New Dahlia Gift Cards available on Etsy!

Check out these brand new Magenta Dahlia Gift Cards that are now available in the Twin Ravens Press Etsy Shop! These cards were created on the suggestion from another etsy seller, mudpuppy, who liked our normal size Dahlia cards, but wanted a smaller size to use as small thank you cards for his customers. I thought it was a great idea!

These cards are a very small, 3.5"x2" size, letterpress printed with a magenta dahlia on the front. They are blank on the inside for your own personal greeting. These small cards come in sets of 6 for $5.00 and are accompanied by coordinating rhubarb pink envelopes! They would be great for gift giving, escort cards, as fancy place cards for a special event, or just about any occasion where you might need a beautiful and small little note.

If you need more than six, I am more than happy to give bulk discounts on larger orders! I'm also planning to offer this small card size in a few brand new holiday designs for the upcoming holiday season! Those will be available in a couple of weeks. Keep your eye out for them!

Jaimi & Scott Are Getting Married!

Last week I finished a gorgeous set of wedding stationery for a New York City couple who are getting married in sunny Boca Raton, Florida this upcoming January. Jaimi and Scott wanted a unique, yet traditionally elegant design for their stationery suite and this is what we came up with! Jaimi and Scott's suite included an A7 size invitation, an A2 size accommodations card, a 4bar size reply card with corresponding envelope and a custom lined A7 invitation envelope! All pieces were printed in a deep eggplant purple ink on Crane Lettra 100% cotton Pearl White paper.

Here is Jaimi and Scott's invitation by itself:

To keep with the style of a very beautiful and traditional invitation suite, Jaimi chose to hire a calligrapher to calligraph each of the lines of her invitation for us to letterpress print. I work with a handful of very talented calligraphers and am happy to recommend them to any of my clients who are seeking to do something like this for their invitations, or for clients who simply want calligraphy for their envelopes. The calligrapher who did Jaimi and Scott's lettering though, is the very talented Fran Heider of Little Flower Calligraphy. Fran and I have worked together now on a handful of different projects for a few different clients and we enjoy working together so much, and her calligraphy is so stunning, that if you're looking for calligraphy I would highly recommend getting in touch with her! She is fabulous! In order to turn Fran's calligraphy into letterpress printing for Jaimi and Scott's invitations, Fran wrote out each line for each piece individually and then we scanned the images of the calligraphy in to the computer, resized and layed them out in our design program and then created printing plates from the subsequent images. To add just a little more elegance and whimsy to the design, we also came up with some beautiful scrolling flourishes for the top of each piece! Isn't it just gorgeous?!? Here is a close-up of the calligraphy so you can get a better look:

For the invitation envelope, we printed Jaimi and Scott's return address in a very simple and classic roman font on the back flap and then custom lined each envelope with a deep, eggplant purple Shizen paper with an Indian-tile-inspired pattern.

I love that Jaimi chose this paper for her envelope liners! It really just compliments her whole suite so well!

Here is Jaimi and Scott's accommodations card. Since this card has a fair bit of information on it, we chose to do just the word "Accommodations" in calligraphy and use our roman font for everything else. This card is an A2 size card, which measures 4.25"x5.5". We included a smaller version of the scrollwork from the invitation on the top of this piece.

Their reply card and envelope kept with the original invitation design: scrollwork and all calligraphy, printed in eggplant purple ink.

I love how elegant and fancy using hand-calligraphy for each piece made the suite look! I also absolutely love that we used the calligraphy for Jaimi & Scott's names on their reply envelope and the roman font for the address. Sometimes using a combination of fonts like this, for something as simple as an address, can really dress up an envelope more than just using one font does.

Jaimi and Scott were fabulous clients to work with and I love that their job allowed me to collaborate with one of my favorite calligraphers as well! The suite turned out absolutely gorgeous, and I know that their wedding this coming January will be gorgeous as well!

Congratulations Jaimi & Scott! Thanks again!

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!

Twin Ravens Press Holiday Cards Now Available!

Happy November everybody! I hope everyone out there had a very Happy Halloween weekend! Now that the holiday season is on its way, I thought I take a moment to show off some of the Twin Ravens Press holiday cards that are available now or are going to be available over the next few days in our etsy shop! All of these cards are available as singles or come in sets of six or 12 cards. I'm going to be adding a few more designs to this collection in the next couple of weeks and will let you know more about those very soon! All of the designs in this post are either general holiday or Christmas-related, but we are also going to be adding a few Hanukkah designs in the coming weeks as well. We will also have holiday coasters and small gift cards available in late November, so keep an eye out for those too!

The following designs are available now for those who want to get an early start! If you don't see them in our etsy shop, keep an eye out over the next few days and they will be up shortly. If you just can't wait to get your hands on them, though, you can always e-mail me, and I would be glad to set up a special listing just for you! If you are a retailer and would like to carry any of our holiday designs in your store, please e-mail me and I would be glad to send you a .pdf of our wholesale catalog!

