Hey friends! Happily, I’m swamped with letterpress work – business cards, invitations, holiday orders, wholesale!

Unhappily my computer is giving me issues. With trying to launch some new goodies, get holiday listings updated in the shop and fulfilling the massive amounts of orders I have going on over the next few weeks, things will be sparse around here as I prepare to launch some small additives to the blog and complete the above list. Bear with me and come mid November I’ll be back with some new looking stuff and some SWEET giveaways!

As for right now, I need to put my time to current jobs going through the studio, and the biz to prep for what’s coming up next!!! Thanks for understanding and make sure you check back regularly (or follow me on twitter – button on the right) as there will still be tweets with shop updates and sneak peeks with what’s to come!

These letterpress calling cards shipped out this week to Joy and are a great way to get some simple contact cards in a small print run. Kathryn of Della Carta Calligraphy penns your name in calligraphy and then gives you the digital high-res file. Kathryn penned my name awhile back and I’ve already blazed through my first set of 50!

Sold as a set of 50 (you can get more if you’d like), they are letterpress printed 1 color on 110#/300 GSM paper and packed in a sturdy ClearBox for safe keeping in your purse, pocket or bag.

Today marks a day in history I often thought I wouldn’t make it to. 9 Years in marriage. As I think about the last nine years it’s hard to pinpoint any particular point in time. We’ve had the “itch” years (4 & 7), the honeymoon, everything in between. Death of a parent, stroke, heart stents, diabetes, toxemia, vacations, power outages (lots), building a home, starting a business, buying a business, school, marriage counselors, and more – mind you not in that order just a random jumble of things.

As I think about our 9 years together, and my nine years as a young adult, there are so many overflowing emotions that I am filled with and yet have no idea how to express them.

I’m a counter by nature and when we got married I counted (when the days got rough) how old I’d be when I was married for a 1/3 of my life. That seemed like a large milestone to me and something to reach for. Being a young married person, it was hard and still is to fathom a golden anniversary, so I settled on a much smaller goal. 1/3, I could do 1/3. And here I am at 1/3.

I am 27. I was married at 18. In a backwards sort of way here is my history before I got married.

1982, Birth.
1984, Glasses and eye surgery.
1987, Kindergarten.
1989, First art contest won on a school level.
1990-1996. Many state art contests later and then my first writing contest on a state level. 9th grade.
1987-1999. Ballet | Flute | Art my three talents I stuck to from K-11.
1998. Drivers License, 16.
1999. Graduation from High School, 16 (summer birthday – school got out early that year + early graduation).
Boys.
1999-2000. College freshman, 17. Boys.
2000. Marriage, 18.

Everyone, including my parents, thought I was nuts – that we were crazy. However although our parents thought one thing, they were led with their hearts by another and Brian and I set a date for October 20, 2000.

Some say don’t marry young, you miss out on so many opportunities. There were times I felt like I was missing out. But even after only 9 years down the road I know if given the second chance, I’d still make the same decision I did when I was 18.

In the last 9 years, I’ve driven 100,00 miles in a Toyota 4Runner, and 147,000 in a Honda Accord. Most commuting to and from college. I’ve gone to school, and received a BFA (2005), worked at 9 different jobs. I’ve given birth to 3 children, one with toxemia (2004), one with an epidural(2007), and one naturally (2009). We’ve lived with parents, and moved 4 times. I’ve started a business (2006), become a mother, and learned to be domestic (still learning). These days I give injections like any well trained nurse (2008).

I’ve lost my mind on numerous occasions (all the time;), and my poor vision and hearing are by-products of lame pregnancies, screaming children and a laptop.

Patience is a virtue that printing via the letterpress process has taught me (to a certain degree at least).

As I think about who I am as a person today, I can’t help but think about how my husband has supported me and helped shape me in these last 9 years. My husband has been there to cheer me on and help me up when I’m down. He’s supported every crazy idea I’ve ever had and has been there all along the way to help me achieve my goals. Through his love and friendship, I’ve become a strong woman and mother.

