colour on kraft

I'm pretty certain that every colour that goes down on kraft stock turns out excellent. These are just a few more correspondence cards in my favorite 4BAR size that will be at the Gladstone Flea this Saturday!

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new to the shop: gothic in gold

We're knee deep into September and it's always a weird time for stationers. It's not close to the holidays but we're already thinking about it and brewing up festive designs. So, to give myself a break and some breathing room before Christmas arrives, I've created a new small line of cards for the interim! 

These are the Gold in Gothic correspondence cards featuring my beloved gothic wood type and the newly acquired, News Gothic Condensed type. There were inked in gold and printed on the mini Showcard press. You'll also notice the new suave black and pink blush cardstock! 

These darlings are only available for wholesale orders. If you'd like to place an order (15 cards minimum per style) please contact me at 'snapandtumbleletterpress@gmail.com'. 

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bridesmaids cards for jeannette

One of my brother-in-laws is getting married next summer and I was more than happy when his fiancee asked me to print cards for her bridesmaids. Jeannette's colour of choice was pink and we decided to combine it with a bit of gold. Liners and envelopes are such a fun and easy way to incorporate another colour to the stationery. I picked out a bright pink envelope to match the ink and a beautiful soft pink and gold patterned chiyogami paper for the liners. Our families are very much looking forward to Jon and Jeannette's special day. It's going to be a beautiful wedding!

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I was recently introduced to a UK band called  Daughter and have pretty much fallen in love with their cover of Get Lucky by Daft Punk. The songs on their debut album are atmospheric, sad and beautiful. It inspired me to put a brush and watercolour ink to some lovely St. Armand paper and add handset type to it. I love moments like these when I'm moved to create something but not knowing exactly what it is that I want to make. It's times like that when you turn to the tools that you love to use so much for work and commissioned pieces that you often forget that they're also there for play time.

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business cards for aprile

When Aprile approached me to help print her business cards, I couldn't wait to get started. Her design called for a warm grey on 600gsm cardstock, double-sided. The fine lines made some nice, distinct impressions. It's so satisfying to see (and feel) those textures. I had to hold back a little on the lever otherwise there surely would've been some bruising, or worse yet, some tearing in the cardstock because they were so thick. I'm always up for printing designs that aren't the norm, in this case, for business cards. Recipients of these cards are sure not to forget Aprile and her beautiful work.

It's been a while since I last posted some press-flower journal entries. Some of these petals are from my mom's garden and from flowers given to me by Chris. I enjoy the different shapes and textures of the petals and how thin they are. My scanner didn't really do these justice. The colours of the petals are quite rich and deep. 

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ink-free baby footprints

Let me preface this post by saying that I'm dead tired (Marcus is an angel that keeps things quite interesting in the early morning hours). But not having posted anything in a while that was letterpress or diy-related was starting to bug me. So, here I am still sleepy, but happy to report back with a simple (baby) project! *

I wanted to make a print of Marcus' foot but I didn't have any inkpads suitable for baby's skin. I did a quick search on the net and found that I could simply get his footprint by using some eye shadow! Now, nothing is easily done with a newborn and you have to find the right time to do these kinds of things. I decided to get his print while on the couch, just after his feeding time and he was dozing off on my chest. I whispered to Chris in a frenzy to get all of the materials and set them beside me.

Because Marcus was on on his way to dreamland, and we were chest to chest, I was able to bend his leg and have the bottom of his foot facing the ceiling. I was able to apply the eyeshadow with a small brush to his foot without any problems. I just placed some tissue underneath his foot so that any eye shadow that fell didn't get on my shirt.

The cardstock I used for the prints were just some of Chris' old generic business cards. They were the perfect size and smooth enough to get a good print. I made about ten prints and at least a few of them were frame worthy.

Once the footprints were made, it was clean up time. I used a little bit of eye make-up remover with cotton balls, and q-tips for in between his toes. Following that, I used some olive oil for the last couple of wipes. I wasn't able to get his foot completely clean but I had it mind to give him a bath later that evening anyway to do the job.

To complete the prints, I placed the cards on a larger piece of cardstock, took it outside and sprayed some Easy Tack on the prints to hold the eye shadow in place. The adhesive does double-duty because I placed a sheet of acetate over the prints and then cut them out individually. So the prints are protected and you can still see them through the acetate.

Voila! Ink-free baby footprints.

Now it's time for me to go back to sleep.

