Save the Date | Lauren & Warren are Getting Married!

Check out this gorgeous set of Save-the-Date cards we designed and printed for a North Carolina couple back in January! Lauren and Warren's Save-the-Dates are fairly simple, but feature all of the necessary information (names, date, place and web address) in a very clean and gorgeous design. Lauren and Warren are using a tree motif on this piece and throughout the rest of their invitation suite, so we decided to make that a very central element on the Save-the-Date card. This card is an A2 size, measuring 5.5"x4.25" and was printed in two ink colors: copper and aubergine, and paired with a purple envelope from Waste Not Paper Company.

Above is the Save-the-Date card all by itself. I love how simple, yet elegant this design is, and the tree motif we used turned out just stunning. The copper ink that was used for their names and the tree gives the design a little extra sparkle, without being overwhelming. The paper Lauren chose is 100% cotton Crane Lettra Duplex, which is twice as thick as standard Lettra. This made for a really thick and substantial card, and a fantastic letterpress impression. Here are some close-ups so you can see all of the little details better:

For the envelope, as I mentioned above, we chose to go with purple shade from Waste Not Paper Company. Lauren and Warren's address and a much smaller version of their tree motif were letterpress printed on the back flap using copper ink and a small, framed motif with an infinity symbol and their upcoming wedding date was printed in the top left corner on the front of the envelope.

Aren't those just stunning?!? I'm currently in the process of working with Lauren and Warren on the designs for their main invitation suite, so if you like this design, check back soon to see their actual invitations! Thanks so much Lauren and Warren!

Save the Date: Whitney and Naysa are Getting Married!

Check out these absolutely adorable Save-the-Date cards we printed recently for a lovely couple in New York City who are getting married in Connecticut this September! Naysa and Whitney already had their design (it was designed by the bride's brother) when they contacted me, but were looking for someone to letterpress print it! I absolutely loved their design and had a wonderful time bringing it to fruition.

Naysa & Whitney's Save-the-Date cards are a #10 size, which measures 3.875"x9.25" and were printed on Crane Lettra Pearl White 100% cotton paper in two ink colors: chocolate brown and a deep violet-burgundy. These were paired with corresponding #10 square flap envelopes, with the couple's return address, also printed in two ink colors on the back flap.

I'm sure most all of you have read Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree" (or at least had someone else read it to you) at some point in your life. I don't know for sure if Naysa and Whitney's Save-the-Date idea took inspiration from this book at all, but I have a hard time looking at the design and imagining that it didn't.* In the book, Silverstein's illustrations of The Giving Tree are very similar in style to the tree featured on Naysa & Whit's Save-the-Date. They also incorporated a very sweet use of a handwriting-like typeface, to give the design a more fun, casual and playful vibe. I also LOVE all of the small violet-burgundy accents throughout the design: the leaves on the tree, the circle around their wedding date on the calendar, and the heart around their initials that were "carved" into the tree trunk. The whole design is just so thoughtful and cute. Check out the detail photos below to see the colors, type, letterpress impression and cute little details of the design even better!

*Edit: After putting up this post, Naysa e-mailed me to say that yes, their design was, in fact, inspired by The Giving Tree, and actually, while her brother modified the design a bit for them, they found the original idea on merrimentdesign.com, here. I haven't seen much else from Merriment Design, but based on how this turned out, it seems like a great place for inspiration!

Aren't they just too cute?!? I almost can't get over it... I totally LOVE them! And, as if they couldn't get any sweeter, the envelopes that Naysa chose to pair with her cards are perfectly complimentary, and the design of their address totally matches the design of their Save-the-Date.

As I mentioned above, the envelope they chose is also from Crane and is a #10 Lettra envelope with a square flap. The fact that it's a nice, soft 100% cotton envelope allows us to get the letterpress impression to show, even on a surface as thin as the envelope flap. For the address, Naysa's brother used the same handwriting-like font from the card and used one single tree leaf as an accent motif below the actual address. We printed the type in chocolate brown and the leaf in the violet-burgundy color for a perfectly matching set.

These turned out so beautifully and I'm so excited to show them off! Naysa and Whitney are also working with us on the design and printing for their actual invitations, so you'll get to see those in a few months as well! Thanks so much Naysa & Whitney, you guys are awesome!

