Today I’m thrilled to share a very, very special project – Sophie’s baby announcements! I knew I wanted something unique and non-traditional to help announce our baby’s arrival into the world, and I’ve been an admirer of Morgan and Arley-Rose of Ladyfingers Letterpress ever since I saw their wedding invitations. I knew they’d come up with something amazing! I gave the direction of a celestial theme and the ladies came up with the idea of a working starfinder (aka planisphere) – we couldn’t love the resulting announcements more!
From Morgan and Arley-Rose:Â It was such an incredible honor to design and print little Sophie’s baby announcements. We were thrilled to hear that Nole had a celestial theme in mind, and we immediately went to work, exploring how we could make something interactive, beautiful and meaningful. We’ve always been fascinated by planispheres and the way they mark a point in time by displaying what you would see in the night sky at that moment and thought it would be relevant as a baby announcement.
At first, we thought it would be a good idea to rotate the planisphere to the date and time that Sophie was born, and in the window her name would be revealed, but after some design consideration (and feedback from Nole) it was agreed that her name and details would be visible at all times.
As a result, a working planisphere is featured on the front, and all you need to do is align the inner disc with the date and time and direction you’re facing to see what to expect in the sky that night (if you happen to be at a similar latitude as Washington DC). On the back, a photo of Sophie sits inside a glassine envelope, surrounded by baby versions of astrological signs.
 
We designed a custom die for the project, and hand-lettered the designs and illustrations to work around the shape. The designs were then letterpress printed onto 220lb paper (the inner disc) and 110lb (the outer “cage”) 100% cotton Crane’s Lettra paper and then die-cut and assembled.
Photo Credit:Â Natalja Kent
Photo Credit:Â Natalja Kent
It was definitely one of the most complex pieces we’ve ever done, but are really excited with the way it turned out! As a special gift to Nole, we made a print of the night sky with Sophie’s name below.
Photo Credit: Natalja Kent
 
Morgan and Arley-Rose even printed constellation envelope liners to match the announcements! I found the perfect vintage postage stamps (via ebay) to complement the celestial theme of Sophie’s announcements, and my dear friend Michele from Meant to Be Calligraphy was kind enough to address the envelopes in her beautiful Durham style!
I hope you love Sophie’s announcements as much as I do!
Design and Letterpress Printing: Ladyfingers Letterpress
Calligraphy: Meant to Be Calligraphy
Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper, except where noted by Natalja Kent
