Gift Guide: It’s Wedding Season!

February 21, 2012February 21, 2012 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 2 Comments

Despite the snow on the ground, wedding season must be nearly upon us—I just received my first pearlized envelope in the mail. So what’s a gracious guest to do? Start planning the gift now instead of grabbing whatever’s left on the registry on the way to the reception.

Let’s just get this out of the way right now: Many modern couple just want cash. It’s easy for you, it leaves them free to spend it on whatever they need. Rare is the bride and groom who don’t already live together and really need to stock a new home. I’m not saying don’t go out and get something to wrap up, but if you don’t? Hey, that’s ok. Get a nice card (ahem, we have a few suggestions), throw in some cash and call it a day.

Now on to the more three-dimensional presents! (This is a gift guide after all.) First up: Registries are there for a reason! Believe it or not, nobody wants the $5 set of fish-shaped serving bowls you found at TJ Maxx (true story). Choose something from the couple’s registry, then find a way to make it more fun. Do they want a wok? Fill it with hoisin, soy sauce, rice noodles and a cookbook. Did they register for always-exciting new flatware? Package them up with a napkin and funky napkin ring for each place setting. A box of plates can come wrapped in a tablecloth. You get the idea.

If—and this is a big if—you know the couple really, really well, you may [pause for dramatic effect]… go off registry.

Make sure you’re gift is something they couldn’t register for—maybe something completely custom like the “Story of Us” wall hanging above, or a product handmade by a local artisan, like any of the cast iron pans shaped like Midwestern states below.

Another great option? Find something the couple can do together. Fund a date night (a gift card to their favorite restaurant or wine bar and concert tickets ought to do the trick), give vouchers for a cooking class or start a new hobby (beer or wine-making kit anyone?).

Best friends with the bride? Give her something truly special: a custom fashion illustration of her dress. Local artist Jen Thompson of Illustrate the Dress created this beauty below (modeled by Miss Mollie Busby on her wedding day).

Whatever you give, do so with love and know that your presence on the dance floor well past 11pm means just as much—if not more—than whatever you set on the gift table 5 hours prior. Happy wedding season!

Bus-beeeeee

September 30, 2011September 30, 2011 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 2 Comments

I hereby promise this will be my last post concerning Miss Mollie ~~Shambeau~~ Busby for a while! Last weekend was her ah-maze-ing wedding and I just have to brag a little about my gift! I went off-registry—gasp!—and printed Sean and Mollie custom stationery featuring their new family crest of sorts. I don’t often go so traditional when I design, but it felt just right for this occasion. I of course printed extras of this lovely note, so if you’re loving this look, pick some up right here!

I’m so sad I was too rushed to take a quick picture of the wrapping before heading out, but let’s just say, it was so cute! I picked up a kraft-colored papier maché box that matched the envelopes perfectly, nestled the stack of cards snugly in striped tissue and wrapped the whole thing in yellow, orange and light blue ribbon. While I was printing her cards, I whipped up a special envelope covered in bees and slipped that between ribbons. There’s something about a really well-wrapped present that makes the gift inside all the more special!

Don’t Worry, Bee Happy

August 12, 2011August 12, 2011 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 2 Comments

Oh yeah, that just happened. Well kids, once again life has gotten in the way of ye olde blog, so instead of coming up with new, original content for you, I bring you the words of one of my favorite bloggers (and full disclosure: very good friend), Mollie Shambeau.

Miss Mollie is getting married in just over a month and I helped design her wedding stationery. She was kind enough to feature our work on her blog here.

Her invitations were a fun project, both because she has an impeccable sense of style and wanted to add a little whimsy with a play on her soon-to-be last name: Busby (Bus-bee, get it!?!).

Whenever I have a little down time , I try to pop over to The Mollie Shambeau Show to see what that girl is up to. One day she’s in Wisconsin, the next Australia, then Utah, then who knows! Just over a month ago now (jeez, has it been that long?!), she wrote the loveliest post that expresses exactly why I chose to create greeting cards with my letterpress.

On a day when life was handing me too much, I had dinner with a dear friend who brought such positivity to everything I blabbered on about, I really did intend to send her a thank you card just for being herself. And of course even I—with boxes and boxes full of beautiful ephemera—didn’t follow through on my intentions.

A week or two later, I came across Mollie’s words and after kicking myself for my lack of follow-through, took the same vow:

I vow to try my best to not take anyone in my life for granted

2011 July 6

by Mollie

The last few weeks have been a learning experience for me. Not only because I’ve been living in my parents’ basement (oh yeah) and planning a wedding that’s happening in LESS THAN THREE MONTHS (mini heart-attack) but because I’ve learned a lot about myself and my relationships with others.

And though I should be feverishly working on another set of important vows in my life, I have one I’ve been wanting to disclose here:

I vow to try my best to not take anyone in my life for granted.

It began with a stack of cards. There are people out there (some of whom are probably reading this) that actually thought to send me a congratulations card after Sean and I got engaged. HOW THOUGHTFUL IS THAT? Seriously, it was so thoughtful that I started to question my own track record with cards. Lets just say I came up a little short.

