Making Rounded Corners on Stationery

What's that cool tool, you say? It's a corner rounder! Perfect for rounding the corners on wedding invitations and all kinds of stationery - You can even round the corners of booklets with them, like I did for this cool nautilus shell notebook that I made for my bookbinding etsy shop - it can round a stack of paper up to about 1/4":

tropical fish wedding invitations and lots of cool stamps

I totally forgot daylight savings time today! It's nice because it means I get an extra bonus hour to write a blog post. These tropical fish wedding invitations are a lot of fun, and very colorful. So far they've been popular with brides having destination weddings in Hawaii! 

When my grandpa passed away I inherited all of his more recent non-valuable stamps - he must have loved commemorative stamps as a carryover from collecting stamps as a boy, because he had so MANY different kinds of .32 stamps, it's kept  me from having to buy new postage for months!

What to do if you don't have a stamp-collecting grandpa? Just search for unused postage stamps on ebay and you'll find tons of options - usually right at face value, sometimes for less than face value if you get a bunch. As long as a stamp hasn't been cancelled by the post office (with a stamp) then it's still valid postage, and you can combine stamps to make up the correct postage on your packages and letters.

Purple Beach Wedding Invitations and Save the Dates

While most of Concertina Press's beach wedding invitations are either blue, aqua or navy (with a hint of green or coral thrown in) I occasionally get custom requests for purple or plum wedding invitations. I'm always happy to work with couples so that they can get what they like, and changes to text color and envelope color are free.

Above you can see a purple variation on my waves wedding invitations, and below you can see my ombre dashes invitation, which usually comes in shades of blue, in shades of plum! Are you interested in purple nautical invitations? Contact me!

Cuttlefish Save the Dates, Cuttlefish Wedding Invitations and Cuttlefish Thank You Cards - oh my!

Three fun wedding products from Concertina Press featuring antique scientific illustrations of cuttlefish (although they could probably also pass for squid on these illustrations) - from top to bottom: Cuttlefish Save the Dates, Cuttlefish Wedding Invitations, and Cuttlefish Thank You Notes. Get in touch if you are interested in any of these for your nautical, destination or aquarium wedding! After the photos: more fun facts about cuttlefish!

Did you know that cuttlefish hunt with their feeding tentacles in a way that's very similar to how a chameleon lizard uses it's tongue? Normally the feeding tentacles are hidden away behind the cuttlefish's eight arms, but when a tantalizing fish comes by, the cuttlefish snaps it up in the blink of an eye.

Image Source: The Encyclopedia of Science: Cephalopod

Cape Cod Map Save the Dates

These Cape Cod Map save the dates are one of my favorite designs for weddings on the Cape. Vintage and one of a kind, but totally classic, just like Cape Cod.

These brides had some great ideas to personalize their designs - Elizabeth chose to modify my light blue Cape Cod save the date to reflect the aqua color scheme of her wedding with an aqua map and envelopes.

Betsey went with the classic navy blue design, but added a cute heart to the location of her wedding at the lighthouse in East Orleans. Lovely!

DIY Printable Naughty Nautical Valentines

buy

They're here! Naughty nautical love notes for your special someone who also happens to like awful puns! For the low, low price of $4.99 you get a printable sheet of EIGHT spicy Valentines designs that you can print on your own computer over and over again!  

Please note you are buying a file that you print yourself, not pre-printed cards.

Including:

"Do I tern you on?"
"Hey there good lookin'"
"Let's Shuck"
"Let's Cuttle"
"Ocean Sailors get blown offshore"
"It's wet down there"
"Who wants to go for a ride?"
"I'm stuck on you"

Clicking on "buy now" will take you to a screen where you'll be able to see a preview of the full printable sheet before you buy, and a link for you to pay via paypal. After payment you'll be able to instantly download your file! A link will also be sent to your email address. Easy as pie!

Naughty nautical love notes for personal use only (adult valentines perhaps?) please do not attempt to sell them, claim them as your own or remove my (tiny, almost invisible) web address from the cards!

Enjoy!

 Looking for something more G-rated?

