Custom business cards for a fellow Etsyan

September 14, 2015September 8, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 3 Comments

I love working with other Etsy sellers. They value the handmade nature of my work, their familiarity with the site eliminates any technical issues, and they’re usually really great about giving feedback and letting me know when the final product has arrived. So when Sharon got in touch about ordering business cards, I was all too happy to help!

She had a branding package created by another designer, but unfortunately the original designer was unreachable and Sharon only had low resolution JPGs—not good enough files for me to order printing plates. Luckily, I’m awfully handy with Illustrator, so I spent the better part of a day recreating her logo and the gorgeous illustrations from her branding package and we were ready to go!

Sometimes, it can take quite a few rounds to get the design right, but this process was fairly painless. I rush-shipped in some ecru paper, ordered her printing plates and got to work. These cards are more intricate than many I’ve done and I just love the way they turned out!

Make sure to take a moment to check out her shop—it’s filled with amazing vintage jewelry from the early 1900s. This necklace is one of my favorites—leave it to me to hone in on the diamonds!

On Making Things by Hand

September 6, 2015August 29, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been doing a lot of production lately. A lot. Whenever I tell my boyfriend about a long printing/cutting/folding day, his response is always to “automate it!” (As though I could simply toss a motor in the general vicinity of my press and the work would get done by magic!)

Even if that was feasible, I don’t think I’d want to make my production process less hands-on. For the business cards I’ve been printing lately, for example, prepping the press, custom mixing the perfect shade of ink and lining up each piece of paper to print is only the beginning. Once the cards are dry, I trim them by hand, weeding out any misprints. Then I sort through the well-printed cards, pulling the best ones, ten at a time, until I have the quantity ordered. The leftovers go into my sample pile for future clients.

I think there’s something great about knowing each card has had a human touch before it even gets to the client. Here are three very different cards I designed and printed in the last few months!

You all know I can blather on for days about letterpress projects and island life, but some of the most difficult writing I’ve ever had to do is in the form of self-promotion: cover letters, website content, etc. Blueline Web Studio provides writing and editing services for professionals on the hunt for a new job. Owner Alice is super professional and organized (and awesome to work with!), so I wanted her business cards to feel that way too. She wanted a pattern on the back of the cards to add a little extra point of interest, so I whipped up this line gradation for her (and later found out that I can make a plaid pattern with it! How neat is that?!)

Rachel is a repeat client for me—I printed her first cards way back in 2009. She’s still creating awesome work and wanted to stick with a fairly similar design, just change up the colors and modernize the typography. Done and done! I love how these turned out!

Johanna’s new cards might be one of my favorites of all time. She loved my dandelion illustration and was hoping it could translate into business cards. I loved that she kept it simple and let the design shine!

A Pocket Full of Posies

April 26, 2015April 26, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

I’ve been working on this project for so long, it almost feels like old news now, but I’m still excited to finally share it with you!

Several weeks ago, a pair California floral shop owners got in touch about business cards. After only a few emails back and forth, I realized they were pretty much my ideal clients—quick and decisive with feedback, open to new ideas, and maybe most importantly, they seemed to truly understand and value the work that goes into letterpress printing. Plus, they were interested in incorporating my new watercolor illustration services into their cards!

We nailed down the design after just a few rounds, and I ordered plates toward the beginning of March, allowing me plenty of time to print before my recent house guests arrived. You know the quote about the best-laid plans? UPS of course “misplaced” my printing plates for 10—TEN!—days in one of their facilities, and then instead of realizing the mistake and attempting to make up for it by rushing the order the rest of the way, it spent the next several days moseying along on a truck. I had planned to have it delivered to my friends who were coming to visit, since that’s usually faster (and always a lot cheaper) than having it shipped to the island, but of course it didn’t arrive before their flight. After several hours of calling 1-800 numbers by both me and my boyfriend, Owosso (the company that makes my plates) finally stepped in and managed to have them rerouted to Bermuda by the end of the week which was lovely… except that I had to pay an additional 40% in duty and “airport fees” (whatever that is).

Lucky for me, from then on it was smooth sailing. I printed the card backs the day after receiving the plates, and let them dry for about two weeks. I was surprised by the amount of ink the all-over pattern used up, but they turned out just fine. The fronts printed even more beautifully—and then the fun began!

I hand-painted a funky flower on each card individually—at one point I had them drying all over the living room floor. As always, the cards were finished by hand-cutting them to size and sorting out the best ones to send to the client! I’m so happy with how they turned out and I can’t wait until they arrive in California to hear what Taryn and Michelle think!

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!

Watercolor & Letterpress Bespoke Business Cards

March 6, 2015February 25, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

Have you figured out that I’m super into watercolor lately? And I just love the way a watercolor wash interacts with the sharp edges and texture of letterpress printing… so I’ve been experimenting with ways to drum up more work that features watercolor!

For now, I’ve been experimenting with watercolor on some past business card projects. I LOVE the results—and they’re available to order in my etsy shop, or just send me an email. There are lots of ways to customize them, but seriously, how gorgeous are these?!?!