If you'd like more information about our custom letterpress printing and design services, please don't hesitate to contact us!

Save the Date: Christina & James are Getting Married!

First off, to everyone out there reading this blog who have sent well-wishes and nice e-mails since I posted about my accident, thank you so much! You guys are wonderful. The recovery has been slow, and admittedly, I'm not used to being able to do so little, so it's been a little frustrating, but it is coming along and I am feeling a bit better day by day. Thanks so much for worrying and sending your best wishes!

As of today I'm going to try to get back to our regularly scheduled blogging, starting with this lovely set of Save-the-Date cards that were designed and printed for a lovely couple in Virginia who are getting married in Washington DC this coming May. These Save-the-Dates were completed shortly after Christmas. Christina wanted a simple, yet beautiful design featuring only gorgeous typography using one of her wedding colors: Aubergine. For this design, I took advantage of some of the lovely flourish elements in the script font that Christina chose for all of the decoration around their names. Both the Save-the-Date card and square-flap envelope are an A6 size, which measures 4.5"x6.25". You can see both pieces together at the top of this post.

Here is the Save-the-Date card by itself. These cards were printed with a deep, aubergine purple ink on Crane Lettra 100% cotton Pearl White Duplex paper. The duplex paper is twice as thick as the standard weight of Crane Lettra that we normally use, making these cards super thick and substantial. For the design, I wanted Christina & James' names to be the most prominent element of the design, so I chose a very decorative script face that came with a bunch of different flourish options to decorate and embellish the characters with. We also used this same font for the date, but without as many flourishes. For the rest of the text we chose a simple and modern san-serif face to create a nice contrast and make that script stand out even more. Isn't it elegant?!? I love the way that a design like this really just sinks into the paper with lovely, tactile impressions from the letterpress process. Here are some close-ups so you can see the texture and script a little better:

Beautiful! Don't you think? For the envelopes, we created a return address to letterpress print on the flap that complimented the design of the actual cards. We used the same flourish-y script face for Christina and James' names and the same san-serif face in all caps for the actual address. Christina and James' envelopes are A6 size, square flap envelopes also by Crane & Co in Pearl White. Here is a close-up of the address on the envelope flap.

I absolutely love how this set of Save-the-Date cards turned out! Christina and I are currently working on the designs for her actual invitations and I can't wait to see what we end up coming up with for those! If you like her Save-the-Dates, keep an eye on this blog over the next few months to see the rest of her invitation suite!

Thanks so much Christina & James!

Maria and Ashley are Getting Married!

I recently had the pleasure of working on a wedding invitation suite for a couple in Cali, Colombia! The couple is currently living in Florida, but they are having their wedding and reception this month in the bride's home town of Cali.

Way back at the beginning of this year (wow, almost a year ago already - yikes!), the bride, Maria, and I began working on a design for her save-the-date cards. Maria wanted her invitation suite to be formal and traditional, and warm and inviting all at the same time. We chose a very traditional layout and fonts for the design, and to warm things up, used a chocolate brown (rather than black or grey) ink for the printing. The save-the-date was an A6 size, which measured 4.5"x6.25". It came with a matching A6 size, white envelope with Maria's brother's return address in Cali, printed on the flap.

I absolutely love how decorative and beautiful a nice script face can be all by itself. Don't get me wrong, I love designing pretty images and patterns for wedding invitations as well, but there's just something about beautiful letterpress printed typography on white 100% cotton paper that brings joy to my heart. It's just so lovely!

Not too long after we did her Save-the-Date cards, we started working on the design for the main invitations. Maria wanted to continue with the gorgeous all-text design we had used for the save-the-dates for her invitations as well as keeping with the same fonts and ink color. Her main invitation suite included an A7 size invitation, an A2 size reception card, a 5" square map card and a beautiful set of inner/outer invitation envelopes. You can see a photo of the full suite at the top of this post and below is an image of just the invitation and invitation envelopes together.

For her invitation envelopes, Maria chose a matching set of white, A7 size envelopes with European pointed flaps from Waste Not Paper Company. We used the same address printing plate from her save-the-date card envelopes to print the return address on the flap of the outer invitation envelopes. The inner envelope was lined with a gorgeous, handmade paper from Nepal in a chestnut brown color. Maria hired one of my favorite calligraphers, Fran Heider of Little Flower Calligraphy, to calligraph her addresses on both sets of envelopes. I'm sure the calligraphy was absolutely lovely!

Above you can see the invitation all by itself. Maria explained to me that it's tradition in Colombia, and many other spanish-speaking countries, to include the parents names on the top of the invitation. I thought this was a really interesting tradition. Once again, I love the way the classic-looking script really accents and draws attention to Maria and Ashley's names in the center of the invite. I wish you could feel it too through your computer screen, because the texture of the letterpress impression feels amazing!

Maria and Ashley's reception card is an A2 size and featured the reception information, prominently in the center of the card and the phone number to RSVP to in the bottom left corner.

Isn't that a classy card?!? I love it!

Creating a map for Maria and Ashley's wedding was somewhat of a challenge. It was surprisingly difficult to find an english map of the city of Cali (even google maps' map was in Spanish), and although I speak spanish fairly well, navigating a map of an unknown city, in a foreign language, while trying to locate certain streets and landmarks, was really challenging. Maria was awesome though and drew me a map of a little portion of the city that she wanted to use and I used that to create the map card design.

This map measures 5"x5" and was letterpress printed in chocolate brown ink. The thick dark line running through the center of the map is a river, the Rio Cali, and we created cute little icons (inspired by a map created by Crystal Kluge earlier this year for this wedding) to represent major city landmarks, the Catholic church where Maria and Ashley's wedding will be, their home, hotels they recommend, and for the reception location. Here is a close-up so you can get a better look:

I love the way this suite turned out and I know that Maria and Ashley's wedding in Colombia in a couple of weeks will be really neat! Congratulations Maria & Ashley!

Save the Date: Erica & Noah are Getting Married!

Check out these super-cute Save-the-Date cards that I finished earlier this week for a couple in Syracuse, New York who are getting married next June! Erica & Noah's save-the-date card is an A6 size card measuring 4.5"x6.25", printed in Navy Blue ink on a custom-made, 100% cotton, recycled, light pink paper that is embedded with wildflower seeds from Porridge Papers. The cards were printed and then affixed with a small photograph of Erica and Noah. They came with coordinating cream-colored envelopes from Waste Not Paper company that were printed with the couples' return address in navy blue ink.

I love how gorgeous and textural the papers from Porridge Papers are! They are so pretty, unique, and absolutely wonderful for letterpress printing. They take letterpress impression beautifully and are so fabulous to the touch. Check out these close-up photos for a better look:

Aren't they cute and beautiful all at the same time?!? I love that Erica had us print on a light pink paper too - it's not a color that my clients ask for too often, but I think this paper would be lovely for other wedding stationery or for some really sweet baby shower invitations or baby announcements too! Erica, Noah and I are currently working on the designs for the rest of their invitation suite which will be printed shortly after the first of the new year. If you like this design, make sure you check back to see the rest! It's going to be pretty!

Save the Date: Theresa & Dermot Are Getting Married!

Check out these awesome Save-the-Date coasters I finished last week for a couple in New York City! Theresa & Dermot wanted to do something a little unique and different for their Save-the-Date cards for their upcoming July 2010 wedding, so rather than having us print a standard card and envelope, she chose to have us print her Save-the-Dates as coasters with matching envelopes! I think this is a stellar idea for any party, wedding or otherwise!

Theresa and Dermot's Save-the-Date coasters were letterpress printed on 4" square coaster stock with two ink colors: turquoise and a greenish-yellow "lime" hue (think the inside fruity part of the lime, not the skin). We used a playful and lovely script font for their names and their wedding date and a tall and skinny serif font for the rest of the text. The date was framed within a very decorative 1920's-ish looking flourish-y border that Theresa found, and the rest of the coaster was dotted with stars!

I have been looking for square envelopes for a while that are smaller than 5.5" and I finally found some! These coordinating cream-colored, linen envelopes from Envelloper Inc., fit our 4" coasters perfectly!

They feature a European pointed flap and were just big enough for us to letterpress print Theresa & Dermot's return address on the back.

Pretty cool, don't you think?!? Thanks again and congratulations Theresa & Dermot!

Save the Date: Kara & Steve are Getting Married!

