Hello friends, hope you’re enjoying your holiday weekend! Just wanted to share the very festive Card Club delivery this month! Want a bunch of handmade letterpress goodies sent your way each month? Sign up here!
Category: 622 press
Floral Initials
This project has been on my mind since I first started experimenting with paper flowers. I love letters and I love flowers, so why not combine them? Can’t think of one good reason, huh? Knew it.
Anyway, I started with a template of the letter, cut it out of chipboard, then added 2.5″ tall strips around the edges to make it three-dimensional. I filled the “box” with my handmade crepe-paper flowers, then added some extras and a bit of foliage to fill it out. I’m absolutely in love with the results!
I made this “H” for a friend, who displays it on her nightstand (her photo is below), but I can also see these initials hanging on a gallery wall, or as the centerpiece of the front table at a wedding! An ampersand is also available! Check them all out here.
622 Studio is here!
While I was away, 622 press turned seven! This year to celebrate our birthday, I’ve launched 622 Studio: the digital version of the brick-and-mortar shop I want to have someday. Now, instead of just printed goods and stationery, I’ll be selling everything I create—textiles, art, crochet accessories, paper flowers and more—in my etsy shop!
The first new product line I launched last week are my new paper flowers! Each one is made from sheet of crepe paper that I’ve cut and molded into individual petals, then assembled around a wire stem. I add a sepal and wrap the stem with floral tape, sculpt the petals a bit more, and voila! A gorgeous flower that remains fresh all year long.
I loved figuring out the structure of each different bloom and shaping the petals to be as lifelike as possible. In the shop you’ll find individual blooms (perfect for home decor and craft projects!), ready-to-go bouquets and home decor. I’ll also be offering wedding services soon!
The other new product line I’ve launched thus far is digital art prints! I’ve shared a little bit of my watercolor work and hand-lettering here, and this is what it’s all been working toward. I scan the artwork from my sketchbook, do some photoshop and vector work and then combine them into a design I’d love to hang on my wall.
The best part about these prints is that they’re inexpensive and instantaneous: All you have to do is purchase them in my etsy shop and either print the jpg that arrives in your inbox on your home photo printer or send them over to Kinko’s, Walgreens, etc., then pop them in a frame!
New cards for people who are not me
Growing up in a homogeneous small town in a fairly homogeneous state, I wasn’t exposed to much in the way of diversity. Sure, I had a few (and I mean few) classmates whose skin was a different color than mine, but real differences—religion, culture, sexual orientation—were few and far between. Let’s just say it was easy to forget that not everyone celebrates Christmas.
I grew up, met new people, made efforts to broaden my horizons. I strive to be more conscientious about being inclusive in life, and in my little corner of the letterpress world. You’ve seen my same-sex marriage cards for years now—those were easy to come up with—but it’s still hard to write and design greetings for occasions you personally don’t have the cultural context for. Lucky for me, I have friends who can fill in the gaps.
So this year, keep an eye out for a more inclusive card collection! The cards pictured are all now available in my etsy shop, and please feel free to leave me a comment with a sentiment you’d like to see!
A real live vacation!
Right now, I’m on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico—without wifi! Thanks to the magic of WordPress, you’re reading what I wrote a week before we left.
We’re headed on a cruise to various islands, which seems a little silly since we live on an island… We’ve booked some “excursions” that promise to be fun and make some great memories, but really the thing I’m most excited about is actually that bit about no wifi! I can’t wait for the chance to unplug and reconnect with my partner—no online poker (him), checking social media stats (me), mindless facebook cruising (both), or any of the other things that allow us to miss out on really being with each other, even when we’re in the same room.
After we return to dry land, several house guests arrive and basically round out the rest of June! So you’ll probably hear less from me in the next few weeks, but I’ve got not one but TWO exciting announcements set for 622 press’s birthday on the 22nd, so make sure to stay tuned!
622 press | LETTERPRESS GOODS MADE BY HAND 