Blue Thank You Notes!

I can't believe it's April!! This year is flying, and I have no idea where March went. But I'm thinking that's a good thing, because spring is finally here in the Washington, DC area. And it's about time, because I am so looking forward to warmer weather and spring clothes!

I'm still playing catch up on posting all my letterpress goodies.  I made these blue letterpress thank you cards this past fall for my friend as thank you's for her engagement party.  This was my first time using a colored ink, yay!  I have nothing against black ink, but I just love the pop of color on bright white cards. I added these cute little trio of hearts on the envelope flap.  They turned out well, and I'm actually making her some more blue thank you cards for her! She is my best customer for sure!

Breakfast at Tiffany's Envelopes

These little beauties were mailed yesterday for an upcoming (fabulous!) Breakfast at Tiffany's themed bridal shower.  Going with the theme I wanted to spruce up the tiffany blue envelopes, so I drew on the white ribbons.  When I was done, my husband thought the envelopes were made like that!  Can't wait for the bridal shower, it's going to be a great event!

Valentine's Day Cards!

Happy Friday!! Good news, I'm really starting to figure out how to work my press now! In the beginning I was quite generous on the amount of ink I used (you can tell by the birthday card I made for my sister in one of my earlier posts), but lately, I've been getting it just right! 

For Valentine's Day, I made my husband a bunch of letterpress cards, and it was the first time I tried mixing my rubbber-based inks. It seems pretty simple in theory, but I tried mixing two different colors and it was a hit and a miss. The first color I was going for was a light purple (eh, it came out a little different than I imagined) and the second color I was going for was a light pink (this color came out great, loved it!)

I can't remember how many different cards I designed for him (I think 6?), but here are three I made. 

Oh, and I even printed a couple of these cute little "to and from" tags. They turned out really well too!  I printed some more of these tags in orange ink too and love them! I'm going to post pics of those in another post.

Alabama Graduation Announcements

This past December my sister graduated from the University of Alabama with a Bachelor of Science in Human Environmental Sciences. I'm so so so proud of her, and can't wait to see where her next chapter takes her!  I'm really hoping that she finds her dream job in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, so well, she can be closer to me and we can do all the fun sister stuff more often. 

For her graduation announcements I really wanted the design to focus on her, so her name is bold and sassy...just like her!  The announcements were digitally printed on 100% cotton paper with Alabma red ink and matching envelopes.  I incorporated Alabama's houndstooth as an envelope liner and they turned out great! I love envelope liners, they can really make the card design pop.

(At the request of the University of Alabama, these are not for sale.)

Orchid Engagement Invites!

Back in September duing a slow day at work, my friend (and coworker!) asked if I wouldn't mind designing her engagement party invitations.  I jumped at the chance, because I love all things paper.  So here they are!

I incorporated one her favorite flowers in the design, the orchid, and printed them with my new epson printer in pool blue ink on white 100% cotton paper.  I received a couple compliments on the invites at the engagement party, which was great!  My friend loved them so much, she even asked me to do her Save the Dates!! I'll be sharing those in a little bit, once everyone has received them! Even though, I'm fairly confident none of her guests read my blog, haha, just my sister!  Love you sissypants!!

Finally!

So here they are, my first couple prints with my letterpress!!  Yay! It's been quite the wait for them, huh?  I printed them right when I got back from Puerto Vallarta, but I have been so busy since then, that I'm just now finding time to get back to writing on my blog.  So without further ado, here they are!

My very first print was the birthday card for my sister.  It's far from perfect (I over inked my press ALOT) but I absolutely loved them, and so did my sister!  I printed a couple prints, and sent the best one to my sister.  Next up I printed flower stationery cards for my mom for Christmas and paired them with team envelopes.

A couple days later I printed thank you notes in black ink (this time with a much better amount of ink on my press!)  I sent two out - one to the couple I bought my press from and the second to John with Letterpress Things for all his help in getting me started.

My Press!

I've been meaning to write about my press - how I found it, trying it out, getting it, etc. - for some time now, but it's been a little hectic with Hurricane Sandy coming in to town. (On a side, but related, note - my husband and I, and our two pets faired the super storm well compaired to others in the DC area.  Our lights only flickered a couple times, and we only had a couple broken branches from our tree in our yard.) I wish a fast recovery to everyone affected by Sandy!

Let me preface and say that this post is a little longer than my usual posts.

I'll continue on with the story of my press where I last left off, which was with my "midnight idea" (which I had back in late July.) As I mentioned in a previous post, I took a letterpress class in early August. It was so much fun; I was hooked, and officially bitten by the letterpress bug.  After that, I wanted and needed to learn more.  I found all these great resources that tied my letterpress craving over till my next scheduled class.  One of those sites was Briar Press.  Oh my goodness, it is a wonderful site for those who love letterpress.  I spent most of my time browsing through the classifieds section, searching for any tabletop presses.  Pretty much the month of August was devoting to finding a press. From my research, I was on the hunt for a 6.5x10 C&P Pilot tabletop press.  I found a couple that interested me, but they were either too far away or had too much needed repairs for this novice to handle. I wasn't having any luck finding a C&P Pilot. But persistance is key!

I came across two 6.5x10 Craftsman Superior tabletop presses! (The Craftsman Superiors were modeled after the C&P Pilot presses.) The first one I came across was located in a small PA town, about 20 minutes from where I went to college - it needed new roller cores, the price was right, and appeared to be in good operating condition.  The other press I found was located in Brooklyn - it was out of my preferred price range, but came with a few supplies, and was in good operating condition. 

Letterpresses go fast.  If they are in good operating condition, they will not be on Briar Press for long.  I emailed both sellers, and luckily both presses were still available.  The Brooklyn press really interested me for some reason, however the seller said that he only sells his presses to those who get to try them out first. Fate was working its magic though, because my husband and I were taking a weekend trip to Montauk, which is on the opposite end of Brooklyn on Long Island, for a Disabled Sports USA event. 

As for the other press, fate was working its magic for that one as well.  My husband and I had tickets to the Penn State vs. Navy football game on September 15th. We figured we could go check out the other press then.

The week leading up to our Montauk trip, I was planning on how our weekend would pan out so that I could go see the press in Brooklyn.  On the way to the BWI airport, my husband and I were going over the pros and cons for each of the presses. Did I want to deal with new rollers with the PA press? Would that be too complicated?  Or did I want to spend close to $3,000 for the ready-to-use press from Brooklyn?  Before we even made it to the airport, I had my decision, which is actually quite a feat. I am HORRIBLE when it comes to making decisions.  I over analyze nearly everything. I decided against the Brooklyn press. It really came down to the money, I just didn't want to spend that much money on a letterpress.

A couple weeks after our trip to Montauk, and after the Penn State vs. Navy game, my husband and I headed north to Bellefonte, a quaint little town outsite of State College.  The couple I bought my press from taught me a lot about my new tabletop press. I got to try out my new press in their basement print shop, and she was exactly what I was looking for.  I happily named her "Bellefonte Press."