Matchbook notebook giveaway at NSS

Our collaborative giveaway this year at NSS is a matchbook-style notebook. Sponsored by Legion Paper (letterpress paper suppliers extraordinaire) and organized by Amber at Flywheel Press, those walking the show can wander and collect the full set of originally designed and letterpress printed notebooks, complete with a spiffy carrying case.

Our matchbook design features the new Amsterdam cityscape, which is also available on our brand, spanking new notebooks, available for wholesale order at the show.

Start your collection at booth #2042 with Albertine Press!

p.s. our "extras" will be available to non-industry folk at our craft fair appearances until they're gone.

Hello May!

We've been MIA on the blog lately, but there's been no shortage of news and excitement at the studio - our notebooks were featured on the Today Show earlier this week, we're working hard to design a fabulous new product for a great museum, and we're completely awash in wedding season.

But now it's time to turn our attention to the annual National Stationery Show in New York City. We're heading down next week to set up our booth with Carta, Inc where we'll show our new cityscape journals to the stationery world, as well as debut our 2012 holiday cards (yes, holiday season begins in May). Industry folk, stop by and say hi one aisle over from our usual location in booth #2012.

We'll try to feature these guys in more detail soon, but for the meantime, here's a snapshot of what's been keeping us all away from the social scene lately:

 

From top left: holiday cards, dads & grads, cityscape journals, coastal map save the dates, celtic wedding invites, office reorganization, sleigh bells ring, train ticket inspired save the dates, NSS matchbook notepad giveaway, double happiness wedding invitations, the full matchbook notepad.

Seacoast Weddings - Team Pink

Seacoast Weddings Team Pink was all about fun, sweet fun. Quite literally - candy elements (figurative and literal) were sprinkled throughout, like the pink(!) vintage cotton candy machine.

I don't know where Heather found this vintage candy sign, but it paired perfectly with the pink rock-candy-filled box that housed the letterpress lollipop escort cards mounted onto pink swizzle sticks. And please, those little bride and groom toys-cum-cake-toppers?

The other theme the emerged was the dots - dot cookies, dot runners, dot invitations, dot candy decoration on the wedding cake. I don't recall whether this dot love seat was brought in or happened to be on location, but I think the bride behind the window and dot couch is my favorite from the shoot with the striking pink/white/black color combo. [full disclosure, the wall was actually bright red, but I photoshoped it pink because come on, how perfect is that!]

As a complement to the dots theme of the day, I went with a pink version of our dots invitation suite. Fun and sweet, it perfectly captured the spirit of the event. And how about that table setting? Love the dotted fabric accent on the table runner, and the little collections of pink flowers with singing golden accents in the white milk vases.

flower girl provided by Albertine Press

I'll also take credit for the cuteness of the flower girl. I dragged poor Sadie along for the ride and I like to think she had some fun being a pretend flower girl for half an hour. It was also my only opportunity to get her into this adorable pink dress I had hanging in the closet (no other weddings or holidays during this size-season). She rocked it! The floral headband was a gift from a fellow exhibitor at the Stationery Show, whose name I unfortunately can't remember.

I admit that I'm really not much of a pinky-pink girl, and pink as a wedding theme has the potential to be saccharine and over the top, but if you're going to do it to the max it has the potential to be truly joyful and fun, which Team Pink absolutely succeeded in doing.

Love it? Here are the credits:

Photography by Linday Flanagan Photography :: Flowers and design by Heather Caron Floral Design :: Stationery by Albertine Press :: Cake and dessert table by Wild Orchid Baking Company

Seacoast Weddings - Team Purple

 

Team Purple, in the Seacoast Weddings shoot, was all about glam. There were feathers, crystals, chandelier-esque tiers of cupcakes, rivers of orchids, all working together to make a bold yet romantic statement.

We went with our Brocade design for the invitations in a rich purple paired with silver text. Individual details from the invitation were used on the escort cards, to resemble little hanging crystals themselves, and were hung from, yes, lines of crystal beading.

I can imagine this kind of wedding taking place in an old castle, it just feels very over-the-top in a regal, fairy tale way.

Team Purple Credits:
Photography by Leah Haydock Photography :: Flowers and design by Pepperberrys Flowers :: Stationery by Albertine Press :: Cake and cupcakes by Wild Orchid Baking Company

Seacoast Weddings - Team Orange

Last June we participated in an amazing photo shoot for Seacoast Weddings Magazine. Curated by florist and event planner extraordinaire, Kate Parker, eight teams pulled together a wedding style shoot based on a particular color theme. Each team consisted of a florist/planner, photographer, pastry chef, and invitation designer. The magazine is online and in newsstands now.

