Milkfed Press has long been one of my favorites. After a short hiatus and giving birth to her daughter, Astrid Jane, Victoria is back at the press with some adorable designs. She’s also just completed a line for Martha Stewart Weddings – look for it in the Summer issue!
These table cards are amazing, you can pick up a whole pack for $22. (4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ numbered cards from 1-15, plus two Guest of Honor cards.)
Buy Olympia is a cool, small, more indie version of the Etsy Shop. They have so many amazing creatives that you would never, ever find on your own. Nikki McClure and Sarah Utter are only two of my favorites.
Nikki McClure uses an x-acto knife to cut her designs into paper with a result that’s elegant and intricate. I love her First 1000 Days journal and 2007 wall calendar. You can pick up the book for $12.95 and the calendar for $16.
Reading is sexy? Sarah Utter think so. There’s a variety of Reading is Sexy apparel available as well as Knitting is Knotty, Punk Rock Saved My Life, Future Librarian, Raised By Wolves and Crafty Lady.
Feels like a Philly kind of day. Louella Press is located just outside the City of Brotherly love and is the sister company of Two Paperdolls. They specialize in stationary and invitations and there’s a lot of beautiful work done with engraving as well as the use of some great colors.
The newest card in the “Presslings by Megan creates…” card line. A fun simple card that could work for any occasion. These hand screenprinted cards feature a drawing (by Megan) of an antique phone with the cord spelling out hello. The background pattern is a metallic/pearly Robin’s egg blue/Tiffany-like blue. With coordinating yellow envelopes. You can pick up a set of five for $10 here at Etsy.
While browsing sites today I came across Pointed Press out of Philadelphia, PA. They focus on limited edition fine books as well as stationary and invitations for special events using a variety of letterpress techniques. My favorite was this lovely little business card.
If you look closely at the different elements of the room you can see that it’s not really a sketch at all, but words put together in a way such that they take on the shape of the different pieces of furniture. Not that I’ve ever seen this done before or anything, but it really took me a moment to decipher that that’s what was going on in these ads.
And I just thought this was the coolest, most unique idea for a “business card” that I’ve ever seen…
Ella Studio is the dream-in-progress of graphic designer Lisa Delu Vavrick. She’s managed to create some beautiful, fun cards that I’m so excited about. Her Expressions line of notecards and jotters are just a few of the pieces available online. Besides Fuck You, holy Shit!, and What the Fuck? other lines include Ass Clowns, Douche Bags and Dipshit as well as Slut, Bitch and Whore.
And I couldn’t resist the Unmentionables notecards which reminded me of my friend Jen.
Wedding invitations are abounding in all of the letterpress sites I check out regularly, so you’re probably going to notice quite a few posts with them over the next few weeks. These fantastic dandelion-inspired invites are from Lucky Paperie. Luckily, they realize that not invitation has to be for a wedding and will work with you through their custom design shop to cater to your needs.
Lucky is also about to release an online shop full of exquisite collections of personalized stationary, invitations, greeting cards, flat notes and gift wrap. Here’s a little sneak peek.
Last night I saw the opening night performance of Wicked in Oklahoma City (it’s the next Broadway, dontcha know!) and it was absolutely amazing!
I’d read Gregory McGuire’s book back in 2004 when I was living in New York and the musical had just openned on Broadway. It seemed every person I saw on the subway had a copy of it in their hands, so I took their unspoken advice and bought a copy. I’m always hesitant about seeing a movie or performance after reading the book because most times so much is left out that it turns into a huge letdown (RE: Jurassic Park. The first time I’d ever read the book before seeing the movie – I was 12 and slighted for life!), but luckily this wasn’t the case.
The actresses who portrayed Elphaba and Glinda were amazing and full of life and personality. The set design was minimal, but intricate. And the score was awesome. I highly recommend getting tickets if it’s coming to your city any time soon. They go incredibly fast, so strike right away. We got ours the second day they were in sale and ended up ten rows from the very top in the balcony. Another piece of advice, rent the binoculars – it’s well worth it.
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I love design. I’m a design junkie. Some might even say design whore. And I can honestly say that I’ve not come across a body of work that has literally blown my mind in longer than I can remember. And then today happened and I found Hammerpress.
Hammerpress was founded in 1994 by Brady Vest who was busily turning the four-year-plan into the four-and-a-half-year-plan at Kansas City Art Institute. Years later, what started as a fascination for letterpress has developed into a full-blown business specializing in wedding invitations, custom artwork for restaurant chains, CD packaging, corporate identity, posters and art prints as well as a growing line of stationary products.
I, personally, would like to say Thank You, Brady. Thank You very much. Here are just a few of the pieces that caught my eye…
Concert Posters. Check out the site for about a hundred more. You can see how evident Hatch Show Print is in Vest’s work.
Darling Room ID.
2007 Wall Calendars.
Wedding Invitation.
Burlesque Postcards.
Saucy Gift Enclosures.
Holiday Gift Tag.
Holiday Gift Enclosures.
Long Cards.