NYIGF January 2012, Part 2

Are you ready for a bit more from NYIGF?  Good, because today I have a few more booths to share!  First up, the fabulously talented Shanna Murray and her beautiful illustrated wall decals.  Shanna introduced several new designs – like chalkboard banner decals and garland designs – along with new colorways, including a soft gray and a bright neon pink.  So fun!

 

 

 

Shanna Murray

Next up, the creative ladies of One Canoe Two, making their NYIGF debut at this show!  I loved their rustic wood booth design, which was the perfect complement for their whimsical illustrated letterpress art prints, greeting cards, and recipe card sets.

 

One Canoe Two

The Smudge Ink booth was full of awesome stationery and wrapping paper, from colorful birthday cards to sweet Valentine’s Day cards.  They also set up a letter writing station right in their booth, where visitors could write a quick note to a friend or loved one – and all the cards were mailed out from the show!  Such an awesome idea.

 

 

 

 

Smudge Ink

Last up for today, Chewing the Cud!  Viola is always coming up with creative new products – from her line of fabric gift wrap and gift bags to limited edition stationery packaged in vintage cigar boxes.  I was completely smitten with the recycled canvas buckets (including the little mini versions!) and tote bags.

 

 

 

 

Chewing the Cud

More soon!

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

 

NYIGF January 2012, Part 1

Whew!  Between NYIGF and the Louie Award judging, the last couple of days have been quite a whirlwind.  There were more stationers exhibiting at NYIGF than ever before, which means I have a lot of fun stuff to show you!  Unfortunately the hotel wifi here in New York is kind of terrible, so I may need to wait until next week to share the bulk of my favorites from the show.  But today I’m starting off with two of my favorite booths – both of which happen to be two of the largest booths packed full of stationery awesomeness and which also made their NYIGF debut this week!

First up, Rifle Paper Co.!  I look forward to their beautiful booth at the National Stationery Show each year, but they also did an amazing job with their booth for NYIGF.  Anna and Nathan also have a ton of fun new products coming very soon – from magnetic shopping list notepads to beautiful gold foil and floral pocket journals to new greeting cards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rifle Paper Co.

Next up, Crow and Canary – making their NYIGF debut with a booth representing a collective of several stationers.  Although this was technically a single booth, it was packed full of gorgeous stationery from several of my favorite designers!

 

Pie Bird Press (left) and Two Trick Pony (right)

Red Cap Cards

 

Paper + Cup

 

Susy Jack* – including gorgeous new paperweights and writing sets!

 

Dear Hancock (left) and Gold Teeth Brooklyn (right)

 

The Great Lakes (left) and Enormous Champion (right)

The Great Lakes

 

Sapling Press

 

Ghost Academy (left) and Greenwich Letterpress (right)

Ghost Academy

Greenwich Letterpress

I’m afraid that’s all for now, but I’ll be back with lots more soon!

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Marcus + Jillian’s Whimsical Kraft Paper Letterpress Wedding Invitations

I love the whimsical design elements and natural color palette in these kraft paper wedding invitations, sent over by Matthew from A Fine Press.  Designed by Laura Helm of Ashton Events, the invitation features hand drawn illustrations and hand lettering – all letterpress printed in soft white and gold by Matthew – and accompanied by navy and lavender envelopes for a fun pop of color.

From Matthew: We did a tone-on-tone theme for these invitations, using a transparent white ink for the return address, a shimmery lavender ink for the RSVP envelopes, and white and gold inks for the invitation and RSVP.  The whole invitation was printed on French Paper (Muscletone 140# kraft paper, Construction nightshift blue A7 envelopes, and Pop-Tone grapesicle 4-bar envelopes).

This is a great example of the compatibility between letterpress printing and  hand-drawn illustrations.  Laura created the illustrations in black ink on white paper, at which point they were scanned and sent for platemaking. 

Thanks Matthew!

Design: Ashton Events

Letterpress Printing: A Fine Press

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Matthew R Photography

p.s. Don’t forget to enter the save the date giveaway from Delphine!  Check out details right here!

Kate + Rob’s Sea Creature Letterpress Wedding Invitations

Kseniya from Thomas Printers sent over this totally adorable wedding invitation for an upcoming beach wedding in New Zealand.  Designed by Katie from Rocket Ink, the invitation features a four-color illustration of native New Zealand marine life on one side and text on the other, along with a reception card and other enclosures.  So pretty!

From the bride, Kate: We will be married on New Zealand’s northern west coast overlooking a black sand beach – it’s one of my favourite stretches of beach and such a magical place.  We both love the ocean and wanted an ocean theme to our wedding.   Rob and I are both advertising creatives (copywriters) so doing some lovely artwork was really important to us; our invitations include illustrations of native New Zealand marine life.

From the designer, Katie Gastley of Rocket Ink:  Kate and Rob wanted to incorporate indigenous creatures into their wedding invitations.  I did a lot of research on the typical New Zealand wildlife and illustrated them throughout their pieces.  This particular design was definitely a pet project!

From Kseniya of Thomas Printers:  This invitation is almost like a book jacket illustration, with the beautiful underwater scene on one side and all the wedding details on the other.  The four colors of the design are so harmonious together: bright and cheerful without being overpowering.

The jellyfish was my favorite; I loved his delicate tentacles and beautiful brown-black color.  Katie and her client wanted a very substantial paper, so we used 220# cotton Lettra in a warm ecru, which was heavy enough that the letterpress impression could be palpable on both sides. 

Thanks Kseniya!

Design: Rocket Ink

Letterpress Printing: Thomas Printers

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Rocket Ink

*Thomas Printers is one of my fab­u­lous spon­sors; for more on my edi­to­r­ial poli­cies please click here.

Printable Papel Picado Wedding Invitations from EM Papers

It’s always so fun to hear the story of how a designer was inspired to create a particular design.  Today, Eleanor from EM Papers is sharing the story behind one of her printable wedding invitation designs – a gorgeous red and white invitation suite inspired by the traditional Mexican folk art known as papel picado.  I love the bold red and white color palette and hand drawn motifs!

From Eleanor: Several years ago, when she turned 30, my sister decided to throw herself a ‘Treintañera’ since she had never had a Quinceañera.  I designed the invitations for her, using traditional design elements found in papel picado and native Mexican folk art motifs, and my dad printed them letterpress. I later turned the invitation into a blank card but always felt that the design was ripe to be extended into a full wedding suite.

One of the challenges when designing my download and print wedding stationery, is that I have to anticipate all of the constraints my customers might have.  For example, not everyone has a home printer than can do borderless printing, so I don’t use full bleeds on items like programs and table numbers.  This design had so many little elements, like the hand drawn lines and sun/starburst figure that it was easy to pick them up throughout the line and keep the whole suite coherent.

Thanks Eleanor!

EM Papers is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can see more of Eleanor’s beautiful work right here or visit the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: EM Papers

*EM Papers is one of my fab­u­lous spon­sors; for more on my edi­to­r­ial poli­cies please click here.