Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Sleeping French Bulldog Calendar
The other day I got a little surprise in the mail. Margaret, sent me the 2012 Sleeping French Bulldog Calendar! I blogged about it last year but hadn't been able to find it anywhere. But Margaret found it at Urban Outfitters this year. I absolutely love it and it was the perfect gift... thank you so much, Mar!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Downsizing
One of my absolute favorite paper/card/gift stores in the city Is Kate's Paperie. However, I recently discovered that Kate's Paperie has shut down all of it's NYC locations and re-opened a small flagship store in SoHo. It turns out that Kate's has run into some financial trouble according to this article by Crain's New York. Apparently sales have dropped as much as 50 percent since 2007 due to online competition by websites such as Etsy. This makes me really sad, especially since my dream is to have my own stationery store. I guess it's impossible to compete with cheaper vendors who don't have high rent costs. And I while I still think stationery is valid in this world of email and text, I'm not sure if most people appreciate the $5 letterpress card. What do you think? Are stationery stores a dying breed? Do you frequent them often or do you buy all of your stationery online? Is price a factor or do you make your decisions based on quality of design? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
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Thursday, June 23, 2011
Minted
A friend of mine recently asked if I knew where to buy some cute monogrammed or personalized stationery. I immediately checked my "Stationery" bookmarks folder (what? doesn't everyone have one of those?) and came across Minted. For those of you unfamiliar with Minted, it's an online stationery store that sells paper goods from independent designers. They have a great selection of personalized stationery and I'm blown away by the talent of all the graphic designers. Here are a few of my favorites:
Monday, June 20, 2011
So Stylish
Love these new charcoal and gold greeting cards by Rifle Paper Co. The color combination is fabulous!
(Found via Truly Smitten)
Set of 4 assorted "Hello" Cards, $18
(Found via Truly Smitten)
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Brooke's Shower Invitations
Here are some bridal shower invitations that I made for a friend. My friend described the bride as "preppy with a little Lily Pulitzer in her" so I tried to make these fit her personality as much as possible. You can never go wrong with pink and green! And of course, we had to have envelopes with matching liners.
Congratulations Brooke, I hope you have a fabulous shower!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Letterpress 90th Birthday Invitations
I'm excited to share with you a project that I recently completed for one of my favorite clients. She asked me to create the invitations to her grandmother's 90th birthday celebration. Her grandmother is an amazing woman, very active and full of life, so I wanted the invitations to reflect her vibrant personality. I designed the invitation in InDesign and then I had it created into a photopolymer plate. I then letterpressed them onto Crane's 110lb. Lettra cardstock at The Arm. I'm really pleased with the way they turned out!
I also created matching address and return labels and lined each envelope with two different letterpress prints. The envelope liners added that extra special touch.
I also created matching address and return labels and lined each envelope with two different letterpress prints. The envelope liners added that extra special touch.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Frenchie Goods
I've stumbled across some really cute Frenchie stationery lately. I love this adorable calendar found here but unfortunately it's sold out. I'll have to be on the lookout for the 2012 calendar.
And how cute are these Frenchie notecards by Fat Bunny Press? There are several different versions and I'm in love with them all!
And how cute are these Frenchie notecards by Fat Bunny Press? There are several different versions and I'm in love with them all!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
New Business Cards
After taking my letterpress class at The Arm in October, I was determined to make my own letterpress business cards. I finally got around to making them last month and I'm really pleased with the way they turned out!
I rented studio time using a Vandercook SP-15 to make my prints. I designed my business card layout in InDesign and then submitted it to Boxcar Press so that they could turn it into a photopolymer plate. The photopolymer plate is created in the reverse of your design with the raised portion being the part that makes the indent in the paper. You'll notice part of my design has been cut away because I wanted to create a two color business card.
The Vandercook inked up and ready to go.
Here is the print, hot off the press. You'll see that it's only half complete because when you do two colors you need to run it through the machine twice. After the first run, you clean off the blue ink from the machine and then add the second half of your photopolymer design, re-ink the machine with the second color and run the paper through again. It's a tedious process but well worth it to get the two color design.
Here is the two color design of my business cards but the "bean" in my design isn't quite centered. I had to re-adjust my paper and to get it to print correctly.
