Lucky Friday # 25, Treat Yourself to a Julia Rothman Birthday Card!

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the twenty-fifth edition of our Lucky Friday Giveaway! Each Friday we feature one of our letterpress cards. We’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Mirabelle, Joseph and Mary!

We’ll contact you early next week to arrange sending your Octo Sailors card.

Now for this week’s edition:

Design: Treat Yourself

Artist: Julia Rothman

Inspiration: A sugar smorgasbord from Swedish fishes to licorices, it's every designer's desire to depict the decadent-est of birthday wishes..

Who to send it to: Your sweetie, a sweet sixteen, a sweet tween or a sugarplum fairy queen (or king.)

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: A menagerie of sweet creatures living on the big rock candy mountain: Chocolate bunnies, peppermint pigs, swedish fish, licorice scotties, jelly babies, gummy bears and... a candy ass?(!)

Favorite detail: We can’t decide if it’s a box of Andes Mints or Turkish delights! And the candy corns and unicorn horns and tootsie rolls and marshmallows and… !!!!

Why Letterpress: Because that's how we print our sweet greeting cards— letterpress is the icing on the cake.

Don’t forget to post your comment, and tune in next week, same time, different stationery, to see if you’ve won!

Lucky Friday # 23, Julia Rothman's Dinosaurs Card for a BIG little Guy!

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the twenty-third edition of our Lucky Friday Giveaway! Each Friday we feature one of our letterpress cards. We’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Darilyn, Sherri N and Brenda Eden!

We’ll contact you early next week to arrange sending your Bundle of Joy card.

Now for this week’s edition:

Design: Dinosaurs

Artist: Julia Rothman

Inspiration: Big ideas abound when there’s dinosaurs around!

Who to send it to: For a big birthday for a little guy, terrible lizards make for terrific cards.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one:  A surfer stegosaurus on a card that read “Cretaceous, Dude!” But we realized that was waaay bogus.

Favorite detail: The absence of T-Rex lets a little big guy fill in the big blank with a big roar!

Why letterpress: Dinos left some impressive fossilized prints behind— similarly, our ancient technology will withstand the test of time.

Don’t forget to post your comment, and tune in next week, same time, different stationery, to see if you’ve won!

Lucky Friday # 22 Bundle of Joy, Baby Congratulations!

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the twenty-second edition of our Lucky Friday Giveaway! Each Friday we feature one of our letterpress cards. We’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Mary, Marjolein, and Alyssa!

We’ll contact you early next week to arrange sending your Good Luck card.

Now for this week’s edition:

Design: Bundle of Joy

Artist: Anna Hurley

Inspiration: We don’t quite know how it happened—  something in the water, or a glimmer in the eye— it felt like the idea just fell out of the sky.

Who to send it to: A couple whose wish was granted—that the stork has landed.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: We had a version of the card with a weary looking stork carrying triplets, reading: “Stork Up and Save!”

Favorite detail: We like how the skyline could be most anywhere, but it has a mix of San Francisco urban and Scandinavian flair.

Why Letterpress? You’d be stork raving mad not to send or stock such striking stationery!

Don’t forget to post your comment, and tune in next week, same time, different stationery, to see if you’ve won!

Lucky Friday #21: Esther Aarts Good Luck Card!

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the twenty-first edition of our Lucky Friday Giveaway! Each Friday we feature one of our letterpress cards. We’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Stephanie, Monique and Amy Marie Wingate!

We’ll contact you early next week to arrange sending your Rock On! card.

Now for this week’s edition:

Design: Good Luck

Artist: Esther Aarts

Inspiration: Hello!Lucky knows a thing or two about the subject at hand.

Who to send it to: A fella hoping luck will be a lady, a woman in want of a wishbone, a chap you wish to charm and cheer on.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: Two chickens pulling on the ends of a wishbone, reading “Good Cluck.”

Favorite detail: Love the Raggedy Ann face on the first place ribbon.

Why letterpress? Sometimes you really should press your luck.

Don’t forget to post your comment, and tune in next week, same time, different stationery, to see if you’ve won!

