Ampersand Social Stationery

By Marica

As we mentioned in our previous post one of our online buddies, Lelanie Slater, the blogger behind “Of Beauty and Love” recently launched her own online stationery shop! How very exciting! The shop, Ampersand Social Stationery, officially opened its online doors on Tuesday and we know a great deal of time and thought was put into the development of the shop as well as the curated products. Lelanie, a self-confessed stationery addict, has sourced a variety of quirky, cute and downright pretty items for her boutique collection – from gorgeous journals & cards to drool-worthy washi tape.

For those who do not know “ampersand” is the name given to the “&” (that is “and”) symbol and is a corruption of the phrase “and (&) per se and”, meaning “and (the symbol ‘&’) intrinsically (is the word) and“. Sounds rather complicated hey? Well, let’s not break our heads over semantics – here is what Lelanie had to say about her chosen name:

“I have a strong affinity towards clear, well designed type and functional, beautifully design. This, paired with the symbolic and emotional connotations I have with the ‘&’ logogram, is what drew me to it. To me, the Ampersand (&) symbolises a coming together, whether it be off people or ideas. It symbolizes the intertwining of creative minds in a valuable collaboration.”

…Now that is far less complicated!

Anyhoo, we wish Lelanie the greatest success with this new venture – she is such a genuine, open-hearted person and authentic blogger – it’s great to see her living her passion.

Be sure to pop over to the Ampersand website to check out some of Lelanie’s awesome products.

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More Washi Tape Christmas Ideas

Have you also noticed the rapid and steady rise of Washi Tape as a decorative element? Gosh it seems to be everywhere I look lately. Last week we posted some inspirational examples of beautifully wrapped Christmas gifts that featured Washi Tape as decoration (view it here). It made me wonder in what other way I can apply the “Washi Tape Treatment” to my decorations this Festive Season. Washi Tape really is such a versatile and easy DIY décor element to add into your Christmas gifts, tags and table décor.

At Xmas time the only lists you will find me making, is the ingredients for my share of the Christmas dinner, gifts for those I am buying for and possibly décor elements for the dinner table.  However, this year, my lists have stretched to include a “to do” list. Little DIY things that I would never normally entertain due to time constraints. Yet I find myself really wanting “to do” things like:  go to forest to collect pine cones; buy gold spray paint and loads of Washi Tape for gifts etc; collect glass bottles and Consol Glass containers.  And then the further list of what to do with this stuff.

Back to Washi Tape – I would love you to take some inspiration from the images as to how to go about the business of applying some festive Washi Tape to your Christmas décor.

If you afterwards you are also going to include some Washi Tape onto your shopping list, enjoy whatever it is you plan on doing with it.  And maybe share your images and ideas with us on our Facebook Page and via Twitter.  Would love to hear from you.

We here at The Design Tabloid would also like to wish all our readers and friends a Merry Christmas and a joyous festive season!

Our studio will be closed for business till the 20th of January 2013. The Design Tabloid will slow its pace a bit in terms of posts. Be sure to drop by every week to see what we have to say!

Have a good one, guys and gals! Till next year then!

Love, Rose & Marica x x x

{click images to enlarge and view sources}

Washi Tape Gift Wrapping Inspiration

Just earlier this week Rose and I had a discussion about the heap of beautiful Christmas gift wrapping images we have seen on Pinterest this festive season. From dainty folds and big bows to lace, doilies, pompoms and gold polka dots… some exquisite gifts even featured tiny glittered reindeer. Absolutely amazing.

However the number one comment that kept popping up was how on earth did these people find the TIME to create these gift wrapped pieces of art?! Between cooking, and cleaning, and shopping, and running errands, and ALL the other tiny little things that makes Christmas the busiest time of the year, I’m lucky if I find time to quickly slap some cheapo cheesy grocery store wrapping paper on my family’s presents. It’s just going to get ripped off anyway, right? Well, that’s usually my argument for not putting any effort into it.

… sigh, but they look soooo pretty!

So, this year I’ll make an effort. I have some brown craft paper and washi tape (courtesy of Rose – thanks Rose!) lying around the house and I found a handful of cute ideas on the web. It not only looks quirky and beautiful but also super easy to put together….