Eleanor & Jeremy are Getting Married!

Last month I completed a really sweet and summery little wedding invitation suite for an American couple that is living in Tunisia (they work for the State Department), who are getting married in Massachusetts later this month!  How does a couple living in a country that far away find out about Twin Ravens Press, you ask?  She was recommended to us by a previous client, Isabel, who just moved to Tunisia for work as well.  If you'd like to read about Isabel's stationery (which also turned out really cool!), you can here, here, and here.  

We went through several different ideas in order to get to the lovely set you see at the top of this post.  When Eleanor and I originally started talking about designs she thought that she probably wanted a design with a barn (they are getting married at a family farm), or a barn door.  We came up with quite a few lovely mock-ups of what this design could potentially be, and while I think any of those would have turned out beautifully as well, I think it's pretty neat that ultimately she ended up choosing to go with this simple,  yet beautiful, summery hydrangea design.  Eleanor and Jeremy's suite included the invitation, a reply card, an invitation envelope and a reply card envelope.  

As I mentioned before, you can see a photo of all four pieces in Eleanor & Jeremy's suite together at the top of this post.  Below is a photo of just the invitation, by itself. 

Eleanor and Jeremy's invitation is an A7 size and was printed on 100% cotton Crane Lettra Paper in their Ecru color.  I really like the Ecru paper from Crane - it's very warm and inviting, and in my opinion, very different from a regular white paper without really being a strong "other color".  As you can see in the photo, I drew two blue hydrangeas for the design on the left side of the invite and then the text was arranged around them.  For the fonts we chose a very nice, handwriting-like script font for their names and then a very nice classic serif font for the rest of the text.  I really love the texture that both the fonts and all of the small line work in the hydrangeas created for this design.  Here is a close-up photo of part of the invite so you can get a better look at the fonts, ink colors, fine hydrangea details, and the impression:

Very pretty, don't you think?  Here is the A7 size envelope that accompanied the invitation: 

This envelope is a light blue from Waste Not Paper Company and it features a European pointed flap.  I printed Eleanor's parent's address on the flap in the same green ink that I used for the invitation.  I matched the blue ink for their names and the hydrangeas on the invitation, to the blue of this envelope!  It turned out really really nice.  

For their reply card, Eleanor and Jeremy chose a standard 4bar size and we used basically the same design elements for it as we did for the main invitation.  We also decided to go with the same light blue color for the reply card envelope that we used for the main invitation envelope and printed the bride's parent's address on the front in green ink.  Here is a photo of the reply card and envelope together: 

Here is a closer photo of just the reply card, by itself: 

If you are working on designing a response card for your upcoming wedding or other event and you have multiple events that your guests could attend, I highly recommend having some sort of way for your guest's to tell you which event(s) they plan to attend, rather than just giving them the option to accept or decline.  Eleanor and Jeremy are planning to have a barbeque the night before the wedding and reception, so they made an option on their card so that guest's could indicate whether or not they would attend the barbeque as well as the wedding and reception, or just the wedding.  I think this is a great idea and helps to keep everyone more organized prior to the event.  

Eleanor and Jeremy were really great to work with and I wish them all the best for their upcoming celebration and in the years ahead!  Congratulations Eleanor & Jeremy!

Paul & Jesika's Wedding

This past weekend I made the short drive up I-5 to Salem, Oregon for a couple of my friends from college's wedding.  If you've been following this blog for a little while, you may remember me mentioning Paul and Jesika.  I designed and letterpress printed their wedding stationery, which you can read about here.  

The wedding was at Zenith Vineyards, a very pretty, little winery, just outside of Salem.  The wedding wasn't over-the-top fancy, but it was beautiful, the weather was gorgeous, the food was fantastic and it was really fun to get to see and visit with not only the bride and groom, but other college friends that I hadn't seen in a few years.  

I must admit that I didn't really think much about weddings until I started Twin Ravens Press, but since I started my business the subject of weddings - what they are, what they mean to the people having and attending them, different ways and styles of having them, how to design paper goods with all of that and more in mind, etc... is something that fills both my work and non-work-related thoughts on a much more regular basis.  It's really fun though, these days especially, when I actually get to attend a wedding of both people I know and people that I got to design and print for.  Something about it makes what I do for work, in a lot of ways, seem much more important and special - not just for me as the designer, but also for all of the people that the designs were for.  One of the guest's whom I hadn't met prior to the wedding even said that the invitations were the most beautiful she had ever seen - pretty nice compliment if you ask me.  

