Crafty Bastards 2010

The annual Crafty Bastards fair took place over the weekend here in DC, and I had such a fun time walking around seeing all the booths and new exhibitors.  The fair was completely packed, which was great – but it was a bit too crowded to take photos, so I thought I’d share a few cool things from some of my favorite booths at the fair.  First up, the stationers and paper artists, of course – there were so many at Crafty Bastards this year, yay!

Briana and Jason from Brainstorm came down from Philadelphia with a bunch of new prints and posters:

creative screen printed poster creative screen printed poster

{Brainstorm}

Fun screen printed and letterpress cards from the Brooklyn-based McBittersons:

{McBittersons}

It was wonderful to meet the husband and wife team of Nate Duval and Jen Skelley and see more of their work in person – if you aren’t already familiar with their respective prints and posters, you’ll definitely want to check them out!

{nate duval}

{jen skelley}

Kyle from Power and Light Press brought her fabulous letterpress cards all the way out from Portland, Oregon!

{power and light press}

Pretty notebooks, journals (including some chalkboard cover journals!), and albums from Moonlight Bindery:

{moonlight bindery}

Lovely illustrated whale prints from Arcane Arts:

{arcane arts}

Baltimore-based Alyssa and Michael from Small Talk Studio also came out, with prints, cards, and some beautiful pillows made from custom designed screen printed fabrics:

{small talk studio}

On the jewelry side, I fell in love with the delicate necklaces and earrings from Sarah Cecelia:

silver cloud necklace

{sarah cecelia}

Rhonda and Elijah from Figs and Ginger were at Crafty Bastards for a second time with their beautiful jewelry (as well as some really cool wood jewelry coming out soon!)

stainless steel jewelry

{figs and ginger}

Did any of you attend Crafty Bastards this year?  If you did, I’d love to hear about your favorites from the fair!

{all images from their respective sources}

{happy weekend!}

Ok, I’ll admit it, this week totally won.  I’m exhausted and ready for a much-needed weekend.  I’m also really looking forward to this weekend, because tomorrow is the annual Crafty Bastards fair here in DC!  If you’re in the DC area, you should definitely come check it out.  Also relevant to DC-based readers, one of the many projects I’ve been working on recently is almost done!  Want a sneak peek?  I’m so excited!  But in the meantime…

…a few links for your weekend:

…and just in case you missed it, a round-up of this week’s posts:

That’s it for me this week!  I hope you all have a wonderful (and hopefully relaxing) weekend, and I’ll see you all back here on Monday!

{photo by aimee, who has the most lovely photostream, found via design crush}

A Fun To Do List!

I’m definitely a write-it-down kind of girl – if I don’t write something down, it just doesn’t stick in my brain.  I’m constantly searching for little scraps of paper with key bits of information scattered around my apartment, but maybe instead I’ll just go for a nice, neat, organized note pad like this one from Old Tom Foolery:

To-Do-List-Note-Pad

To-Do-List-Note-Pad

To-Do-List-Note-Pad

Plus, I’m convinced there’s just nothing more satisfying than physically checking off a little box on a written to do list.  Either way, you can find these note pads right here.

{image credits: old tom foolery}

Pretty Paper Lanterns

These Waldorf star paper lanterns from Green Baboon Designs are so pretty – and they come in every shade of the rainbow and in both mini and full-size versions!  Just slip a tiny (non-flammable) LED light in the middle and I could easily see them used for some after-sunset lighting for a wedding reception or grouped together in little clusters for a dinner party.

paper-star-lanterns

paper-star-lanterns

paper-star-lanterns

Or, if you happen to be looking for something that makes a bit more of a statement, check out these petal lanters from June Petals – I’m partial to the toile version on the right:

white-paper-petal-lantern toile-paper-petal-lantern

{image credits: green baboon designs and june petals}

Wedding Invitations – Blackbird Letterpress

Today we’re back to wedding invitations, and I’m absolutely thrilled to be sharing some of the gorgeous work of Kathryn from Blackbird Letterpress!  You might already be familiar with Kathryn’s invitations for her own wedding, as well as this stunning wedding invitation that she created in a collaboration with Betsy Dunlap, and the rest of her wedding invitation portfolio is just as gorgeous.

creative custom letterpress wedding invitations

{Kathryn’s wedding invitations, which you can see in greater detail here}

Blackbird Letterpress specializes in custom wedding invitations, using many letterpress printing methods from movable hand set type to photopolymer plates depending on the design and the client’s needs.  Blackbird Letterpress also strives to make as little impact on our fragile world by using soy solvents and papers that are recycled or made from renewable resources.

creative custom letterpress wedding invitations

{cypress}

creative custom letterpress wedding invitations

{hydrangea}

creative custom letterpress wedding invitations

{wrought iron}

creative custom letterpress wedding invitations

{topographic map}

creative custom letterpress wedding invitations

{pomander}

creative custom letterpress wedding invitations

{new orleans – you can see more of this invitation right here!}

creative custom letterpress wedding invitations

{calla lily}

creative custom letterpress wedding invitations

{leaves}

creative custom letterpress wedding invitations

{fleur de lis}

creative custom letterpress wedding invitations

{peacock}

creative custom letterpress wedding invitations

{daisy}

creative custom letterpress wedding invitations

{country}

creative custom letterpress wedding invitations

{redwoods}

creative custom letterpress wedding invitations

{carousel – love the blind deboss details!}

Thank you so much Kathryn!  You can check out more of Kathryn’s lovely custom work over on her website and check out her collection of letterpress cards and notebooks in the Blackbird Letterpress etsy shop!

Looking for a wedding invitation designer?  You can find Blackbird Letterpress and many other wedding invitation studios over in the Designer Rolodex!

{image credits: blackbird letterpress}