The image at the top of this post is of our Holiday VW Bug card. It is a 4bar size (measuring 3.5"x4.875") and comes with coordinating red envelopes.

This is Poinsettia Mouse. It is also a 4bar size and comes with coordinating red envelopes.

Below is an image of our Crane String card in red, copper and green. You'll notice that this design is available all year round and also comes in other color combinations. I think this design makes a lovely holiday card though as well! It is an A2 size, measuring 4.25"x5.5" and comes with red envelopes.

The design you see above is one of our oldest greeting card designs. Holiday Cardinals is an A2 size card, now printed on Crane Lettra 100% cotton ecru paper in red and black inks and comes with matching red envelopes.

This cute Holiday Cat with Lights card is sure to brighten anyone's holiday! The A2 card features a mischievous orange kitty and a long strand of tangled, green christmas lights that reach around from the front to the back of the card. It comes with coordinating green envelopes!

Here is another oldie-but-goodie! Our Holiday Hedgehogs card features four ink colors, and coordinating pool blue envelopes. These cards are 4bar size.

The two cards above are our Peace Dove card and our "Let it Snow!" holiday card. They are both 4bar size and come with coordinating pale blue envelopes.

As I mentioned above, all of these designs will be available in our Etsy Shop over the next few days. If you can't wait for a design to show up in the shop, please feel free to e-mail me and I would be happy to set up a special listing just for you! More designs will be available in the coming weeks as well, so keep your eyes out! Happy (early) Holidays!

The Wedding Invitations of Mr. & Miss Ramen

Let me preface this post by saying that no, I didn't print wedding invitations for a couple whose last name is actually "Ramen". As this particular couple asked me not to reveal their real names on my blog, I will be referring to them by a pseudonym they chose for themselves. You see, Miss Ramen is a blogger over on WeddingBee, and the fifth WeddingBee blogger that we've printed invitations for. If you are a follower of WeddingBee, you may have already read some blog posts she's done about her wedding there. If you aren't, but like what you're about to see of her invitations, you can read more about her wedding here. Despite having to be a little sneaky about the information I show off to you about their wedding on this blog, working with the Ramens was an absolute joy and their invitations are absolutely lovely.

The Ramens, being the talented and uber-motivated individuals that they are, designed their whole invitation suite themselves and then hired Twin Ravens Press to do their letterpress printing! I heard from Miss Ramen that she is doing her calligraphy for her envelopes all by herself, which, for a bride who isn't planning a small wedding, this is quite the undertaking. The Ramen's invitation suite included a #10 size invitation, a reply postcard, a small business card size website card, an invitation envelope and a set of small cute tags! Here is their invitation:

As I mentioned above, Mr. and Miss' Ramen's wedding invitation is a long and skinny #10 size, printed on Crane Lettra pearl white paper with metallic silver ink. I love the elegant swirls and scrolls they created for all of the pieces in their suite! It's a little difficult to tell, due to me blurring out most of their names, but the typeface they used for their names and for the line at the bottom of the invite really compliments their decorative swirls beautifully!

Here is their invitation again with its corresponding envelope. The envelope Mr. and Miss Ramen chose is a #10 size, 30% post-consumer recycled envelope in a light blue color called "Cloud" from Green Paper Company. I love how these envelopes add just a subtle hint of color to the suite without being bold and overwhelming. I also love how they continued their swirl motif from the invitation on the front of the invitation envelope. The envelopes were also printed with metallic silver ink and included a very cute, framed return address on the envelope flap.

To save on postage and envelopes, Mr. and Miss Ramen decided to do their reply card as a postcard! These were also printed in silver ink on Crane Lettra Pearl White paper.

They did a fantastic job of keeping the look of their entire suite consistent, while incorporating some unique, fun, and super-cute details into each piece. Check out the little whole and broken heart icons next to their accepts/regrets lines:

Very cute idea, don't you think?!?

Now, I'm not quite sure what Miss Ramen has in store for these little guys, but whatever it is, I'm sure it will be adorable. The Ramens had me print them a set of small letterpress tags featuring their initials, wedding date and the city where they will be wed, inside the same cute kind of frame they used for their return address on their envelopes.

Miss Ramen opted to cut these out herself, in order to save money on die-cutting. Although I'm not sure what she's planning to use them for, they are super-adorable.

This last piece in their suite, is quite possibly my favorite. As Miss Ramen is an avid blogger (hence why she blogs for WeddingBee), she wanted to include a small website card that would direct wedding invitation recipients to their website for further information. This card measures 2"x3.5", which is the same size as a standard business card, and was also printed on Crane Lettra paper in silver ink.