Anyway, here are some more pictures of the event.  I don't know that my recapping the whole afternoon and evening would add anything to this, but all I can say is that the bride and groom looked so happy, both families were really sweet, proud and supportive and the whole event was a really good time.  Take a look for yourself: 

Paul & Jes - if you end up reading this, I just want to say "Congratulations!" once again.  It's been really wonderful getting to spend the last several years knowing you, going to college with you, finishing college with you, and moving on into our careers and post-college lives and relationships.  You guys have always been great friends and a great couple and it was really exciting to see you make a life-long commitment on Saturday.  Thank you for inviting us to share in your special day!  

April & William Are Getting Married!

Earlier this month I finished printing a really awesome job for a couple of designers in Covington, Kentucky for their upcoming wedding in June.  William, the groom, designed all of the pieces in their invitation suite and hired Twin Ravens Press to do the letterpress printing.  You can see a photo of all of the pieces together at the top of this post.  Their suite included a custom sized invitation, reply card, map and two sets of envelopes.   

Both the invitation and map card were a custom size that was almost the same size as a standard T-length card, just a little skinnier.  Here is the invitation by itself: 

All of William and April's pieces were printed on Crane Lettra Bright White Paper with Chartreuse and Pewter Grey inks and blind embossing.  I really love the way that William chose to incorporate some subtle embossed elements into each of the pieces.  I often find that it's really fun and interesting to use blind embossed element in a design because it is something that can only be achieved with this printing method and it shows off the different capabilities of letterpress really well.  I also really enjoy William's use of a serif and san-serif font for their names - they way he designed it looks really classy and modern.  Here is a close-up so you can see what I'm talking about: 

The main information on the invitation (the couple's names, date and place) was printed in a combination of the chartreuse and grey inks, while the other information (times, etc...) was blind embossed.  I think the look of it is just awesome.  Here is a close-up of the section with the blind embossing: 

Throughout all of the pieces, William created a very modern and fresh line pattern that was embossed throughout.  For the invite, he used this pattern as decoration on the bottom of the piece and I printed some nice text over the top of the pattern in chartreuse.  I never asked where the text he used came from, perhaps it is a song lyric or from a poem or story the couple enjoys.  I think it's really whimsical and romantic though and adds a little bit of sweetness and whimsy to an otherwise very modern and classy design. 

**Note** After reading this original post, I received a very nice e-mail from the bride exclaiming how wonderful the invitations turned out.  In the e-mail she also informed me that the lyrics in the invitation design at the bottom are song lyrics from the song "This Twilight Garden" by the Cure.  Apparently, it's a B side, so not as popular as many of their other songs, but William and April loved it so much that it became a theme for their wedding.  Pretty cool...

Very cool, don't you think?  The invite was paired with a chartreuse T-Length envelope from Waste Not Paper Company, and the couple's return address was printed on the flap in opaque white ink.  

For the reply card, I printed a flood of chartreuse ink on the left side of the design and then blind embossed the decorative line pattern over the top.  I love the simplicity of the information on the card - it's brief, to-the-point, and keeps with the classy, modern and clean look of the other pieces in the suite.  This card was also paired with a chartreuse envelope from Waste Not Paper Company with the couple's address printed on the front in opaque white ink.  Here is the card and envelope and a close-up so you can get a better look at the printing and embossing.

Last, but certainly not least, is the map card.  Unfortunately, I didn't have a very good photo of the map card all by itself, but you can see it in the picture of the full suite at the top of this post.  Like the reply card, the map card featured a flood of chartreuse on the left side with William's decorative line pattern blind embossed over the top.  The information about where the celebration will take place is printed in chartreuse and grey inks in the white area to the right of the line pattern.  Then, the right-most half of the card is an actual map!  

Like the patterned sections on both the map and reply cards, the map section of this card was printed with a flood of chartreuse ink.  The roads and names of areas are actually areas where we didn't print the flood and the white is the actual white of the paper showing through.  For the map, I blind embossed the Ohio River on top of the printing which helped to create a tactile as well as visual representation of the geography.  

