Red Wedding Flowers

July 5, 2016 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 2 Comments

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Sorry for the radio silence, friends, I’ve been super busy playing catch up from being away and working on some really exciting new projects!

The day before we left for Chile, a big order for paper flowers came in, and I was so excited because it was my first full wedding order, and so disappointed because I figured I’d have to refund it, as I wouldn’t be able to work on it for nearly two weeks. Lucky for me, this bride was planning ahead, and we had plenty of time before her big day!

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So the day after we got home, I got to work on this gorgeous flower crown and a large bouquet for the bride, along with a smaller bouquet (pictured) and boutonnieres! 5R0A0910 5R0A0925 5R0A0950

I tried some new techniques with my poppies and I’m absolutely loving how they’ve turned out! One of the things I love most about making paper flowers is the problem solving, always striving to make them more realistic and more beautiful. 5R0A0971

A special thanks to Adrian Cunningham of Ballyknock Photography for taking a few quick snaps before I sent them off to Australia!

Letterpress Card Sale!

April 10, 2016April 1, 2016 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

You guys, I’m so excited. I finally took the plunge and switched from the magnesium and wood plates I’ve used for years to photopolymer plates from one of the biggest producers in the U.S. I say “finally” because it’s been a long time coming—not only have the quality and customer service declined at my old platemaker, but I’m looking forward to better print quality and registration as well with this new system. For a few years now, I’ve watched what other printers can do with photopolymer with amazement, and I’m so excited to be part of the club! And the icing on the cake? Shipping and production costs are a bit less, so I won’t have to raise my prices again right away this year. Win-win-win!

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I created a handful of new designs to learn the new system with, and I’m planning for a big order of new work this summer, so to make room for all these new designs, I’m trying to clear out a few older ones. I’ve moved a ton of merchandise to the SALE SECTION in my shop, so make sure to go check it out! I won’t be reprinting any of those designs soon, so if there’s one you love, make sure to stock up!

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Snarky New Hoop Art

March 31, 2016March 17, 2016 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been friend with Nicole, who I recently visited in Houston, since she moved to Wisconsin in fifth grade. She’s one of the funniest, weirdest (in a good way!) people I know, and also happens to love the embroidery hoops I can’t seem to stop making. So when she started shouting out funny and often inappropriate phrases followed by “Put that in a hoop!” I started taking notes.

The first hoop I worked on was actually my idea—one of my favorite sayings actually! A lot of these hoops will be set in my favorite gorgeous calligraphy typeface, I just love the contrast of the cheeky message with the elegant typography—especially in such a traditional medium. It’s been super popular on Instagram, so get it here while you can!

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These little orange numbers are all Nicole. I even sent the “lolz” design her way as a birthday present last week (hopefully it has arrived and I didn’t just ruin the surprise!), but if you want your own (in custom colors!), just get in touch.

I’ve also made a few non-vulgar hoops, but where’s the fun in that? Anyway, this dreamcatcher one is my favorite. Get it here.

Well folks, now I have some sad news. I’m out of hoops. I went to the local fabric store to pick up some more, and oddly enough, all sizes were about the same price. But that means the smaller sizes cost about 5 times what they cost in the states, so I just can’t swing it. I’m exploring other ways to frame these up (which may end up being cheaper to ship too! YAY!), but in the mean time, I’ll still be stitching away! Here’s a design that doesn’t have a home yet:

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Now go away ;)

Still Alice

March 24, 2016March 16, 2016 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

I mentioned my upcoming Alice in Wonderland styled photo shoot in my last post, but I realized I didn’t give you very many sneak peeks! So this post is where I spill all the beans. big_rose_5R0A4029

The first rose I tackled was actually the giant number above. The planner for the shoot envisioned the bridesmaids with two huge individual white roses instead of a bouquet. They were time consuming and between two of them used up an entire roll of crepe paper, but super fun to make and turned out beautifully! I’m so excited to see them worked into the shoot. (Photo by Adrian Cunningham)

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The bride’s peony and rose bouquet is a little more my style, but I also put quite a few Alice-esque twists on it. Lots of red and white roses—of course—and I also worked in a few “leaves” made from playing cards, with the Queen of Hearts featuring prominently. This photo is just a quick phone snap—can’t wait to see what the professional photographer does with these!

Want to inquire about wedding services or your own everlasting bouquet? Get in touch!

2016: All Pink Everything

March 5, 2016March 6, 2016 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

Officially, Pantone named two colors of the year for 2016: Rose Quartz and Serenity (which is a sort of pastel blue), but so far from where I stand it’s been all about lovely shades of blush pink.

First, bride-to-be Krista got in touch. I had designed and printed her save the date coasters last year and they were some of my favorites, so I was thrilled to hear from her! I’ll do a bigger reveal after their wedding day, but here’s a sneak peek of their dusty rose wrap that holds all the invitation elements together.

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Another bride from last year got in touch just after Krista. The future Mrs. O’Brien went for a more formal design for her wedding stationery, which features the same pink filigree pattern, gold family crest and formal script as her save the dates. Her invitations are hot off the press (and drying all over my house) as I type, so I don’t even have a sneak peek for you yet, but stay tuned!

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I’ve also been working on non-letterpress wedding invitations lately. I’ve been thinking about offering less expensive options for a while now, since not every bride can or wants to spend several hundred (or more) dollars on their invitations. And, as smaller celebrations become more popular, the price-per-invite goes up, since the initial supply costs for letterpress work are so high. Although personally I still think it’s totally worth it!

I recently connected with a photographer via The Rising Tide Society that offered to shoot some of my new invites! Nicole over at Simply Charming Pictures did a great job, I can’t wait to share the rest of her work! Watercolor invitations aren’t yet available online, but get in touch if you’re interested!

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As I was finishing up those big wedding projects, a new mom got in touch via Etsy about invitations for her baby girl’s first birthday party. She loved my Watercolor Ombre Fill-in Invitations, but wondered if I could make them in pink and gold instead… to which I said of course! I knew I would love the results, so I made an extra set to list in the shop—find them here!

And finally, I’ve finally started ordering a few new printing plates for my own projects. You may have noticed I didn’t launch as many new cards last year. When I first moved, I was so excited to have so much time for letterpress work that I may have gone a little crazy and printed all the cards I’d had bouncing around my head for years but never had the time to print, and my stock got a little out of hand. Not only do I have limited space to store everything, but it’s difficult to keep track of nearly 200 different designs!

Someday when I have my own shop, I’ll be able to maintain that kind of inventory, but for the time being, I needed to pare things down. I’m finally at a place now where enough designs have sold out so I’m ready to create some new work!

Far and away my favorite of the new fonts I bought a few months back is this beautiful modern calligraphy typeface. It’s perfect for wedding season! My “Mr & Mrs” cards have always been popular, but I’ve been feeling like the design needed an upgrade, so I designed these! Pick up a set here. I also wanted to created a new design that would not only work for weddings (and not even same-sex unions at that), but any joyous occasion—birthdays, adoption, engagement, graduation… you name it, this card works. Available in blush here, but I’m thinking of printing them in lots of colors… feel free to comment with what you’d like to see next!