08/22/2013

DIY Tutorial: Rubber Stamp Butterfly Handkerchief Wedding Invitations

We absolutely love collecting and handkerchiefs are one of those things that are very hard to pass up when you find a beautiful one. Given the popularity of handkerchief wedding invitations and the growing number of them that are stashed around the studio, we decided it was time to design a gorgeous, butterfly inspired handkerchief suite. Adding in coordinating patterns, kraft paper and calligraphy really makes the design feel custom and personal.Â â€“Â Bailey and Emma of Antiquaria

Just a few assorted handkerchiefs from the collection. Since there is so much pattern elsewhere in this suite, we decided to use only solid ones in white and ecru with pretty lace borders.

Step One: Iron all of your handkerchiefs smooth and lay a single handkerchief on a flat, sturdy surface. Ink your invitation stamp (we used our Sophisticate Invitation Stamp) throughly and center it over the middle of the handkerchief. Once it’s aligned, press it down firmly and apply even pressure across the entire stamp. Lift off and set aside to dry. You can also use crafters ink that can be heat set with an iron if you’d like the text to be waterproof!Â For a step-by-step video tutorial about the printing process goÂ here.

Step Two: We gussied up the accommodations card for this suite by using an A7 butterfly printed card. In the center, we stamped our Butterfly Monogram Stamp to add a personal touch. For the back of the card, we kept it simple, stamping it with the accommodations information (we used our Calligraphy Accent Accommodations Card Stamp).

Step 3: Reply postcards are rapidly growing in popularity among couples these days for more casual affairs, so for this suite, we incorporated one in kraft! Place your postcard (4″x6″) on a flat, firm surface. Ink your stamp (we used our Calligraphy Accent Reply Postcard Stamp) and center it over the card. To make the print, press down with even, moderate pressure. Remove and set card aside to dry.

Step Four: To tie the suite together (and keep the handkerchief secure), we decided to make a monogram tag to coordinate with the design. First, you’ll need to cut your paper to rectangles sized 1.5″x3″ using a self healing mat, craft knife and ruler (we used our Chloe Yellow Floral Patterned Paper, in Cover WeightÂ for the tag).

Step Five: To give the tag some extra detail, we notched the corners off of the top. Lay the rectangular tag on a self healing mat at the 45 degree angle, place the ruler and make the cut. Flip the tag over an repeat on the other side.

Step Six: To finish the tag we punched a hole in the top center and added an adorable kraft hole protector. Then we stamped our monogram (we used the Cross my Heart Monogram Stamp) on the lower right corner of the tag.

Step Seven: Next, you’ll need to stamp your return address (we used our Calligraphy Ampersand Return Address Stamp) and address them to all of your guests. Make sure to stamp the return address on all of your envelopes first! And how could we not add Butterfly themed postage!

Tying everything together looks trickier than it is! Simply iron down the top and bottom of the handkerchief and fold it over your accommodations and reply card, overlapping the fabric a bit in the back. You can secure it with washi tape if you want or you can just go for it and tie the twine and tag around the suite sans tape.

Â Materials

Sophisticate Invitation Stamp

Calligraphy Accent Accommodations Stamp

Butterfly Monogram Stamp

Calligraphy Accent Postcard Stamp

Cross my Heart Monogram Stamp

Calligraphy Ampersand Return Address Stamp

Stamp PadÂ in Black or Crafters in Black (if you choose to heat set)

Handkerchiefs with smooth open centers

Butterfly A7 Cards

PostcardsÂ in Paper Bag

A7 EnvelopeÂ in Paper Bag

Chloe Yellow Floral Patterned Paper-in Cover Weight

Kraft Hole Protector

Self Healing Mat

Craft Knife

Metal Ruler

TwineÂ similar to shown

AntiÂquaria is a memÂber of theÂ Designer RolodexÂ â€“ you can see more of their beauÂtiÂful workÂ right hereÂ or visit the real wedding invitations gallery for moreÂ wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits:Â Antiquaria

07/16/2013

9TH LETTER PRESS: Trade Show Lessons Learned from a Rookie Exhibitor

Hello, all. Today’s guest post consists of all the “ah ha!” moments Sheli and I had while exhibiting at the 2013 National Stationery Show. If you’re planning on exhibiting or are just curious in general, this post is for you. â€“Isabel of 9th Letter Press

The 9th Letter Press booth at the 2013 National Stationery Show

I tend to think in “lists” (which is the extent of my organization talents) so I thought I’d provide one for you all with the most important lessons worth sharing:

