raised, bumpy texture”. I’m loving the sounds of that! Find a retailer here, and check out their collection of wedding invitation designs, available through Minted.

A little more eye candy from The Happy Envelope:

images from The Happy Envelope

I was first introduced to the work of Kamal when I spotted Design*Sponge’s “Best in Show” post during the National Stationery Show. Since then, Kamal has launched an entire line of beautiful letterpress coasters and cards featuring stylized nature and botanical inspired illustrations and patterns. I love their use of color and metallic accents and can’t get enough of this collection, which you can now purchase on their site. Yay!
All of Kamal’s goods are created with hand mixed ink and printed onto eco-friendly 100% cotton paper or 100% kraft chipboard with 100% post-consumer kraft envelopes.

A bit of eye candy from Kamal’s collection (see the whole line here):

images from Kamal