Isn't that absolutely adorable?!? I love the cute little caricatures that Mr. Ramen drew of himself and his bride. So sweet... and such a cute idea for a little website card!

Mr. and Miss Ramen were an absolute joy to work with and I'm so happy that I got to do their letterpress printing! If you like these designs, head on over to WeddingBee and read more about the Ramens. They really are a very sweet couple. Miss Ramen posted a very cute teaser a couple of weeks ago, which you can read here, and she just posted at length about her invites here.

Thanks so much Mr. and Miss Ramen and many congratulations!

Joanne & Justin are Getting Married!

Continuing my metallic ink theme from yesterday, I present to you these lovely wedding invitations I completed a couple of weeks ago for North Carolina couple who are getting married in Florida this upcoming December! The bride, Joanne, designed her invitations herself (aren't the decorative motifs at the top and bottom gorgeous?!?) and hired Twin Ravens Press to print them. We printed Joanne and Justin's wedding invitation in two ink colors: burgundy and metallic gold on Crane Lettra Pearl White paper. I love the color combination she chose and I think it's going to be lovely for a late-december celebration!

Joanne is planning to assemble her invites herself and had her other inserts (a reply card and reception card) printed digitally to offset some of the cost of her total invitation package. This is really a wonderful option if your invitation budget is tight, but you want to still incorporate a gorgeous letterpress printed piece or two into your suite. Joanne is planning to assemble all of her invites and inserts into a decorative burgundy pocket folder with a belly band! I'm sure the whole package is going to look gorgeous together!

Congratulations Joanne & Justin!

Rachel & Joseph are Getting Married!

Metallic inks have certainly been a popular choice at Twin Ravens Press for the past couple of weeks! I just finished up this invitation suite earlier this month and boy does it make a gorgeous and very elegant use of metallic gold ink and blind embossing! The invitation suite you see above was created for a lovely couple, Rachel and Joseph, who originally contacted me back in June to create invitations for their upcoming January 2010 wedding in Coral Gables, Florida! Rachel and Joseph's suite included an A7 size invitation with corresponding, lined envelope, a 4bar size reply card with corresponding envelope and 4bar folded thank you notes with corresponding envelopes. All pieces were printed in metallic gold ink on Crane Lettra 100% cotton paper in Ecru. The envelopes are Crane Lettra envelopes, printed in gold ink with square flaps.

Rachel & Joseph's wedding invitation created a really fun design challenge for me. When doing design work, it is often difficult to incorporate more than two or three different fonts without the design looking cluttered. If you check out the invitation above we were able to incorporate five (5!) different typefaces as well as some elegant and decorative scrolls and flourishes into the design while still keeping it very formal and pretty. The text of the invitation is centered in a decorative gold border and we blind-embossed the area outside of the border with a series of thin, vertical lines to give the invitation a little more texture. I love how this invitation is for a 2010 wedding, but looks elegant and classic enough to where it could be from a wedding that happened years ago. It's modern and vintage looking all at the same time! Check out this close-up to see some of the fonts and the letterpress impression better:

Above, the invitation and invite envelope are pictured together. We chose a classic, 100% cotton square flap envelope to pair with this invitation. We kept the lining of the envelope very simple - it's a light metallic solid-colored liner in a shade similar to the paper we used for the invites and envelopes. I love how this gives Rachel's envelopes an extra hint of elegance without being too decorative. The metallic in the liner paper gives off just a little bit of shimmer when you hold the envelope open in different light. I love how it adds just a little bit to the overall package without being "too much".

Here are Rachel & Joseph's reply card and reply card envelope:

These are a 4bar size, also printed on Crane Lettra Ecru paper and envelopes with gold ink and blind embossing. We utilized the same decorative gold frame and blind embossing for the reply card and kept the usage of several different, elegant fonts consistent with the invitation in this design.

Very pretty, don't you think?!? I love the little heart flourish we came up with for the bottom of this card and for the bottom of the invite. Rachel and Joseph's replies were going to be received by Rachel's mom in Deltona, Florida, so we letterpress printed her address on the front of the reply card envelopes.

Rachel wanted a really simple set of thank you cards that kept with the elegance of her invitation suite.

For these, we switched things up just a bit and instead of blind embossing the vertical lines like we did on the invitation and reply card, we blind embossed the decorative border instead. We printed Rachel & Joseph's names in gold ink in the center of the blind embossed border in one of our decorative fonts from the invitation. I like how these cards don't have to be specifically used as thank you cards since they don't say "thank you" anywhere on them. Rachel and Joseph could also use them for other correspondence after their wedding if they have extras left over. This card was also paired with a 4bar, Crane Lettra, ecru, square flap envelope. Check out the pair together here:

Rachel was an absolute joy to work with and I know that her wedding in Florida this January is going to be very elegant and beautiful!

Congratulations Rachel & Joseph!