Lucky Friday # 20, Julia Rothman Rocks the Birthday Card

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the twentieth edition of our Lucky Friday Giveaway! Each Friday we feature one of our letterpress cards. We’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Christa, Jean K and Lindsey!

We’ll contact you early next week to arrange sending your Belated Birthday card.

Now for this week’s edition:

Design: Rock On

Artist: Julia Rothman (or maybe we should call her Julia Rock-man from now on)

Inspiration: Catching a wave of New Wave nostalgia, jonesing for some Joan Jett, or blasting Blondie on the boombox.

Who to send it to: A Jem of a friend or a Misfit on your list.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: Our singer-songwriter version featured a Garfunkel fro wig, a harmonica stand, a tambourine and a pair of Birkenstocks and it read “Happy Folkin’ Birthday.”

Favorite detail: Love that we amped up the palette with some hot pink ink.

Why letterpress? Why guitars, why Chucks, why leather, why letterpress? Dude, because it rocks!

Don't forget to post your comment, and tune in next week, same time, different stationery, to see if you've won!

Lucky Friday #19, Belated Birthday Card

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the nineteenth edition of our Lucky Friday Giveaway! Each Friday we feature one of our letterpress cards. We’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Melissa, Cozette and Addie!

We’ll contact you early next week to arrange sending your Under the Sea card.

Now for this week’s edition:

Design: Belated Birthday

Artist: Eunice Moyle

Inspiration: Some things just take a little longer, no? But it's worth it!

Who to send it to: Many will admit to being a little sluggish when it comes to sending snail mail, so send it to a friend who you might have left behind on the snail trail.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: For a while we had bees on the brain. “To Bee or not to Bee-lated,” with a harried, flustered postal carrier bee was a clunker.

Favorite detail: The back of the card is cute in an ant-ique kind of way. (see below!)

Why letterpress? Pressmen are busy as bees setting type with coppers, brasses and slugs! (ooh, pardon for being SO letterpresoteric)

Don’t forget to post your comment and check back next week, same time, same stationery (; D), to see if you’ve won!

Lucky Friday #17! Beer Stein Birthday Cheers!

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the seventeenth edition of our Lucky Friday giveaway! Each Friday we feature one of our letterpress cards. We’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Jessica Southwick, Dennis Flinsenberg and Michael! Harr harr!

We’ll contact you early next week to aaarange sending your Best Mate card.

Now for this week’s edition:

Design: Cheers!

Artist: Esther Aarts

Inspiration: It doesn’t take Einstein to find a good use for a stein. But it takes an Esther Aarts to put such fine steins on such fine stationery.

Who to send it to: Einstein, Lichtenstein, Bernstein— any old stein. Perhaps just a pal who loves pilsner or a fraulein with a fondness for fermentation.  An Oktoberfest birthday would be the absolute best!

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: Longnecks just didn’t have the same flair. And canned beers can’t clink cheers with the same festive finesse.

Favorite detail: Love the steins’ bendy legs and hopsy feet.

Why letterpress? Steins and Heidelbergs go together like sauerbraten and spaetzle.

Don't forget to leave your comment and check back next week to see if you've won!

Lucky Friday, Sweet #16! Friendship Card, Pirate Style.

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the sixteenth edition of our Lucky Friday giveaway! Each Friday we feature one of our letterpress cards. We’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Seema, Cherie and Amy Wingate!

We’ll contact you early next week to arrange sending your Cool Dad card.

Now for this week’s edition:

Design: Best Mate

Aarrrtist: Esther Aarrrrts (trans: Esther Aarts)

Inspiration: Arrrr ye pullin’ moy peg-leg? Can’t ye arrrready see what arrr influences arrrrr?

Who to send it to:  Ye ought to knoo who yer best mates arrrrr, oughtn’t ye?

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: Arrr, matey. We ‘ad a desoign arr two that ‘ad to walk the plank. With the cruel visage of Cap’n Hook and ‘is croc, readin’: “I’m Hooked on You.” Smelled ‘alf worse than a limey kettle o’ fish on a dead man’s chest.

Favorite detail:  Tharrrs naught quoite loike the soight of that foine ship sankin’ way out o’er yonder. An’ the billowin’ smooke.

