Oh So Beautiful Paper

Cocktail Fridays: The Queen’s Park Swizzle

Andrew — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 12:00:21 PDT

In the mood for something tropical? Here’s one of Trinidad’s greatest exports, the Queen’s Park Swizzle – an enormously complex drink Trader Vic called “the most delightful form of anesthesia given out today.” The Queen’s Park Swizzle is one of the most complex drinks – flavor-wise – I’ve ever tasted. It’s sweet and sour, deliciously minty, earthy, and spicy all at the same time. And wonderfully cold from a generous portion of crushed ice. Even though its ingredients resemble those of many other drinks, especially the more effervescent Mojito, this Swizzle has a taste like nothing else, and it’s very, very good. – Andrew

Read below for the full recipe!

Queen’s Park Swizzle

3 oz Clear Rum (Demerara Rum is best)
1 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup (again, Demerara sugar is best)
1/2 oz Velvet Falernum
Angostura Bitters
Mint Leaves

Cover the bottom of a highball glass with mint leaves. Don’t muddle: since the mint is staying in the glass, bruising it will turn the mint bitter, so just slap the leaves a few times in your palm. Cover with lots of crushed ice. Add the rum, lime juice, sugar, and falernum. Cover with more crushed ice. Swizzle (more on that in just a moment). Add the bitters, and don’t skimp – a dozen dashes isn’t out of the question. Top with more crushed ice, garnish with a bunch of mint, plunk in a straw, and enjoy!

Now: swizzling. You’re not shaking this drink, and you’re not stirring it, you’re swizzling. Take a bar spoon or, better yet, an actual swizzle stick, and insert it into the ice (not so far down that you disturb the mint). Twirl the stick between your palms, back and forth, blending and cooling the drink until a nice film of ice forms on the outside of the glass. Real swizzle sticks are made from actual sticks, stems from the quararibea turbinata, grown on Martinique and nearby islands and known to locals as the swizzle stick tree. In some places, people make medicinal teas from the bark of the tree, so it’s not hard to imagine it making the leap to rustic blender. It blends a Swizzle subtly but well and makes for quite a show. If you use a real one, make sure to wash it and let it try after each use.

The Queen’s Park Swizzle was invented at the Queen’s Park Hotel in Trinidad’s capital, Port-of-Spain, in the 1920s. Swizzles were around for over a century before that, and may descend from switchels – much older drinks, an early form of today’s energy drinks made from sweetened vinegar and water – but the Queen’s Park may be the first of the modern family of Swizzles. (The oldest recipe in print, from 1788, lists spruce beer, rum, and sugar as its ingredients.) Oh, and Velvet Falernum? This isn’t part of the original recipe, but was included in the version I learned from Derek Brown, DC’s cocktail king, and trust me, it’s worth it. Falernum is a sweet syrup from the Caribbean, somewhat like orgeat syrup. Velvet Falernum is a liqueur version, imported from Barbados and made from rum, sugar cane syrup, lime juice, and plenty of spices – cloves, allspice, ginger, cinnamon, and maybe a hint of almond. Yum.

Oh, and be careful: that’s a lot of booze in one drink. The Queen’s Park Swizzle’s saving grace is that it takes a long time to build one properly. Take your time, sip slowly, and savor.

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

{happy weekend!}

Nole — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 08:03:56 PDT

Happy Friday everyone! I’ve had a wonderful time covering the 2012 National Stationery Show, but after spending much of the last two weeks going through more than 1,000 photos from the show I’m looking forward to turning my attention back to everyday things – like making progress on the nursery! I’m also super excited about next week because I have a super awesome giveaway to share with you on Monday! But in the meantime…

Photo by me, cute little venn diagram love card by Maginating

…a few links for your weekend!

