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.

Moody moody

I don't think I've ever made a mood board before, but collages are fun. After putting together this little spread of things we've printed, things that inspire and other ephemera, I decided it still wasn't quite done. So I added some drawing. And Sadie added her hand.

Letter perfect

Earlier this week I received the loveliest piece of mail! Some of my favorite clients, Danielle and Ben, were kind enough to send me a copy of their completed invitation sets.

The jaw-droppingly gorgeous calligraphy is by Pier Gustafson. I love the string and the seal that they used to tie together the invitations. The couple is getting married in Mexico, so we used a simple agave motif throughout (they even used it on the seal, and found vintage stamps to match).

The beautiful idea behind the invitation was to send it as a letter to their friends and family. That personal touch combined with all of the vintage-inspired styling turned an ordinary invitation into something really spectacular.

Thanks for sharing and congratulations to you both!

Brooklyn Bride

We just finished up some lovely Brooklyn-themed invitations for a couple getting married at Bubby's Pie Company, in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge.



The couple came up with the fabulous idea of using a mad-lib of sorts for the reply card. It should garner some fun results!



For the final touch, I sourced some vintage Brooklyn Bridge stamps for the envelopes.



We'll actually be attending this wedding and can't wait!

I'm stuck on you

My love of stamps is no secret, so it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that I think the presentation of invitation envelopes is an important part of the whole package. I mean, why spend ages perfecting an invitation only to stick a flag stamp on it (military and fourth of July affairs aside).

Despite the frequent rate changes, the post office still has several good options for weddings and celebrations.



Although I recognize the extra work involved, there is perhaps nothing so special as a cloud of stamps decorating an envelope. If you're stamp savvy you can find your own collection of current or antique postage to collage. If not, don't fret! Bari Zaki and Chandra Greer of Greer Chicago have teamed up to create gorgeous envelopes with vintage stamps pre-affixed.



No extra postage necessary.

Lots cookin'

It has been a busy time here at the studio. We've wrapped up the summer wedding invitation season (nearly), held classes, hosted open studios, and all while trying for dear life to prepare for the National Stationery Show next weekend in New York City.

Thus the lapse in any kind of regular blogging.

So here goes a recap of the whirlwind of happenings:

Two weekends ago we welcomed six talented students for a second weekend Limited Edition Journal workshop with Angela Liguori. Everyone worked hard to create some really original typeset pages, and made great use of the brackets which were our second color and coordinating element amongst all of the pages.



Day two, Angela led everyone at a much more relaxed pace through the simple-yet-beautiful pamphlet stitched, hard-bound books. For more, visit here or here.



Next up. Last weekend we participated for the second year in Somerville Open Studios. After New York City, it's the largest open studios weekend in the country, with over 300 participating artists. That doesn't even count the "unofficial" ones, like E. B. Goodale, or Melissa Gruntkosky of Pressbound, both who exhibited in the studio with Albertine Press.



I love Pressbound's new series of mini books with art deco covers. It was a great find we made when trekking up to look at a press on the north shore. Melissa was smart enough to snatch up the batch of cuts and has put them to great use here.



Emily's prints are a charming as ever. I still need to get me a lonely violet print before they're gone. On a different note, Emily has a collection of animal figurines and every time she shows somewhere she brings a different set to use for her business card display. These horses made my day.



Of course for us, Open Studios was our first chance to display and sell some of our newest designs. So here they are, Jet Set:



If you know about my little stamp obsession, you might understand how completely thrilled I am at how these came out. In fact, they've been chosen as part of the National Stationery Show's Best New Product display! I'm still fine tuning the packaging - vinyl folders are easy and showcase four of the six designs, but not so classy. I'm leaning towards glassine envelopes - the kind you get your stamps in at the post office. How perfect?

I can't wait to share some more of the new cards and some pretty spectacular projects underway. Until then...