things are better with a parrott

Stationery for the Newly Wed

For the newly, & nearly, wed, it is always important to have stationery on hand for the ever-important thank you notes.  A hand-written thank you note is not only appreciated when it comes to engagement, shower, & wedding gifts, it is necessary.  Etiquette on when to send thank you notes is a little scattered.  The popular belief is the bride & groom have one year to send thank you notes, because guests have the same amount of time to send a gift.  According to Emily Post, all thank you notes should be written within three months of the receipt of the gift.  If it were up to Ms. Post, you would write a thank you note on the same day {this may sound like crazy talk, but Rich & I went to his Aunt & Uncle's 50th Anniversary on Saturday night & we received a thank you note on Tuesday.  Just saying...}.
If you are getting married, stay on top of your thank you notes & try to send one when you receive this gift.  Stay organized by keeping a list of guests at each event where you may receive gifts {an engagement party, shower, the wedding...} & have someone record what you received as you open the gifts {as my sister's maid-of-honor, I did this at her shower}.  Once you send the thank you note, check them off.  I think it is also nice to write a note to guests you did not receive gifts from, but attended & helped celebrate.
Other people who should receive a thank you note includes your attendants, anyone who hosted a party or shower for you, people who help to entertain out-of-town guests, others who lent a helping hand before, during, or after your wedding, & any of your suppliers or vendors that went above & beyond. 

Be sure to personalize your note, writing their names & the gift they gave you & how you plan to use it.  If it is before the wedding, be sure to add how excited you are to celebrate with them or if it is after the wedding, tell them how much it meant to have them there. 

As you can see from all the examples above, thank you notes do not have to match your wedding invitation suite {though that is very nice!}.  Customized notes can say anything from "Thank you", your new last name {if that may be the case}, or initials, or something more creative.  The bottom custom set happens to be for Rich & myself.  The letters of our first names are next to each other in the alphabet, so I did a blind deboss of the letters before "R" & part of "T" after "S" & I printed "RS" in sage green to coordinate with one of our wedding colors.  We have only received one gift from my aunts & uncles, but we stand ready to write!  I am determined to stay on top of our thank yous.  As more gifts come in & I get a little behind, I am going to set a goal of writing them each Sunday night. 

Now of course you may not be getting married, but custom stationery makes the perfect gift for the newlyweds in your life...or yourself!

Rustic Elegance at the Barn

Mary & Bobby are planning a happy & homespun wedding on Mary's family's farm in a charming little town in Texas.  Mary commissioned Betsy Dunlap to handletter the entire wedding invitation, RSVP, return address, as well as a few words for the map.  Betsy's lettering is perfect for this rustic barn wedding - organic & relaxed with loads of charm!  I designed the custom map of the town & included the locations where various events are happening.  I found vintage images of a barn, church, & house & paired them with Betsy's words.  On the RSVP the little blue bird couple make an appearance for a sweet little touch.  The three pieces were parceled together with some natural twine & embellished with a little round tag featuring a little blue nest, symbolizing the new life the couple will be starting together.  The entire invitation suite is just adorable & loved having the opportunity to work Mary, who had such a vision for her suite, as well Betsy, whose work I love.  The invitation was screenprinted in chocolate brown & wedgewood blue inks on soft, 100% cotton paper in Pearl.  For a final rustic touch, the suite was sent in 100% recycled brown kraft envelopes {my favorites, as we know!}. 

I will be back to my my semi-regular posting this week.  Sometimes when you go on vacation, even for a few days, it takes a little time to get back into the swing of things.  But the press has been humming & I will be rolling out the remainder of my holiday goods in the next week or so, along with a super sweet project I have been working on with my sister!  