Why Letterpress:  You canna foind a noicer caaarrrrrd anywhere on dry land.

Don't faarrrget—leave your comment, and check back next week to see if you've won!

Lucky Friday #15 Father's Day Edition

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the fifteenth edition of our Lucky Friday giveaway! Each Friday we feature one of our letterpress cards. We’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Marife, Debbie Boswell and Reyna!

We’ll contact you early next week to arrange sending your Catching Up card.

Now for this week’s Father's Day Card edition:

Design: Cool Dad

Artist: Anna Hurley

Inspiration: Maybe some Jimmy Stewart, with a pinch of Atticus Finch and a dash of Dick Van Dyke.

Who to send it to: A rad dad, a cool daddy-o, or maybe even a sugar daddy if you’re feeling coy.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one:  We thought of it saying “Happy Super Suave Dude’s Day,” but we decided we’d rather just stick with “Father.” And we thought of "Happy Dada Day" with a cartoon of Marcel Duchamp standing by a snow shovel, but we thought we'd narrow our audience too much.

Favorite detail: How could we choose just one?

Why letterpress: Any dad would be glad to know a lad or a lady who had such mad card selecting skills.

Don't forget to leave your comment below and check back next week to see if you've won!

Lucky Friday #14, A Cute Card for Catching Up

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the fourteenth edition of our Lucky Friday giveaway! Each Friday we feature one of our letterpress cards. We’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Jackie G, Noella, and Dear Evie!

We'll contact you early next week to arrange sending your Knitting Monkey card.

Now for this week’s edition:

Design: Catching Up

Artist: Eunice Moyle

Inspiration:  We just felt like gettin' our game hen on, puttin' on the capon, turnin' up the turducken and letterpressin' some poultry poetry on paper.

Who to send it to: One of your peeps who’s left you behind, some poor little pullet who’s been called a rotten egg, or a bird of a feather from your flock with whom you've been meaning to talk.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: We had some chicken scratch plans about chicken little and the little red hen, but they never fully hatched.

Our favorite detail: We feel for the little chick who’s lagging.

Why letterpress?  It’s so suave to keep in touch with such a tactile card!

Don't forget to post your comment and check back next week to see if you've won!

Lucky Friday #13 (Thank You Card Giveaway!)

Yes, that's right! This just happens to be the thirteenth edition of Lucky Friday, coincidentally falling on Lucky Friday the 13th! Maybe we should have featured a Halloween Card? Spooky...

Each Friday we feature one of our letterpress cards. Then we’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Ann, Stephie and Paige L!

We'll contact you early next week to arrange sending your Wiser card.

Now for this week’s edition, one of our letterpress thank you cards:

Design: Knitting Monkey

Artist: Eunice Moyle

Inspiration: Not a monkey's uncle— rather perhaps, a monkey's sweet, coy great aunt? Who to send it to: A silly little monkey who shouldn't have, or a nifty knitter who's a great gifter.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: It used to say "You Wild, Wooly Monkey!" but we thought it was too open to misinterpretation. And we toyed with the idea of a crocodile crocheting a stuffed crocodile, titled "This is a Real Croc of Knit" but we couldn't think of a soul to we'd be crazy enough to send it to. "All You Needle is Love" also made its way into file thirteen.

Our favorite detail: We wonder if the sock monkey knits sock humans?

Why letterpress? A well-spun yarn in a handwritten thank you letter yearns to be expressed on a letterpress card.

Don't forget to post your comment and check back next week to see if you've won!

Also, remember to drop by and see us at the National Stationery Show if you're in New York.

Here's the info:

Visit us at the National Stationery Show, booth # 1536.

May 15th – 18th from 9-6

Jacob Javits Convention Center, New York City SEE YOU THERE!

Lucky Friday # 12, Birthday Card Giveaway!

Now onto the twelfth edition of our weekly feature: Lucky Fridays! Each Friday we’ll feature one of our letterpress cards. Then we’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Melissa, Lisa and Mary!

Heather will contact you early next week to arrange sending your Wallowing Pig card.

Now for this week’s edition, one of our letterpress birthday cards!

Design: Wiser

Artist: Eunice Moyle

Inspiration: Owl tell you when you’re older.

