Adventures in Letterpress

Short Documentary Worth Sharing - Ink + Paper

2012-01-21T13:50:00.000-08:00

ink&paper from Ben Proudfoot on Vimeo.

I was recently sent a link to the above documentary by Alex Kefalos at Wits Pictures. I get sent quite a few clips from people wanting them to be posted on the blog, and more often than not they are just short clips of a Heidelberg Windmill's magnificent parts moving together to create something beautiful. There's nothing wrong with that of course, but I was excited to see this little documentary was something different and special.

I think this is one of the first little movies that wasn't entirely promotional in nature. Here instead is a real look inside the situation that many letterpress printers and their suppliers find themselves in. Letterpress printing is not the glamorous industry that many people think it is. I think it is assumed sometimes that because letterpress is expensive, that it means printers are making lots of cash. The reality is that our supplies are very expensive and hard to find, parts and equipment is scarce, and that our work involves lots of physical labor (blood, sweat and tears - literally). And, as the film shows, it's not at all easy to make a living - especially during a recession.

So on that note, I invite you to watch the documentary yourself and see what you think. Thank you Alex for sending it to us and to Ben Proudfoot and company for putting together this more realistic view of the state of the printing and print supply industry.

Free Letterpress Stationery for the First Three Responders

2012-01-19T14:06:00.001-08:00

We have some extra notecards and other bits and pieces of letterpress stationery on our shelves that we'd like to give away to the first three people to respond.

Here are the rules:

- you have to be from Canada
- you have to "like" our Facebook page
- you have to leave a comment on our Facebook page (don't leave your comment here, go to Facebook) answering the following question:

If you had an unlimited wedding budget, which Vancouver vendor would you pick for your:

a) wedding venue
b) wedding photographer
c) wedding planner, and
d) wedding cake designer

If you are already married that's ok, just go ahead and list who you would have chosen for your wedding if money was not an issue.

First three people to post will be sent a letterpress package. Please email us your mailing address once you've posted on the page.

Enjoy!

Letterpress Stationery - Etsy Sale

2012-01-02T14:25:00.000-08:00

Time to clean out some stock - 50% Off Letterpress Stationery in our Etsy shop (excluding custom notecards, custom calling cards/business cards, and Letterpress Lovers Club memberships). Limited holiday stock available - buy for next year!

Sale ends January 6th, 2012. Coupon code "50NY2012" - visit http://sunlitletterpress.etsy.com

Happy New Year - Welcome 2012!

2011-12-30T13:04:00.000-08:00

So we are a little early - it's not even New Year's Eve yet, but I wanted to get a head start on the blog in case I don't get to it over the next couple of days. New Year's is never really a huge deal around our house, but it is what I consider the last weekend of the holidays. This year our holidays started early with a family trip to Maui, then to Vancouver Island for Christmas with my husband's family, and then back home for New Year's. I am glad to be back and spending some time cleaning around the house and getting things organized for 2012. One of my next big tasks is to go get myself a daytimer - my mother normally buys me the same one each year, but this year my parents are in California for 3 months, so we only really gave each other gifts that didn't need to be shipped. I am lost without my daytimer! Even though I have an iPhone, I just prefer to do my scheduling on paper - and I don't think this will ever change. Do you use your smart phone calendar or are you stuck to your paper daytimer like me?

In the spirit of getting organized, we just finally got the Sunlit Letterpress Facebook page set up. We used to have a group page back in the day, but it seems Facebook got rid of those and set up new business pages, so the old page got lost. So far we've gotten some portfolio shots loaded and a few other things, but we plan to also post news, event listings, coupons and other info here too. I hope you will "like" our page and join the group - we will send notices of new products and coupon codes out to our Facebook page members. I will be posting a clearance coupon for our Holiday 2011 goods shortly.

In other news, back before the holidays (on November 30th to be exact) we attended the BC Professional Wedding Awards Gala at Boulevard Casino here in Vancouver and Sunlit Letterpress was presented with the 2011 Best Wedding Stationery Award for BC. We are thrilled! We received a lovely trophy, an amazing bouquet, had oodles of photos taken and got to meet the "Wedding Belles" from TV and Fred Lee from CBC (Mr. Vanhattan). It was a fun night and on top of winning our award, my husband and I met old and new friends from the BC wedding industry and even got to play "Top Chef" judges as five different caterers were competing at the event for a catering award. From ahi sliders to smoked tomato shrimp, we enjoyed a feast of small bites. We also got to play around in the photo booth for awhile with props like mustaches and boas - do photobooths ever get old?

So that concludes this latest update - we wish you all a fantastic (and safe) New Year! If you are planning a wedding in 2012 and need letterpress invitations or are in need of custom letterpress stationery for your business or personal correspondence, please contact our studio - we look forward to working with you!

New Holiday Cards, Gift Ideas and LLC Sale!

2011-11-16T20:35:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again...well, sort of. I know that in the US that Thanksgiving hasn't taken place yet, but in Canada it has, and even though I hate pushing a holiday too early, the fact is that our studio will be closed at the beginning of December. So...if you want to get your hands on some letterpress goodness before Christmas it will have to happen soon in order to arrive in time for the holidays :)

This year has been pretty busy on a work and on a personal level (with a two-year-old running around), and this has left me with less time for personal design projects like holiday cards. This year we only have one new letterpress holiday card available for purchase, and a few sets left over from last year's "peace and joy" batch of cards.

You can purchase the new "happy holidays" letterpress card here in our Etsy shop.

And the "peace and joy" letterpress cards here in our Etsy shop.

LLC Subscriptions on Sale Until November 27th!

As a gift for the letterpress lover in your life, we invite you to purchase a membership for him/her in our Letterpress Lovers Club - a "letterpress-of-the month" club where the recipient will receive a unique letterpress stationery item (or items) once a month for the duration of their membership.

Each month the item(s) will be different - a fun surprise in your mailbox! - and will include an assortment of stationery items such as notecard or greeting card sets, art prints, gift tags, letterpress printed packaging items, seasonal stationery pieces, etc.

A limited number of 3-month, 6-month, and (new this year!) 1-year memberships are for sale.

(If your order is a gift for someone else, please be sure to specify their mailing address in the "NOTES TO SELLER". A membership card will be sent noting your name as the sender of the membership gift. ***IF THIS IS A HOLIDAY 2011 GIFT, please note this in the "NOTES TO SELLER" and if you prefer we will hold the first mailing for your gift recipient until AFTER Christmas and send their first mailing in January 2012.***)

Buy your gift subscriptions before November 27th and save 10% - use Coupon Code "HOLIDAY2011" at checkout.

A big thank you to those of you who buy holiday cards from us every year - we really appreciate your repeat business!

Attack of the Killer Computer Virus

2011-10-31T14:20:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! Just a quick post to let you know that we were infected last week with the horrible "Microsoft Security Essentials" virus/malware and it has put us behind a whole week in responding to emails and getting out estimates etc. If you tried to get in touch with us last week, we apologize for the delay in responding.

We are back up and running again (FINALLY! after over three days of working on the problem and restoring all our systems) and we apologize for any inconvenience. We will be in touch very soon if you have not yet heard back from us.

Black and White Letterpress Wedding Invitations

2011-10-16T20:27:00.001-07:00

Above are a couple of photos of recent client Lisa's custom letterpress wedding invitations. Lisa had put together the basics of the layout she wanted to use in Publisher, and sent us a file showing us what she had in mind. We took what she had put together and made some slight adjustments to the typesetting after recreating the file in Illustrator and added in a small circle monogram motif for the bottom of the invitation.

It is always fun to collaborate with clients on the design of their wedding stationery. Some clients have a very clear idea of what they'd like their invitations to look like, but they just need a tiny bit of assistance with the design and creation of the actual artwork file for platemaking - and we're happy to help!

Best wishes to Lisa and Adam - it was a pleasure to work with you!

As far as studio updates go, we are currently working on a variety of letterpress business stationery projects for our clients. We are gearing up for the start of the 2012 wedding season and have some marketing projects on the go that should be ready to implement in the next month or so.

In other news...this week my new iPhone should arrive and I am very excited. I hate to admit it, but when it comes to cell phones I've always been a bit of a luddite (this despite my father being the very first person I knew to have a cell phone when they first came out back in the day - all huge, weighing a tonne, and being very impractical indeed). Yes, I still use a Motorola Razr flip phone (gasp!). So there we go, I will be joining the rest of the modern world soon - kicking and screaming, mind you. I hope I don't turn into one of the millions of smart phone zombies roaming the earth... :)

15% OFF SALE! Ready-to-Wear Letterpress Calling + Business Cards

2011-10-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

Only once this year and for one week only, we are offering 15% off our ready-to-wear line of letterpress business and calling cards! Simply purchase 100 or 250 cards from our online Etsy shop and enter coupon code RTWOCT2011 to receive your discount. Sale ends October 7th, 2011. (Coupon code not applicable to other items in Etsy shop or on order shipping).

Makes a perfect holiday gift! Order early and save!

100 RTW Letterpress Cards Etsy Listing
http://www.etsy.com/listing/57635954/100-ready-to-wear-custom-letterpress

250 RTW Letterpress Cards Etsy Listing
http://www.etsy.com/listing/57638466/250-ready-to-wear-custom-letterpress

So what is the Ready-to-Wear line all about? We are often contacted by customers interested in letterpress business cards, but a 100% custom card is not really in the budget. With this ready-to-wear line of cards you get to pick your design (12 options), ink color (10 options), and order quantity (100 or 250 cards) – and it all comes with a smaller price tag.

Cards are standard business card size (3.5" x 2") and are printed in one color on bright white extra-thick 130 lb. cover stock. Additional card stock and finishing options are available.

Here is a sample of two of our twelve available designs:

Unlike our 100% custom letterpress business card offerings, we are able to keep costs lower for these ready-to-wear cards because they are pre-designed, only offered in certain quantities that minimize costs, and are only available in a smaller range of ink colors.

For more information on the RTW cards, turnaround times, and how to order, please download our PDF Ordering Guide.

(If none of the design options meet your specific needs, please let us know and we will be happy to provide an estimate for a 100% custom option just for you – with a unique design that will not be replicated, in the quantities you need, and in any color(s) you choose. For more information, please contact the studio at 604.842.3143 or info at sunlit-letterpress.com.)

Elephant/Safari Themed Letterpress Invitations

2011-09-21T20:02:00.001-07:00

Hello friends! Above are photos from a custom letterpress invitation suite we designed and printed for our clients Sarah and Ryan from Victoria, BC. Sarah and Ryan had some wonderful ideas for their wedding invitations - including the incorporation of elephants (which have a special meaning for the couple) and leopard print. It was important to the couple that the elephants be African or have a African safari vibe/feel (i.e. no Thai or Indian-style elephants). This difference may sound trivial to some, but there is a big difference between illustrative styles for elephants based on their geographic origin.

When Sarah first mentioned leopard print, I have to admit I had a moment of panic. When I first think of leopard print, my mind always automatically brings up visions of 1980s ladies workout gear. (Yes, I lived through that era...and yes, skinny jeans and other related 80s trends that are making a comeback these days still frighten me...). But, this isn't too say that leopard print and other animal patterns can't be sophisticated and elegant if used in the right way. We used a very light ivory/warm white for the inking of the leopard print in the invitation suite - to keep it subtle and use the leopard print as a sort of textural element.

I must say, these invitations are one of my favorites to date. I really like how different they are from the typical florals and lace that is usually associated with weddings. It's not that there is anything wrong with florals and lace - it's just that when 75% of your design time is spent on wedding invitations, it's fun to work with unique graphic motifs.

We also designed and printed a custom letterpress wedding menu for the reception and printed it in the same copper brown as the invitations. The menu made me drool whenever I was working on it - yum!

It was a pleasure to work with Sarah on her invitations - and as with over 80% of our clients, we worked with Sarah only via phone and e-mail, and have never met face to face. I am in Victoria frequently however (my in-laws live there), so perhaps one day I can congratulate Sarah and Ryan on their nuptials in person!

If you are interested in custom letterpress wedding invitations - whether you are in Vancouver or on the other side of the globe - please contact us! We look forward to working with you to make letterpress a part of your big day!

In other news, I am going to go check out a new (well, "new" is a relative term when it comes to presses) press for the studio on Friday...I'm not holding my breath, just in case it is in bad shape...but I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks to our friend Paul (a fellow student of the late Jim Rimmer) for the heads up!

