At home with Shana Faust

Last week we spent a couple days at the home of Shana Faust, a former style editor at Martha Stewart Weddings, working on our new book project. Shana's Brooklyn apartment is full of inspiration, as one might expect! And, the latest inspiration is her new daughter, Sophie Bea...

A few snaps from Sophie's room...

This little Japanese band is so hilarious!

A stack of pretty mini-pillows...

Kissing cowboys...

Sophie's colorful bookshelf...

Shana's kitchen, full of pretty whites and neutrals...

And there she is! Miss Sophie Bea, with Eunice Sophy!

Sophie's birth announcement, photographed and designed for Shana by friend Rebecca Thuss.

London Paper! Read all about it!

We are always so happy to see our stocklists in London featured in the press - especially when they display one of our cards - and so it was with much delight that we came across this article from the shopping pages of The London Paper - a newspaper that is given away to commuters to ease the tedium of those homeward tube, train and bus journeys.  Alex Stacey, founder of online stationery boutique Papergrain, is fast proving what we knew all along - that there is a market for beautiful cards and paper and, moreover, that the art of letter writing and thoughtful correspondence is far from being a dying one.  We simply adore her beautiful selection of greeting cards and thank-you notes and a visit to her online boutique should keep you well-stocked on stylish and suitable cards for every occasion.  She even has a good selection of discounted Christmas cards at the moment for all of you obscenely efficient people looking to get ahead of the curve for 2009!

Our Snail thank you card! Hurrah!

Destination wedding invitations

We're thrilled to release our new Destination series wedding invitations designed by local artists (and friends!) from Lab Partners. Inspired by vintage travel posters, their adorable illustrations couldn't be more perfect for a fun San Francisco affair, a glamorous London soirée, a tropical event in Hawaii or an elegant wedding in New York!

Don't see your destination? Contact us to learn more about our custom design services.

Belgian cappuccino service

We love taking inspiration from little things in everyday life so were delighted when our friend Amy sent us this photo of cappuccino service from a seaside cafe in Belgium. We love the design of the cup and saucer and all the details in the presentation, from the sailboat chocolate wrapper to the silver tray and doily. Wouldn't this be a fun touch for coffee/tea service at a wedding?

Joseph Churchward, Type Designer

Chun Yee O'Neill, the intrepid founder of our UK office, just pinged us about a fabulous exhibition on Joseph Churchward's typography at the Te Papa Museum in Wellington, New Zealand.  We'd unwittingly seen Churchward's type designs before, but where thrilled connect the work to the artist and learn more about him. Churchward is a Samoan-born graphic designer who has hand-crafted over 500 original typefaces,  distributed worldwide since the 1960s. He was born in 1933 and continues to design fonts even today, at the age of 75!  Some of our favorites are shown below, and are available to download right here.

Graphic designer David Bennewith is currently working on the first monograph of Churchward's work, due out in February 2009, and also created this groovy screen print inspired by Churchward's work, available for 30 Euros right here.

Letter Man: Joseph Churchward's World of Type Through February 9, 2009, 10 - 6 daily Te Papa, Cable Street, Wellington, New Zealand Free admission