The Ever Delightful Dapper Paper...

Etsy is absolutely full of shops brimming over with creativity and genius! I'm sure you would all agree with me on that, right? One of those shops is Dapper Paper, the brain child of husband and wife team Chris & Elizabeth Boyette. They design fun and unique stationery ranging from greeting cards, to posters, to wedding stationery suites.

This dynamic duo was kind enough to answer a few questions about themselves, and Dapper Paper.

Tell me a little about yourselves, what's your story?

We're Chris and Elizabeth Boyette, a husband and wife team of designers that make up Dapper Paper. We specialize in wedding and event stationery and paper goods from invitations to posters to everything in between. We've been married for a year and a half and live in a cozy 1940's bungalow in Raleigh, NC. We both have longtime backgrounds in design. Chris went to school for graphic design and I went to school for English and Interior design. So it's safe to say we're obsessed with all things design related! We are also both musicians and we actually met at a show that Chris was playing. We also really enjoy cooking (and eating) good food. And we have a blog, Spiffy Stuff We Heart, that is dedicated to all the things we love: from design to music to food and everything in between.

How did Dapper Paper come to be?

We officially started Dapper Paper in December 2009 when we opened our Etsy shop. Chris was working as a graphic designer in the corporate world and we both wanted to have a creative outlet that we could do together and work from our home studio. We designed invitations for our own wedding and really enjoyed the creative process. Our purpose then was to create an invitation package that was different from the traditional or clichéd invite that was out there. That spawned our goal with the work that we do at Dapper Paper: original, modern designs with a vintage spin.

What do you think makes Dapper Paper stand out?

Dapper Paper is unique because we each bring different talents to the table that allow us to create original designs. Chris is seasoned in typography and layout, and my craft is illustration, pattern and color. So you get the best of both worlds! Because of our love for music, posters/prints and all things vintage, we take a bold, artistic approach to our designs which gives our invitations and other paper goods an edgy, modern spin coupled with a vintage feel. We don't use stock images or pre-made graphics, we hand-draw and professionally typeset all of our pieces. This always ensures we have custom pieces that are handmade and stand out from the masses. We also use 100% recycled, acid-free paper and archival inks.

What are a few of your favorite pieces you've worked on?

One of the our most recent pieces was a custom wedding invitation/rsvp for Chris & Sarah. Custom jobs are always so much fun because you get to concept and create something totally original and unique for the client from scratch. We had a blast working on this and it was our biggest order to date, with 300 guests. Because we do everything in-house, we had a lot of printing and cutting to do after the design was completed! We plan to post the photos of the invitations soon!

Urban Wood Type Invitation -

  We love this piece because it was actually the first design we created for our Etsy shop. We were inspired by vintage posters and woodtype printing. This has been one our of best sellers!

You're My All Thyme Favorite -

We love this card because it's witty and because we love to cook! It's a great everyday/anytime card for foodies, gardeners or anyone who likes a good play on words. Chris designed this card for me for Valentine's day and me being the foodie that I am, I had to redraw the thyme illustration because it looked like basil! We loved the card and decided to add it to our shop. It's been featured on Etsy's front page several times as well as several blogs.


Since two pictures of their amazing work simply isn't enough, here are some other lovely pieces they've created.

Anchors Away! A sweet nautical save the date with a chic yellow and grey palette.

A custom designed 40th birthday poster, commissioned by an obviously cool wife for her obviously cool husband.

And last, but certainly not least, is the Full Bloom invitation suite. Isn't it lovely?

If you love what you see (and you're bound to!) make sure to visit Dapper Paper! All of these designs and many more are available in their shop. If a design is perfect for you, but doesn't quite fit your wedding colors, fear not! Chris & Elizabeth are happy to customize designs to match your colors.

Also, make sure you check out their blog for some more eye candy and inspiration:)