Custom Letterpress Business Cards for Designer

2011-09-19T16:09:00.001-07:00

Did you know that we can print your letterpress business cards for you - even if you designed it yourself or had another designer design it for you? Yes, we do that! Maybe you've doodled your own ideas for a card on a piece of paper, but aren't sure how to translate these ideas into a draft, or aren't comfortable with design software? No worries, we're here to help! We'd be happy to take whatever start you've made and take it to print! Please contact the studio for more information and for our latest price sheet.

Above is a photo of business cards we printed for graphic designer Betty Hung - she designed the business card (we love the little icons!) and contacted us to see if the design would work well for letterpress printing. It was perfect for letterpress, and her artwork turned out nice and crisp on Crane Lettra 110 lb. Fluorescent White cover stock.

Thanks again Betty - it was a pleasure to work with you on these cards!

Custom Butterfly + Dragonfly Letterpress Invitations

2011-09-14T20:00:00.000-07:00

Above are photos of a custom letterpress wedding suite we designed and printed for Jessica and Scott for their wedding earlier this summer. The bride had some ideas about how she wanted the invitations to look, and we enjoyed taking her direction. We also loved her color choices - a bright fuschia and coral.

This invitation had a special meaning for the couple - the dragonfly represented a family member who had passed away unexpectedly. Working with the couple to include this personal tribute in the invitation was an honor for us. Every couple that we meet with has their own story, and helping a bride and groom include something symbolic in their stationery is satisfying for me on a personal level.

Our studio is busy with invitations for Fall 2011 weddings, and Spring 2012 brides and grooms are also getting started with their stationery planning. If you are interested in a quote or more information on our letterpress design and printing services, please contact us early to avoid disappointment. Please note, our studio will be closed for a significant portion of December 2011 for holidays - so if you need your stationery early in the New Year, please do not hesitate to contact us.

In other news, in the next week or so I will be asking our blog readers for photos (more details to come later...) in exchange for free letterpress stationery...so be sure to check back with our blog again very soon!

And finally, for some reason our Facebook group seems to have disappeared. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I think somewhere along the line Facebook changed from groups to fan pages or something and somewhere in the switch we lost our page. I will have to look into this...Does anyone know anything about this or had this happen?

Something Blue

2011-08-21T12:01:00.001-07:00

Above is an old design that we used to print in two colors...it has now been printed in robin's egg blue on a lighter robin's egg blue cover stock from Paper Source. This card is available for purchase from our Etsy shop.

I really wish I had more time to keep up with our blog; it is a struggle to stay current. There are lots of projects that I'd love to post about here, and I will, but it will just take some time. Between current orders and keeping an almost-two-year-old in check, blogging has kind of taken a back seat lately. I am very happy and extremely grateful that my work allows me to raise my daughter and run my own business, often juggling both at the same time and place; however, it is certainly a challenge at times.

Anyways, if you follow this blog, thank you for sticking with me despite the lack of posts. I will continue to try to get my act together and post more photos and other tidbits as I can.

Canada Post Strike and Delivery Issues

2011-06-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note for all of our clients, and especially our Letterpress Lovers Club members, to let you know that due to the current Canada Post strike, delivery of some packages sent in June may be delayed. Unfortunately this includes the June 2011 Letterpress Lovers Club mailing - some members in the US and Canada have received their packages, and some have not. The only reason I can fathom for this (since the packages were shipped at the beginning of the month) is that some unfortunately hit CP processing facilities when the rolling strikes started and thus have been sitting unmoved until now.

To read more about the CP strike, please visit: http://clients.infopost.ca/en/

According to the CP website, operations will resume this Monday (tomorrow). This should mean that July's LLC mailing (which will be shipped at the beginning of the month) won't have any problems with delivery. This being said, if you are concerned about receiving your mailing, we can offer courier delivery via Purolator Courier or FedEx at an additional fee.

Wedding, personal stationery, and corporate stationery clients can also opt to have us ship out your orders via Purolator Courier or FedEx if you are concerned about delivery times or future CP strike issues. Please let us know if you prefer to use these other carriers (Purolator is slightly more expensive than CP, and FedEx is generally much more expensive than both CP and Purolator).

We apologize for any inconvenience or disruption to the receipt of your LLC mailings. Unfortunately this is an issue beyond our control - but we hope that as of Monday will no longer be a cause for concern.

Now if only I could get CP to send the cheque for the insurance money they owe us for the damage of a client's art prints from December 2010...it was supposed to be coming "in two days", but that was over a month ago...sigh...

Dear Readers

2011-06-14T21:02:00.000-07:00

Just a quick blog update to let you know that we are still alive and well at Sunlit Letterpress. We are in the middle of a busy summer wedding season and are already printing invitations for some upcoming Fall weddings as well. If you have emailed or called for an estimate, please hang tight - I promise we will be in touch a.s.a.p.

I also promise to get back to this blog soon - there is lots to update and photos to be posted!

Mother's Day Savings - 10% Off Letterpress Lovers Club Memberships

2011-05-01T13:34:00.000-07:00

We have put together a 10% off Mother's Day promotion for Poppytalk readers for our Letterpress Lovers Club - the "letterpress-of-the-month" club that we started a while back.

Each LLC member receives a unique letterpress stationery item once a month for the duration of their membership. Three and six month subscriptions are available for purchase. Each month the item(s) are different and include an assortment of stationery items such as notecard or greeting card sets, art prints, gift tags, letterpress packaging items, seasonal stationery pieces, and more.

When a membership is purchased for someone else (i.e. Mom or other) as a gift, a card will be sent with each monthly mailing noting the sender's name.

(You can use the 10% discount for yourself too - it does not have to be a gift for someone else.)

Memberships can be purchased in our Etsy shop (sunlitletterpress.etsy.com) or via the following URLs:

3 Month Membership (regular price - $37)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/58899558/letterpress-lovers-club-membership-3

6 Month Membership (regular price - $73)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/50949069/letterpress-lovers-club-membership-6

Buyers will need to enter "POPPYMOM" in the Etsy "Notes to Seller" and we will re-invoice each order with the 10% deducted.

This offer expires at the end of the day on May 8th, 2011.

Studio Move

2011-03-07T20:27:00.001-08:00

Hello friends!

Just a quick note to let you know that our studio is moving this week to our new location a bit further south in sunny White Rock, British Columbia. The press is being made ready for the exciting trip to her new home and a quick lift from a commercial crane. If I can stop chewing my nails in anticipation (re: panic), I will try to remember to take photos of the move and post them here.

Please bear with us if we are behind in responding to your inquiries during this time. The best way to reach us for estimates or new orders this week is to email us.

New Cards and Mini Cards

2011-02-20T10:59:00.000-08:00

Available here and here...

40% Off Select Items in Etsy Shop

2011-02-14T15:33:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day! Did you know that our studio is moving at the beginning of March? So as a Valentine's gift (and an excuse to clear out some stock to lighten our moving load) we are offering 40% off select items in our Etsy shop. Ends Feb. 16th - get whatever is left while it lasts!

LAX Business Cards for Bethany

2011-01-17T12:19:00.000-08:00

Above is a photo of some letterpress business cards we created for Vancouver wedding photographer Bethany Schiedel. Her work is just beautiful - be sure to check out her website and blog. I love the interesting locations and backgrounds she finds to compose her photos.

Bethany wanted something simple for her cards, so she chose the "LAX" design from our Ready-to-Wear line of letterpress business and calling cards. She wanted to keep the layout of the LAX card, but change the font to match the one she already uses for her business - no problem! A little alteration and her card was ready for printing.

If you are looking for letterpress business or calling cards give us a shout - we look forward to helping you create the cards of your dreams!

Oh, and p.s. Yes, we used the Eric Murphy character from Entourage as the inspiration for the "LAX" card design. We are big Entourage geeks around here.

Calling Cards for Catherine

2011-01-17T11:29:00.000-08:00

Above is a photo of some calling cards we created for Catherine from the Sunlit Letterpress Ready-to-Wear line of business and calling cards. Catherine liked the flower from the "Floral Blossom" design option and the bee from the "Flora + Fauna" design option - so we combined these two pieces into one card.

The cards were printed in the Robin's Egg ink option on 130 lb. card stock.

Do you need simple letterpress business or calling cards that are more affordable than a 100% custom option? Check out our Ready-to-Wear line of business and calling cards, or contact us for more information.

Letterpress Rose Wedding Invitations

2011-01-17T11:16:00.000-08:00

Above is a photo of custom letterpress wedding invitations we designed and printed for our close friends Aaron and Yumi. Our friends wanted something simple, with pink and navy ink, and a single rose - so this was the result. The invitation was printed on 110% cotton 110 lb. Crane Lettra in Pearl White.

We attended the wedding in Victoria, BC (Vancouver Island), and it was lovely. Prior House is a luxury bed and breakfast in Victoria, and our friends provided a room for us for the night. I was a bit worried at first because we were told our room was called "the Hobbit Studio" - so I had visions of low ceilings and cramped quarters. The room was nothing like that though - designed for regular height non-hobbits, it was spacious and modern. I especially enjoyed the in-floor radiant heat, as the wedding day was a bit chilly.

If you are interested in custom letterpress wedding invitations, please contact us to discuss your needs - we look forward to answering any questions you may have!

Catching Up

2011-01-17T10:51:00.001-08:00

I promised I would try and catch up with posting new work, so here we go! I am very behind in blog posts and just had a few moments to take some photos.

Above are business cards printed for Jeff Martin Joinery, a ridiculously talented craftsman that needed business cards for the Vancouver Eastside Culture Crawl. These cards were designed by Vancouver designer Bryant Bell. We printed them in black ink on a nice think 130 lb. stock.

I am a big fan of this design - how could you not love a moustache on a business card?

If you are looking for custom letterpress business cards, please contact us for more information on ordering.

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T10:12:00.001-08:00

Can you believe it is almost 2011? I can't - this year went by faster than any year I think I have lived so far. I have a ton of photos to post of recent work, but I need some time to sit down and get that done.

Please watch for the launch of our new, updated website that should be a bit more user-friendly and provide more information than our current site.

We will also be offering a couple of new design/print packages in the New Year - I hope you'll visit again soon to check them out. If you are starting a new business this year, or looking to take your current business to the next level with letterpress, you might be interested in these packages. Stay tuned!

If there is anything you'd like to see more of on this blog in 2011, please let us know by posting a comment below.

We wish you all the best for 2011! Happy New Year!

Don't Forget Got Craft? This Weekend

2010-12-03T11:47:00.000-08:00

First 45 people get the Got Craft? swag bags - so come early! We look forward to seeing you there!

Holiday Notice
Please note our studio will be closed Dec. 13th to 27th. Please feel free to contact us by email or voicemail during this period.

Thanksgiving, Black Friday & Cyber Monday Letterpress Deals

2010-11-25T13:46:00.000-08:00

The following discounts start now at our Etsy shop and end at 11:59 PT on Cyber Monday (November 29th, 2010):

10% Off 3-Month Letterpress Lovers Club: The "Letterpress-of-the-Month" club where the recipient will receive a unique letterpress stationery item once a month for the duration of their membership.
Enter code: 10BF3M in the "Notes to Seller" and wait for your revised invoice before submitting your PayPal payment. *Discount applies to item only, not to shipping costs

15% Off 6-Month Letterpress Lovers Club: The "Letterpress-of-the-Month" club where the recipient will receive a unique letterpress stationery item once a month for the duration of their membership.
Enter code: 10BF6M in the "Notes to Seller" and wait for your revised invoice before submitting your PayPal payment. *Discount applies to item only, not to shipping costs

Free shipping on orders over $40 USD (excludes Letterpress Lovers Club, Ready-to-Wear Business Cards, and Custom Monogram Notecard sets).
Enter code: FREESBF2010 in the "Notes to Seller" and wait for your revised invoice before submitting your PayPal payment.

Holiday 2010 Available on Etsy

2010-11-24T13:54:00.001-08:00

Above are a few photos of a line of kraft holiday cards that are currently available in our Etsy shop (and will also be available at Got Craft in Vancouver on December 5th). Please note we have VERY limited quantities available for both cards. In years past, I've printed large runs of our holiday cards - but this year, with a 1-year old keeping me busy, it's been harder to do - so I have lower quantities of each for sale.

JINGLE ALL THE WAY (ETSY)

PEACE AND JOY (ETSY)

These cards are repeats of designs from previous years - however, this is the first time they are available on kraft stock.

I have a lot of updates to post for recent projects - I will try to get those up over the next few days. It turns out we won't be moving our studio in January after all, so maybe I will now have some time for blogging again!

Please be sure to visit the blog again tomorrow for some exciting Black Friday deals...

Got Craft?

2010-11-18T09:54:00.001-08:00

What are you doing on December 5th? If you're in Vancouver you should come down to the Got Craft? show at 2205 Commercial Drive from 10 am to 5pm. We'll have a bunch of stationery for sale, including holiday cards and gift tags. You'll also be able to buy subscriptions to our Letterpress Lovers Club for your friends and family as holiday gifts - just be sure to bring their mailing address with you so you can fill out the order form. Three and six-month memberships are available.

The above notecards will be for sale, but you can also buy them from our Etsy shop here.

So what else is going on in the studio - lots of printing of business cards (custom and from our Ready-to-Wear line), wedding invitations, and a limited edition art print for a local artist. It also looks like we have a move coming up for the studio at the beginning of next year - which already has me stressed. No matter how you look at it, moving tons of cast iron from point A to point B is just never something you look forward to. Ugh.

Anyways, be sure to come see us at Got Craft! We look forward to meeting you!

Crème de la Crème 2010

2010-11-10T11:58:00.000-08:00

It's been almost two weeks since we participated in the Crème de la Crème Grand Wedding Showcase at the Four Seasons Hotel here in Vancouver. It was a fantastic show and we really enjoyed meeting Vancouver's upcoming brides and grooms! I'm already hitched, but I would still attend this show as a non-bride because it was that good - where else can you pay $45 to have your nails done, your hair done, be treated to cocktails and out-of-this-world molecular gastronomie canapés from the Four Seasons' head chef, sample fine chocolates and the best cakes in the city, and receive a fabulous swag bag full of goodies? Nevermind the couture fashion show with gowns from top designers like Vera Wang and Monique Lhuillier. Oh, and did I mention the candy favor station? My favorite!

We enjoyed meeting some of Vancouver's other top wedding vendors and were really impressed by the talent and creativity behind every business. Participating in Crème is by invitation only, and really is a great show for bringing together the "best of the best".

If you attended Crème, don't forget our promotion for free letterpress wedding place cards for Crème brides. Your order must be received by December 31st to qualify (but can be printed at a later date). Please see the promotion card distributed at the show for details or contact us. We look forward to working with you!

Holiday Notice

Please note that our studio will close for the holidays on December 13th, 2010.

Dragons

2010-10-28T11:34:00.000-07:00

On CBC there is a show called "Dragon's Den" that I enjoy watching. This show is also available in the US on ABC and is called "Shark Tank". It is basically a bunch of investors that offer their own money to start-up businesses that come and do a pitch. The goal for the business owner is to obtain some capital in trade for the Dragon's (or Shark's) equity in the business. Do you watch it? I find it entertaining...and sometimes educational.

Anyways, last night instead of the usual pitches from business owners they did features on each of the Dragons to show how they each made their millions. The best quote was from Jim Treliving (of the Boston Pizza empire) who said that someone told him that he was "lucky" to be where he was. Jim said he thought that was funny - it wasn't luck - "the harder I worked the ' luckier' I got". Sometimes that's all it comes down to, is hard work.

I am not exactly sure what the point of this post is, other than to say that if you need to be inspired on occasion to keep truckin' at your own business and make it work - then check out this show.

P.S. If you are are getting married anytime soon and are in Vancouver, don't forget to come to Creme de la Creme Grand Wedding Showcase at the Four Seasons Hotel on Saturday (October 30th). We can't wait!

Crème de la Crème Ticket Winner!

2010-10-17T19:55:00.000-07:00

Jen - You are our Crème de la Crème ticket winner! Congrats! Please email us (address is in blog header above) your mailing address so we can send you your tickets. We look forward to seeing you at the show!

Ready-to-Wear Letterpres Business & Calling Cards

2010-10-14T12:41:00.001-07:00

Have you heard about our line of Ready-to-Wear business and calling cards? Above is one of our card design options – "Little Birds" (#5). Lori recently contacted us about having a set made, but she had a little bit more information to add to the card. Not a problem! We can always add in an extra line or two of contact information if you want your card to be a little more detailed.

Lori picked the Little Birds design and opted for pool blue as her ink color. I think the card design goes perfectly with her company name - Bird's Eye Creative.

"Received my business cards in the mail yesterday. I really love how they turned out - the colour of pool looks fresh and the tactile quality of both the paper stock and the letterpress makes a great statement for my business. THANK YOU!"

Interested in your own set of pre-designed letterpress business or calling cards? Check out our ordering guide for more information and pricing details.

Letterpress Lovers Club Update + Holiday 2010 Preview

2010-10-13T15:58:00.001-07:00

Above is a sneak peak of October's Letterpress Lovers Club mailout – a holiday card printed with snowflakes in a tinted white on fluorescent white stock. I felt a bit weird sending holiday cards out for the October mailing – seeing as Halloween hasn't even arrived yet, let alone American Thanksgiving (!)...but nevertheless, off they went. Part of the reason I wanted to send holiday cards so early was that a few of our members' subscriptions are expiring this month, and I wanted to make sure they received a seasonal item as part of their subscriptions.

If your membership expires this month, please look inside your last mailout package for a renewal coupon. I really do hope that you enjoyed your subscription and sign up again, or consider giving a subscription as a gift to someone for the holidays. If you would like to use your renewal coupon towards a gift for someone else, you are more than welcome to do so.

I have released more membership subscriptions for sign-up in our Etsy shop:

3-Month Membership:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/58899558/letterpress-lovers-club-membership-3

6-Month Membership:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/50949069/letterpress-lovers-club-membership-6

We have a limited number of subscriptions available, so if you are planning to purchase a subscription for the holidays, please buy early to avoid disappointment! (We can hold the subscription until January if you would like it to start after the holidays.)

We also have a limited number of the above snowflake cards available for purchase in the Etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/58900239/holiday-2010-set-of-4-snowflake

More holiday designs will be on their way to the Etsy shop soon. Wholesale inquiries welcome - please contact us for more information.

You can also pick up holiday cards and other stationery gifts at the Got Craft? Holiday Show taking place in Vancouver on December 5th. Check out this year's vendors here. And yes, there will be the usual swag bags for the first 45 people in line...at the last show I heard the line started forming at some ungodly hour like 6 am...and that there was even a *gasp!* "fight" last year over the bags...Oh the things you miss when you are on maternity leave!

Enter to Win Tickets to Creme de la Creme Grand Wedding Showcase

2010-10-09T19:32:00.000-07:00

Photo © and courtesy of Creme De La Creme

The CRÈME DE LA CRÈME Grand Wedding Showcase at the Four Seasons Vancouver is quickly approaching - on October 30th!

CRÈME DE LA CRÈME raises the standard of wedding shows with an unmatched haute couture fashion show, trendsetting designs, and showcase of products and services that convey style, artistry and excellence. We are so excited to be part of this year's show - and are looking forward to meeting with brides to discuss their stationery needs.

Here are the details:

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2010
FOUR SEASONS HOTEL VANCOUVER
791 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 2T4

11:00AM to 6:00PM WEDDING SHOWCASE
1:00PM to 2:00PM HAUTE COUTURE FASHION SHOW
3:00PM to 4:00PM ENCORE PRESENTATION

TICKETS: $45 PER PERSON (includes fashion show, deluxe gift bag & scrumptious tastings & full-scale pampering)

Be sure to check out the videos on the CRÈME DE LA CRÈME website to see what it's all about!

So, how do you go about getting two free tickets (a $90 value!)? Simply leave a comment below answering the following two (multipart!) questions, and I will enter you into a draw to win this pair of tickets. One entry per person, contest closes October 16th, 2010 - so be sure to post your comment before then!

1. Are you using a wedding planner for your upcoming wedding? 1.a) If so, who? (please provide planner's website URL) 1. b) If not, why not?

2. Are you considering letterpress for your wedding invitations? 2.a) If not, why not?

Winner will be drawn October 16th - please be sure to visit our blog on the 16th to see if you've won, as we will need your contact information in order to mail your tickets.

Good luck!!!

Ready-to-Wear Letterpress Business & Calling Cards Are Here!

2010-09-05T08:58:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time coming...and our ready-to-wear line of business and calling cards is finally ready! We are often contacted by customers interested in letterpress business cards, but a 100% custom card is not really in the budget. With this ready-to-wear line of cards you get to pick your design, ink color, and order quantity (100 or 250 cards) – and it all comes with a smaller price tag.

Cards are standard business card size (3.5" x 2") and are printed in one color on bright white extra-thick 130 lb. cover stock (thicker than Crane Lettra at 110 lb.). Additional card stock and finishing options are available.

Birth Announcements

2010-08-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

It's taken us a really long time (10 months to be exact!) to post photos of our daughter's birth announcements - but here they are at long last.

Being the both the designer and client for a personal project is very difficult - I find when I'm designing for other people I come up with ideas easily and am always confident with the concepts I present. But when designing for myself I always second guess everything - Could this look better another way? Have I totally exhausted the possibilities and options for the layout? Would other colors look better? What if I print this and I hate it, or come up with a better idea later? What if...I drive myself nuts.

The announcements were printed on Crane Lettra 110 lb. cotton stock in Pearl White in three (yep, three!) colors. This means three separate passes through the press for each piece - the light pink, the dark pink, and the blind impression (circle pattern with no ink). The envelope had the butterfly printed on the front beside where each recipient's address was written.

In the end I am very happy with how things turned out and plan to find a frame that will fit the announcement and the photo of her from the hospital that I sent out with it.

I still can't believe it's been almost a year since she was born. This has truly been the fastest year of my life - when they say life speeds up when you have children they weren't kidding around!

Return of Merci Notecards

2010-08-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

Back by popular demand - "Merci" notecards in pink. Buy them here.

We are thrilled to announce that we will be participating in Vancouver's most exclusive wedding show - Crème de la Crème - on October 30th at the Four Seasons Hotel. We are so excited - this wedding show is unlike any other in Vancouver and offers a completely unique experience for the discerning bride with a taste for exquisite style. More details to follow...

Custom Letterpress Business Cards for Artist

2010-08-16T12:53:00.001-07:00

Above is a photo of some custom letterpress business cards we printed for Scott Malin, a client we have printed limited edition artwork for in the past. We just love his work, and his designs are just right for letterpress printing. Lots of line work that is set far enough apart to both take a nice letterpress impression and let the white space look nice and pillowy (is that even a word?) in contrast. Scott also requests nice strong inks for his prints - and it's always fun for us to print, when we often spend so much time using pastels and more washed-out tones for wedding stationery and such.

Scott's work is currently for sale on his website - visit http://www.scottmalin.com/forsale.html

If you would like to talk about your options for your own set of letterpress business cards, please contact the studio!

New Wholesale Catalog and Pricing - Coming Soon!

2010-08-13T20:21:00.000-07:00

Dear retailers: Sunlit Letterpress will be distributing a new wholesale catalog with updated pricing and products. If you would like to be send the e-catalog, which will include Holiday 2010 stationery items, please email us at info at sunlit-letterpress.com.

Have a great weekend!

Letterpress Business Cards for Landscape Designer

2010-08-11T10:26:00.001-07:00

Above is a photo of custom letterpress business cards we designed and printed for local landscape designer Dana Magee. Dana and her husband do beautiful work, and when I first met Dana for her design consultation, I had the chance to look through her portfolio of landscape projects around the Greater Vancouver area - the photos were stunning!

I really enjoy meeting with other professionals in the creative field - even it it is a completely different industry from our own - we have similar issues and difficulties, as well as similar rewards from working with our hands. At the end of the day, we are all just trying to make beautiful things for people to enjoy.

Dana wanted a business card that would really stand out and appeal to her high-end clients. This card was printed with earthy tones on Crane's 110 lb. Pearl Lettra.

We also designed coordinated pieces for digital/offset and desktop printing including matching letterhead, envelopes, and templates for project blueprints and custom graph paper. Even though we are a letterpress studio, we also design pieces for non-letterpress printing and other media such as websites. If you'd like to know more about how we can create an identity package for your company, we'd love to hear from you.

We have a lot going on in the studio right now - orders to complete, holiday items to prepare, redoing our wholesale catalog and offerings, planning for holiday and wedding shows, promotional materials for the wedding industry, etc. Throw a near ten-month-old into the mix, and it's wild times in these parts. Our daughter is free-ranging (our term for crawling) and is getting ready for walking, so having her in the studio is a bit of a challenge. She LOVES to get into the paper samples and swatchbooks - and has taken to tasting some of them. Keeping her out of trouble in the studio was much easier before she was able to move about!

Oh, and it's probably a bit early to mention, but we will be participating in Got Craft? this Christmas season - December 5th at 2205 Commercial Drive. We haven't done a Christmas show for a while, so it should be fun. For more info, visit the show website. Oh, and if you want a swag bag this year, prepare yourself - I've been told that the wait in the morning for the May 2010 show swag bags started at 6 am!!!

Summer Sale

2010-07-29T11:06:00.001-07:00

PLEASE NOTE: Your invitations do NOT have to be printed by Aug 31st to qualify for this offer, but your contract must be signed and deposit received by Aug 31st. If you're planning to have invitations printed this Fall, book now to save!

Letterpress Internship

2010-07-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hello friends - We have received a lot of emails lately from people interested in applying for internships with Sunlit Letterpress. Unfortunately with our schedule and little one crawling around, I am just not able to answer every email, so knowing that most the applicants follow the blog I will answer you here.

Although I would love to be able to offer internships, this is just not something that would be possible at this time. I do appreciate your emails and resumes however; and if internships become a possibility in the future, I will be sure to post about such an opportunity on this blog and on our website.

Thanks again for your interest!

Blue Cards

2010-07-10T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hmmm...it's been a little while since I've posted anything new. Life has been very busy these past few weeks, and will probably continue to be for the next few as well. So although I don't have enough time to post anything exciting, above is a photo of the most recent mailout of the Letterpress Lovers Club. It took me a long time to find a nice colored cardstock that would take a letterpress impression, but this robin's egg blue stock seemed to hold up well. I hope our members like this mailing - the kraft envelopes have the orchid printed on the front as well.

If July was the last month of your LLC membership, you will have received a coupon code in your package for 10% off a renewal of your membership. We hope you enjoyed your membership and look forward to welcoming you back to the club soon.

I have a set of these notecards left - please see the Etsy shop if interested in purchasing.

I'll try to be back to post something more exciting later this week!

Letterpress Stationery Sets

2010-06-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

Above is a photo of the latest Letterpress Lovers Club monthly mailing - a set of writing paper and envelopes all printed with a bright green sakura (cherry blossom) pattern. We've never offered stationery sets before (in the club or in our shop), but I hope it will encourage our members to send a nice letter to someone special.

When was the last time you received a handwritten letter in the mail?

I honestly don't exactly remember the last time I did - I used to penpal with my great aunt in London who would sometimes put in some Nestle White Chocolate Milkybar Buttons for me. I loved getting her letters in the mail! We would write back and forth about all sorts of random things - her fat cat, my two dogs, what I was doing in school and girl scouts...A few years ago my great aunt passed away and my mother and Grandmother found all my letters that she had kept in her bureau for all those years and they brought them back for me to keep. It brought tears to my eyes to think she kept all my silly little drawings and the misspelled musings of a 10-year old.

I have a few extra stationery sets left from the July mailout - you can check them out here in out Etsy shop.

In other news, we have a line of more affordable letterpress business cards coming soon...stay tuned!

Etsy Shop Sale

2010-06-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

Please visit our Etsy shop for a great sale on our letterpress goods - we need to clear things out of the studio, so get the good deals while they last!

Letterpress Business Cards for Glass Artist

2010-06-01T17:11:00.001-07:00

Above is a photo of letterpress business cards we designed and printed for Heather Kegler, a glass artist from Vancouver Island. Her studio is named Cabin Fever Glassworks, and the little insignia at the bottom (the HK) is how she signs/marks her work - so it was added to the bottom of the card as an icon.

The weather has been so bad here lately that I wasn't able to get a nice clean shot of this card in the sunshine, so it is a bit dark. I am really looking forward to the warm weather - if it ever arrives. It's June 1st for crying out loud!!! Thank goodness we have a trip planned for Vegas soon for a relative's wedding - I am so tired of this soggy rain ALL THE TIME! Good grief!

Happy Birthday Gift Tags

2010-06-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

Above are photos of some of the gift tags that were sent out as part of our first Letterpress Lovers Club mailing. Each recipient received 4 of these gift tags, along with 4 birthday cards and envelopes to match. We received a lot of good feedback from club members, so we are glad they were a big hit! The second mailing for the club will be on its way within a day or so, so watch your mailboxes!

We had a few left over tags from the print run, so if you want your own set of 10 tags, please visit our Etsy shop. There is only one set available.

The tags are a nice way to jazz up a gift. I used one myself for my friend's birthday present (above). One of my favorite ways to wrap a gift is to use kraft packing paper, and instead of using wrapping paper to wrap the whole present, use only a piece of it around the width or length. Tie with a nice ribbon and tag, and voilà! I saw this done in Japan at many stationery shops, and I thought it was so pretty!

Letterpress Lovers Club - The First Month

2010-05-14T13:07:00.001-07:00

Above is a little preview of this month's Letterpress Lovers Club mailing. I'm not sure if everyone has received their packages yet, so I don't want to ruin the surprise by posting a full photo of everything!

I wanted to thank all the bloggers that helped us promote the LLC - we are so happy with the number of members who have joined and we are so grateful for your kind comments and posts. A big thank you to Jan at Poppytalk (see her post here: http://poppytalk.blogspot.com/2010/04/letterpress-lovers-club.html). Jan is a fellow Vancouverite and has been so kind to include our products/events in her posts - we really appreciate it!

You can still sign up for a 3-month or a 6-month membership via our Etsy shop - if you sign up in May your subscription will begin in June. I'm very excited about June's mailing - it's letterpress stationery, but not something we've ever offered for sale in our shop - I hope our members will love it!

Goodbye Jim

2010-04-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

Image by Anna Prior via DesignEdge Canada

I have been putting this post off for quite some time now – and despite my hands being very full raising our beautiful daughter (who just turned 6 months) – the real reason I haven’t written anything about Jim Rimmer’s passing in January has been this: How do you put into words your admiration of, respect for, and gratitude towards someone who, without knowing it, changed the course of your career?

Although the time I spent learning the art of letterpress from Jim was short, and we only had a visit or two in his workshop, I think I was lucky to be afforded enough time to see what a great character he was.

The first time I met Jim was when I signed up for a summer letterpress workshop at Emily Carr School of Art + Design. I remember he walked into the classroom and he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I was delighted. Jim started to talk about picas and composing sticks, and then decided to just take us to the press room and get our hands dirty. This was definitely my kind of instructor!

Jim let us experiment to our hearts’ content with the presses and type. I had been thinking seriously about getting into letterpress by the time I took this course, and had found someone online willing to sell me their Pilot press for an exorbitant amount. I asked Jim if he thought it was a fair price and he said “Talk to me after class, I think I have something you might be interested in”.

And so I did. Jim told me he had a little beginner’s press – a Kelsey 5x8 – that he’d been hanging on to for years, and that it would be a perfect press for me to start with. It seemed that I had lucked out – not only had I found someone to teach me to print, but he also had the press that would get me comfortable with the basics. He told me to come by his place in a few weeks ; the press needed new roller cores and trucks, and Jim offered to machine them on his lathe for me. I’d have to get them covered before using the press. I picked up the cores, had them covered, and then went back to see Jim to pick up the Kelsey.

By this time I was thinking – I’m going to have quite a bill on my hands – the press (whatever he wanted for it), the roller cores and trucks…yikes! But Jim didn’t want my money – he gave me the Kelsey and wouldn’t take any money to cover the rollers or trucks he made. He gave me a tour of his studio, gave me a big can of ink, some wood furniture, a couple of quoins, some tympan, a bit of type – basically everything I needed to actually use the little press. He gave me a demonstration on how to use it as it was quite different from the big platen at Emily Carr. All he asked for in return was that I help someone else in the future the same way he had helped me.

Jim asked me if I was “sure I wanted to get into this letterpress thing” before I left, and I said “yes, most definitely”. He warned me that this would be my first press of many, and that before I knew it my husband would be complaining that the basement where I would house the Kelsey would be taken over by printing-related ephemera – and bigger presses. Jim was very wise – and correct – it took me less than a year to seek out my next iron beast – an 8x12 Chandler & Price that needed to be moved down a flight of stairs to make it into the house. I can still see my husband cringing when the moving men brought it into the backyard.

Jim was a kind and generous soul. My first big project for the little Kelsey was going to be my graphic design studio’s holiday cards. It was a fairly big undertaking for me, and I was having trouble with the inking. Jim would look at the photos of my bad prints via email and would send me suggestions for fixing the problems. He was always there for advice if I ran into trouble.

Jim was also a very humble man. A few years back an event was held in Jim’s honour – Rimmerfest I believe it was called. I had been in his studio for something and told him I wouldn’t be able to make it. I asked him what he thought of it all and he told me he “wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about”. I had to laugh a bit – it was like he was unaware of the gifts of knowledge and inspiration he had given probably everyone he’d ever come across.

I do regret not being in contact with him more in these last few years. It’s a lame excuse, but life tends to get in the way sometimes. I always felt like if I had problems with printing, or needed to bounce an idea of him or get advice about moving a ton of cast iron from point A to point B, Jim would be around. I am sad that I will not get a chance to call on him again for advice. There was some comfort in knowing that Jim knew what to do if something wasn’t working right.

Jim was the most talented person I have ever met – and I don’t mean that as a passing comment. I mean he was truly gifted; and the things he did (time consuming, labour intensive, difficult projects requiring more patience than a regular human could muster), he did extremely well.

I remember when I was younger in my catechism classes a teacher told us that if God gave us a talent, we had to share it, because it was selfish not to. Jim shared his many talents and his knowledge with those of us who were lucky to have learned from him.

Goodbye Jim, may you rest in peace.

Don't Forget Mother's Day!

2010-04-27T17:39:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder: If you are planning to buy a membership in our Letterpress Lovers Club for Mother's Day or as a gift starting in May, be sure to purchase by April 30th!!!

Letterpress treats will be delivered monthly to your mailbox! The first mailout for this round of memberships will be early May - just in time for Mother's Day! A perfect gift!

Join the Letterpress Lovers Club - the buyer/your gift recipient will receive a unique letterpress stationery item once a month for the duration of their membership. Each month the item will be different - a fun surprise in your mailbox! - and will include an assortment of stationery items such as notecard or greeting card sets, art prints, gift tags, letterpress packaging items, seasonal stationery pieces, etc.

Buy a membership for yourself or as a gift for someone special! A limited number of 3-month and 6-month memberships are for sale.

**NEW LLC MEMBERSHIP SPECIAL OFFER!**Buy a 6-month membership as a gift for someone else, and receive 1/2 of the first month's mailing for yourself for free! Enter "LLC GIFT" along with your own shipping address in the NOTES TO SELLER at time of purchase and we'll send your loot with the first mail out to your gift recipient. UPDATE: This offer expires April 30th, 2010.

Have a question about the club? Enter them below in the comments or email us at info at sunlit-letterpress.com.

Enjoy!

Help Us Promote the Letterpress Lovers Club + Get A Free Card

2010-04-20T10:35:00.000-07:00

Help us promote our new Letterpress Lovers Club by creating a post about it on your own blog or website (before April 23rd) and we'll send you a free letterpress birthday card (while supplies last).

Here's what to do:

1. Before April 23rd, write a post about the club and include a link to our the Etsy listing in our shop where buyers can purchase a membership (6-month membership http://www.etsy.com/listing/44639093/letterpress-lovers-club-membership---6-m or 3-month membership http://www.etsy.com/listing/44636662/letterpress-lovers-club-membership---3-m).

2. Before April 23rd, send us an email (info at sunlit-letterpress.com) sending us the URL for your blog post, as well as your mailing address.

3. Leave your post up for two weeks (until May 7th).

That's it! Then we send you your letterpress card!

Thanks in advance for your help!

New in Our Shop

2010-04-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

Customizable monogrammed notecard sets - pick your ink color and initial. Comes in a kraft gift box - makes a great personalized gift!

Multi-use kraft letterpress cards printed with a robin's egg blue floral design. Can be used for notes, greetings, as a card insert for bouquets, hang tags, gift tags, invite people to an event by writing on the back, etc.

I am having a difficult time printing and typing these days as I cut my finger very deeply the other day. I was trying to cut a piece of bread from a loaf that my mother baked for us, and I was lazy and not wanting to get out a cutting board, so I was cutting the loaf while holding it. Bad idea. Now it's all wrapped up and giving me a bad case of butterfingers. Not cool when working with a press. Ugh.

I decided to go and buy a spot in the paper goods showcase on Etsy for tomorrow. Have any of you ever bought a showcase spot? Did it work out for you? I'm not expecting much, but might be a fun experiment.

Letterpress Lovers Club! Join Today!

2010-04-12T12:42:00.000-07:00

Our Letterpress Lovers Club - a letterpress-of-the-month club - is ready for members!

Letterpress treats will be delivered monthly to your mailbox! The first mailout for this round of memberships will be early May - just in time for MOTHER'S DAY! A perfect gift!

