New Prints on the Block

May 11, 2015April 21, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

Having totally awesome new product photography has motivated me to finally get some new prints listed in my etsy shop!

The first is a special request from a friend. She knew what she wanted it to say—wake up, kick ass, be kind, repeat, with absolutely no punctuation—but not quite how she wanted it to look, so of course that’s where I came in! I started with a watercolor ombré background… which is basically my new favorite thing. Using several of my antique lead fonts, I printed the phrase in ever-so-slightly sparkly silver ink on top. She and I both love the results! I only printed two extra, and they are available here, but I’m also totally open to commissioned pieces in this style! Send me your favorite phrases!

The second is obviously one of the experimental pieces in the process of making these prints. I didn’t have much of the chipboard material, but I did really love the results, so I printed as many as I could—just five available in the shop!

Product photography

April 20, 2015April 17, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

I have a confession: almost every photo you’ve seen in my etsy shop or on my blog, Facebook page or instagram feed over the last two years has been taken with an iPhone. All my product photography, all those behind-the-scenes studio shots. I have professional editing software and know a few things about styling photos (former Art Director here, remember!), so things have gone well so far.

I do, however, feel something is lacking in my photos of prints and paintings. It’s a hard thing to capture the way a piece of art lights up a room to make the customer feel like it would be perfect in their own space. Since this is something I’m working on making more of (stay tuned for some exciting news in the next month or so!), I enlisted my dear friend and very talented stylist and photographer, Laura Houlihan of Laurels & Stars photography, for some help.

She has an incredible knack for creating gorgeous little vignettes throughout her home, so I knew she would knock this out of the park, but she even went above and beyond my high expectations!

Check out the photos below and pick up any of these prints here!

Home Sweet Home

April 9, 2015March 30, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

I love house hunting, so when our dear Bermudian friends bought their first home together, I couldn’t have been more excited for them! I’m being recruited to help decorate, but in the mean time, I wanted to get them a housewarming gift.

Homes have names here—thanks European colonization!—and they decided to change theirs to something more unique than the original (Bella Fiore is a little bland, no?) and settled on the name of the hubby’s Irish hometown, so I thought it would be neat to call attention to that with their gift.

Normally I probably would have gone with a letterpress print or the like, but I’m not sure they’re really large-scale typography people, plus you know how obsessed I’ve been with watercolors lately. So I painted a picture of their new home!

I was a bit nervous about how it would turn out, so I didn’t tell anyone what I was up to. Only after I got the boyfriend’s reassurance did I pop it in a frame and ask when I could drop it off. They’re over the moon and I’m super happy with the results as well!

I’ve been thinking of offering commissioned pieces along these lines in my etsy shop—what do you think?

I <3 Snail Mail

April 1, 2015March 31, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday was a very exciting day as I sent out my first Card Club subscription package! An etsy member bought it for her stationery-loving friend’s birthday. Isn’t that so fun?

The subscription is twelve deliveries of handmade letterpress goodies sent right to your door. Each month’s delivery is worth more than $20 and will include an assortment of greeting cards, prints, coasters, bookmarks, recipe cards and more. I don’t want to give away the surprise of what’s all in there, but here’s a sneak peek—plus she also got an exclusive print!

Subscribe to Card Club here—and don’t forget it makes a fabulous gift!

Somebody get me a cocktail

March 21, 2015March 13, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

Today is one I’ve been waiting for—in a few hours, a dear friend and her husband (and first Bermuda visitors) arrive and tonight we’re celebrating her 30th birthday. So it seems an appropriate day to blog about cocktails!

This month I’ve been painting a lot—reviving a love for watercolor I’ve had since childhood. A few weeks back, I started a series of classic cocktails sketched with pencil and illuminated with watercolor. I love the opportunity for both wet work—where the colors mix into each other—as well as layering transparent color on top of an area that has already dried, to create the illusion of glass.

The original paintings are now available in my etsy shop and I think they’d make the absolute perfect art for a home bar or even your kitchen! I’ll probably keep adding to this collection—do you have a favorite cocktail I should paint? Leave a comment below!