Paloma's Nest Business Cards

Hello, October!  I recently had the great privilege to work with Caroline, the talented owner & designer of Paloma’s Nest.  Caroline strives to create modern heirlooms that will be cherished for generations, most notably her ring bearer bowl.  Each piece is hand cut, free form, with no pattern, giving each piece its own variation in the size, shape, & layout of the text.  I love that you can see her hand in each piece, making each one unique.  Though she works with clay & I work with paper, I believe we have a very similar aesthetic & artistic process, which is one of the many reasons why I am so drawn to her work.  That & I just love her work!

Caroline worked with Creative Shift Design for the design of her new business cards, which came out so lovely!  Caroline wanted the impression on the cards to mimic the look of her stamped ceramic work so I letterpress printed them on super-thick 220 lb. 100% cotton paper in fluorescent white.  I hand-fed each of the 1,000 cards through my press three times – once for the nest & eggs, which is a deep blind-deboss {no ink}, second for the website in gold ink, & third for the remainder of the text in black ink.  The cards were 3 x 2.5” in size, making them a more unique, squared size than standard business cards.  Once the printing was complete & I held one of the cards in my hand, I truly felt like I was holding a mini-piece of art.  These are the kind of business cards people will keep for a long time, I have no doubt! 

Caroline debuted the 2009 Paloma’s Nest Holiday collection today, & I have already added a few of her pieces to my holiday shopping list!

 

I will be back tomorrow with some studio updates including a peek at my 2010 letterpress calendar set to be in my shop by next week!

A New York Fête

Hello!  Happy Friday!  I was without the internet for most of the day & I have been waiting to post these invitations.  As some of you may have guessed, I had the great honor of printing the lettering of the ever-talented Betsy Dunlap.  I tell you, I get quite a thrill out of printing hand-drawn artwork & hand lettering!  But let us start from the beginning of this design process.

Rae, the super creative Art Historian & bride, initially contacted me to do her save the dates {okay, so that is the only pic I took of them, but they kind of looked like these}.  Once those were complete she sent me a folder full of wonderful & inspiring photos including arrangements by Saipua, work of her favorite artists, & one image entitled "calligraphy."  I took one look & knew it was Betsy's lettering.  After viewing Rae's images I could see she was going for a very organic, flowing look, & I knew she had to work with Betsy.  And she did!  

The invitations were a true collaborative effort for all three of us.  Betsy did the lettering for Rae & her fiance, Noah's, names along with their return address, the RSVP address, & the words "RSVP", & "Directions."  Once that was complete I set the remainder of the type for the invitation, RSVP, & directions.  Before printing I hand-lined the back of the invitations & direction cards with some wonderful paper Rae sourced.  This surprise element brought color & pattern to the entire suite.  The invitation was letterpress printed on super thick 220 lb. cotton Lettra paper in Pearl.  The RSVP & direction card were screen printed on coordinating 110 lb. paper.  The envelopes were coordinating lettra paper & I had a rubber stamp made of their return address so Rae could do those herself.  Betsy hand-lettered each of the envelopes & Rae was so kind as to have Betsy do one for me! 

I loved working on this wedding invitation suite as it was quite decadent, but there were a few creative ways we minimized paper & costs.  I believe many couples feel letterpress is out of reach & while sometimes it is, there are ways to still have it by only letterpress printing the invitation.  It is the main piece of the suite & the piece most guests are likely to keep.  Printing in only one color helps keep the cost down as well.  I recommend adding color by lining the back of the invitation, the inside of the envelope, or having a colored envelope.  The RSVP & direction card were screen printed in one color which is less expensive than letterpress.  The RSVP was also a postcard, cutting out the extra cost & paper of the envelope.  Instead of me printing the return address on the main envelope, I had a rubber stamp made for Rae & she stamped away!  

Well, can you tell 1.  I am excited about these; 2.  I hope I can letterpress more like these; 3.  Would you like me to print you some like these?; 4.  Why yes, I would love to; & 5.  Yay, weekend! 

Catch you next week!