Free Printable Valentines - Nautical Puns

Free Printable Valentines - Nautical Puns!

Ok friends! I hope you like puns because these Valentines are pretty punny! These are fun and best of all FREE print-your-own valentines for kids and adults alike.

Including:
"Happy Valentine's Day - Hugs and Fishes!"
"I'm glad you're a friend, not anemone! - Happy Valentine's Day"
"You otter be my Valentine!"
"I have an urchin message for you: Happy Valentine's Day!"

You're welcome to print as many as you like and give them out like crazy on Valentines Day, but please do not sell them, claim them as your own or remove my web address from the design. You are more than welcome to share them with your friends online - especially through Pinterest and Facebook!

Directions for downloading your free printable valentines:

1. Click here to download the free printable valentines PDF file
2. You can either print it directly from Google docs, or download it to your computer
3. click "Print"and make sure that "scaling" is turned off, or that "do not scale" is selected - this keeps the design from shrinking on the page
4. Print on white cardstock at a high quality setting for best results

Tips:
- if your printer is cutting off the edges because the margins are too narrow, try clicking "Scale to fit" or "Scale to fit page" in the print menu - you may have to trim the edges
- You can change the print settings to be high quality - for cardstock look for settings like "best print" "high quality" or "premium presentation paper matte"

To see more of my designs including nautical thank you notes and beach wedding invitations visit www.concertinapress.com

Looking for something a little spicier?

Naughty Nautical Love Notes

Waves Beach Wedding Invitations - Perfect for Summer Weddings

Right about now those of us in the Northeast are WISHING we could go to the beach! (well, you still can, it'll just be really cold). These waves wedding invitations are one of my favorite designs, and perfect for a summer wedding! So dreamy!

Top to Bottom:
Waves Wedding Invitations

Pretty Packaging for Nautical Invitations and Stationery

So many pretty packages! I love these perfectly nautical tying the knot save the dates, and I packaged them in waxed paper with a pretty ribbon bow, and used washi tape to hold it all together. Below that I also used one of my favorite wrapping papers: old nautical charts - where do I get all of these nautical charts? I happen to know a bunch of people who use them at their work, and so when they were getting rid of them I got about a hundred!

Top to Bottom:
Tying the Knot Save the Date
Octopus Thank You Notes

Perfect Beach Wedding Invitations - Waves and Jellyfish

I love the color combination of navy blue, light blue and white on wedding invitations (well, I do have a fondness for nautical wedding invitations haha). My Waves beach wedding invitations have been very popular this year - and for good reason! I love this design - it's also in my logo and on my business card. Below we have a lovely set of wedding invitations set to go out, with a package of jellyfish thank you cards.

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Waves Beach Wedding Invitations
Jellyfish Thank You Notes

Aqua and White Tropical Wedding Invitations and Nautical Chart Packaging

Aqua and white are a classic beach wedding combination - here at the top is a variation on my Waves Wedding Invitation, with an aqua envelope instead of the white it usually comes from. A bride getting married in the Turks and Caicos went with this color combo for a more tropical look. Below is a pennant wedding invite set that traveled halfway around the world to a couple getting married in Melbourne, Australia! I wrapped everything up with nautical charts, as I love to do!

Top To Bottom:
Waves Wedding Invitation
Pennant Wedding Invitation

Cape Cod and Long Island Vintage Map Save the Dates

My Cape Cod save the date has been flying off the shelves - and for good reason, since it's so neat! It shows the founding dates of each of the towns in Falmouth. Cape Cod is where the pilgrims landed, so it has a lot of history. The temperate weather means Cape Cod is a great destination for summer and fall weddings. Leah & Roger liked the cape cod save the date, but were getting married in Long Island, so I made a special custom save the date for them using a vintage map. Here's a prettily packaged set of wedding invites - I love the combination of navy yarn and speckled handmade paper!

Top to Bottom:
Cape Cod Save the Dates
(and a variation of cape cod save the dates, with a map of long island instead)

Compass Wedding Invitations and Cape Cod Save the Dates - a Perfect Pair!

While unrelated, I think that the Cape Cod save the date in navy blue makes a lovely companion to the navy compass wedding invitation - perfect for a nautical wedding! These two designs have been two of the most popular this year. The bottom photo shows four sets of samples that I've packaged up.

Top to Bottom:
Navy Compass Invitations
Cape Cod Save the Dates

Nautical Thank You Notes and Fancy Packaging

Who can resist fancy thank you notes? I'll admit I have a bad habit of buying them and not sending them, but now that I make my own I'd like to think I'm a *little* better at it - haha. At the top is a set of lovely calligraphy bird thank you notes, won by Jodie on my Concertina Press Facebook page when she correctly guessed the book I was reading ("Poisonwood bible"). The second is a lovely pairing of thank you notes ordered by a customer from my etsy shop.

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Calligraphy Bird Thank You Notes
Octopus Thank You Notes
Jellyfish Thank You Notes

Classic Wedding Invitations in Navy and White

This week features gorgeous classic wedding invitations in navy and white, with navy blue backing. I couldn't resist adding in a bit of fun when I packaged them up with a pufferfish thank you note right on the top. The bride and groom are getting married in nearby Hingham and are planning a lovely fall wedding. The bottom picture shows a wholesale order I sent to the Little Beach Gallery in late summer - boxes of Cape Cod Notecards and Nautical Chart Notebooks.

Top to Bottom:
Elegant Wedding Invitation
Pufferfish Thank You Notes
Cape Cod Notecards
Nautical Chart Notebooks

Green Octopus Wedding Invitations

This stunning octopus wedding invitation always makes a big impression! Did you know that a full grown octopus can fit through a tiny 1" hole? They don't have any bones in their body, except for their beak, which they use to eat fish. Check out this amazing video if you don't believe me.

This octopus wedding invitation has been popular with folks getting married in Florida, on the beach. The aqua and white colors lend themselves nicely to a beach wedding. If you're interested in a sample you can find them here: Octopus Wedding Invitations - and of course you can always contact me with questions!

Tying the Knot Save the Dates and Sand Dollar Invitations

Can you tell I love tying little bows on things? These nautical wedding invitations are heading to Maine and California. I have a lot of extra nautical charts in my collection so I love re-using them to wrap up orders!

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Tying the Knot Save the Date

Sand Dollar Wedding Invitations (customized)

Jellyfish Wedding Invitations

The gorgeous jellyfish on this jellyfish wedding invitation were drawn by famous German naturalist and scientific illustrator Ernst Haeckel - I first saw his work at the marine biology library I worked for a few years back - they had full sized teaching charts of his amazing jellyfish and shellfish. I knew I had to make some gorgeous invites out of them!

These jellyfish wedding invitations have been particularly popular with folks getting married on the sandy beaches of California. They'd be lovely for any beach wedding, or even a wedding in an aquarium! If you'd like a sample you can find them here: Jellyfish Wedding Invitations, and of course you can also contact me if you have any questions.

Pretty Packaging and Coral Wedding Invitations

Red adds a pop of color to my typical beach wedding palette of blue and white. The coral reef invitations usually come with aqua envelopes, but here they're paired with red for a more tropical feel. The Cape Cod thank you notes in the middle were a special order from a bride who it turns out got married on Cape Cod just down the road from where I live! Last, I can't resist elaborate packaging - this is actually packaging for my handmade books, and I used old calender pages as the wrapping and lots of stamps. The addresses are printed on 3x5 index cards and then taped on.

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Coral Reef Wedding Invitations 

(with red envelopes instead of teal)

Cape Cod Thank You Cards (customized)

Pink Squid Wedding Invitations

Hmmm...bet you don't see squid wedding invitations all that often! These gorgeous and delicate invites were created using two separate scientific illustrations - one of the squid, and the other of the seaweed. I really liked how the waviness of the seaweed mimicked the waving arms of the squid. I think these would be really lovely for a marine biologist's wedding, maybe a wedding at an aquarium? You can learn more and purchase a sample here: Pink Squid Wedding Invitations. You can also contact me directly if you have questions about this or any other invitation.