I can’t imagine these last 9 years without him. If I try to think what my life would be like in another aspect, I realize that I’ve erased the most trying yet happy memories of my existence.

I’m married to an enabler. Brian hasn’t been there to tell me what to do, he’s been there to empower me to do my own thing. I think selfishly I’ve taken more than I’ve contributed to this marriage, and I wonder how on earth such an amazing man could stand to live with me these last demanding 9 years – and then I think, “I guess I’ve developed a special talent at brain-washing!” Just kidding, what I mean to say is that I am a blessed woman to have Brian by my side and I only hope that in the end I’ve balanced things out by loving and supporting him along the way as much as he has loved me. Cheers to the last nine and hopefully the next 9 (in which I’ll then have met the 1/2 life mark)!

Happy 9th Anniversary, I’ve now been married for 1/3 of my life to the love of my life! Thanks for putting up with your crazy wife.

Michelle is a translator in Singapore and came to me in need of a letterpress business card to use with her services offered for translation in both traditional and simple Chinese. She wanted the cards to look professional, and reflect the quality work she had to offer. Requirements were that she didn’t want it to be too girly (ie, too much flowers) with simple typography, script for the name and possibly a monogram. Color schemes she wanted to explore were pink/brown and latte/brown. Below are the proofs for the first round!

These tags make me happy. At 1″ x 3″ with hole punch and 1/4″ chocolate ribbon, they are perfect for gifts this holiday season. Letterpress printed on SUPER THICK 220#/600 GSM in chocolate ink, they’ll add a substantial albeit mini touch to any recipient. Available in the shop, you’ll get a set of 6 letterpress tags (2 of each). Enjoy!

Here are more Traditional Dingbat notes I shipped out a little while ago. With three more orders of these going through the studio this week, this is climbing the charts as my hottest personalized item, and has the quickest personalization turnaround of 8-10 business days (from approval of proof).

I like these because the gift giver chose a dingbat that she wanted to double as an ampersand. If you check out the listing you can see other images of Traditional Dingbat in the thumbnails and customize yours with typeface (Goudy or Helvetica Neue), dingbat, and ink/envelope color. For +$15 I’ll print your envelopes too! The listing is for a set of 25, however I can do 50, 75 or 100 if you’d like. Get your order in before the holiday schedule gets too tight!

This is option 2 for Nicole and Chris, option 1 first shown here. This invitation design came about because Chris wanted to see how we could make a typographic invitation with flourishes work. Here’s an alternate layout with some calligraphic examples of flourish and border that was popular during the time-period. Layout is non-traditional in that there are large and small variations of the border, however typography is kept simple and centered on a horizontal format.

Sandra came to me awhile back with a need for contact/business cards for her new etsy store. She already had a design and I was her letterpress printer of choice. This card was different in that she had a brush stroke scan that we wanted to print as close as possible to the original.

For letterpress, this required the artwork to be altered in photoshop to a bitmap and then a halftone linescreen. My plate maker (BOXCAR PRESS) recommended a linescreen of 100. They can go all the way up to 150 lpi, however advised that even an expert printer would have to be very cautious with inking so as to not flood the plate. So I stuck with the 100 lpi. This turns your gray-scale image into a tiny dot-gain pattern which them comprises the whole image when printed. I was really nervous printing these cards as the last time I printed a linescreen was a few years back. Never mind my paranoia, I think they turned out quite nice and have now gotten really excited to work more with photography and letterpress!

Back to Sandra, she is a fashion illustrator from Spain and does some amazing work. She really works the medium and as a result, these beautiful works come out of her.

Here we have Eve | Adrienne | McQueen – naturally I had to buy my namesake, now I just need to figure out where I want it to go. If Evelyn was old enough to understand the importance of having her own bathroom, I’d get a few of these to frame and put in there, luckily she’s only 3. Thanks Sanrda for the great opportunity, I’m a huge fan of your work! For more of her gorgeous portfolio check out her website here, I’m just barely skimming the surface.

If you’d like some business or contact cards of your own, I generally do all orders custom and would love to work with you! Click to see more cards that I’ve done and their corresponding design proofs!

I recently found this lovely shop on Etsy and am in love! A Fanciful Twist, outstanding creations by Vanessa capture every whim and fancy of my prima-ballerina days. And if that isn’t enough, then check out her amazing flickr stream here.

What, what’s that????? You have a question?????? I won’t be answering my monitor so just check her out – aren’t these felt balls electrifying?

So I have this internet friend. Lisa, from Pen & Ink Calligraphy. Also of the Pen & Ink Journal.

Forever ago she ordered some of my Poppy Mini Enclosures and Aster place cards to do some calligraphy samples on, and since then I’ve enjoyed seeing what she can do with my goods. I SO wish I had the talent for a beautiful penned hand, but alas I don’t so I just send her bags of goodies to write on instead!

As I was checking her blog I realized it has been a little while because there was a new look and feel to it:

If you click on her image above you’ll be directed to her blog where yes she WRITES her own blog posts. The first thing I thought was “dang. that is one awesome looking handwritten font.” then I thought, “wait, web fonts don’t do that” followed by third “marketing genius” for a calligrapher. What a fabulous way to showcase and practice her work. This is such a different approach and so soft on the eyes vs. reading all the billions of serifed letters.

Way to make it your own Lisa! Go check it out, you might want to do it for yourself it’s just so great!

Amy came to me needing some tags/bookmarks for a 3mile she was participating in on October 3rd. She is a scientist and wanted something sophisticated, clean and needed it to reflect work and research that was being done to further find a cure for breast cancer. These were to be passed out during the walk so we got to work coming up with designs. Here were some preliminary design proofs that were pushed around. Finding an appropriate quote proved tough though as she had a specific message she wanted to convey. We all know someone who has been effected by breast cancer – my mom found breast lumps at age 27. My friend found lumps at 24. Another friend I had during college was diagnosed in her mid-twenties.

Finally after a few rounds of samples and designs she came up with the saying “With a little hard work, we can make our own miracles.” I think this fits so many areas of application -  though science, faith and courage we really can make our own miracles even if they aren’t the ones we anticipate in the beginning. These tags turned out being one of my favorite sets I’ve printed yet.

Chris came to me after feeling too much pressure to create his own announcements for his wedding (he’s a designer too) and needed some outside help with getting it right. The brief behind the event was that it needed to reflect Victorian as the wedding was dominantly following that era. It was a Christmas wedding with all things you can imagine of a typical Victorian Christmas. Sleighs, snowflakes, vintage illustrations, amazing historical mansion, you name it – if it was going to be Victorian, elegant and spectacular – they had thought of it. Below is one of the proofs explored. This was a traditional vertical layout with the emphasis on the silhouetted initial. Another dominant design element used in Victorian publications and invitations of the time period, this is the most minimalist of the three proofs presented. This one didn’t make the cut but I just had to show how beautiful the ornamentation was on the initial. Color scheme:

In wrapping up autumn week I thought I’d show you this experiment with edge painting. I know there are a few processes, all of which seem tedious. I recently happened upon someone who had mentioned they like to use a stamp pad/ink pad to achieve this effect so I thought I’d give it a go.

With the Lettra paper, it seemed to give great coverage on the sides however absorbed pretty quickly into the paper and onto the front. As you can see on the fanned cards, there is a little bleed that carries through to the front. The bane of every edge painters existence. I think with these cards it looks great as it adds a nice distressed element however don’t think I’ll be trying that technique on invitations any time soon.

If you’d like to score a set of 10 of these, comment to win!

The GOODS: 1 set of 10, 3×5″ cards paired with red envelopes.
Letterpress printed in black ink. Edge painted with red ink.

1 comment per person, randomly selected sometime Sunday October 3rd. Good luck!

UPDATED! Congrats KATY! Lucky number 13.