Absolutely research, prep, and plan for the show. The best resources available come from Trade Show Bootcamp, Show Time and Pushing the Envelope. Grab a highlighter and take lots of notes. I can’t tell you how useful these resources were!
Excited to fill out order forms at the show? Get equally excited about printing inventory before you leave. You’ll be so happy doing the legwork beforehand and not afterward. Make your best educated guesses of what your bestsellers might be and have those printed, packaged and ready to go for when you come back. If you letterpress print your products, I would suggest having twice as much of everything printed before hand, because you may be surprised what gets ordered. We were shocked by how much more we needed to print once we got home! We will certainly be printing more inventory ahead of time in the future!
Make sure you have a good selection for the most popular card-giving occasions. Ex: birthday, thank you, sympathy, etc.
Make sure to bring extras! By the end of the show your cards will not be in the pristine shape that you brought them in. It will give you peace of mind knowing you can switch out a card that has suffered from being dropped, stolen or gotten dirty in some way throughout the show.
Ship and pack a set: we ended up shipping a set of our products directly to our hotel and also packing two carry ons full of our products. If something happened to either set, we figured we’d be covered. (We were).
Don’t forget to decorate your booth! Adding little touches of your brand throughout your display will go a long way.
No matter how cute they are, leave your wedges and heels at home. Your feet will thank you.
Make sure to have something to send to your retailers before and after the show. The first should arrive somewhere between two to three weeks before the show. We opted to do a more elaborate mailer to a smaller group of retailers so that we could focus on stores that we knew were a good fit for us. I also liked the idea of the mailer being personal with lots of detail and an accurate representation of our brand. Doing a mass run can limit just how creative you can be.
You might consider getting an app like Handshake that will consolidate orders, information and reports to help with turnaround time after the show.

Here are a few pictures of our booth building out in New York, which was an adventure in of itself:

Meet Sheli, the left brain of 9th Letter Press. She’s the person who puts into motion my big ideas. Without her, I’m not sure how anything would have come together, let alone have gotten to New York. We packed up our booth on an 8 foot pallet, which we packed with lots of care in the studio parking lot. When the freight company came to pick up our wrapped up pallet, we said goodbye, and crossed our fingers it would arrive safely in New York â€” it did!

That’s me working on our signage! I wanted the booth to match the look of our studio in Winter Park, Florida, which has a very old New York meets the industrial revolution feel. In order to keep with that aesthetic, we built a super tall bar complete with purse hooks and a brass rail, added dark walnut shelves, and found foam “wood” floors.

And here’s the end result! Sheli and I were thrilled with how everything turned out. We did spend a few late nights at the convention center to get it done, but it was well worth it. I really hope all or at least part of that was helpful!

Our mailers were travel themed so we included an old fashioned train ticket, a packing list, gold foil pressed luggage tags, and a gold pen to write down their information on the tag. After the show, we followed up with sending sweet little cards with an illustrated lady liberty on them.

Photo Credits: 9th Letter Press Team

07/11/2013

Pretty Paper in the Office: Desk Clocks

What time is it? It’s easy to tell nowadays asÂ there’s always some sort of screen around with the time. Which may be why I don’t seem to have physical clocks. But as many of us are trying to set aside some time to unplug or do our work with our hands rather than with the computer, it may be nice to kick it old school with a desk clock. Here’s a round up of a few pretty faces that will let you know just how quickly your workday is flying by. (There’s even a dock for those of you who, like me, just can’t put the phone away.) â€“Julie

No. 1 Memo clock from Six Things Shop; No. 2 Covent alarm clock from Anthropologie; No. 3 Chrysler clock by Reclaimed Cleveland; No. 4 Vintage square travel clock from Etsy; No. 5 Toledo alarm clock from West Elm; No. 6 Harmony Ball alarm dock fromÂ Indigo

{images via their respective sources}

07/01/2013

Stephanie + Jared’s Modern Art Deco Save the Dates

When it came time to design his own save the dates, designer Jared from TENNINETEEN combined inspiration from his 1920s wedding venue with his own modern style. The result is a combination of beautiful linear patterns with vintage-inspired text and a punch of red metallic foil. So fun!

From Jared: While searching for our event space in the Kansas City area, Stephanie and I fell in love with a venue that had a 1920s feel. It has beautiful subway tile and an enormous 12-foot chandelier that centered the space. We wanted to touch on the Art Deco style in our Save the Dates, but give it a modern flair while maintaining our color palette.

Traditionally, you see quite a bit of black and gold used for this era, but we wanted to mimic the style with our colors and see where it would take us. My design style is very modern and I wanted to be sure that was apparent in the design. Thus, we adopted the “Modern Art Deco” theme.

