Letterpress Coasters

I recently ordered up some blank coasters and tested out a few prints. We'll have other designs available for sale in our Etsy shop over the next day or two.

This week we've been working on finishing up the printing for a custom wedding order, designing a wedding invitation suite for another client, and printing up an order for a client that will be giving away packages of our notecards to his own clients as a holiday gift.

My hands are pretty raw right now from all the press work (thank God for Aveda's hand cream). My hands are usually a bit of a mess because I don't like to wear latex or other gloves during printing, like some other printers do. This means that I get grease and ink on my hands during printing, and they get dry and sometimes cut from handling all the paper. 100% cotton paper is great, but handling it repeatedly sucks all the natural oils from your hands. Combine this with the fact that I use an industrial scrub to take the grease and ink off my hands when I'm done for the day, and you can understand the discomfort. Ah, the price we pay for letterpress beauty!

Have a great weekend!

Happy letterpressing!

Letterpress Gift Certificates Now Available!

In a pickle over finding a gift for someone? Maybe you need a gift under $10 for your office's Secret Santa. Maybe you need an affordable stocking stuffer. Maybe your child's teacher deserves a unique holiday gift. Whatever your reason, give the letterpress lover in your life the gift of choice. Available now in our Etsy store in $10, $20 and $50 USD denominations.

Redeemable for goods (such as greeting cards, notecards, coasters, gift tags, and more) in our Etsy store or on our website, or the certificate can be used towards custom stationery orders.

We'll send you a numbered certificate in the mail (with redemption instructions), or we can send the certificate directly to your recipient with a note from you inside. Valid for one year.

Happy shopping!

Custom Letterpress Business Cards

Just a quick post for today...some custom letterpress business cards we designed and printed for a recent client. Printed in two inks on Fluorescent White Crane's Lettra.

Watch the Sunlit Letterpress Etsy shop for some new letterpress coasters...coming soon! Now back to work...

Happy letterpressing!

Holiday 2008 Collection

Here is the start of our Holiday 2008 Collection - now available in our Etsy store. These cards will also soon be available for purchase from our website.

These cards are printed in two inks (grey and wine red) on 100% cotton (tree-free) Crane Lettra in Pearl and come with 100% recycled material kraft envelopes. We have a limited number of these cards available, so order early to avoid disappointment.

Happy letterpressing!

Letterpress Printing Plates

When we talk to clients about our printing process, the topic of printing plates often comes up. If you've never seen a printing plate before you might not have any idea what they would look like. Here's how it works...

The save-the-dates (above) that were recently printed for our wonderful clients (Alix and Todd) started out as a quick sketch. We then reproduce the sketch on the computer and the file is made ready for platemaking.

Magnesium plates are then made according to the design and are mounted onto a wood backing (notice how everything is backwards on the plate [wrong-reading], so that it prints the opposite way on paper [right-reading]).

Below are the actual plates that were used for the above save-the-dates.


The plates are placed in the press (locked up in the chase) where they get inked and are pressed into the paper.

And voilà, the final result:

Happy letterpressing!

p.s. For those who have emailed, our 2008 Holiday Stationery will be available in our Etsy store this week!

New @ Our Etsy Shop

A selection of new cards available in our Etsy shop.

Happy letterpressing!

Indie I DO & Nice Try Mike!

Photo © and courtesy of Lotus Events

Just a quick post to let you know that we will be participating in Indie•I•Do on January 17th 2009 at Heritage Hall in Vancouver. From the organizers:

"Indie I Do is an alternative to the cookie cutter wedding where one size does not fit all. The first show of its kind in Canada, Indie I Do revolutionizes an industry that is dominated by commercial products and provides couples with the opportunity to think outside the box."

We will be showcasing our custom designed letterpress wedding stationery and invitations, taking orders for ready-to-wear stationery items (such as custom monogram stationery for newlyweds!), and offering a few of our "do-it-yourself" items for sale.

At a later date I will have complimentary tickets to give away (valued at $200), so stay tuned and mark your calendars!


And...On a sad note, someone tried to scam us on our recent letterpress giveaway contest. Decor Addict was the winner so in our last post we asked him/her for a postal address so we could send the set of cards to him/her. We received an email from "Mike" that said:

" Wow! thanks for picking me!!!!

Postal address to send cards:

[address]

Columbus, Ohio

thanks!!!"

Because Decor Addict's comment links to her blog, I know that a) her name isn't Mike, b) she is female, and c) she is NOT from Ohio. So I emailed her to confirm these facts, and it was true, someone tried to get us to send the giveaway prize to him when he wasn't the winner.

Mike, that stinks. Shame on you.

Happy letterpressing!