The Story of a Blanket

January 28, 2015January 27, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

Do you beleive objects have memories? I sort of beleive they do—at least in the sense of the memories they can trigger in you.

I’ve just finished a blanket that I started approximately one hundred years ago—ok, two—while my mom was in the hospital. This is the blanket that kept my hands busy while I kept vigil and listened to her ragged breathing in the ICU. That is my clearest memory of working on it—sitting in a dark hospital room illuminated just enough by some HGTV program, volume turned down so I could hear her take another breath.

And yet, four or five weeks later, we packed up the hospital room—pieces of blanket included—and took my mom home. My sisters and I cooked Easter dinner and decorated with a welcome home sign and were more thankful than I can describe that our still-fragile mother was back in the home she had raised us in.

The blanket got packed away for the summer—who wants to crochet when it’s 80 degrees out, amiright?—but then as the weather turned colder and my relationship with a man I thought I would marry fell apart, out she came again. First, I would bring my project to his house so I wasn’t bored when we stopped talking to each other. Then, as he needed more time to himself, I made progress at home, watching the circles pile up next to my couch.

All of that seems eons away as I finished the last few circles this fall and winter—although it still fits the theme, as I didn’t start working on it again until it started getting dark early and Andrew worked late and I felt a bit lonely.

So I suppose this blanket is imbued with sadness, but it also seems to have cultured strength and resilience in me. I may never have ended up taking so many chances without those tragic events that my blanket witnessed—and I certainly wouldn’t have ended up here.

She’s proudly on display now, making Bermuda feel a little more like home, and you know the memories that will come to me every time I walk by.

A Year of Letterpress

January 23, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

When I redesigned my website a few months ago, I gave my card-of-the-month club a bigger presence. I love the idea of creating a relationship with stationery lovers and sending them a little something special each month.

However, the card club does skew toward gift giving, and if you know you’ll be moving sometime throughout the year, or you just want everything all at once, it wouldn’t work for you. So, I recently created a listing for a year’s worth of cards. The collection covers major special occasions—birthdays, graduations, weddings, etc.—and a handful of holidays, plus thank you cards and greeting-free notes you can use for any occasion.

Truth time, folks: I also have an ulterior motive with this one. I’m hard at work on a new collection for spring and I’m running out of space for all my inventory! So, for one more week, a set of 40 cards will run you just $80! Once things settle down and I find space for everything, they’ll go up to $100, so get them now! Go! Go buy them!

Readymade Wedding Invitations

January 8, 2015January 9, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 2 Comments

As I’ve mentioned in a few past blog posts, I’ve been working on wedding invitation designs that couple can just pluck off the digital shelf, send me their event information, and—presto!—their invites arrive within a few weeks. Last year I had several couple get in touch with too little time before their nuptials, so I thought these would be the perfect solution for last minute brides.

I’ve also recently realized that for non-designers, starting to brainstorm a design from scratch is totally overwhelming. I’ve had a few designs bopping around my head for a while that haven’t quite suited any of my clients thus far—so my hope is that by having a design in front of them, couples will find the process easier.

Find all current designs here—I’ll be adding more all the time! Get in touch if you’re getting hitched!

A Christmas Letter from 622 press

December 19, 2014December 19, 2014 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

I know this should be a travel post, but instead this week I did some actual traveling, in the form of heading home to Wisconsin for the holidays. I’m taking a mini break from business and blogging through the new year, but if you’re looking for some holiday reading material, check out decor ideas here, here, and here, plus awesome handmade gift guides from years past here, here, here and here, plus wrapping ideas here.

Dear Friend,

2014 has been a big year for 622 press. It started off normally enough: living in Madison and continuing to work as art director of BRAVA Magazine—all while driving down to Mom and Dad’s on the weekends to print on my antique letterpress. Spring was particularly busy, as the business added Middleton’s The Regal Find to its group of wholesalers—in addition to Driftless Studio on State Street in Madison; the now-defunct east-side Absolutely Art; and When Pigs Fly in Whitewater.

I was also printing my largest wedding stationery suite to date—150 three-piece invitations with lined, printed envelopes, 2 different thank you cards, menu cards, recipe card favors and more, plus designing a wrap for the invites, table numbers and seating chart—along with two other weddings, and the usual business cards, stationery and such. There were quite a few nights that I got back to my Madison apartment entirely too close to midnight, rushing down after work and printing the entire evening—but it was worth it to grow 622 press.

By summer I had finally accepted Andrew’s invitation to move to Bermuda—job or not (I had been hunting from the U.S. since last year). I told BRAVA my plans months before the planned move—and after a few tense weeks of indecision, they committed to my current contract position as main freelancer for design work. However, we still had to find a replacement for me as Art Director. It’s sort of a funny thing—searching for someone to do the job you’ve poured everything into for 5+ years… plus she would be my boss! I’m so glad we ended up with the candidate we did though.

The process to apply for Bermuda residency was incredibly long and costly—and inefficient. Every time I thought I had submitted everything the government/health insurer/customs official needed, I was handed another list of medical exams, notarized documents and letters to acquire. I had planned to move in late July/early August, but the BRAVA logistics pushed my move until the end of August—exactly when my lease expired, so I was working right up until the week before I flew out, along with selling all my furniture and car, packing a shipping container, giving away the remainder of my clothes and household items and trying to take care of last-minute logistics like bank accounts and cell phone plans. It was chaos, but the knowledge that a slower-pace awaited me on the island sustained me.

That slower pace wouldn’t come for a while though—the shipping container had arrived, but Bess remained on the dock for weeks while I filled out more and more paperwork and proved over and over again that I had permission to live on the island. I also got a Bermuda driving license (written and driving exams, just like in the U.S.!) and bought a bike.

Finally Bess and everything else was delivered—I finally had a decent set of dishes (goodbye, Andrew’s bachelor kitchen), some artwork and most importantly, my studio. It took quite some time to get everything set up, but now it’s the perfect creative space—with an ocean view to boot.

Since the big move, I’ve been freelancing for clients old and new, as well as trying to grow 622 press. I post of-the-moment updates on facebook nearly every day, and of course blog as often as I can!

Several of the invitations we printed this year were featured on Wedding Lovely, a blog and wedding resource site that has been incredibly supportive of 622 press over the years. Our shadow monogram stationery was featured in Cool Mom Picks’ annual gift guide, which was far and away the biggest editorial feature I’ve had to date, and prompted quite a few orders this winter.

While I used the end of 2014 to get the business in order—making sure inventory is correct, analyzing pricing, timing and shipping, and redesigning our branding—2015 will be all about new work. I’ve been designing a new spring collection of cards and prints, plus brainstorming and prototyping new products, and searching for new stores to begin wholesale relationships with. I can’t wait to show you what I’ve been up to!

Until then, stay warm, enjoy time with your family and be grateful for such a blessed life—I know I will. Merry Christmas and happy holidays, see you in the new year!

Kristin

A Reluctant Quilter

December 9, 2014December 5, 2014 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 3 Comments

About a year and a half ago, I sent my mom a text that began “Hell has frozen over, I have a question about quilting….” Marge has always been a sewer—from her childhood Barbie outfits to both her and our clothes a few decades ago, not to mention countless projects around the house, prom dress hems and more. I’d be willing to bet my parents’ house has more than one quilt in every room. She was our 4-H leader for sewing and owned a sewing machine shop for a while as well, which I worked at part-time in high school.

So in short, I’ve always been a sewer as well. But, as I’m sure you can tell by now, I’m not much of a pattern-follower, so quilting didn’t appeal to me. But here’s the big secret, readers: quilt squares don’t have to follow a pattern.

When I got a hankering to start a quilt, I just started sewing triangles together. I knew the feel I wanted, so I picked up 8 fat quarters (which are quarter-yard pieces that are more square-shaped than long and skinny like they would be off a bolt of fabric) and cut angular pieces that I simply sewed together into interesting arrangements. Once I ironed them flat and trimmed each into a 6-inch square—voila! Quilt squares!

Now to assemble: I got 50 squares out of my fabric, but didn’t like the shape when I arranged them 5 wide by 10 tall. So, I nixed two of the squares and went with a 6 by 8 quilt. I wanted to use some fabric I already had for the strips between squares, so I did some math and figured out that I had enough fabric for 2.5″ strips. One more afternoon of sewing—assembly-line style—and I have my quilt top finished!

I still have to do the actual quilting of the blanket, but I’m waiting to buy batting in the U.S.—it’s just too expensive here. Either way, I’m excited to be in the home stretch!