*This post was made possible because of my mom. She is with me with right now, looking after Marcus. Thanks, Mom!

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jonathan's holiday cards

I had the pleasure of working with graphic designer, Jonathan Margono, on his holiday cards for this season. As soon as I saw his hand-drawn lettering, I couldn't say no to printing it. When he mentioned that he wanted the design on black cardstock, I definitely leaped at the chance! Best part is the silver ink. It's not easy to lay down ink on black stock, but the opacity of silver makes for a winning combo. Got to love the way Jonathan addressed the envelopes too. Now if only there were some sign of snow in Toronto, these cards make me want a hot chocolate!

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Thank you so much to everyone who left comments about the arrival of my son, Marcus. I am an absolute sap these days, and it warms my heart to see the love and excitement from friends and people whom I've never met (near and far), wish Chris and I and the baby well. xoxo - t.

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brown paper packages...

...these are a few of my favorite things.

super duper busy this week.

inquiries, printing, and packaging.

i thought i was going on hiatus?

but i'm as happy as ever.

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Playing with liners: stripes, honeycomb and diamonds.

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wrapping paper throwback

I have a weakness for those old, vintage thin pieces of wrapping paper. I found these a while ago at the thrift store and couldn't help but grab the whole lot. They're so bright and colourful and so different from what you see in wrapping papers nowadays. It took me a while to do anything with them but I decided to cut a few and make some envelopes for some letterpress printed stationery.

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It's my guy's birthday today! This weekend we'll be celebrating with family so this evening will be just the two of us and a quiet night in.

Have a great weekend, everyone! 

bow tutorial here.

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business cards for ingrid

Ingrid was starting to run out of her old stock of offset printed business cards and decided she wanted to update the new batch. She put in a request for letterpress printed cards on ultra thick stock, a blind print and a Pantone specific colour. Five hundred cards, one at a time, in two runs is alot of work so I had to split it into two days. Suffice it to say, we are pleased with the results of slow print :)

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business cards in progress

 

Today's printing involved 220lbs cardstock, cutting 500 business cards and the first run through the press with blind debossing. The second and final run is scheduled for next week.

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weddingbells: fall + winter 2011

My homespun flags are in the latest issue of Weddingbells! Thank you to Roseanne Dela Rosa for including me in the DIY Handmade Goodness roundup. If you're interested in having these for a special occasion to top cakes, cupcakes or pies, let me know!

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paper presents

I've been a lucky girl receiving lots of beautiful and fun stationery in the mail. The first two are from my parents who recently got back from a trip to Indonesia. The first set is from my dad who got these on his stopover at the Narita airport in Japan. I definitely won't be able to part with those. The second set is from my mom who picked up these paper kimono's for free at a kiosk where she exchanged her money in Narita. I love getting small paper tokens from my parents' trips abroad. It never ceases to amazes me that my mom and dad know me so well.

Maria visited the studio yesterday and got in some printing time with her own project. She gave Chris and I a beautiful trio of white hydrangeas and a handmade silk screened card (left) congratulating us on our good news. The image is so simple and elegant sitting on velvety cardstock. On the right is also a sweet handmade flat notecard from Diana all the way in Cornwall, UK. I love the illustration and turquoise on kraft!

Jaime's snail mail never fails. Italian deco paper, vintage stamps and a typewritten notes. What's not to love?

A great Polaroid card from Nathan - one of my favorite pieces of collected snail mail. The photograph, the size of the card, the handwritten message - everything about it is just so nice.

I got a kick out of receiving this card from my sister-in-law and brother. The inside of the card reads, "...the parents-to-be-tired, the parents-to-be-anxious, the parents-to-be frazzled, but most of all, the parents-to-be filled with joy!"

Yoko from Megropress sent me some darn fine letterpress stationery from Tokyo and a good 'ol fashioned long handwritten letter. I was so intrigued with her work and studio that I wrote to her in February and asked her all kinds of questions related to printing in her part of the world. How happy do those bright stamps make me? I can't get over the fluorescent pink and orange printed envelope and the woodblock hydrangea letterset. Beauties.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to those who have sent me little paper surprises in the mail. And also a very warm thank you to those who left comments, emailed and messaged me upon the news that Chris and I are expecting.

We're going to be doing a little r & r this weekend and spending time with family. I hope you get to be with loved ones as well, celebrate Father's Day or just be able to put your feet up!

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