Fill In the Blank

February 28, 2015February 25, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

While I’ve spent hundreds of hours over the years designing and producing custom invitation suites for weddings and parties, I realize not every event has the budget or timeline necessary for bespoke invites.

However, I believe more casual events deserve special stationery too, so I created the first several designs in a new line of fill-in invitations. Perfect for a dinner party, kids’ birthday, or casual shower, these flat letterpress invitations feature space to write in the details and are available in five designs—with more to come.

My two favorite designs (above) incorporate extra-special handmade elements. One features a hand-painted watercolor ombre background, while the other’s polka dots were carved by hand before being letterpress printed in baby blue ink. (And the latter has matching coasters available as well!)

These and more—bikes, daisies, lace—available in the shop!

Limited edition watercolor & letterpress prints

February 23, 2015February 23, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 4 Comments

Lately I’ve been feeling artsy with a capital A. I think it’s a reaction to the heavy production cycle I just finished, but I’ve had the urge to get my hands dirty for a few weeks now.

I’ve also been experimenting with creating limited edition prints with some of the new printing plates I created for the new collection (catch it here if you haven’t seen it yet!). I had sketched out the overall design of each print, I just couldn’t seem to find the right color combination to make them jive. I actually printed a few in silver and a few in gold, but didn’t love them… and then I had the idea to keep the ink neutral (black and white) and use bright watercolor washes for the backgrounds!

The white ink ended up being a little more transparent than I expected, but I still really love the results. And I love how each one is absolutely unique—the cross between painting and print really speaks to me right now.

I printed 14 of each design and they’re available as a set of three in the shop—enjoy!

Debossed prints for Brain Mill Press

February 18, 2015February 15, 2015 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

Last week, I received an email about a rush letterpress job for a Wisconsin book printer. They were releasing a new publication and wanted something special for customers who pre-ordered the book.

I only had a few days to create the print, but luckily, they were flexible on the design, so I was able to use some of the vintage lead type I have in the shop, and they were very interested in the idea of a blind deboss, which means no waiting time for ink to dry. (Plus, inkless prints are a bit cheaper than regular ones, since I’m using fewer supplies and save quite a bit of time without inking and cleaning the press.) I’ve written about creating an impression before, and this design was absolutely perfect for creating a deep, sharp deboss.

I shuffled my schedule around a little and was able to complete these in time for their newsletter last weekend! Scroll down for more about the book and to see my bio!

Interested in a custom print for your corporate or personal life? Shoot me an email, let’s see what we can come up with!

Beer here!

December 6, 2014December 5, 2014 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

With all the new wood type I’ve added to my studio lately, I’ve been wanting to create more type-based prints. I started with this fairly simple beer print last week and I love it! It was a huge challenge to get it locked up in the press, but totally worth it!

It was also a huge challenge to get all the different fonts to print evenly. I wanted some paper show-through to give it a vintage feel, but some letters were so worn they didn’t print at all on the first few passes. Lots of extra packing behind the letters and some careful balancing later, voila! My new favorite print. Available in the shop—perfect to give that man in your life this season!