National Stationery Show 2010 : Lovely Invites, Part 1

May 31, 2010 // kristen // 2 replies

So many absolutely gorgeous invitations to be found at the stationery show, including everything from clean, modern masterpieces to letterpress lovelies and invitations created using very unique techniques and materials.

Several of my favorite invitations came from the 42 Pressed booth, which was invitation eye candy from wall to wall. One of my favorite invites from the entire show was their Aylaberry design (below top) — great typography, clean design, and those colors! For me, there was just something about the crisp, black type combined with the soft pink envelope and yellow stripes. Just a few highlights from the 42 Pressed booth:

42 Pressed Letterpress Couture Wedding Invitations

I’m very excited about Elum’s new Umi line. Elum has teamed up with Envelopments for this line of affordable invitations, offering a selection of Envelopments envelopes, liners, and enclosures that you can incorporate for a truly custom package. The invitations in the Umi collection can be letterpress printed, or flat printed at a fraction of the cost, making them a great option for those of you who love great design but don’t have the budget for letterpress.

Erin was spot on about the Parallel suite (below top), another of my show favorites (swoon … blind deboss), when she said that it’s a design that will appeal to both women and men alike. Its beauty is in its simplicity, and I love that different patterns embellish the pieces in this suite.

Elum Umi Letterpress Affordable Wedding Invitations

Gorgeous invitation designs from Atelier Isabey, and a big thanks to Andrea from Gwyneth Paige for giving us a heads up about this booth because it was simply stunning. The custom laser cut invitation (below top) was amazing, as was Atelier Isabey’s attention to detail:

Atelier Isabey Luxury Wedding Invitations

Spark designs incredible letterpress invitations, but I have to admit that I got rather distracted by their fantastic new Stationery Love album. Hello, beautiful, die-cut calling cards!

Gorgeous watercolor florals by Cat Seto make these suites a standout for the couple looking for wedding invitations with a more painterly, artistic flair:

Oh so lovely calligraphy, as well as great color and contrast — black and hot pink really make a statement, in the letterpress wedding invitation suites from Sweet Letter Press.

Twig & Fig’s use of unusual materials and techniques made their wedding invitations a must see. Hot pink laser etched lucite? Wow!

photos by yours truly

National Stationery Show 2010 : 2011 Calendar Preview

May 31, 2010 // kristen // 1 replies

Over the past few years, calendar design — in independent stationery circles, at least — has grown to become an art, and I’m sure I’m not alone in anticipating what fantastic concepts, illustrations, and design I’ll see in the new batch of calendars every year. I’ve featured several 2011 calendars so far in my highlights from this year’s stationery show, but there are plenty that I haven’t shown you yet. Here’s a peek at what will be gracing walls and desks in 2011.

Letterpress Volcano and Tidal Wave calendars from Oddball Press, available in September.

Wall calendars from Amy Smyth Made It, with plenty of space to write. I know how many of you will like that!

2011 Map Wall Calendar from Igloo Press, with design by These Are Things.

A selection of illustrations featured in the 2011 Egg Press desktop calendar.

An illustrated, woodland/nature themed letterpress 2011 calendar from Sycamore Street Press.

Flora & Fauna Press shows us a different take on woodland/nature themes in their 2011 letterpress wall calendar.

A spectrum of color and pattern in Two Trick Pony’s 2011 screenprinted calendar.

Two Trick Pony Screenprinted 2011 Calendar

Cat Seto’s baby milestone calendar is the perfect gift for friends and family who will be welcoming a new member into their families.

Monthly selections from the Pearl & Marmalade 2011 letterpress wall calendar.

Pearl & Marmalade 2011 Letterpress Calendar

Illustrated goodness in Paisley Tree Press’ 2011 desktop calendar.

Paisley Tree Press 2011 Letterpress Calendar

photos by yours truly

Weekly Wrap #26 : Owl Post

May 28, 2010 // kristen // 3 replies

I can’t seem to resist anything owl-y, and these Owl Post Gift Box kits from the Celestefrittata Bottega caught my eye as soon as I spotted them. Each kit includes one gocco printed kraft pillow box, two shipping labels, tissue paper, self-adhesive owl post stamps, and a piece of hemp twine. What a cute idea for gift packaging, and the kits would be so much fun for little Harry Potter fans to play Owl Post Office.

Have a great weekend, everyone. I’ll be back next week with my final few National Stationery Show posts, including a 2011 calendar preview and lots of invitation love!

images from Celestefrittata Bottega

National Stationery Show 2010 : Holiday Card Preview

May 28, 2010 // kristen // 1 replies

Though I enjoy summer nights, lemonade, and barbecues, I still look forward to the crisp days of autumn and snowy days of winter, not to mention the awesome greeting cards that come out to play at Halloween and the winter holidays. Here are a few of my favorites from the stationery show:

Omigosh, how adorable are the illustrations on these Christmas holiday cards by Paper Parasol Press? I predict that these letterpress cuties are going to flying off the shelves this holiday season.

More irresistibly cute, illustrated letterpress Christmas cards, this time from Hello! Lucky:

Beautiful Hanukkah silhouettes and Christmas animal illustration cards by Oddball Press, where you can also find very cool letterpress ABC/123 prints and unique, letterpress family trees that would make great holiday gifts.

Squee! Love these new Halloween greetings from Red Cap Cards:

I got a kick out of these clever, screenprinted holiday cards by L2 Design Collective:

L2 also had some very cool, retro inspired Halloween greeting cards — these would look great framed as Halloween decor:

An autumn and holiday card preview from Delphine, and a big thanks to Erika from Delphine for showing us around the awesome Vigo booth!

Sugarcube Press has it going on with black on white letterpress Halloween cards and invites:

In addition to their line of everyday greetings, Urubbu has a number of oh so pretty Christmas cards:

Fun and colorful holiday paper goodies at the Galison/Mudpuppy booth, including lovely holiday cards illustrated by Anna Bond:

photos by yours truly

National Stationery Show 2010 : Greeting Cards Galore, Part 3

May 27, 2010 // kristen // 0 replies

If you haven’t already, you can check out parts one and two in my Greeting Cards Galore series here and here.

Gorgeous colorways and illustrations from Studio Olivine. The texture on these letterpress wall prints (bottom three images) — printed on 100% recycled handmade paper with soy inks — is fantastic.

Invitations from Sweet Letter Press coming up in a future post, but I also have to show you their greeting cards — love the blind debossed pattern on the *star* = you card.

Check out this die cut, letterpress Grizzly Bear Hug card from Blackbird Letterpress, whose booth bunting was super cool, too. It looks like someone dressed him up for the show by giving him a little hat.

Beautiful letterpress greetings by Red Oak Press. Love their use of color and texture:

Loving the letterpress greeting cards and invites by Tiselle. Such a great variety, from elegant, flourish-filled birthday cards to cute scooter moving announcements: