Tag: snail mail

Tinder Love Stories

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

I love the small glimpses my work gives me into my customers’ lives—whether they’re the guy who opened an etsy account just to buy a handmade “I’m sorry” card, stocking up on congratulations cards because this is the summer all their friends are getting married, or creating custom invitations for one of the biggest days of their lives, every order reminds me of the small acts of kindness that are so prevalent, yet often overlooked, in this world.

tinder_7905My “So glad you swiped right” cards have definitely yielded the best stories. Recently I had the most moving order from a man in Brazil, who asked if I could write his message (which was in Portuguese) in the card and send it halfway around the world. Naturally I obliged… and then snooped to see what he had written (thank you Google Translate!). Turns out, I had just transcribed one of the sweetest love notes I’ve ever read!

Another customer shared the way she and her boyfriend met after purchasing the card. In her own words:
“Robert and I met on Tinder almost 2 years ago! I had been on Tinder for a couple of months before matching with him, and had never actually had anything come out of it besides a few almost date-worthy conversations. When we matched, I almost didn’t believe he was real because of how inconsistent his pictures were (some with a beard, some with a mustache, short hair, long hair, etc.)…but decided to still swipe right, because what are the odds I was actually going to date one of these people?

“After a day of talking, I immediately realized he was different than any of the other guys I was talking to, mainly because he didn’t ask me right away to get drinks or meet up. So, about a week after we started talking, I took a risk asked him out on a date! I wanted to meet at a super public space for our first date because I was terrified to meet someone off the internet, let alone Tinder (hello catfish!), so we met at a bar in Chicago for dinner. After a 6 hour dinner, we finally decided our first date should end…only to have our second date the next day. Two years and endless amounts of dates later, we both couldn’t be happier that we made the somewhat shallow decision to be on Tinder way back when :)”

And here’s a photo of the couple because they’re adorable. Share your Tinder love story below!

12418861_3488413246246_4872101113942039721_o

November Card Club

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

Well, Halloween has come and gone so it’s officially ok for me to start posting holiday goods! It was all I could do to keep them under wraps this year. As holidays go, Halloween is one of my favorites, but business-wise, there’s just no beating Christmas!

COTM_1115_9657First up, of course, is November’s card club! I got these in the mail last week, so my subscribers should have plenty of time to write family and friends a heartfelt note. I hate Black Friday traffic and the terrible qualities it brings out in my fellow humans, so I that’s the day I usually spend writing cards. What are your holiday card writing traditions?

Need to pick up some holiday cards? Find these designs and more here! Want to join the 622 press Card Club? Join here. A subscription also makes a great gift!

New cards for people who are not me

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

Growing up in a homogeneous small town in a fairly homogeneous state, I wasn’t exposed to much in the way of diversity. Sure, I had a few (and I mean few) classmates whose skin was a different color than mine, but real differences—religion, culture, sexual orientation—were few and far between. Let’s just say it was easy to forget that not everyone celebrates Christmas.

congrats_WW_6128I grew up, met new people, made efforts to broaden my horizons. I strive to be more conscientious about being inclusive in life, and in my little corner of the letterpress world. You’ve seen my same-sex marriage cards for years now—those were easy to come up with—but it’s still hard to write and design greetings for occasions you personally don’t have the cultural context for. Lucky for me, I have friends who can fill in the gaps.

lchaim_6963So this year, keep an eye out for a more inclusive card collection! The cards pictured are all now available in my etsy shop, and please feel free to leave me a comment with a sentiment you’d like to see!

mazel_6967

Postcards Posted

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

A few weeks ago (I’m going to take an aside here and apologize for beginning what seems like 99% of my blog posts this way. Letterpress is a long process and so by the time I finish the project and photograph it, several weeks or a month or two have always gone by, so it feels strange to pretend like I just did whatever it is I’m writing about. My apologies!)

Anyway, a few weeks ago, a student from the Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD) emailed to ask for some letterpress goodies to include in his senior show. His thesis was on moveable type and letterpress and he wanted to create a hand-out kit with a variety of examples. He mentioned past projects (business cards, wedding invites) were just fine, but almost all of those are created with a custom printing plate, not vintage type. The main thing I use my type for is greeting cards and coasters, but that would mean giving away several hundred dollars worth of merchandise—which is a big deal to a teeny tiny business like mine!

But I did want to help the guy out and I had been tossing around an idea for postcards for a couple weeks, so I decided that would be the project for him!

You all know I repurpose my practice printing paper over and over again, and then cut it up into tiny paper circles/confetti, 2-inch paper squares, gift tags and garlands. While printing this latest collection, I had a lot of what I refer to as “happy accidents”—designs that overlapped in a really interesting way or somehow worked together in a design, even though I hadn’t planned it.

postcards_6460I had been saving these pieces, not wanting to chop them up into little bits, yet they had too much already printed on them to use for practice sheets. So, I trimmed them up to a standard USPS post card size, used vintage lead type to print “Post card” and a dotted divider down the front, plus added my logo to designate where to place a stamp. Voila! The coolest post cards you’ve ever sent.

postcard_6462I sent most of them off to Ohio, but made a few extra sets and they’re now available in the shop. Pick some up now for quick notes, or they’re great to have on hand for summer vacation or when the kids go off to camp!