Let me say up front that I LOVE it, when couples looking for custom letterpress stationery contact me well in advance of their wedding date! The more you plan ahead, the more time we will have to come up with something totally awesome, and totally "you".

Seattle couple, Kara and Steve, are getting married in late August of 2010 in Kara's hometown of Billings, Montana, and Kara contacted me originally back in April of this year asking about custom letterpress printing for her wedding. We began talking about designs for her Save-the-Date cards in July and we finished them up and shipped them to her so she could send them out to her guests about eleven months prior to her wedding. I have to give her mad props for planning way ahead - that's awesome!

Right before I began working on Kara and Steve's designs, Kara sent me a fabulous and very detailed description of different things she liked and what she already has planned for her wedding next August. Kara wrote:

"[Our wedding] will be at my parents' home; they have a country-type house on 20 acres. We'll have the ceremony in the backyard in the early evening and then the reception will be in one of those huge white tents, probably 40' x 120', and will last late into the night. Overall, we want our wedding to have an elegant, romantic, chic feel. Our colors are aubergine and blush pink, with accent colors of lime green, brown, and ivory. In our reception tent, we want the tables to have aubergine lamour (satin-like finish) tablecloths and dark wood chivari chairs, and to have lots and lots of votive candles on the tables. For flowers, I love peonies, magnolias, ranunculus, anemones, orchids and hydrangeas..."

When discussing what she wanted for her stationery, I found out that Kara loved the idea of a super-thick paper that would really show off the letterpress impressions well. She really wanted something that was fresh and modern, but with a touch of romance and whimsy, all the while incorporating elements of her and Steve's personality and the colors and style that they would have for their upcoming wedding. You can see in the photo at the top of this post, and in the ones below what we came up with.

Kara and Steve's Save the Date's are a very modern monarch size card (which measures 3.75"x7.25") printed on Crane Lettra 220 lb. 100% cotton duplex paper in Ecru. The duplex paper is twice as thick as the regular Crane Lettra paper and handles deep letterpress impressions very well. We decided to go with the warm Ecru color, rather than a standard white or off-white shade, to lend a slightly more rustic, traditional and warm touch to an otherwise, very modern design. This save-the-date is also very unique in that it is double-sided. You can see both sides and the envelope in the photo at the top of the post.

For one of the sides we decided to do a repeating, blind-embossed pattern of Kara and Steve's wedding date, written several different ways, as well as their names, and the phrase "Save the Date" in a modern, san-serif font all over the entire side of the card. This created a really interesting visual and tactile "texture" on the surface of each card. Click on the photo below to see the detail better!

Then, on top of the pattern I letterpress printed the words "Save the Date" in Kara's actual handwriting in a dark aubergine ink. In order to do this, Kara wrote out the words she wanted on a piece of paper several times until she got it to look the way she wanted it to. Then she scanned the handwriting, e-mailed it to me, I converted it into a vector image, and then created a letterpress printing plate from it! Pretty neat, don't you think? Here is a detail image of Kara's handwritten "Save the Date" as well as of the blind-embossing:

On the other side, we continued to print with the same Aubergine ink and utilized Kara's handwriting and the fonts I used on the reverse side for the blind embossing to print the actual information. Check it out:

Kara wrote her and Steve's names for the design on the top of the card and then below them, we printed their full names, the date, place and their website info. The layout and style is very modern and I absolutely love the way that Kara's writing extending off the edges of each sheet looks so fresh and stylish, yet timeless and personal all at the same time!

In order to incorporate another one of their wedding colors into the Save-the-Date, Kara chose a light green, monarch-size envelope from Green Paper Company to pair with her cards. The shade of green is called "Balsam Fir" and we letterpress printed their return address in aubergine ink on the flap.

Kara asked me to blur a fairly significant portion of their address, but you can still get an idea of where the address was situated and what the color and shape of the envelope was like from the above photo. Everything about these cards turned out beautifully. They are so unique and I can't wait to see where we decide to go for their actual invitations!

In other news, I would like to wish a very happy wedding day to a Eugene, Oregon couple I printed wedding invitations for who are getting married in Cannon Beach, Oregon today! Congratulations Leia & Tyler! I haven't shown off their stationery on this blog yet, but I will very soon, so keep an eye on this blog if you want to see it!