A real live vacation!

June 6, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

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!

Card Club: June

June 1, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

We’re heading out on a tropical vacation today! So this month’s Card Club package is inspired by the sun and the sea (plus a few cards for those inevitable summer weddings)!

Don’t worry, I’ve got a few posts scheduled to entertain you while I’m gone! And, there’s some fun stuff coming up later this month, so stay tuned!

#RealTalk

May 23, 2015May 18, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

Avid readers of this blog have seen a progression (intentional and non-) toward more type-based designs lately. Not only does that mean ordering fewer [very expensive] printing plates for me, but people like cards with words on them, whether it says something they couldn’t quite figure out how to put into words or weren’t sure they were allowed to say.

I’m a pretty straightforward person. If you’ve met me in real life (or maybe you can even tell from my writing!), you more or less know how I feel about you, a situation or the work that you’ve made. I’m tactful, but I’m just not going to bullshit you—in fact I think it’s incredibly rude to say one thing to someone’s face and another behind their back (or even think it really).

So it makes sense that the cards I’ve been working on lately cut straight to the point. Sure, I could send you something with a quote about your journey and how everything happens for a reason… but wouldn’t you rather have this?

The card above was actually inspired by a girlfriend’s experience with miscarriage. She said the best, most truthful sentiment anyone expressed to her was from her doctor, who simply said, “This really sucks. You don’t have to be ok right now.”

Of course that straightforward attitude works both ways—when I’m truly excited, you know it! And so, for when exciting things are on the horizon:

I’m at that age where most of my friends have or are thinking about, maybe working on making babies, which still just blows my mind. I know the survival of the species depends on it and all, but DO YOU KNOW ANOTHER, SEPARATE PERSON JUST GREW INSIDE YOU AND IS NOW OUT IN THE WORLD? “Holy crap” pretty much sums up how I feel about that.

These are now all available in my etsy shop, and there’s more to come in my next post! Stay tuned!

Postcards Posted

May 15, 2015April 21, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

A few weeks ago (I’m going to take an aside here and apologize for beginning what seems like 99% of my blog posts this way. Letterpress is a long process and so by the time I finish the project and photograph it, several weeks or a month or two have always gone by, so it feels strange to pretend like I just did whatever it is I’m writing about. My apologies!)

Anyway, a few weeks ago, a student from the Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD) emailed to ask for some letterpress goodies to include in his senior show. His thesis was on moveable type and letterpress and he wanted to create a hand-out kit with a variety of examples. He mentioned past projects (business cards, wedding invites) were just fine, but almost all of those are created with a custom printing plate, not vintage type. The main thing I use my type for is greeting cards and coasters, but that would mean giving away several hundred dollars worth of merchandise—which is a big deal to a teeny tiny business like mine!

But I did want to help the guy out and I had been tossing around an idea for postcards for a couple weeks, so I decided that would be the project for him!

You all know I repurpose my practice printing paper over and over again, and then cut it up into tiny paper circles/confetti, 2-inch paper squares, gift tags and garlands. While printing this latest collection, I had a lot of what I refer to as “happy accidents”—designs that overlapped in a really interesting way or somehow worked together in a design, even though I hadn’t planned it.

I had been saving these pieces, not wanting to chop them up into little bits, yet they had too much already printed on them to use for practice sheets. So, I trimmed them up to a standard USPS post card size, used vintage lead type to print “Post card” and a dotted divider down the front, plus added my logo to designate where to place a stamp. Voila! The coolest post cards you’ve ever sent.

I sent most of them off to Ohio, but made a few extra sets and they’re now available in the shop. Pick some up now for quick notes, or they’re great to have on hand for summer vacation or when the kids go off to camp!

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!