The finished print, 8 cards to the 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper.
I took a (blurry) picture of my friend Caroline printing on her Vandercook. I helped her design her calling cards and I love the way they came out! The color and geometric patterns really make them pop!
After cutting my cards out using my crop mark guidelines and rounding the corners with my corner rounder, these are the finished cards. My only complaint is that the green is slightly more yellow than I would have liked. I had to mix inks to create the green that I wanted and it was a little bit harder than expected. Regardless, I absolutely love them!
I love the texture and feel of the paper (bought, where else, at Paper Presentation) and the lovely, deep impression of my design, thanks to the Vandercook Press and my photopolymer plate. I'm officially hooked!
I rented studio time using a Vandercook SP-15 to make my prints. I designed my business card layout in InDesign and then submitted it to Boxcar Press so that they could turn it into a photopolymer plate. The photopolymer plate is created in the reverse of your design with the raised portion being the part that makes the indent in the paper. You'll notice part of my design has been cut away because I wanted to create a two color business card.
The Vandercook inked up and ready to go. 
Here is the print, hot off the press. You'll see that it's only half complete because when you do two colors you need to run it through the machine twice. After the first run, you clean off the blue ink from the machine and then add the second half of your photopolymer design, re-ink the machine with the second color and run the paper through again. It's a tedious process but well worth it to get the two color design.
Here is the two color design of my business cards but the "bean" in my design isn't quite centered. I had to re-adjust my paper and to get it to print correctly.
The finished print, 8 cards to the 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper.
I took a (blurry) picture of my friend Caroline printing on her Vandercook. I helped her design her calling cards and I love the way they came out! The color and geometric patterns really make them pop!
After cutting my cards out using my crop mark guidelines and rounding the corners with my corner rounder, these are the finished cards. My only complaint is that the green is slightly more yellow than I would have liked. I had to mix inks to create the green that I wanted and it was a little bit harder than expected. Regardless, I absolutely love them!
I love the texture and feel of the paper (bought, where else, at Paper Presentation) and the lovely, deep impression of my design, thanks to the Vandercook Press and my photopolymer plate. I'm officially hooked!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Wiley Valentine
I just discovered Wiley Valentine today (via my husband*) and I'm smitten with their beautiful stationery. Their designs are so unique and intricate and I love that they letterpress the envelopes as well so the outside is just as beautiful as the card inside. Below are some of my favorites:
"Peonie Thank You"
"Think We Should"
"Happy Birthday"
"Keep Snail Mail Alive"
"Thinking of You"
Check out their blog for some well designed, lovely inspiration and click here for an insightful Q&A with one of the founders, Rachelle Schwartz. (*Thanks to my hubby for sending this article to me. He's always looking out for my best interest!)
"Peonie Thank You"
"Think We Should"
"Happy Birthday"
"Keep Snail Mail Alive"
"Thinking of You"Tuesday, November 23, 2010
My Picks for 2011 Calendars
It's my favorite time of year again... calendar shopping time! It's never too early to start picking out your 2011 calendars. Here are some of my top picks:
The pretty letterpress Limited Edition Calendar by Parrott Design Studio, $30.00 (Each month was beautifully hand calligraphed by Li Ward of Fat Orange Cat Studio)
The artistic watercolor Bouquet Calendar perfect for a sunny kitchen by Ling Chang, $29.00 One of my readers clued me into this beauty... thanks Ann!
This great standby, the Vintage Travel Poster Calendar by Cavallini & Co., $21.95 For years I've been buying and cutting out the pages to use as wall art.
And finally, you can't go wrong with any calendar by Snow and Graham. I personally love them! From $14.00 to $95.00
The pretty letterpress Limited Edition Calendar by Parrott Design Studio, $30.00 (Each month was beautifully hand calligraphed by Li Ward of Fat Orange Cat Studio)
The artistic watercolor Bouquet Calendar perfect for a sunny kitchen by Ling Chang, $29.00 One of my readers clued me into this beauty... thanks Ann!
This great standby, the Vintage Travel Poster Calendar by Cavallini & Co., $21.95 For years I've been buying and cutting out the pages to use as wall art.
And finally, you can't go wrong with any calendar by Snow and Graham. I personally love them! From $14.00 to $95.00