I really love the way that the pieces in William and April's suite turned out and it was really fun to get to work with another pair of designers!  Congratulations William & April!

Very Cool Bike Design!

This week seems to be shaping up to a week where I'm not only blogging about awesome things that we're doing, I'm also blogging about awesome things that other people are doing and things that I love as well.  Living in lovely, eco-friendly, Eugene, you see a lot of awesome-ly designed, random, different, or customized bikes around.  Many of these bike owners have built or customized their bikes themselves, but nonetheless, it makes for awesome people-watching, as well as awesome alternative transportation for a city that's keen on protecting the environment.  I have a pretty awesome bike, that I ride all over the place when the weather is decent to nice, but I always thought it would be great to have a bike trailer to haul stuff around with.  Well, what if your bike and bike trailer were an all-in-one, awesomely designed package?  Check out the Madsen.  It may be one of the coolest ideas I've seen this week.  

Audrey & Eric are Getting Married!

I wanted to show off a really neat set of pieces I finished last week for a couple just north of us, in Portland, Oregon.  This is one of only a few pieces that I've printed in only metallic inks, but if done right, I think they effect can be absolutely stunning!  In order to save some money, the bride and groom, Audrey and Eric, decided to have many of the pieces in their stationery suite flat printed, but hired Twin Ravens Press to print their actual invitation and invitation envelopes letterpress.  Both pieces turned out absolutely beautiful (as you can see from the photo at the top of this post)!

Audrey's fiancee, Eric, drew the lovely border artwork for their invitation.  Isn't it gorgeous?  I must admit, I was a little worried that it might not print evenly since the border was so large (covered a large portion of the sheet), but it turned out great!  Audrey had me help her layout the actual text portion of the invite within the gorgeous border, and I think it turned out really pretty too.  The invitation was printed in metallic gold ink on Crane Lettra 100% cotton pearl white paper.  Here is a close-up photo so you can see the details in the border and the impression of the typography a little bit better:

For the envelopes, Audrey chose a light pink color called "Luxe Blush" from Waste Not Paper Company.  I letterpress printed her return address in the same fonts as we used for the invitation on the back flap.  For a little extra special touch, we also printed a round chinese double-happiness character on the point of the flap.  The small round character almost looks like a gold seal - the texture and sparkly-ness of it is fabulous!  You can see the envelope in the photo at the beginning of the post, and here is a close-up of the letterpress printed parts, so you can get a better look: 

Audrey was an absolute joy to work with and I would be more than happy to work with her again.  She also had some lovely things to say about working with us on her wedding blog, which you can read here and here, if you wish.  

Thanks so much Audrey & congratulations to both you and Eric! 

Letterpress of the Past: North Beach, California

In case you haven't noticed, I love old things.  I drive an old car, have a shop full of old printing equipment, love vintage cameras and analog photography and think that old t-shirts that are almost on the verge of falling apart are way better than brand new ones.  My love of old things and old processes is probably one of the main reasons that I became interested in letterpress and old-fashioned printing in college, years ago, in the first place.  So I was pretty delighted when my mom e-mailed me this photo that she took while visiting North Beach, California last week.  

From the looks of it, this shop has probably been closed down for quite some time, however, I love that the old sign, advertising both letterpress and offset printing is still featured prominently above.  When seeing images like this, I think anyone in this industry (letterpress printing) should stop and tip their hat to the history that our craft is a part of.  

It's pretty cool to think that we're a part of something that has been happening, pretty much the same way, for over 100 years.  

Shop Twin Ravens Press at Finch!

Great news for Twin Ravens Press fans in and around Austin, Texas!  I'm currently in the process of finishing up and getting ready to ship off an order of Twin Ravens Press cards to a little retail shop in Austin called Finch!  

Finch is located in the heart of downtown Austin at 417 West 2nd Street.  Their shop offers a lovely collection of gifts, and hand-crafted furnishings for the home. Finch specializes in independent design (like us!), and carries handmade ceramics, textiles, lamps, glassware and other items from around the world.  Twin Ravens Press is very excited to have our cards at Finch, so if you're living in or close to Austin, go down and check them out!