Rustic Vineyard Wedding Invitations

Hello!  I do say I have been very fortunate to work on some seriously lovely designs as of late.  The bride, Heidi, is a wind power analyst {awesome!} & her fiance is a helicopter pilot.  They wanted a design evocative of a rustic vineyard in the Blue Ridge Mountains during Autumn.  The wedding is taking place outdoors where they would be surrounded by the bright yellows, oranges, & reds of the changing leaves.  We decided instead of going for the obvious vineyard theme {grapes} or Autumn colors {yellow, orange, & red}, we would go for rustic florals in a cool, mono-toned palette of deep navy blue.  Being eco-friendly was important for the couple so the invitations were gocco screenprinted on 100% cotton Lettra paper in Pearl & the envelopes were 100% recycled brown kraft paper.  I love the little floral detail of the return address on the envelope!  The RSVPs were a double-sided postcard.  The front of the RSVP came out beautifully with the full floral design.  I am happy Heidi liked using the little motifs for the meal choices.  It adds a bit of whimsy to the elegant design. 

I will be back before the weekend with one more wedding invitation.  I am so, SO excited to share it with you!

Palm Tree Rehearsal Dinner Invitation

Happy first of September!  Let's talk about palm trees, shall we?  Marisa, the bride, was a fan of Miss Bruschetta's rehearsal dinner invitations so I began the design from there.  Marisa was inspired by vintage postcards of palm trees on the beach, so I used a vintage palm tree image on the invitation.  Her colors are orange, yellow, & green, but we decided to use just orange & green on creamy Lettra paper in pearl.  The invitations are square & were gocco printed. 

I really love that couples are interested in sending invitations for their rehearsal dinners, & not just as an after-thought.  Rehearsal dinners are often an integral part of what is now becoming the "wedding weekend."  Carrying your theme throughout all of paper pieces for your wedding keeps the look of your wedding cohesive & consistent {did I ever mention my background is in marketing...?}.  Until tomorrow...

Saturday Stamps

 
My little collection of vintage bird stamps from various countries.

Seaside Wedding & a Collaboration

I recently had the great opportunity to collaborate with Jen of Swallowfield on wedding invitations for her cousin.  I am a huge fan of Jen's work & own a few of her prints {this is one of my favorites} so I was quite honored to work with her.  The wedding is taking place this Fall in Newburyport, Massachusetts, a little town on the Merrimack River near the Atlantic.  Mary, the bride, wanted a design inspired by Fall, community, & the sea.  Jen's drawing is full of amazing details including little houses, flowers, & a sailboat.  I want to live in one of those houses!  Once Jen completed the drawing she turned it over to me.  I used the entire drawing on the invitation & set the type.  I extracted a few details from the drawing for the other pieces in the suite.  I used a single flower on the RSVP & two little houses on a flower for the return address, which was on the backside of the RSVP to make it a postcard & the back flap of the envelope.  I really love that Mary went for the orange & gray palette, instead of blue as one may assume for seaside wedding.  I hope she uses love stamps! 

Jen & I had so much fun working on this invitation & hope we have the opportunity to do it again soon.  If you want beautiful handdrawn & handprinted wedding invitations, let us know.

Happy weekend!  We had grand plans of camping, but all of these storms have changed our minds.  I am hoping to sneak in a little beach time tomorrow afternoon. 

Saturday Stamps

A Juicy Rehearsal Dinner Invite

Hellooo summer!  I am loving these freshly-squeezed invitations for Margot & Chris.  Margo, aka Miss Bruschetta {I love the Hive!} was looking for a romantic, summery, & decidedly culinary-inspired invitation for their Rehearsal dinner.  Their wedding colors are {as you may have guessed} a bright, citrus orange & a vibrant violet.  We decided to go monochromatic on the invitation, keeping it clean & crisp.  Margot loved the various fonts I used on my sister's wedding shower invitations, so I decided to use some similar ones on their invitation.  The invitations are 5 x 5", gocco printed on 100% cotton Lettra paper in Pearl with coordinating envelopes.  Mmm...makes me crave a mimosa {even though it beyond brunch time}!