Who to send it to:  The whoo’s whoo on your birthday list—whoo’s on first? Someone wiser than thou, perhaps?  Or someone with whoom you can share your wisdom.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: We had a designer who sketched out a “HAPPY H-OWL-OWEEN from Owllen Ginsberg” card, with a caricature of Allen Ginsberg as a great horned owl, reading from H-OWL. Ummm… yeah. No. We think she was buzzed on Sharpie fumes at the time.

Our favorite detail: The owl in back looks just a little bit mischievous.

Why Letterpress? With such fine-feathered detail, our pressmen get to show off how talon-ted they are!

Be sure to leave your comment, and don't forget to check back next week to see if you've won!

A Craft Podcast Studio Visit, Revisited

We'd almost forgotten this one! Waaaay back in 2008, when we'd first moved into our current studios in SOMA, we did a little interview for Craft Video Podcast. There's some great stuff toward the middle/end where James shows how the polymer plates work in the Heidelberg presses while printing some wedding invitations. Then Eunice shows some of her inspiration and drawings for a couple of the fab letterpress greeting cards we've featured on Lucky Fridays! So stay tuned, or skip ahead to those parts if you're short on time.

The video is great for its completely ad-lib, unrehearsed, unplugged honesty. :D Hopefully we won't embarrass Shauna or Eunice too much.

Lucky Friday #11!

Now onto the eleventh edition of our weekly feature: Lucky Fridays! Each Friday we’ll feature one of our letterpress cards. Then we’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Ann, Kathy, and Jenny & Jimbob!

Heather will contact you early next week to arrange sending your Mama Elephant card.

Now for this week's edition:

Design: Wallowing Pig

Artist: Eunice Moyle

Inspiration: When it comes to making cute, punny cards about pigs, the sty’s the limit!

Who to send it to: Someone who’s happy as a hog in humus, and who’s out there bringin’ home the bacon!

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: Once we penned this little piggy, we felt the other ideas were a little too hammy, salty, or boorish.

Our favorite detail:  Love the slightly sloppy pink watercolor effect on the pig, and the concentric swirls of swill in his swine sty.

Why Letterpress? Flat printing would be such a boar.

Don't forget to post your comment and tune in next week to see if you've won!

Lucky Friday #10! Mother's Day Edition!

Now onto the tenth edition of our weekly feature: Lucky Fridays! Each Friday we’ll feature one of our letterpress cards. Then we’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Stephanie, Ginger and Irene!

Heather will contact you early next week to arrange sending your Clothesline Monkey card.

Now onto our special  Mother's Day card giveaway:

Design: Mama Elephant

Artist: Eunice Moyle

Inspiration: Our awe and “awww” of elephants is all the inspiration needed.

Who to send it to:  Hmmm..  if you don’t know already, then Mum’s the word.

Our favorite detail: We love the mama elephant’s swirly knees and ears, and her pink toenails.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: We thought of hippos, with a message saying “You’re one hip mama!” but then we were reminded of Disney’s Fantasia, and the tutus… hrmm.

Why Letterpress?  All mothers deserve the very best.

Don't forget to post your comment and check next Friday to see if you've won!

Lucky Friday Week #9

Now onto the ninth edition of our weekly feature: Lucky Fridays! Each Friday we’ll feature one of our letterpress cards. Then we’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Allyson H, Budoh, and Wehaf!

Heather will contact you early next week to arrange sending your Retro Easter card.

Design: Clothesline Monkey

Artist: Eunice Moyle

Inspiration: We’ve all had moments feeling strung out or high and dry, and there is nothing so encouraging as having a friend drop us a line.

Who to send it to: One of your gang who likes to hang and monkey around, but who might need a little help getting his feet back on the ground.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: We got so hung up on the clothesline idea, we couldn’t quite pin down any other options.

Our favorite detail: We could write volumes about the pathos of being pinned up beside a pair of tighty-whities, but we’ll keep it brief.

Why Letterpress? It’s very chic to have laundry beautifully pressed.

Don’t forget to add your comment and check back next week to see if you’ve won!

Lucky Friday Week #8 (Easter Card Edition!)

