Love is Love

May 7, 2015April 21, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

Before I moved to Bermuda, I got in touch with all my wholesale clients to see if they wanted to stock up. Not only did this save them on shipping costs for future orders, but it also meant I had less stuff to move.

One of the designs that completely sold out were my “congrats” icons. I had tried reprinting them during one my first press days here, but they’re a fairly temperamental design and things just weren’t working out. Since then I’ve been too busy to get to them!

But a few weeks ago during my printing frenzy for Driftless Studio, I also finally got all three designs on press. They’re available in the shop—hetero couple here, and same-sex couples here and here!

Mother’s Day is coming!

April 30, 2015April 21, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 2 Comments

My mom’s birthday is May 16, which is awfully handy since Mother’s Day (in the U.S.) is usually right around the same time. In case your mom’s birthday is not there to remind you, let me do it: Mother’s Day is in 10 days!

Lucky for you, 622 press can be your one stop shop for all things Mother’s Day. First of course, there are cards….

Then maybe a little gift? Flowers—always good. But how about something with a little heart? If your mom loves cards (mine does—duh!), our monthly Card Club lets her know you’re thinking of her all year long!

Not ready to shell out that kind of dough? One of my favorite ideas doesn’t cost much and is sure to touch her heart. Buy two sets of recipe cards (ooh! I know where you can get some!) and wrap one up to give her—bonus points if you include a nice wooden spoon or kitchen gadget. Then, hand her the second set and ask if she would write down your favorite family recipes so you’ll always have them in her handwriting. You just got a little choked up, didn’t you? No, just something in your eye? It’s ok, I won’t tell anyone!

Anyway, I hope this friendly reminder and (obviously self-serving, but still brilliant) gift ideas help! And no matter what, I hope you moms and mentors know how much you matter to us kids, young and old, today and every day.

Home Sweet Home

April 9, 2015March 30, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

I love house hunting, so when our dear Bermudian friends bought their first home together, I couldn’t have been more excited for them! I’m being recruited to help decorate, but in the mean time, I wanted to get them a housewarming gift.

Homes have names here—thanks European colonization!—and they decided to change theirs to something more unique than the original (Bella Fiore is a little bland, no?) and settled on the name of the hubby’s Irish hometown, so I thought it would be neat to call attention to that with their gift.

Normally I probably would have gone with a letterpress print or the like, but I’m not sure they’re really large-scale typography people, plus you know how obsessed I’ve been with watercolors lately. So I painted a picture of their new home!

I was a bit nervous about how it would turn out, so I didn’t tell anyone what I was up to. Only after I got the boyfriend’s reassurance did I pop it in a frame and ask when I could drop it off. They’re over the moon and I’m super happy with the results as well!

I’ve been thinking of offering commissioned pieces along these lines in my etsy shop—what do you think?

I <3 Snail Mail

April 1, 2015March 31, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday was a very exciting day as I sent out my first Card Club subscription package! An etsy member bought it for her stationery-loving friend’s birthday. Isn’t that so fun?

The subscription is twelve deliveries of handmade letterpress goodies sent right to your door. Each month’s delivery is worth more than $20 and will include an assortment of greeting cards, prints, coasters, bookmarks, recipe cards and more. I don’t want to give away the surprise of what’s all in there, but here’s a sneak peek—plus she also got an exclusive print!

Subscribe to Card Club here—and don’t forget it makes a fabulous gift!

Somebody get me a cocktail

March 21, 2015March 13, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

Today is one I’ve been waiting for—in a few hours, a dear friend and her husband (and first Bermuda visitors) arrive and tonight we’re celebrating her 30th birthday. So it seems an appropriate day to blog about cocktails!

This month I’ve been painting a lot—reviving a love for watercolor I’ve had since childhood. A few weeks back, I started a series of classic cocktails sketched with pencil and illuminated with watercolor. I love the opportunity for both wet work—where the colors mix into each other—as well as layering transparent color on top of an area that has already dried, to create the illusion of glass.

The original paintings are now available in my etsy shop and I think they’d make the absolute perfect art for a home bar or even your kitchen! I’ll probably keep adding to this collection—do you have a favorite cocktail I should paint? Leave a comment below!