Tag: handmade

On Making Things by Hand

~ 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!

blueline_8085You 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?!)

racheldenny2_8089Rachel 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_8337Johanna’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!

Christmas in July

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

I haven’t created many cards for the holiday season in recent years. New designs need to be printed months in advance in order to get them to wholesalers by fall and my brain just wasn’t good at coming up with Christmas ideas in the middle of a busy summer.

This year, however, is different. This is the first year where 622 press gets the lion’s share of my attention, which means I’ve spent the last few weeks adding to my holiday card collection! I’ve got them printed, folded, and photographed even—and my winter catalog is going out to wholesalers this week. Please leave a comment if you have a favorite local shop that should stock 622 press goods!

I won’t be listing the cards in my etsy shop for a few months, but if you’re feeling super Type A, get in touch to order yours! Here’s a sneak peek, just in case :)

Modern Love

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

I love the idea of juxtaposing the modern way we make connections—Linked In, Facebook, Twitter, Tinder—with one of the oldest printing methods there is: letterpress. I’ve employed hashtags in my letterpress work a few times over the last few years, but recently I came up with a new design that I love even more!

tinder_7905The font is a Craigslist purchase from about a year and a half ago that is just starting to see regular use. I love that it’s a perfect fit with a tiny heart cut I ordered for a custom project years ago!

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This was one of the designs I proposed to Anne at Driftless Studio a few weeks back, and her reaction to it is one I’ll never forget: “I’m old, so I don’t really understand Tinder, but I’ll take 20.” Did you meet someone wonderful on Tinder? Or someone horrible that gave you a great story? I’d love to hear it, so leave a comment below, and I promise to share with dear “old” Anne!

Studio Update & a Sale!

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

One of my favorite stockists got in touch just days after the Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling a few weeks back. As we had many times before, she wanted to brainstorm some new card ideas to celebrate the wedding boom she saw in the near future, and I was all too happy to oblige!

I offered several ideas and she added a few of her own and as always, let me run away with the design. Some were simply variations on designs that already existed in the 622 press collection. Others were brand new and allowed me to show off my ever-growing collection of wood and lead type! I’m most excited about the congratulations cards below: I love the way they evoke the old-school letterpress style of shops like Hatch Show Print.

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She also needed to restock on a fair number of best-sellers, and the result is my biggest wholesale order to date! I’ve been printing almost every day for weeks, and it feels great to be so busy.

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This week is all about folding and packaging her order and photographing new designs to list in my etsy shop. Now I have to find a home for all these new designs! To help me clear some space in my stockroom, I’m offering 25% off purchases of in-stock merchandise through the end of the month! Just enter the code “622BLOGFOLLOWER” at checkout. Enjoy!