Printable Father’s Day cards and labels (and I’ll be sharing some Father’s Day cards next week!)
Get ready for lots of pretty paper from Wiley Valentine next week!
Beautiful peonies – my favorite late spring flower!
Remember Adrienne’s amazing booth walls made from thousands of chipboard coasters? I love her description of how it all came together (and hilarious tear down)
Two gorgeous new script fonts from Tart Workshop: Sugarplum and Aya Script
I’ve been on a total popcorn kick lately. I can’t wait to try these three popcorn recipes!
Speaking of recipes, heeellloooo ice cream, fro yo, and sorbet…

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

Pretty staplers to help brighten up your office space!
National Stationery Show, Part 12: Smock and Bella Figura, Crane & Co., Old School Stationers, Arboreal, Spark Letterpress, L2 Design Collective, and Envelopments
National Stationery Show, Part 11: Gold Teeth Brooklyn, Bison Bookbinding + Letterpress, Katharine Watson, Urubbu, Kate & Birdie, Double Bravo, and Kelp Designs
National Stationery Show, Part 10: Maginating, The Nic Studio, Flywheel Press, Sapling Press, Old Tom Foolery, McBitterson’s, Oddball Press, and 9SpotMonk
National Stationery Show, Part 9: Paisley Tree Press, Pistachio Press, May Day Studio, Studio Olivine, Paper Lovely, Fat Bunny Press, Paper Boat Studios, and Sugarcube Press
National Stationery Show, Part 8: Blackbird Letterpress, Fugu Fugu Press, Figs + Ginger, Night Owl Paper Goods, Dear Hancock, One Canoe Two, Albertine Press, Studio Carta, and Banquet Atelier + Workshop
National Stationery Show, Part 7: Grey Cardigan, Farewell Paperie, Wednesday, Simplesong Design, This Paper Ship, Lettuce Press, The Victory Special Press, and Happy Cactus
National Stationery Show, Part 6: The Great Lakes, Egg Press, Smudge Ink, Fisk + Fern, Sesame Letterpress, Hammerpress, Chewing the Cud, and 42 Pressed

As usual, we have a fun cocktail coming up for you this afternoon, so check back a bit later for the recipe! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here on Monday! xoxo

National Stationery Show 2012, Part 12

Nole — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 06:00:03 PDT

Aaaaand… with a dozen posts full of paper awesomeness, we’ve reached the final recap of exhibitor booths from this year’s National Stationery Show! I’m ready for a super long nap as we head into the weekend, but first let’s take a look at some of the final stationery eye candy from the show! First up, the Smock and Bella Figura booth. I was super excited to check out the new gift wrap patterns and notebook collection, not to mention some of the new foil printed greeting card and wedding invitation designs!

Smock + Bella Figura

Every year, the Crane & Co. booth looks like a Fifth Avenue storefront – complete with gorgeous window displays inspired by Bergdorf Goodman and other classic department stores! I always spend a few minutes gazing at the beautiful collection in each display…

I’m so happy to see Crane & Co. embracing its extensive history with Americana-inspired stationery collections – they’ve been around since 1801 and have printed stationery for several presidents and even foreign kings and queens! At the same time, they’re incorporating modern design with bright new color options for the classic Crane & Co. hand bordered correspondence cards. And is there anything more classic and elegant than white engraved text on red paper? Beautiful!

Crane & Co.

I’m a big fan of the rustic vibe over at Old School Stationers. I always love their colorful letterpress art prints, greeting cards, and calendars featuring their signature hand-drawn illustrations!

Old School Stationers

Nashville-based Erin from Arboreal also has somewhat of a rustic vibe going on, but with a stationery collection largely inspired by Erin’s travels to Italy. The line includes gift wrap sheets, gift tags, and beautiful boxed note card sets.

Arboreal

The talented sisters of Spark Letterpress made a return to the Stationery Show with a huge booth full of gorgeous invitations, fun party bunting, and beautiful foil printed certificates and greeting cards. I’m a longtime fan of the Spark wedding invitation collection, but I’m so happy to see them branching out with more Bar and Bat Mitzvah invitations and other party invitation designs!