Printed on Avon Brilliant White 100C, we first ran a pass of silver metallic ink, then punched it with a Pomegranate red foil. We had a custom stamp made that fell in line with the look and my fiancÃ©e, Stephanie, took care of all the hand-lettering on the envelopes.

I love the linear lines and geometric shapes of the Art Deco style and used that as my inspiration. There wasn’t any single piece that I drew inspiration from, but instead I dove head first into the era and soaked in all of the patterns, shapes, and lines. Since I love clean design, I made sure not to go crazy, but include just enough so you get a taste.

Thanks Jared!

Design: TENINETEEN

Printing: Boelte-Hall

Calligraphy: Stephanie Morris

Check out theÂ Designer RolodexÂ for more talÂented wedÂding inviÂtaÂtion designÂers andÂ theÂ save the date galleryÂ for more beauÂtiÂful cusÂtom save the dates!

Photo Credits: TENINETEEN

06/20/2013

DIY Tutorial: Savannah-Inspired Floral Wedding Invitations

Ever since we designed our Savannah invitation suite for this inspiration shoot in collaboration with Camille Styles, it’s been one of our most popular invitations to date. This adaptation of the Savannah design is for the DIY couple that wants a custom suite on a budget. This design is soft and elegant with gorgeous floral accents: our version of a traditional invitation!Â â€“Â Bailey and Emma of Antiquaria

For the foundation of the suite, we used our Letterpress Printed “Savannah” Invitation design. Adding in one piece of letterpress stationery really helps elevate the entire suite. While the single piece is still a bit of a splurge, your savings comes from all of the special DIY details that help complete the look and make it special and unique.

Step One: Since the invitation piece is ready to go…the first step is to cut your cards for the reply postcard and monogram tag that you will be using. With a self sealing mat, ruler and craft knife (X-acto), cut cards to 4 x 6″ (postcard) and 2 x 3.5″ (tag). You should get 2 postcards and 10 tags out of 1 sheet of patterned 8.5 x 11″ paper (we used our Magnolia Branch Patterned Card Stock).

Step Two: We added a cute little corner detail to the monogram tag! To do this, simply line up the corner of the card on your mat in the 45 degree triangle and make the cut with your knife against the ruler. Flip and repeat the cut on the other side. It may take a little time to get all the corners trimmed but it’s definitely worth the effort!

Step Three:Â Lay your Â 4 x 6″ patterned postcard down on a firm surface (pattern facing down). Ink your stamp (we used our Calligraphy Accent Reply Postcard stamp) thoroughly and center it over your card. Once it is positioned correctly, press down to make a print. Use both hands to ensure even pressure. Lift off and let the print dry. For a step-by-step video tutorial about this printing process goÂ here.

Step Four: How cute are these little tags! Not only are they adorable with this suite but the extras would be great to use as gift tags as well! To make them, punch a 1/8″ hole in the top center of the 2.5 x 3″ card. Then you will print your monogram stamp (we used our Antique Monogram stamp) using the same print technique as in Step 3. Lastly, add those adorable kraft hole reinforcements to your hole punch and the tags are done!

Step Five: One great way to save money with your wedding stationery is to stamp your return address! For this design, we embossed our Wildflowers Return Address Stamp with white so that it would be super opaque and “pop” on the kraft envelope.Â Place your A7 envelope on a stable and firm surface with the flap facing you. Ink your return addressÂ and center the stamp over the flap. When ready, press the stamp down with moderate pressure to make the print. Lift the stamp off and quickly move on to adding your embossing powder.

Once youâ€™ve made your print, immediately cover it with embossing powder by sprinkling it across the envelope. Shift the powder around until you have covered the entire image. Now, you will pour the excess powder off of the envelope onto a scrap piece of paper so that you can reuse it for future prints. Heat set the print, using an Embossing Heat Tool. You will be able to see the powder melt into an opaque and solid color when itâ€™s done. For more information about how to emboss using stamps, please watchÂ this instructional video.

Note:Â One key thing about embossing is that it is wise to try to closely match your ink color with your powder color. By doing this, you will get much more crisp and opaque results. For example, we used a white pad with white embossing powder on this envelope.

Step Six: While not crucial, adding an envelope liner can really pull your invitation suite together. We kept this liner traditional by using solid tan text weight paper and simply stamping the same monogram on it that we used on our tag. Trace the envelope liner template on your paper,Â cut it out, stamp it (we used ourÂ Antique Monogram stamp)Â and use double sided tape or stick glue to affix it to your envelope. It’s that simple!

Step Seven: Now all that’s left is the finishing touches! We tied the suite together with tailors ribbon, addressed the envelope with opaque white ink and affixed our postage (we love these new vintage inspired seed packet stamps). Now they’re ready to send on their way!