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!

Happy Birthday Dirk!

April 18, 2015March 17, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 2 Comments

A few weeks ago, a woman from California got in touch about custom letterpress coasters. She was throwing a 50th birthday party for her husband and was hoping to have a logo printed on them. She ended up not wanting to deal with the cost and time required for custom printing plates, but I presented her with several design options that I could do with what was already in my studio and decided to go with these!

So today, somewhere in California, people are celebrating over custom coasters that I made and I love that! Want your own set? Order them here!

Business Cards: The Sequel

April 16, 2015April 16, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

It’s taken a few years, but I can finally admit that when I started this business I had no idea what I was doing. My previous letterpress experience had come from a fine art environment, where imperfections are talked away as a beautiful expression of the intrinsic nature of the medium (not that that’s not true—I love a good happy accident!).

But when it comes to someone’s business cards or wedding invitations, those little variances that make each piece uniquely handmade can only be so noticeable before they become intrusive. I probably started taking on commercial jobs too early, and while my prices at the time reflected that—holy crap was I cheap!—I do sometimes wish I had spent more time on technical skills before diving in head first.

Fast forward seven years and my skills are miles ahead of where they once were—but so are my standards. I find myself fretting over a tiny imperfection I wouldn’t have even noticed a few years ago… all the time.

So a quick email with a few positive words from a client is just about the best thing that can happen in a day, unless of course, a re-order comes in! This week, I’m super excited to be reprinting Meighan Newhouse’s business cards. It was only a year ago and they turned out pretty great last time (so much so that she says “I get SO many compliments on them! And I’m so proud to hand them out!”) and I think they’ll be even better this time around! Wish me happy printing!

Modern Calligraphy

April 13, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

If you follow me on social media, you may remember the Laura Hooper calligraphy kit I received for Christmas last year. It took me three months, but I finally sat down and got started a few weeks ago!

To my own surprise, I’m completely hooked. I’ve spent several afternoons filling up the pages of my practice book until my fingers started to cramp and I feel like I’m starting to get a handle on my own particular style.

At first, it was all about consistency—mostly in width and height of the characters. I tended to start out with very large letters and they shrunk as the line went along. I also tweaked the forms of several letter forms—adding an extra loop inside letters like “a” and “o” and creating a completely different “k”—an important one since it’s in my name!

I’ve recently moved on to addresses, since being able to offer addressing services to wedding clients was the main catalyst for learning calligraphy. I still have some progress to make to figure out the layout and spacing I like, but things are coming along.

I also experimented with the white ink that came in the kit and created this lovely design below. I’m thinking I may sell it as a digital print in my etsy shop… stay tuned!

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!