Spark Letterpress

L2 Design Collective never fails to make me smile with their colorful screen printed cards and journals. I’m seriously loving all the new holiday and Halloween card designs, and the bagel and cream cheese card below still makes me laugh!

L2 Design Collective

Envelopments recently collaborated with Kristy Rice of Momental Designs on an exclusive new wedding collection, called Trellis. Kristy was on hand at the Envelopments booth to talk about the new designs in person. Kristy creates the most amazing one of a kind hand painted wedding invitations – and the Trellis collection captures her unique style in such a beautiful way.

Envelopments

That’s it folks! I hope you enjoyed the recaps from this year’s National Stationery Show! If you missed any of the last eleven posts or want to check out the booths from last year, you can see all of my stationery show coverage from the last four years right here!

Photo Credits: Stephen Michael Garey and Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Pretty Paper in the Office: Staplers

julie — Thu, 31 May 2012 08:00:39 PDT

As paperless as the world has become, I always have stacks of papers to sort through. And you’ll always find a means of keeping them tidy on my desk. Folders, paper clips, and the all mighty stapler. (Which is also great for a little stress relief, might I add.) I know I’m not the only one who still has a trusty stapler by their side, so I’ve put together a round up of all shapes and sizes for keeping it together! – Julie

No. 1 ANYTHING stapler from See Jane Work; No. 2 Ace Pilot stapler from Schoolhouse Electric; No. 3 Made By Humans staple-free stapler from Amazon; No. 4 Swingline limited edition stapler from Amazon; No. 5 Beech wood stapler from Present&Correct; No. 6 Dog stapler from The Container Store

And for those of you who attended the National Stationery Show, or who follow Nole’s Instagram, this gorgeous acrylic and gold Russell + Hazel stapler will be available on their website July 15th!

{images via their respective sources}

National Stationery Show 2012, Part 11

Nole — Thu, 31 May 2012 06:00:45 PDT

I’ve already featured more than 70 booths from the 2012 National Stationery Show, but today our coverage starts to wind down with a few final booths from this year’s show. I look forward to the show all year long, so it’s hard to believe that the show has already been over for a week! First up today, the fabulous screen printed cards from Gold Teeth Brooklyn. I love all the rich color and subtle texture from screen printing, particularly when mixed with such playful designs!

Gold Teeth Brooklyn

I was so happy to stumble upon Bison Bookbinding & Letterpress at last year’s show – they have the sweetest collection of hand lettered note cards in collaboration with lettering artist Karolin Schnoor. This year I loved the letterpress recipe cards and gold foil printed notebooks and card designs.

Bison Bookbinding & Letterpress

I’m a huge fan of Katharine Watson‘s Indian-inspired block printed designs. This year, Katharine’s booth was packed full of gorgeous paper and textiles, from tea towels to greeting cards to coasters.

Katharine Watson

I love the illustrated folk art stationery from the gentlemen of Urubbu. This year’s collection included some fun farm animal designs (I particularly enjoyed the chickens!) and some moody ravens. They also added a bunch of wonderful wood sculptures sourced from artisans in Brazil!

Urubbu

We saw a sneak peek of the new notebooks from Kate & Birdie before the show, but I couldn’t wait to see the rest of the collection. They definitely didn’t disappoint, with a booth full of fun greeting cards and lovely gift wrap!

Kate & Birdie

I have a special place in my heart for anything travel-inspired, including the airmail-inspired letterpress stationery from Double Bravo. I particularly love the milestone collection – such a beautiful way to record sweet memories!

Double Bravo

Katie from Kelp Designs is one of the nicest people I know, and her bright and colorful offset printed collection is a true reflection of her sweet personality!

Katie is the founder of Tradeshow Bootcamp – a program to help prepare stationery exhibitors for big trade shows like the Stationery Show and Gift Fair!

Kelp Designs

I’ll have one final post from the National Stationery Show tomorrow!

Photo Credits: Stephen Michael Garey and Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper