oink.

These piglets were a fun departure from the rest of the custom stationary I printed over the holidays. They are printed on 100% cotton A6 flat notecards, packaged with charcoal envelopes.

Custom Stationery

Before printing our holiday cards this year, I printed eight sets of custom stationery as gifts (not all pictured), packaged as boxes of 10 envelopes and flat cards.

The majority were printed on 100% cotton A6 flat notecards, using fonts by Emily Lime Design.

Giant Gnome Design

I was recently downtown and came across an unusual sidewalk vendor: Giant Gnome Design. The designer and his girlfriend had a small table set up on Grant St., not far up from the opera singers (who were out singing, full force, on Maiden Lane), selling greeting cards - a welcome respite from all the jewelry, leather cuffs and knitted baby hats. I love that several of the cards feature local spots.

 

Perhaps even more interesting than Giant Gnome's street presence is their Card Gnome venture, set up like a stationary store with shelves to browse through. Though the experience is virtual - you pick a card and write a personal message - they will prep and physically send the card in the mail to your recipient, postage included.

*All photos from Giant Gnome Design's etsy shop

Mother's Day Cards from Rifle Paper Co.

Rifle Paper Co. has the prettiest Mother's Day cards this year. So pretty, in fact, that I can't show the one I'll probably buy for my mom... just in case she reads this.

But here are some other options:

And for the mothers who love to cook... they make pretty cute recipe cards:

These cards are printed by a husband-wife team, Anna and Nathan Bond, based on Anna's hand-painted illustrations. While not letterpress, they are beyond lovely. I rather like the personalized calling cards and notes in their botanical prints.

Guest posting today at Muse Silk Paintings!

Thanks to Angel of Muse Silk Paintings who invited me to post over here today. Less a sneak preview and more #11 on my 10 stylish stationary finds:

are these Gracias Cactus Letterpress note cards from delphine STUDIO. I just love them; they're stylish, but also fun and not too fancy. Just in time for the weekend, right? Thanks for visiting me at Muse Silk Paintings, and have a wonderful Friday, all.

reconnaissance mission:

Reconnaissance missions usually require the gathering of information about an enemy, but my informal and spontaneous little mission was quite the opposite. I set out over lunch yesterday, ostensibly to return something to Radio Shack, and to pick up a birthday card for my husband's younger brother. By the time I returned home, I had 11 new cards, and none for the intended recipient.

But I love discovering new card makers - whether they are new on the block, or just new to me. Everyone has such different, creative ideas and ways in which to view the world.

I especially liked Tomoko Maruyama, who has a fun San Francisco series, and some really great cards for expectant mothers. (And in my life, 'tis the season of baby showers!)



Another favorite (from Park Life) were by Yellow Owl Workshop:



Finally, and last but not least, Hamburgerpanda scores points for their name alone, but also for this:


Actually, none of the cards were printed by letterpress, and the fact that I bought only cards made by local or small/independent artisans was also by chance - they were simply the cards I liked the best.

The highlight of the shopping excursion was talking to a woman at Cherish, and finally having the courage to ask: Where and how do you buy your cards? She was really helpful and encouraging and provided a wealth of information, as a starting point. Plus an invitation to come back with my cards someday down the line!

once upon a time...

There were calling cards and regular correspondences via handwritten letters. Paper was handmade, and people used natural objects: feather, ink, wax.


Letters have a romantic quality, and are undoubtedly personal -- one hand grazing the paper as it writes, another hand opening the letter once it has arrived, the individual shapes of a person's alphabet, and the places where mistakes are still visible. Letters carry the evidence, perhaps, of the journey: water stains, folded corners.

Letter-writing is by no means a lost art, only a more expensive one. Fine recycled papers and eco-savvy inks, rising postage, and most especially, time, can be hard to come by.

Still, isn't it lovely to open the mail and find an envelope that doesn't contain a bill or an advertisement? The greeting card, the notepad, carefully designed gift wrap--they may not be necessary, but aren't they nice and easy on the eye?

This blog is about paper, and about the process of creating letterpress cards, and seeing where it goes. I am a writer by trade, but one creative endeavor seems to beget another, and so I'm trying out a new venture, just for fun, in whatever spare time I can make.

Expect things to change. The logos here are a work-in-progress collaboration with my brother, Andrew, who recently graduated with his art degree from San Jose State University, and who is hard at work on a fledgling silkscreen printing business. The name 'sublime' has a sentimental inspiration from my own college days, but is mainly inspired by a photograph. We're currently at work transforming that photo into a graphic. Plus, I like the idea of something tart and cheeky, and using a nice chartreuse.