Ooh, baby, baby!

October 6, 2015October 6, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

I’m to the age where everyone around me seems to be having babies. A few weeks ago, I somehow I ended up taking charge of the décor for a friend’s baby shower (no idea how that happened…). I found the cutest marquis letters at Target, added in some Martha Stewart party decor and handmade bunting and flags. I also made a diaper cake—from scratch!

My etsy customers must be in the same life stage as I am, because recently I had a woman buy all the remaining “Holy Crap you made a tiny human” cards. At one of my wholesalers’ request, I reprinted them in pink and blue—for her shop and mine! I love these cards so much and I’m overjoyed to see them flying off the shelves.

I finally got around to printing my icon congrats cards in light pink and blue as well—plus the gender-neutral yellow at the top of this post.

Don’t worry, though, we’ve got more than cards! Of course you should pick up an everlasting bouquet for the new mama, but what about a little art for when she gets home? I just love these ABC and 123 prints in a nursery!

And of course, if you’re running behind or the baby was early, just grab one of these digital downloads, send it over to your local photo center and have a print in hand this afternoon!

New Digital Prints and the Cure for Wanderlust

September 30, 2015September 20, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

Well, I’ve been back from the big trip home for just over a month and I’ve already gotten a case of island fever. It’s amazing how quickly it sets in, isn’t it? Luckily, I was able to get away last weekend to visit a longtime friend out west. Breaking out of our routine for a few days is all I really needed to hit the refresh button, and once again I find myself glad to be home.

Inspired by my recent travels, or perhaps more accurately, by my return to this little island paradise, I added some new digital prints to my etsy shop! The “ocean” print above is completely hand-lettered and then vectored and placed over an image of Bahamian turquoise water. I actually couldn’t decide which I liked best though—so I’m also offering it in a watercolor version (in the small frame below).

The “Beach” print below is actually one of the first digital prints I ever made—it just took me six months to get in it up in the shop! It’s something a little different for me, as it has no illustrations and offers a much cleaner look (and a fabulous shot of a Bermuda beach, if I do say so myself!).

As you know, I’ve been painting a lot lately, and in addition to the finished paintings I recently listed, I usually work on a few little nature-inspired bits and bobs each time I sit down to paint. Since I often have to wait for paint to dry between colors, it’s nice to have several in the works at once. I combined a bunch of those flowers and leaves into what might be my new favorite print—with a hand-painted quote that will motivate you to get shit done to boot! You can find all of these and a few more here!

622 Studio is here!

June 30, 2015June 29, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 2 Comments

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!

Words with Friends

May 18, 2015May 13, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

As you may remember, just a few weeks before I moved to Bermuda, I bought a bunch of vintage wood type from a college classmate who was closing her shop. I never even got a chance to print with it in Wisconsin, it went straight from the back of my car to the containers I was loading into my crate.

Within the first few months, I had proofed all the type and was offering custom stationery sets in a variety of styles along with a handful of type-based note cards, but after that I focused on my attention on my spring collection and let my wood type gather dust.

I’m happy to report that I’m rather word-focused at the moment and my collection of vintage type is getting inked up regularly. Check out the stop-motion video I made of locking up type before printing!

The “hell yeah” card and others are now available in my etsy shop. Here are a few of my faves—check them all out here!

Oh hi! You made it all the way to the end of the post! For that you get a little sneak peek of something else I’ve been working on… more to come :) Thanks for reading!

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!