Join the Letterpress Lovers Club - the buyer/your gift recipient will receive a unique letterpress stationery item once a month for the duration of their membership. Each month the item will be different - a fun surprise in your mailbox! - and will include an assortment of stationery items such as notecard or greeting card sets, art prints, gift tags, letterpress packaging items, seasonal stationery pieces, etc.

Buy a membership for yourself or as a gift for someone special! A limited number of 3-month and 6-month memberships are for sale.

Mailings are sent out at the beginning of the month. Each mailing will be packaged with care - recipients will love getting something fun in their mailbox besides junk mail and bills, and will remember your thoughtfulness every month of their membership : )

**NEW LLC MEMBERSHIP SPECIAL OFFER!**

Buy a 6-month membership as a gift for someone else, and receive 1/2 of the first month's mailing for yourself for free! Enter "LLC GIFT" along with your own shipping address in the NOTES TO SELLER at time of purchase and we'll send your loot with the first mail out to your gift recipient. This offer expires April 26th, 2010.

Have a question about the club? Enter them below in the comments or email us at info at sunlit-letterpress.com.

Enjoy!

Hmmm...

2010-04-07T16:42:00.001-07:00

What to do when the contest winner doesn't contact us? Effie, if you're out there, please send us your mailing address...

Contest Winner!

2010-04-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

Sorry this is coming a bit late - Easter plans and my father's 60th birthday took up a good portion of Friday and Saturday.

Using the random number generator at Random.org, the contest winner is #2 - Effie! Effie, please contact me at the email address in the header of this blog (top of page) with your mailing address and I will send your cards to you a.s.a.p.

As you've probably guessed from the contest questions, we will be offering a "letterpress of the month" club very soon - please watch the blog for more details this week.

This week we are busy in the studio designing business cards for a few different clients including a glass artist and a landscape/garden designer. We love working with clients in the creative field because we have so much in common.

Hopefully this week will be better than last - my father-in-law had brought me a lovely gift of germs when visiting a week prior and I ended up with an ear infection, chest infection, laryngitis, and a throat so raw the doctor said it was the worst he'd ever seen. After a round of antibiotics (and a short-lived trial of Nasonex - holy nosebleeds!) it seems things are slowly starting to get better, but with a 5-month old baby at home, it has been impossible to get the extra rest required to recover 100%. That's one thing no one tells you before you have children - there is no more "down time" for being sick anymore - no more lazing on the couch sipping ginger ale and eating popsicles. There are feedings to be given, diapers to be changed, and crawling to be encouraged. No rest for the wicked!

Letterpress Contest!

2010-03-25T15:47:00.001-07:00

It's time again for another letterpress contest! Here's what you have to answer (by providing a comment below) in order to be entered:

1. If Sunlit Letterpress offered a "Letterpress of the Month" type of membership where you would receive a different letterpress print/set of notecards/set of greeting cards/other stationery every month - would you be interested in purchasing a membership (for yourself or as a gift)?

2. If you would be interested in a membership (assuming the price was what you'd like to pay) would you want a 2-month, 3-month, or 6-month membership?

3. What kinds of items would you like to receive (notecards, cards, stationery sets, gift tags, art prints, notebooks, etc.) as part of your membership?

4. Do you currently belong to a letterpress of the month type of club offered by another company?

Draw date for the pack of greeting cards (pictured above) will be April 2, 2010, so be sure to enter your comments below before then! Then be sure to check back to see if you won - as reading this blog is the only way you will be contacted about your winnings!

Hibiscus Themed Letterpress Invitations

2010-03-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

Above are some photos of a recent letterpress wedding invitation order we printed for a lovely couple from Vancouver that is getting married this summer. They really wanted to incorporate a hibiscus flower into their design, so we simply altered our existing "Hibiscus" design a little bit for their needs.

This invitation suite included an information card titled "The Scoop" where they couple directed guests to their wedding website to find more information about their upcoming wedding. This is a great idea - especially when you have more information to share with guests than can comfortably fit onto an invitation card alone. There is nothing worse than an overcrowded invitation that doesn't have enough white space, a.k.a. breathing room. I suppose that goes for all things - overcrowding just isn't pretty. An instructor once told me "when you design something, strip away everything that is unecessary and leave it at that" - I follow these instructions whether I am designing a magazine ad, business card, invitation, or website.

The hibiscus theme reminded me of our recent trip to Oahu, HI. My husband and I have toyed around with the idea of moving to Hawaii permanently for many years...and you can see why...ahhh the Aloha state...

I am planning to run a blog contest for some letterpress notecards later this week - so be sure to visit again soon!

Little Bird

2010-03-11T14:09:00.001-08:00

A recent addition to our Etsy shop: Set of Four Bird Notecards for $10.

Chrysanthemums

2010-02-09T10:51:00.001-08:00

Above - some remnants available in our Etsy shop...

This week we are working on custom invitations for a great bride and groom getting married in Vancouver in May. The bride was a fan of our "Hibiscus" design, so we are customizing it with her wedding colors - yellow and iris blue. I will post photos when they are completed.

At Indie I Do this year there were a lot of brides asking about our catalog of designs for wedding invitations. We don't actually have one - every design has been custom so far, except for the "Hibiscus" suite. It seems there is a growing demand for a catalog of designs that people could just pick from, so I've got this on the to-do list...Not sure when I will get to it, but at least it made it on the list.

We are currently booking wedding invitation orders into the end of March/early April - so if you need invitations for a summer wedding, please contact Jordan at the studio to book your press time and avoid disappointment!

New Etsy Schtuff

2010-01-29T16:40:00.000-08:00

Just a few new cards in our Etsy shop...

I will have a full report on Indie I Do in the next few days, I promise! If you attended Indie I Do, don't forget about our special pricing offer and free letterpress thank you cards offer - both ending soon!

Have a great weekend!

Letterpress Birth Announcements

2010-01-20T13:30:00.000-08:00

Hello friends! Above are photos of some letterpress birth announcements we printed last fall for one of our best friends' son. Although he was born in August, I didn't actually get them finished until sometime late September because I was about 30 weeks pregnant at the time. Let me tell you, printing on a C&P with a big pregnant belly and an extra 35 pounds on your frame can be difficult to say the least!

I chose brown and green as the inks to carry on the safari/animal type of theme. I also used our 100% recycled kraft envelopes to go with the set, as they have a nice rustic, boyish feel to them (if that makes any sense!). Anyways, I think my friend was quite pleased with them :)

I have yet to print the birth announcements for my own daughter, which is kind of sad seeing as she is 12 weeks old now. It's amazing how things fall through the cracks when you have a baby - not because you've forgotten - but because there are simply not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything you had planned. I've learned that you can still achieve all that you want to with a baby, but that in order to do so, some things have to slide. There are always tradeoffs. So what if I can't walk across my bedroom without tripping over massive piles of laundry?

I hope you enjoy the photos. If you are interested in letterpress birth announcements, please contact the studio.

p.s. Mr. Ian and Auntie M please email me for your Indie I Do passes - you must register them before the show or else you won't be able to get in.

Indie I Do Ticket Winners

2010-01-15T21:36:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone who posted for the free tickets to Indie I Do. RCerny, Mr. Ian, and Auntie M please send an email to info at sunlit hyphen letterpress dot com and I will send you your pass number to you so that you can register your passes on the Indie I Do website and get in free! Be sure to drop by our table next Saturday to say hello!

Speaking of which, I still have a lot of work to do to get ready for Indie I Do! I'd better get cracking! Luckily the free notecards that are going in the swag bags are all printed and ready to go. Now I just have to get my supply of business cards replenished - I only have about 25 left and last year I gave out hundreds of them.

See you at the show!

Merci Notecards

2010-01-13T13:46:00.000-08:00

Hot off the press! These 100% cotton "merci" notecards are now available as a set of four in our Etsy shop and come with kraft envelopes (100% recycled materials). Perfect for a quick thank you note, or give the set as a gift. Enjoy!

2009 Pricing Expires Soon!

2010-01-13T10:00:00.001-08:00

Are you getting married this year? Are you planning to order letterpress wedding invitations? If so, please note that our 2009 pricing will expire at the end of this month (January 2010). If you'd like to take advantage of lower costs, we recommend booking before the end of January.

Also, if you are planning to place an order for weddings taking place this summer, we strongly suggest you contact us as soon as possible to avoid disappointment as our winter/spring schedule is filling up quickly. Orders are taking anywhere between 3-7 weeks to process (depending on size and complexity) and we have limited openings available for the next few months.

For more information on invitations, our process, or to receive a price list or custom estimate, please contact the studio.

Free Passes to Indie I Do

2010-01-07T14:43:00.000-08:00

Yes! I have free passes to give away to Vancouver's only Indie Wedding Show! I have three passes (admit 2 people per pass) to the show - a $40 value!

If you are interested in winning a free pass, please leave a comment below with the following:

1. Your wedding date (or the year if you don't have a date set)
2. Your wedding location (local [Vancouver area] or destination wedding)
3. Your wedding style (modern, traditional, non-traditional/alternative, ethnic, theme-based, etc.)
3. If you plan on having letterpress invitations (Y or N)

Leave your comment before January 15th and I will randomly draw the three winners at the end of the day on the 15th.

Oh, and don't forget to come see us at the show if you win - we love to meet our blog readers!

Good luck!

Free Shipping on Etsy Orders - This Week Only

2010-01-03T19:31:00.000-08:00

Have you visited our Etsy store lately? We are still trying to clear out some of our past designs to make room for 2010 stationery, so this week we're offering free shipping on everything in our Etsy shop (*custom monogram stationery is excluded from this offer*).

To receive free shipping, just enter "NEWYEAR" in the notes to seller when you complete your purchase. Once your order is received we will refund the full shipping amount via PayPal (you will get an email notification from PayPal once the refund is issued).

Offer expires January 9th, 2010.

Happy letterpressing!

Natalie + Yoshiro & An Update

2009-12-29T10:42:00.000-08:00

Hello friends! I hope this post finds you well and enjoying the holiday season. It's been a while since I've posted, but I'll get to that in a minute...

Above are some beautiful photos from Natalie and Yoshiro's weddings (one in Canada and one in Japan) - we designed and printed the letterpress wedding invitations for this lovely couple last year. The photos are from Ikonica and the grouping of photos comes courtesy of WedLuxe Magazine's Editor's Blog. Have you ever seen such beautiful wedding shots? The photography is just breathtaking!

As an update, I just wanted to let my readers know that I haven't posted anything recently (well, for the past 3 months anyways) because in October I gave birth to our first child, a beautiful little girl. She was born a couple of weeks early and was in the NICU for a little over a week, and finally came home with us in November. Although I had visions of being both a full-time mother and a full-time business owner/letterpress printer, I have come to realize that I just can't do it all (on my own anyways). So, my husband will be looking after most of the daily operations of Sunlit Letterpress for a little while. If you've come to any of our shows, you've likely already met him, as he is already a big part of the business. We are still up and running the presses however, so don't hesitate to contact us about your upcoming letterpress projects.

Again, I do apologize for the lack of posts - I hope we haven't lost all of our readers! If you check this blog regularly, please do leave us a comment below - just to let us know you're still out there : ) As time permits, I will continue to post and upload photos of our recent work.

Wishing you a Happy New Year and happy letterpressing,

Erin

Letterpress Wedding Invitations + Holiday Plans

2009-09-29T18:40:00.001-07:00

Above are some photos of a recent custom letterpress wedding invitation order that we printed for a lovely couple getting married in one of our favorite vacation spots – Maui, HI. The couple wanted something elegant and simple, but also wanted to incorporate a Hawaiian floral (in this case a tree orchid) and a family crest. It took a bit of creativity to come up with something that wasn't too busy, as the family crest had many elements. What I ended up designing was an invitation suite that incorporated the latin from the family crest and the uppercase "H" within a circle, which when put together looked sort of like a passport stamp. Since most guests at the wedding will be coming from out of town, this passport stamp also addressed the fact that this wedding will be a destination wedding.

In the reply card, the couple also wanted the guests to indicate their meal and activity preference (tennis, golf, snorkel) for their time in Maui. Icons were used in the design to allow guests to respond with their choice.

This letterpress invitation suite included the actual invitation, a reply card, outer envelope, reply envelope, and an orange belly band with the bride and groom's names and the date of the wedding. If your invitation has multiple pieces like this, a belly band is a great way to tie them all together with a pop of color.

I really love the printing process for this kind of invitation suite - especially when using three colors as on the invitation and reply card. There's really nothing better than the satisfaction that comes from finally completing the last pass of the final color on a piece and seeing the whole design come together. In this case we printed the brown ink first (as it is easier to register text first, before moving on to images), then the orange ink, and then the blue. I always find it easier to register text first before anything else is on the sheet, because then you will know for sure if everything is square and aligned without any distracting images. I hate to say it, and maybe it's just me, but sometimes your eyes play tricks on you when registering your print - so the less distraction the better. If you have overlapping colors or complicated designs, printing the text first isn't always possible however.

If you are interested in custom letterpress wedding invitations for your 2010 wedding, please contact the studio as soon as possible as we are already booking orders for January 2010.

Next week I am planning to start printing off our holiday cards for this year. I always say I'm going to start in September or earlier, but that never actually happens despite my best efforts! The cards will be available for purchase in our Etsy shop.

Happy letterpressing!

New Gift Tags Available In Etsy Shop

2009-09-17T10:34:00.000-07:00

Some new floral letterpress gift tags are now available in the Sunlit Letterpress Etsy shop. Printed in lime ink on Crane Lettra 100% cotton cardstock, punched and tied with brown raffia. Enjoy!

Happy letterpressing!

Letterpress Gift Registry Cards

2009-09-15T19:48:00.001-07:00

A question many brides often have for me is "should we put our gift registry information on our invitation?" This is a tough one, and the subject of much debate amongst etiquette experts.

There is one school of thought that says brides and grooms should never include this information anywhere in their invitation materials. Instead, it is the responsibility of the mother of the bride or maid of honor to communicate the bride and groom's registry details to those who happen to inquire. Although this is the more traditional way of sharing your gift registry information with people, it is not a method that always applies today for a variety of reasons (people may not wish to or feel comfortable contacting and asking someone what the bride and groom would like as a gift, there may not be a mother of the bride or maid of honor to ask, etc.).

The other option is to just share your wishes with your guests yourself. However, call me old-fashioned, but I think some thought needs to go into how you go about doing this - otherwise you risk coming off as gauche. Here are my thoughts:

1. Don't put your registry information directly on your invitation card – that's a bit too forward. Put the information on a separate card or insert. Some stores can provide you with business card-sized registry cards to include with your invitations. Better yet, have your own registry cards designed and printed to go with your invitation suite (see photo above for an example of one of our client's custom-designed letterpress registry cards). Your recipient will still get the information they need about your registry, but by placing the information on a separate card, you are not indicating that the gift is equally or more important than your request for their presence on your big day.

2. If you would rather not include your registry information with your invitations at all, consider putting this information on a wedding website along with other details about your special day (i.e. schedule, map of wedding location, etc.). This is also a great option because you can include a link directly to your online gift registry if you have one – and your guests won't even have to search for your name! (p.s. Did you know that Sunlit Letterpress can design a wedding website to match your letterpress invitations? Contact the studio for more information!)

3. Whatever you decide to do, never include "cash only gifts" as a request anywhere (invitations, website, or other). In fact, it is considered somewhat bold to even have someone suggest this by word of mouth to your guests. It is quite common for wedding guests to give the bride and groom money as a wedding gift anyways, so asking for money specifically tends to look, well...a little bad.

I was once sent an email from someone whose wedding I was invited to and the email went something like this: "Please give us money as a wedding gift because this is what we want". Ok, I paraphrased a little, but that was the essential message. It sort of left a bad taste in my mouth. I was always going to give money, and still did, but it almost felt like the financial gift I was planning on has been cheapened a little bit.

So there you have it...my thoughts on gift registries and invitations.

Happy letterpressing!

Vancouver Wedding Show - Indie I Do 2010

2009-09-15T10:21:00.001-07:00

Image © and courtesy of Indie I Do

Just a quick update to remind you that we will be participating in the second annual Indie I Do show here in Vancouver on January 23, 2010 (11am-5pm), at Heritage Hall. Ticket presales have already started, and are half-price ($10) if you buy before November 1, 2009 (tickets are $20 each after November 1st and at the door). And remember, there are only 70 gift bags to be had by early ticket purchasers, so don't wait!

I think one of the big reasons this show was so popular last year is that it is not overwhelming like some of the bigger shows and fairs that have thousands of people milling about – making it hard for brides and grooms to have a conversation with vendors about their specific needs. Indie I Do is more intimate and concentrates select vendors in a smaller area, making for (in my opinion) a more effective wedding show.

Please mark your calendars and be sure to come down and talk to us about your wedding stationery needs. We will have lots of samples to touch and design ideas for you to take a look at.

As a side note, we are currently booking into January 2010 for custom letterpress wedding orders - so if you are a bride considering Sunlit Letterpress stationery for your 2010 wedding, please contact us as soon as possible to be added to our printing schedule and avoid disappointment.

Happy letterpressing!

Free Notecards with Etsy Order

2009-08-13T10:07:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! Here's a special offer for you, ending August 31st:

Buy any greeting card set, notecard set, custom monogram set, or coasters from the Sunlit Letterpress Etsy shop (http://sunlitletterpress.etsy.com), and we'll throw in two free letterpress bird ornament notecards with kraft envelopes for free. Not valid on single card purchases (i.e. single "Bun in the Oven", "Something Blue", etc.).

Just enter "FREEBIRD" in the notes to seller when you complete your purchase.

Happy letterpressing!

Custom Notecards for Local Photographer

2009-08-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

Above is a photo of some custom notecards we recently printed up for Shona of Sweet Earth Photographics here in Vancouver. These cards - printed with brown ink on Crane Lettra Pearl with 100% recycled kraft envelopes - will be used for her photography clients. I think it's great when professionals use classic stationery to drop their clients a note or thank-you, it comes across as very professional and very personal at the same time. The photographer for our wedding did not send out notes like this, but it would have been a nice touch - especially considering that most clients are spending a fair bit when they hire a photographer for their big day.

This past week has been almost impossible to work for long periods of time - the temperature hovered around 38-40 degrees (Celsius) for most of last week. As you may know, letterpress printing involves a lot of physical work, so cranking out prints in such temperatures can make you feel like you are going to pass out. We don't have air conditioning in the studio, so besides a few fans and cold water, there wasn't much relief! I have also noted that when the humidity rises in the heat, the flywheel on the C&P develops a nice rust almost instantly. This means that before I can print, I need to clean all the rust off - otherwise if I handle a print after touching the wheel, my print gets an added embellishment: a nice set of rusty fingerprints.

Happy letterpressing!

Non-Traditional RSVP Cards

2009-07-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! It's been a while, hasn't it? My personal life has been packed these last few months, so I apologize for the lack of new posts. Well, that and the office studio is way too hot right now for me to sit at the computer for any longer than I have to (we have a big window that the sun hits in the afternoon and no AC).

Above is a photo of some RSVP cards from an order for Jennifer in San Jose, CA. Jennifer wanted to do something unique with her reply cards, and not limit guests to just replying "Will attend" or "Sends regrets". In fact, I have seen photos of what people do with these "text box" reply cards, and it's actually very fun! Along with indicating whether or not they are going to attend, people draw pictures, write silly poems for the bride and groom, and I've even seen an RSVP where the guest sent back a collage within the text box. Pretty creative!

I always tell our brides and grooms to buy a nice folder to put their RSVP cards in once they come back so that a) wedding planning is made easier when everything is in one place, and b) even if you have a traditional RSVP card, people often write you a personal message, and it's nice to go back and look through them every so often. I remember a very touching RSVP note from one of my grandmother's friends who was too ill to attend our wedding, and I will keep it forever.

I've also seen RSVP cards get jazzed up a bit by changing the wording from traditional to non-traditional. For example, some people will substitute "Will attend" for something like "I wouldn't miss it for the world!" or other such expression. If your overall invitation suite is relaxed and fun, then playing with the RSVP card wording can carry the theme through.

Of course, if you are having a traditional wedding (like I did), there is nothing wrong with keeping your invitations formal, and sticking with the tried and true traditional style and wording.

So, that's my RSVP talk for today...

Next week we are printing some notecards for a local wedding photographer, designing a wedding suite for a couple getting married in Maui next year (at a gorgeous location in Wailea), and working on a promotional piece for a Calgary-based home furnishings boutique. It's great to have such a variety of projects to work on.

Last weekend I finally had a chance to watch "Seven Pounds" with Will Smith - which, as you may or may not know, has a character (Rosario Dawson) who is a letterpress printer. It was a pretty good movie (though I knew right away what the jellyfish was for, having learned all about them while traveling in Australia), and I was quite excited to see the presses in a major motion picture. If nothing else, at least now when I tell people what I do for a living and they give me a blank stare, I can say - "Hey - You know "Seven Pounds"? I do what Rosario did in the movie."

Yeah, it bugged me when she pulled a print on her platen with no ink on the disc, no set-up work, and it was miraculously what looked like a 4-color print, but we all know that directors have to take some creative license here and there with movies, or else they'd turn into documentaries about minutia.

Oh, and the idea that a printer would fall madly in love with someone who fixed her busted Windmill is not at all far-fetched!

And finally, I received a very nice call from Crane (see my mini-rant below about Lettra) to inform me that they have decided to keep making the 8x12 110lb. Pearl White Lettra, instead of getting rid of that size as planned. Thank you Crane, you have made my life much easier!

Have a great weekend, and happy letterpressing!

Summer Flowers

2009-06-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

Above are some photos of a few thank you cards that went with a custom wedding order that we printed last week (photos of the full suite to follow). The bride wanted a nice yellow that wasn't too mustard-like, or too pastel, so this was the happy medium. The cards and envelopes are from Crane's Lettra in Pearl.

Speaking of Crane paper, I am once again at a loss for what to do with this supplier. They certainly seem to want to burn the people that buy their products. We are located in Canada, which means that there are not a ton of fellow letterpress printers up here buying Crane Lettra products. This means that when I phone the supposed "distributors" of Crane Lettra in Canada, I am repeatedly told that they don't carry the Lettra line because of lack of demand. These are the same companies that are listed by the Crane rep as being distributors, and are also listed on their website (oh, and I've tried the Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto distributors and none of them carry Lettra).

So for a long time, we ordered directly from Crane because there was no alternative. This stunk - plain and simple. I had three orders in a row get screwed up - items were left out of orders, customs paperwork was incorrect so I was charged double the duties upon import (two cases were never resolved), you can't order online if you are Canadian, packages would arrive damaged because they were not properly packaged, etc. So after much research and trouble we FINALLY managed to find a wholesale distributor in the US that was willing to sell and ship to us. We were so happy!!! Life was good! We also finally no longer had to pay retail pricing and orders arrived undamaged with all the items inside!

But, it was not to last. A few weeks ago we tried to order a large amount of Crane Lettra from our new distributor and they told us they were out of stock because Crane would no longer be selling Pearl Lettra in the size we use to them (the distributor). What the devil?

So now we have no choice but to buy in a larger size (which is a true pain, and results in higher shipping costs), or buy direct from Crane again. I am so frustrated with this whole situation I may have to abandon Crane products entirely because it shouldn't be this hard to get supplies in. I realize many letterpress printers are not HUGE consumers of paper like some other printing sectors are, but c'mon. Why make paper specifically for letterpress printers, and then make it so gosh darned difficult to order that we get frustrated and give up? I know we're in Canada, but don't punish us for that!!! At the risk of sounding like John Stossel - give me a break!

Happy letterpressing!

Artist Prints

2009-05-26T16:16:00.000-07:00

Above is a photo of a limited edition series of prints that we recently printed for Vancouver artist Scott Malin for his upcoming show "Sketchbooks and New Drawings" at RedIron Studio & Gallery here in Vancouver from June 5-14, 2009 (opening reception June 5th at 6PM). This was a limited edition of 33 prints on Crane Lettra Pearl stock with a blood red ink.

We wish Scott the best of luck with his opening!

Happy letterpressing!

Remants for Sale

2009-05-25T10:28:00.001-07:00

Leftover letterpress prints for sale in our Etsy shop - set includes eight A7 (5" x 7") flat cards and eight 4-Bar (3.5" x 5") flat cards. Envelopes are NOT included.

Write your own message and use the cards as greetings, notecards, informal invitations to a dinner party, etc.

Light blue floral print on 100% cotton, 110 lb. Crane Lettra cardstock.

Only one set of remnants available. See listing here: REMNANTS

Happy letterpressing!

Kraft Wedding Invitations

2009-05-22T14:42:00.001-07:00

Above are invitations that we designed and printed for a Vancouver couple that we met at the Indie I Do show in January of this year. The couple loved the look of kraft (paper bag brown color) stock and wanted to use our existing "vine" design that we use on some of our ready-to-wear notecards (available at retail outlets). I hunted high and low for a font that would work well with the vine design (I needed something rounded and modern) and was happy with my final selection.

This couple also opted for reply postcards instead of the reply card + reply envelope combo, and the corners were rounded for all the pieces in the suite. The sharp edges of a square corner wouldn't have gone well with the rounded vine design or the font, so I think this was a good choice.