Now onto the eighth edition of our weekly feature: Lucky Fridays! Each Friday we’ll feature one of our letterpress cards. Then we’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Wolfie, Irit and Katie!

Heather will contact you early next week to arrange sending your Ukulele Monkey card.

Onto our Easter greeting card edition:

Design: Retro Easter

Artist: Sarah Labieneic

Inspiration: Swingin’ sixties wallpaper, Easter egg hunts at Grandma Bianca’s wood-paneled suburban bungalow, croquet on shag Astroturf, milk-glass plates of divinely deviled eggs, crepe paper, wicker baskets, and spring!

Who to send it to:  Any of your circle of Peeps— the hippest hippity-hops or the funkiest chickens you know.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one:  We put all our eggs in one basket and decided to go with this most egg-cellent idea.

Our favorite details: the eggshell texture of the card stock and the robin’s egg blue hue.

Why Letterpress? We can print the prettiest pastels in letterpress!

Don’t forget to add your comment and check back next week to see if you’ve won!

Lucky Friday Week #7!

Now onto the seventh edition of our weekly feature: Lucky Fridays! Each Friday we’ll feature one of our letterpress cards. Then we’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Brittany Burton, Leah and Michael!

Heather will contact you early next week to arrange sending your Sick Octo card.

Onto this week’s offering:

Design: Ukulele Monkey

Artist: Eunice Moyle

Inspiration: From A Thousand Clowns, 1964, one of the best ukulele moments on film, pardon the poor quality:

Who to send it to: Your Hawaiian honey, your eccentric ukulele loving uncle, your cute cuatro-playing friend from Caracas, or anyone who’d love a plucky hand-puppet wearing plumeria.

Our favorite detail: Frankly, the frangipani flower is so poi-fectly Polynesian.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: We considered a Christmas card that said Mele Kaliki-monkey, but we didn’t want to get that song stuck in everybody’s head (*wink*)

Why Letterpress? All primates go ape over letterpress + sock simians have never been so stylish!

Don't forget to add your comment and check back next week to see if you've won!

Lucky Friday Week Six!

Now onto the sixth edition of our weekly feature: Lucky Fridays! Each Friday we’ll feature one of our letterpress cards. Then we’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Christina Y., Luz B. and Cheryl V.!

Heather will contact you early next week to arrange sending your Going Strong card.

Onto this week's offering:

Design: Sick Octo

Artist: Eunice Moyle

Inspiration: Surreal dreams about the Octopus’s Garden after slightly suspicious Tako sushi takeout.

Who to send it to: Your favorite immune-compromised “Manic Monday” multi-taskers, moms, managers or minions (or any of the above). Or cheer up someone who feels a little clammy, over his head, underwater, or washed up.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one:  We decided to make a gender-neutral octopus to avoid absolutely any association with “Octomom.”

Our favorite detail: We wonder how to make hot tea under the sea?

Why Letterpress? We’re suckers for textured tentacles. And wouldn’t it be handy to hire an octopus typesetter?! And think how much we’d save on ink!

Don’t forget to post your comment on the blog and check next Friday to see if you’ve won!

Lucky Friday, ermm... Saturday! Week #5

Now onto the fifth edition of our weekly feature: Lucky Fridays! Each Friday (or Saturday, just for this week) we’ll feature one of our letterpress cards. Then we’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Heather S., Claire and Addie!

Heather will contact you early next week to arrange sending your Lionheart card.

Onto this week's offering:

Design: Going Strong

Artist: Eunice Moyle

Inspiration: The Beatles' “Carry that Weight,” feats of strength, the family circus.

Who to send it to: Your brawny beau; your leading lady; your favorite matrimonial marathon medalists.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one:  A pair of circus tightrope walkers, with the heading  “Because you’re mine…” seemed a little tenuous. The sword swallower couple seemed inappropriate, and we all agreed that clowns are a no-no.

Our favorite details: The marcel curls of the Missus and the Monsieur’s manly ‘stache.

Why Letterpress? We bet that strongman could bench press our presses, so we printed the card to be especially impressive.

Don't forget to post your comment on the blog and check next Friday to see if you've won!