Albertine Press designed and printed invitations, menus and escort cards for three of the teams and I want to share both our spreads as well as some of my favorite images that didn't make the magazine.

Team Orange used a vibrant, circular floral motif throughout, accented gorgeously in gold. I can't believe how perfectly all of the various elements came together, like the gold floral place mats which meshed so beautifully with Erin's cake appliqué and the block print pattern on the envelope liners. All of the decorative flowers on the cake are edible as well as stunning!

For the invitations and escort cards we harked back to a floral motif we created for our 2011 calendar, which just fit perfectly. We'd never used it for an invitation before but I'm excited to offer it to brides in the future.

Friends and family may recognize names in the escort cards - I had to generate a full guest list of names for the wedding and dug deep into my memory (classmates from kindergarten, folks who work down the hall, studio members, friends).

Inspired by Orange? Love the details? Here are the credits for Team Orange:

Photography by Kate McElwee Photography :: Florals/Design by New Leaf Flores :: Stationery by Albertine Press :: Cake by Wild Orchid Baking Company

Models: Catherine Lee, Chantal Marquis & Charlotte Cheshire :: Hair by Lena, hair That Moves :: Makeup by Jana Lamas

Linens/plates/chargers/silverware/decorative gold cut out mats - Bloomingdales Chestnut Hill :: Gold lace earrings, gold lace bracelet from Stella + Dot via Kate Parker :: Bridal gowns, bridesmaid dresses by Flair Boston :: Orange hat by Anthropologie :: All other accessories + jewelry by Salmagundi

The Past Indicative

Digging into the pile of print, here is a gorgeous collaboration we did with Angela Liguori. We printed her beautiful design in a sepia ink, which was then completed with the addition of a vintage stamp on each one. These calling cards are truly unique!

In fact, Marsha loved them so much that she reordered within weeks.

Seen in the wild - Gracie Finn

Lately we've done some printing for the fabulous lady duo behind the new collection from Gracie Finn. Owner Martha Field and illustrator Susy Pilgrim Waters collaborated to create a darling collection of postcards, greeting cards, gift tags, onesies and more based on Susy's playful calligraphy.

This past weekend I dropped by Gracie Finn (the store) to see some of the finished work out in the wild! The displays look great and I'm delighted to hear that the cards have met with fabulous reception.

From their site: "Overcome with creativity they started writing... Inspiration a jaunty Spare Spry but feisty wistful playful elegant collaboration." Brava!

Visit Gracie Finn in Boston's South End or see Susy at the Squam Art Fair this weekend in scenic New Hampshire.

Making beautiful music together

Last year I was approached to produce a leterpress silhouette of a couple to be used in making a beautiful wedding album for them as a gift. While we had the plates on the press we also printed a set of notecards for the couple.



The print was inset into the album cover and this is the stunning result. The binding was done by Wendy Withrow of Windy Weather Bindery (say that three times fast).



Beautiful work, Wendy! And thanks to Jourdan for thinking of us for the collaboration.

Stationery Show preview

As we finish up our preparation for the Stationery Show next week, I wanted to give everyone a little preview of what's new.

Our two big features are the introduction of over 15 new designs in our popular Lines series, and the debut of our new Jet Set collection of note cards.



We're delighted to announce that the Jet Set cards have been chosen as part of the Best New Product display at the show this year and we can't wait to show them off!

We've also added several new Marisa cards including these bathtub prints.



In addition to our own work, this year I headed up a collaboration of several small design and print studios to produce a limited-edition book and series of prints as a promotion for the Stationery Show. This year the group consists of Albertine Press, Linda & Harriett, Spruce Avenue and Two Trick Pony.



We chose Lewis Carroll's "The Walrus and the Carpenter" with each studio creating one or more illustration plates for the poem, while I designed and produced the book structure. It's an accordion-fold pocket book, which neatly holds each card alongside the stanzas which it illustrates.



In order to complete the full set, attendees at the show will need to visit each of our booths to collect the book and all of the illustration plates. If you'll be attending the show, please stop by (we're in #1934) and take a look!

I was so excited to receive the print samples from everyone this week. I feel pretty confident that they'll go fast, and I'm already eager to plan next year's "Small Studios, Big Ideas Print Production."

Now, if I can just make it through the next week...