The couple also chose to include a map to their reception location, which is a great idea if you have lots of out-of-town guests who might get lost on their way!

If you couldn't make it to Indie I Do this year, I strongly recommend you give it a try next year in January 2010. We have already signed up and are looking forward to meeting next year's brides and grooms at the show!

Happy letterpressing!

Wheel Wedding Invitations

2009-05-22T14:30:00.000-07:00

I am so far behind in posting photos of recent work...so here is an attempt to keep up. The above invitations were designed by local graphic designer Jocelyn for her own wedding. We printed them up for her on Pearl White Crane Lettra stock (100% cotton, tree-free) in black and mustard inks. The reply card is actually a postcard, as opposed to a reply card and reply envelope combo (reply postcards are a great way to save money on paper and printing costs!).

I really enjoyed printing Jocelyn's design because the filigree on the invitation (in yellow) contained all sorts of fun little objects (birds, grasses, branches, etc.) and I'm sure each object had a special meaning to her and her husband-to-be. I do love designing invitations myself, but it is always fun to see what other designers come up with as well.

If you are a designer planning to design your own invitations and have us print them for you, we do require that your files be submitted according to our specifications. All designs must be reviewed prior to printing, as not all designs will print well with letterpress (i.e. large solids are strongly discouraged, etc.). If you would like to learn more about designing for letterpress, feel free to contact the studio for advice.

Happy letterpressing!

Sunlit Letterpress Featured on the Food Network

2009-05-12T19:08:00.001-07:00

I just heard that the invitations that we printed last summer for local Vancouver designer Flora Gordon were featured on the Food Network's "100 Mile Challenge" show. The episode - "100 Mile Menu" - was all about the food chosen by bride Jeanine and groom Earl (Flora's brother). The invitations are only shown for a brief couple of seconds at the beginning - but hey, I'm still proud!

It is also fun to be able to see the bride and groom and how they looked on their big day - it's something that as a designer and letterpress printer, you don't get to see very often, because our work takes place before the big day (unlike photographers and planners that are involved on the day itself).

As a side note, I'm noticing that many of my local clients are hiring caterers that specialize in local and/or organic foods, so I guess this is an option that more brides and grooms are considering.

Thank you Food Network for including the snippet of the invitations in your show, thank you Flora for being a wonderful client, and thank you to Jeanine and Earl for including Sunlit Letterpress in your wedding plans!

Happy letterpressing!

New Items for Sale In Etsy Shop

2009-05-11T09:22:00.001-07:00

Pack of 4 "A" Monogram Notecards

Set of 4 Ornament Notecards

Pack of 4 "M" Monogram Notecards

Set of 4 Flower Silhouette Greeting Cards

These items are already on sale (except the ornament notecards) and you can save even more by using our latest Etsy Coupon for an additional 15% off.

Happy letterpressing!

15% OFF At Our Etsy Shop - Until May 31, 2009

2009-05-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

Our shop: http://sunlitletterpress.etsy.com

Wedding Announcements

2009-04-21T15:52:00.000-07:00

It's been about a month and a half since I last posted...shame on me. Life in the studio has been ridiculously busy with the last bit of summer wedding orders. We just took on an order for a September wedding last week, so for me that is usually the first sign that the hectic summer wedding season will soon wind down. Don't get me wrong, I love wedding orders, but there is a period that stretches from March to May where wedding stationery starts to take over your life. When you start having dreams (ok, maybe a few nightmares...) about the invitations you are working on, you know you've hit the peak of the season.

Above are some photos of a different sort of wedding invitation. A local designer had already gotten married and wanted to send out an announcement to friends and family to let them know. This client designed the lettering himself, and it was an honor to print it the folded cards for him. It was also fun to print something wedding-related that took a different shape than the typical 5" x 7" flat card. The folded cards were accompanied by kraft envelopes - kraft products seem to be becoming quite popular with brides and grooms these days.

I have many more photos to post of various orders from the past few weeks, and I will try to put them up over the next few days. But, as you might expect from my long break in posting...it may take more like a few weeks to get all the photos up. Hopefully some people still follow this blog, despite my neglectful ways!

Happy letterpressing!

Iguana Position

2009-03-04T13:20:00.001-08:00

I am back in the studio after a quick break in Mexico. I spent a fair bit of time in "iguana position" as the locals call it, a.k.a. lying down and warming up in the sun. If only you could bottle up the weather and bring it home with you...the Vancouver rain and damp weather at this time of year can sure be a stinker. But, it looks like I missed some snow while I was away, so that's good.

This week has been spent mostly getting caught up with existing projects and meeting with some new couples for custom wedding stationery orders. I am very excited for the projects currently coming down the pipeline. I will post photos when complete.

My husband recently installed some new fluorescent lamps in the studio above the press which has been great. There used to be some directional lighting, but with the shadows created by letterpress printing and the variations in ink colors from hand-mixing, the existing lighting just wasn't cutting it anymore. The new lighting is much better. I've also starting using a gel mat made for professional kitchens and it has helped my knees immensely while printing. Standing around while hand feeding the press doesn't sound like a big deal, but after a while you develop some pain in your joints - particularly your knees and hips.

Speaking of printing...time to get back to it...

Happy letterpressing!

Chicago Retailer + Giveaway Winner

2009-02-20T13:37:00.001-08:00

We are happy to announce that Sunlit Letterpress cards are now available at Alphagraphics in Chicago (1017 W Washington Blvd.)! What a beautiful brick building! (Because our weather is so mild here on the West Coast, we don't have a lot of brick buildings, so I miss seeing them.) Be sure to check out their new stationery storefront if you live in the Chicago area!

And now...time for the winner of the most recent Sunlit Letterpress Giveaway Contest...and the winner is...drumroll...

VENESSA! (comment #2, picked using the Random Number Generator at Random.org). Venessa suggested Joan's Papers and PaperNiche - two shops in Florida - thanks Venessa! Please send me your postal mailing address to the email address in the header of the blog and I will ship your letterpress goodies to you!

Thank you to everyone who participated by posting in the comment section. Hopefully our products will soon make it to your suggested shops so you can find our stationery in your area!

This week has been steadily busy with wedding invitation projects. As soon as I have a chance I will post photos of the completed pieces.

Happy letterpressing!

Two Days Left for Letterpress Contest

2009-02-17T21:50:00.000-08:00

Only two days remain...submit your retail shop suggestions:

Letterpress Giveaway Contest
Contest closes this Friday!

Thank you to everyone who has already entered!

Giveaway prize includes some letterpress coasters, notecards, gift tags, and a few other odds and ends :)

Good luck + happy letterpressing!

RSVP Dates + Giveaway Contest

2009-02-13T09:54:00.000-08:00

This week it seems we have truly entered the wedding season. I've been talking to a lot of brides about invitations and I've been thinking back to how fun and exciting wedding planning can be. Yes, it takes over your life, and yes you get worn out by it, but it is nice to look back once the big day is over and remember how all that effort turns into a day you will remember forever. Above is a photo from a few years ago of me with my mother who helped me plan my big day and who was ever so patient with me. God bless her - I was so nitpicky about everything that I would have driven most people crazy!

I've had a lot of questions from brides these past few weeks about how to pick your "RSVP by" date. Here is my simple rule: for local weddings, at least one month before (and for destination weddings, one to two months before (or earlier, depending on special travel requirements, etc.).

You'll want a month's notice for a variety of reasons:

The coordinator at your venue (reception hall, country club, hotel, etc.) will need to order food for your event at least two weeks before your event, and will probably want confirmation of your final numbers. Asking invitees to get back to you a month before gives you lots of time to figure it all out.

Not everyone will reply, let alone reply on time. Yes, in a perfect world all of your invited guests would have manners like Emily Post - but in the real world you'll be lucky if 50% of your guests answer you. Be prepared to make phone calls to track people down and see if they are coming and if they are bringing a guest (if invited). A month gives you the time to sort the non-responders out!

The earlier you get your RSVPs, the earlier you can figure out seating for your reception. "Meh...", you say, "I can do that the week before the wedding". Why stress yourself out? Get started early. I have a friend who left it until the night before her wedding day and stayed up until 2am trying to get everyone organized – not a good idea. Besides, you know Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Mike can't stand each other, and the groom's parents are divorced and shouldn't be within earshot, and someone needs to sit beside Grandpa to make sure he doesn't help himself to too much vino, and...You get the idea.

Knowing how many people are coming earlier in the game will also allow you to figure out how many favors you will need, how many programs and menus to print, and you can get a head start on place cards and other details.

If you are hoping to book for letterpress wedding invitations for this summer, I strongly urge you to contact the studio as soon as you can to avoid disappointment. We are currently booking press time into March 2009 with a turnaround of 3-4 weeks.

LETTERPRESS GIVEAWAY CONTEST!

I have a few items from our ready-to-wear stationery line ready to be given away...All you need to do is leave a comment below and list a gift/stationery/florist or other retail store in your area (anywhere in the world!) that you would like to see carry Sunlit Letterpress products. We are trying to build our retail network and I am looking for suggestions of stores that would be a good fit. Please leave the name of the store below (and website if you know it!). Bonus points (extra giveaway stuff!) if you know the name of the store owner :)

Contest closes Friday February 20th 2009 at 12 PM Pacific time!

Happy letterpressing!

2009 Sunlit Letterpress Wholesale Catalog Now Available

2009-02-09T14:09:00.001-08:00

It's long overdue, but it's finally ready for you retailers to check it out - our wholesale catalog. To receive your copy and find out about carrying Sunlit Letterpress' products in your shop, please contact our studio.

Later this week I will have another blog contest for some free letterpress goodness...so check back later for your chance to win!

Happy letterpressing!

Simple Sakura

2009-02-04T14:39:00.001-08:00

Above are some recent photos of a custom letterpress wedding invitation order that we printed for a wonderful couple from Toronto. The bride saw some of our cherry blossom letterpress notecards in our Etsy store and wanted to use a similar blossom motif for her invitations. I loved designing this invitation, and it is bilingual which made it even better. Although I speak French and Spanish (and can read some Italian), Japanese characters are not anything I know much about - but through the wonders of e-mail and PDF proofs, Natalie and I managed to make sure everything was correct and that every character was where it should be : )

The invitations were printed in a deep pink on Crane Lettra 100% cotton Pearl stock.

This week we are finalizing our wholesale catalog for 2009 (yes, I know, I'm behind). I'll be sending it out to retailers by Friday, if everything goes according to plan.

In non-letterpress news, my husband and I will be heading south later this month for a quick vacation. I am certainly looking forward to the break and some sunshine. I use a SAD (seasonal affective disorder) lamp in the office, but there's just no substitute for the real thing : )

Happy letterpressing!

Recent Photos #3

2009-01-29T13:30:00.001-08:00

The same "Hibiscus" design (from below) printed on natural kraft cover stock.

Happy letterpressing!

Recent Photos #2

2009-01-28T14:51:00.001-08:00

A recent set of invitations - this design is called "Hibiscus" and will be available in our Ready-to-Wear line of invitations (coming soon!) that we are currently working on. Printed on Crane Lettra Pearl in brownish-purple and lime hand-mixed inks.

Happy letterpressing!

Recent Photos #1

2009-01-28T14:47:00.000-08:00

Just posting a few new pictures of some recent work. Above is a photo of a recent printing of our business cards. Short, sweet and to the point. The paper is some awesome kraft cover stock that I picked up in NYC during our visit in December.

Happy letterpressing!

SALE In Our Etsy Shop!

2009-01-26T21:54:00.000-08:00

It's SALE time in our Etsy shop! After a serious studio cleaning on the weekend, there is a bunch of inventory to clear out to make room for new products. We don't normally offer sale pricing, but we need the extra space! Limited stock available on some items, so hurry!

Happy letterpressing!

Indie I Do!

2009-01-23T14:49:00.001-08:00

The Indie I Do show on January 17th was a great success, we had 700 people through the doors so lots of visitors to the booth. Here is a photo of me sitting during one of the very few breaks in the waves of people that attended. Seven hours standing in heels is enough to make you want to collapse at the end of the day.

Here is a photo from the show showing some of the models (right) that were roaming around showing off some of the dress designers' work. It was fun to watch this kind of off-runway fashion show because every time you turned around there was someone new in a different style of dress.

This is a photo of my lovely assistant Nikki who was kind enough to help me with the show (you may recognize her from other events we've participated in, such as Got Craft). Other than my husband, I think she knows the most about our invitations and the custom design process, so it's very comforting to have someone help out that can answer questions that brides and grooms have. One day, I may try to steal her away from her day job to come work with me : )

We met a lot of different couples at the event, and had a great time talking to everyone about their wedding plans and ideas. We also met a lot of photographers, wedding planners, and other people involved in the industry, which was great. Not having done any wedding shows prior to this one, I didn't realize that such a friendly community of wedding vendors existed in the Vancouver area.

