Oh So Beautiful Paper

Archive for March, 2011

As promised, I’m back with a couple more stunning business card designs!  First up, Matthew from A Fine Press created these lovely, rustic business cards for Amanda K Photography…

From Matthew:  Amanda brought me the branding that the amazing Jane Johnson did for her and asked me to help her realize this beautiful branding as a show-stopping business card.  These are printed on both sides in two colors on Crane’s 220# Flourescent White Lettra.  There’s a little bit of saltiness in the ink of the tree that, in my mind, brings just the right amount of rustic texture.

Photo Credit: Matthew Wengard | A Fine Press

Next up, Carrie from studioSavvy sent over her super-fabulous business cards.  I’m loving the crisp black and white of the layered paper stocks (more on that below) and the mix of complementary icons used by Carrie and her business partner…

From Carrie: The cards were printed on a privately-owned letterpress by a friend of a friend.  We used 92# Reich Savoy for the top and bottom layers, and I had him sandwich in a 100# cover sheet of French Paper’s pop-tone in black licorice.  Overall there are 8 cards involving 4 complimentary sets of icons for my business partner and me.

Photo Credit: studioSavvy

Thanks Matthew and Carrie!

*A Fine Press is one of my fabulous sponsors; for more on my editorial policies, please click here.

I receive a bunch of fantastic submissions after my last business card post a couple of weeks ago – so it’s time for another round of business card inspiration!

These business cards from Fox Rain combine two different printing techniques on two different papers.  The top layer was letterpress printed by Shelley Weir of Sweet Peony Press with silver ink on a dark brown woodgrain paper.  Designer Sandra Liu then adhered the top layer to a bright white cotton stock hand stamped with the company’s information.  So cool!

Pretty new business cards from Molly at Paisley Quill…

…and Julie at Cartoules Letterpress!

The letterpress halftone images give these cards from Tactic Marketing a bit of texture and some cool personalized detail (via Lovely Stationery and FPO).

I can’t get over the incredible detail and fine (yet layered) lines in these letterpress business cards, printed by Boxcar Press for designer Christina Clugston.

I have a couple more business card projects to share with you a bit later, so check back soon!  And as always, if you’d like to share your own business cards or a recent business card project, you can e-mail me right here!

{images from their respective sources}

*Paisley Quill is one of my fabulous sponsors; for more on my editorial policies, please click here.

The second set of wedding invitations today comes to us from Ali at Greet Design in Toronto, Canada.  Ali designed these modern invitations for a summer wedding last year, in a sunny yellow and gray color palette that is still one of my all-time favorite color combinations.  I’m totally smitten with the striped envelope liners!

From Ali:  These wedding invitations are a recent custom project.  Gail, the bride, gave me the direction of a colour palette – yellow and gray – and said that she and Jason wanted the design to be informal.

Gail is very “crafty” and loves to knit, so I incorporated the twine as a nod to her crafty nature.  The overall invitation is modern, but still with a bit of a country feel.

Thanks Ali!

Photo Credits: Greet Design

Happy first day of spring everyone!  We’re starting the week off with a set of cool letterpress wedding invitations all the way from South Africa!  Vanessa from Essie Letterpress sent over these invitations and save the dates that she recently created for the upcoming wedding of their friends Beth and Matthew.  Vanessa incorporated vintage-inspired and botanical imagery into both the invitations and save the dates to produce a design that truly represents the bride and groom.

From Vanessa: Beth is one of my oldest and dearest friends, so we were only too happy when she asked that we design and print their wedding invitations!  First we designed save the dates: a heart made up of images symbolizing the bride and groom.  After that, we worked closely with Beth and Matt to design their ultimate wedding invitation.

{the image on the right is Beth and Matthew’s save the date!}

Beth and Matthew are getting married on a school field in the middle of Johannesburg with a wonderful view of nature.  They wanted an invitation that reflected their relaxed outdoor wedding and a sense of old-wordly charm.  Matt is obsessed with aloe plants, (they are using them as favours in the wedding) so wanted to include them in both the invitations and save the dates. The invitations are quite large (A5) and are printed on a 280gsm thick ivory card stock with navy ink to complement the wedding colour scheme.

Thanks Vanessa!

Photo Credits: Essie Letterpress

I don’t really have the words to adequately convey my feelings regarding the situation in Japan, but I know that we all want to find ways to help, no matter how small.  Tomorrow I’ll be participating in this blogger’s day of silence for Japan.  Instead of my usual weekly round-up I thought I’d include a few links to organizations and fundraisers trying to respond to the devastation.

If you’d like to donate:

• A list of the major aid relief organizations in Japan
• For Japan With Love
• Help support animal rescue efforts in Japan

Shops and studios raising funds for disaster relief:

• Creature Comforts
• Fugu Fugu Press (through the end of March)
• The Working Proof
• Letterpress Delicacies
• Samantha Hahn
• Yokomono Studio
• Whimsy and Spice

You might also want to check out:

• Jan from Poppytalk has compiled a list of artists raising funds for disaster relief efforts in Japan
• How Magazine has a list of designer projects also raising funds for relief efforts

Have a safe weekend, friends.  See you back here on Monday.  xoxo