There is something to be said for “card people,” right? Are you a card person? Prior to recently, I was not. Thank you notes? Of course. Birthday cards? Maybe, if I was seeing the friend in person. Cards for lesser occasions (arguably the cards that really matter) like Get Well Soon, Thinking of You, Congrats, etc.? Er, no.

Card people… how admirable are they? You know, that one person in your life who NEVER forgets your birthday, always calls, and makes sure you get at least one card (and $5 to spend on chocolate) on Valentine’s Day. I always thought to myself, “Maybe someday I’ll have time to be so thoughtful.” I resolved I was simply too cheap and too busy to embody the “T” word—two excuses that make me cringe as I write this. Plus, living in Utah a world away from many of my college and high school friends and family didn’t help to engage my sense of connection.

Well “someday” happened, baby. It’s time I climb aboard the Thoughtful Train… and I would like to extend an invitation to you.

I’d like to hope every woman reaches this point in her life. The point when she realizes that making that extra effort is important. Sure it may not be convenient to respond to an email or send a congratulatory card to a recently engaged pal, but you know what? Life isn’t convenient. I’ve got one hand on the computer keyboard and a sandwich in my other hand while I add, “Pick up dog poops in the yard” and “Write 1200-word story for the paper” to my To-do list and catch snippets on my iPhone from the Casey Anthony trial, all the while cursing my well-intentioned suggestion to watch “Father of the Bride” as tears of nostalgia run down my face (true story).

Life isn’t convenient and it never will be.

Going the extra mile for the important people in your life is—I believe—one of the most imperative and rewarding actions a human can take. Without friends and family in your life, would it be worth it?

Think about it. Hop on the train. Send a freaking card ☺ And have a wonderful day!

Porcelain lace

April 13, 2011April 13, 2011 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

Are you all tired of hearing about me and my work? I do apologize, my blog has been a little 622-centric lately! In an effort to correct that, I present a new series of artisan interviews. I hope you’ll learn as much about their craft as you do about starting an etsy shop for yourself! I’ve gotten a lot of requests for advice for beginners lately, so I hope between my writing and recommendations from experienced etsians, you’ll learn everything you want to know!

First up, the lovely and talented Isabelle Abrahamson, a Boston ceramicist who somehow makes solid clay forms seem light as air.

Tell us about your work—why do you create what you do?
My current body of work focuses on incorporating patterns of negative space into functional works of art.

Tell us about the business end of things.
I discovered Etsy by reading an article about Etsy in the New York Times Magazine. I had just started making selleable things and it seemed like the perfect venue for me. I opened my shop that day.

I still sell all of my work myself. In addition to my Etsy shop I also have a website www.isabelleabramson.com , which usually has a little more of a selection of new work than my Etsy shop. My things are so time consuming to produce that it’s never worked to split the profit of a sale with a store. I’m working with Viridis 3D to produce limited edition reproductions of my pieces. These might be available at stores someday but for right now I will sell them on my website and probably on Supermarket HQ (I’m pretty sure Etsy is not down with 3D printed pottery).

How has your work evolved?
I think that my work has gotten more elaborate as I’ve gotten more comfortable working with clay. You can do anything with clay. It’s just like clay :)

What is your greatest challenge?
My greatest challenge has been to keep up stock. I don’t like making the same things over and over, and I tend to be sold out of popular items while I experiment in the studio with new things. I think it will be a huge creative relief to get over the hump of having to make any particular thing just to make money. When I’m focused on being creative my work is always better, though it may happen slower. This has been the draw of getting set up to do 3D printing. When I really nail a design I’ll be able to put in a couple thousand dollars to get it set up as a limited edition print, and it will stay available for a while without me having to try to recreate it over and over. I’ll be able to move on to the next thing and, overall, my collection of work will be much better.
What advice do you have for new etsians?
I would say to any new Etsy shop owner that having good pictures is incredibly important. Partly it draws customers to your item, but also it gives you the opportunity to sell the idea of your item to customers. I think a good picture can even make customers feel better about something after they bought it…. they get to remember falling in love with it. I try to take pictures that seem like they could be in your home. If you look at the earliest pieces that I sold they’re all taken in a photo tent and came out weird shades of pink. At some point I found a place in my house (my bureau in my bedroom) that has the perfect light in the afternoon and a couple spots near windows in the studio and the pictures became so much more inviting (in my humble opinion).

you & me part 5: Photography

August 25, 2010 ~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

Choosing a photographer was the #1 most important vendor choice to me for our wedding. Now, I know you all don’t come here to listen to me gush about my wedding, so I’ll keep this to a minimum, but Kate Chin of Captured Moments photo & video did an absolutely phenomenal job of capturing our day, plus she somehow managed to get all the editorial shots I had on my list as well. Great work and even more importantly, really wonderful to work with, I’d recommend her to anyone getting married in the area!

Me with my mom Groomsmen Bridesmaids