We met quite a few grooms that day too, which was surprising to me as I figured most guys would opt out of a wedding fair. But it was very nice to see them involved and asking questions. I wonder if they knew ahead of time that there would be a couple of burlesque dancers at the show doing their acts (I guess burlesque lessons are all the rage for stagette parties now - what will these young people think of next!). There were also vendors selling pasties and offering pastie making parties for stagettes (my table neighbor was Ms. Fondapetting, so we learned all about pastie parties).

One of the most often asked questions we heard was "When are you supposed to mail out invitations?" - Traditional etiquette says 3 months before your wedding or more, especially if you have a destination wedding planned where guests will need to arrange their travel and accommodations. A lot of brides also asked how long letterpress invitations can take to design and print - usually four to 6 weeks, depending on a variety of factors (although we do offer RUSH services if our schedule allows). And do we print stationery other than wedding invitations? YEP!

The only sad part of the day was when the show was over and we went out to load the car. I found another Toyota parked on top of the bumper of my Toyota. The person had either hit it without knowing it, or parked it and it rolled forward when the person took their foot off the brake. The photo doesn't show it well, but the red car was actually on top of my blue car. LAME! Luckily once the guy drove off (he came back eventually) there was no damage or marks. If there were, well, that would make this my third hit-and-run accident and that would just mean I have terrible luck when I leave my car parked somewhere.

Anyways, all's well that ends well, and Lotus Events and Blue Olive Photography did a great job organizing the show. I will definitely be back next year for the second annual Indie I Do!

This week we are finishing off an invitation order for Natalie in Toronto - her invitation is half in English and half in Japanese, so I'm very excited to see the Japanese characters printed on the Crane Lettra.

Happy letterpressing!

New Wedding Card

2009-01-13T14:25:00.001-08:00

Only4 more days until Indie I Do! Boy does time fly - there is still so much left to do to get ready. Until I got involved in the industry, I really had no idea how much work went into preparing for a show like this - from getting samples ready, to organizing the set-up of your table and display area, to running back and forth to Kinko's like a madwoman for photocopies. The studio is an absolute disaster zone at the moment and I am very embarrassed by the state I allow it to get into pre-showtime. Did I mention there are bits of corner roundings all over the floor too? Oh dear. Some people walk around with cat fur or baby slobber on their clothes - I, on the other hand, am covered in paper bits.

The show opens at 11 am at Heritage Hall in Vancouver, although we will need to arrive around 9am to set-up. If you are planning on attending, be sure to get your tickets in advance (http://www.indieido.com/tickets/) because if you do, you will get a free swag bag when you arrive. If you've been to Got Craft? in the past, you know how people will line up hours in advance of the show to get these bags, and the fact that they will be full of wedding goodness makes them even more desirable!

Thank you to Michelle Sproule from Scout Magazine for her kind mention of us in "An Alternative Wedding Fair for the Cool Kids"!

Happy letterpressing!

Indie I Do Free Ticket Winners

2009-01-09T11:23:00.000-08:00

Using the Random Number Generator I've drawn names from the comments for the free tickets to Indie I Do. The winners are Comment #3 (Natasha) and Comment #4 (Lianne) (I excluded the comment from Leah as it wasn't related to the show).

Natasha and Lianne, please contact me via e-mail (info at sunlit hyphen letterpress dot com) a.s.a.p. (and please send me your postal address in your email) for information on registering your free passes. To ensure that the passes are used, if I don't hear from you by the 14th, I will give the extra passes to the others that left comments. This also means that you've won a pack of letterpress notecards and a Wedding Stationery Planning Kit - so come and find me at the show to pick these up!

Happy letterpressing!

Coaster Swag for Indie I Do

2009-01-07T16:26:00.000-08:00

Just a quick photo post for today...above are our swag bag contributions for Indie I Do. Our little gift is a small pack of letterpress coasters printed in chocolate brown with a floral silhouette I drew last summer. There will be similar packs of coasters for sale in the Sunlit Letterpress Etsy shop.

So, what is a swag bag? It's a bag full of samples and goodies from all the vendors at the wedding show that will be given to those who buy their tickets in advance of the show (show date is January 17th in Vancouver). Want free tickets? Check out my blog post below for our free ticket contest (deadline is January 9th).

Hope to see you all at the show!

Happy letterpressing!

Free Wedding Show Tickets Contest

2008-12-30T09:57:00.000-08:00

Are you getting married and live in the Vancouver (or Pacific Northwest) area? As a vendor exhibiting at the Indie I Do show on January 17th, 2009, I have two sets of two free tickets up for grabs (a $40 value per set!). The show is at Heritage Hall (3102 Main Street, Vancouver) and in addition to Sunlit Letterpress, will feature more than 30 sought-after innovative wedding vendors such as:

Aislewalk Magazine
Blue Olive Photography
Cake and Lemonade Films
Erin Gilmore Photography
Flower Factory
Lotus Events
Marliss Productions Videography
Bueno Style Jewelry
Photobooth Vancouver
and many more!

Forget the overwhelmingly huge shows at BC Place and come have a visit with the vendors you will actually be able to talk to!

Pre-purchased ticket holders will receive a swag bag full of wedding-related goodies. Fashion shows featuring vendors products will be held throughout the show, and there will be valuable prize draws worth over $2500 (including day of wedding services by Lotus Events and a sassy engagement or trash the dress session by Blue Olive Photography).

If you've considered Sunlit Letterpress for your wedding stationery, this is your chance to come down and see our work in person, discuss your specific stationery needs, get ideas and learn about how we print unique letterpress invitations for our clients with our 100+ year old presses! Our stationery is earth-friendly, and we invite you to come see it for yourself!

Tickets are $15 before the show, or $20 at the door.

But for my blog readers - here's the deal - tell me what kinds of things you'd like to see at our booth (i.e. samples, portfolio book, price sheets, a draw, etc., in the comments below) and I'll enter you in a draw for 2 free tickets to the show! We'll also throw in a pack of letterpress notecards for the winner to pick up at our booth on the day of the show, and one of our Sunlit Letterpress Wedding Stationery Planning Kits (also to be picked up at the show).

ENTER YOUR COMMENTS BY JANUARY 9th TO BE INCLUDED IN THE DRAW!

Happy letterpressing!

NYC in Pictures

2008-12-21T12:51:00.000-08:00

As promised, here are a few photos of my recent trip to New York (7 days). I had a chance to visit the Big Apple because my husband's work sent him on a course. We had a great time and stayed at three different hotels courtesy of the Priceline Negotiator ($500/night rooms for $160 - wohoo!), so we got to see a few different areas of Manhattan. The weather was quite chilly, but obviously not as bad as it has been there the past few days with the big storms and such.

Above is a photo of Central Park in the early morning on the Saturday we arrived. Our flight arrived at JFK at 6 AM, so after not being able to check into our first hotel in Manhattan until 3 PM we decided to roam through Central Park a bit. The park was full of all kinds of dogs on their morning constitutionals - it was fun to watch them all run about.

A photo of the entrance to 30 Rock - even if you aren't a fan of art deco, it is a beautiful sight.

The tree at Rockefeller Center, after a tasty meal at Alfredo's (the home of "fettucine Alfredo", which I didn't eat - I had lobster ravioli instead - yum).

Above, Times Square. Below, Times Square view from our last hotel - the Marriott Marquis. This was the best of the three hotels we stayed at ( Barclay Intercontinental, the Millenium Broadway). It is a monster of a hotel, but had by far the best customer service (don't get me started, but "customer service" it seems does not mean the same thing in NYC as it does in other parts of the world :)

I don't post photos of myself here often, but here I am at Madison Square Gardens after a Rangers game. It was great fun and the Calgary Flames won 3-0 (Go Flames!). The NYers were not impressed with how their team was playing though, especially towards the end. The best heckler yelled - "My grandmother can score better than you...and she's dead!". Tough crowd.

Below are some photos from the Museum of Modern Art. This museum was one of my favorites, and I found it much better than the Met. I am more of a modern art fan though, so that would probably explain why I liked it better. Here are Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans:

A very unique lamp in the industrial design section.

One of my favorite paintings (look closely and you'll see it's a map)...

A letterpress printed page of the Bible - imagine setting all that type.

I watch the Today show every morning at home, so I had always wanted to go see the taping. On a Tuesday I went down to the NBC studios, had my purse checked by security and joined the group of people waiting to either be on TV and see their favorite morning people. Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira were done by the time I showed up (8:30-ish), but I got to see Al Roker, Natalie Morales (so pretty in person!), Les Holt, and Ann Curry. Boy are those ladies nice and trim - so petite! I was also amazed by their high heels - they were 4-inches high! I guess they aren't that tall without the shoes!

Anyways, I got to be on TV (waving like a fool with the rest of the tourists) and called my family at home to watch (we're Pacific Standard Time, so there was a 3 hour delay so they could catch it).

During my trip I attended the Center for Book Arts Small Press Fair (which happened to be across the street from one hotel we stayed at) and I met Mindy from Intima Press. We agreed that next time I come to town that we will get together for a private lesson on the Centre's Vandercooks.

I also went to a few paper and packaging shops such as Kate's Paperie and Paper Presentation. I wish we had a Paper Presentation in Vancouver - you can buy affordable small packages of cover stock cut to smaller sizes. I even bought some thick kraft cover stock to bring home with me in my suitcase because it is so hard to find around here.

Here is a photo of Greenwich Village, a great part of town to go shopping in. After nearly being trampled at Bloomingdale's and Macy's, it was nice to get away from the big department stores and find some unique shops in the Village. One store I particularly liked was Sabon, a soap shop that sells soap, body creams, scrubs, etc. They have a little area in the store where you can try the scrubs and wash up and try their lotions out too (which is great after the subway). I have to say, I was very impressed with this store - the salespeople really knew their stuff and they were very helpful and informative. I ended up buying a few things as gifts and for myself. Their packaging was also very nice and the store layout was great. I know, I'm a big geek, but I notice these things.

Here is a photo of the big Macy's to end all Macy's. I went in twice - both times were ridiculously busy. I asked a saleswoman if this was because of Christmas and she told me "no, it's always like this - this is actually kind of slow. Fuggedaboutit." Ok, she didn't say fuggedaboutit, I made that part up.

Here's the back of my head and Grand Central Terminal. A truly beautiful building and worth going to just to see the ceiling.

This is a photo of the Flat Iron Building. I found some good shopping in this area as well. I still can't figure out what the guy in the picture is standing on, all Captain Morgan-like.

Later in the week we checked out the New York Stock Exchange. I was planning on walking in and yelling "What the devil have you done with my money lately?" but I decided that would be a bad idea after seeing all the cops with machine guns out front.

And here is Lady Liberty (taken from the Staten Island ferry). Like everyone else, I thought she'd be bigger - but she was pretty nonetheless.

On our last day we also checked out the Brooklyn Bridge. Boy was it a cold walk - we only made it as far as the first whatchamacalit (connection?) because it was so cold! (That and the fact that we had been walking all day long and had to stay up until 4am the next day because of our late flight).

It was a great trip, I think everyone should try to go see NYC at least once in their lifetime. It did have it's issues - I am not a pushy person, so it took me a few days to get used to the "every man for himself" mentality of the big city, but I got there eventually. It was also great to have just been to Tokyo recently and compare the two cities - despite both being so large and full of people, the way people operate (the whole individualism vs. collectivism thing) is so extremely different. I think I could move to Tokyo and be content fairly easily; however, NY would take a bit of getting used to. (As an aside, I actually had a woman in NYC yell at me on the subway to sit down - someone had gotten off and there was a free seat. She had been on longer than me so I offered the seat to her, "I insist" I told her. She very loudly told me to "SIT DOWN!". Um, ok, jeez sorry - I was just trying to be nice!).

It would be great to go again in the summer when it is warmer. I had to duck into stores and hotel lobbies every once in a while to warm up again :)

Happy letterpressing!

Bad Blogger

2008-12-19T15:45:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to let you know that I'm still alive...I have so much to post about (my trip to NYC, etc.) and will try to get to that this weekend.

Thank you for everyone who commented on my roller truck problem - it seems I was sent the wrong size trucks (they mistakenly sent me trucks for a C&P 12x18 [2" diameter], not an 8x12 [1.5" diameter], hence the problem). New trucks are on their way from Colorado today...

Happy letterpressing!

Post for Letpress Members

2008-12-17T14:18:00.001-08:00