What could be romantic than a wedding in the Riviera?! Our most recent collaboration with Lab Partners features bougainvillea, yachts, postcards and suntans! See the whole suite here.
Rob Ryan Calendars
We've expressed our love for Rob Ryan's papercuts before, but his 2011 calendar takes the cake! Love!
Via OSBP.
The Periodic Sweetshop
Loving this Periodic Sweetshop from British designer Stephen Wildish.
Press: Belle Bridal Magazine
Our Big Day invitation and Nouveau Peonies save the date were featured in Belle Bridal Magazine....thanks!
Topshop make-up
How cute is the packaging for Topshop's new make-up line? It was created by Sarah Thorne, an in-house designer at Topshop. We'll take one of each please!
And while we're at it, open a store in San Francisco please!
Via here.
Featured in the Financial Times!
Our Woodland Cheer thank you card was featured in the "How to Spend it" section of this weekend's Financial Times, along with excerpts from an interview with the Moyle sisters! Writer Mark O'Flaherty did a great job with the piece. Thanks, Mark!
One of our favorite quotes he picked:
"When something heartfelt has to be conveyed, an e-mail can't compete. The stationery of the future will be unique and handcrafted. If it feels mass-produced, why bother?"
Here's the full interview:
MO: Could you tell me how you both first became interested and involved in letterpress?
HL: Eunice studied printmaking in collage and heard about a letterpress class held at San Francisco Center for the Book from a friend. She took a class there and became obsessed. Her first project was James Bond-themed invitations inspired by the original Casino Royale movie poster for a party Sabrina was hosting -- thus Sabrina got hooked as well. Eunice got her first hand-cranked Vandercook printing press on eBay and installed it in her garage. After printing thousands of cards and developing a mild case of tennis elbow, we upgraded to a more automated Heidelberg Windmill printing press, from circa 1950.
MO: How would you describe your particular style?
HL: Happy vintage graphic bohemian. We draw from eclectic sources, from Victorian to 1960s advertising design, so our style is hard to pinpoint. The unifying characteristic is a sense of whimsy and making sure the artist's/designer's hand felt in the design details and customisation.
MO: What have your inspirations been?
HL: Tim Walker, Paul Rand, Jamie Oliver's food packaging by Pearl Fisher, The Raleigh Hotel, Rob Ryan, Mucha, Hatch Show Print, Charlie Harper, Kay Nielsen, Andy Warhol, Orla Kiely, Andrew and Martin Provensen -- to name just a few.
MO: What’s the scale of the operation and how many pieces are you producing per year?
HL: We're a mid-sized boutique - about 15 staff and 4 printing presses. We produce about 2,000 letterpress cards per day, ranging from greetings cards to custom designed wedding invitation suites, each of which may consist of multiple customised enclosures. So, probably about 80,000 - 100,000 pieces a year.
MO: Do you think there is one particular piece of work you’ve produced that sums up your style, or that you think has been particularly successful?
HL: The save the date poster that Eunice created for her own wedding - it's a bit over-the-top and combines whimsy with graphic elements and hand lettering and illustration. Other than that, the L'Oiseau wedding invitation suite is representative of our style - graphic and chic but a light-hearted.
MO: Why is letterpress which is inherently ‘vintage’, so modern again?
HL: People are feeling very nostaligic for the written word and old-fashioned correspondence. Call it mass-media burnout, Facebook phobia, or what not. There is something tactile, pleasing and personal about receiving a hand-written note written on a beautiful piece of stationery. Letterpress plays perfectly to these visceral desires because it is printed on a soft, cottony paper and printing is literally pressed into the page.
MO: Impossible I know, but from the book Handmade Hellos, could you identify 2-3 people working in letterpress mentioned in the book that you think are working in a particularly modern way, and why?
HL: Absolutely. Egg Press: they are using graphic, Mid-Century modern-inspired designs (think Marimekko or Orla Kiely) and combining that to perfection with letterpress and a witty sensibilty. Pancake & Franks: their designs are uber modern, conceptual, and minimal - all the white space sets off the letterpress printing to a T.
MO: Have we lost the art of letter writing, or will it come back? I’d love to know how you feel about the whole emotion of receiving personal handwritten mail...
HL: The art of letter writing is not lost by any means -- it's just becoming much less frequent. Letter writing will always persist among a certain set and for certain special circumstances (I mean, e-mail love letters? How unromantic!). We love the immediacy of e-mail for normal communication. But when there is something heartfelt to be conveyed -- a word of sympathy, a wedding invitation, a love note -- there is just no way that e-mail, no matter how many bells and whistles are attached, will ever compete with the human hand. Because letter writing is being reserved only for special occasions and people, the stationery of the future will be increasingly unique and hand-crafted. That's where letterpress again comes in, as opposed to the traditional cheap-and-cheerful greeting card. If it feels mass-produced, why bother? You might as well a send an e-mail. (And it doesn't hurt to take a few calligraphy lessons, too!)
Real Wedding: Sarah & Patrick
We are sure there is, in some peoples' minds, the assumption that the perfect English wedding should be held in mid-summer with small bridesmaids in pink voile running over emerald green, sun-dappled lawns, bright roses on the tables, food and cake a-plenty and all to the sound of laughter and clink of champagne flutes (or - to each their own - beer glasses!). The August wedding of Sarah McKee and Patrick Barry didn't disappoint on any of the above.
Sarah chose our classic Cherry Blossom design for her wedding stationery and carried the floral theme right through the whole event, even Patrick's tie managed to co-ordinate! The wonderfully relaxed atmosphere was captured perfectly in the photographs taken by Charley Smith.
We love the way that the table plans were strung-out on a silken washing line in the gardens of the house near Windsor where the guests strolled before being seated in the marquee for the meal. A perfect opportunity for showing-off that pink voile dress! Notice the touch of the tiny gold clothes pegs holding each one up - genius!
The flowers for the day were by Richard Elder one of the country's leading floral designers who combined the hot Summer colours in these charming baskets for the bridesmaids. The fabulous and mouth-watering mini cake stack was by Peggy Porschen and the talented Dan McEvoy from Real Cooking did the rest of the catering. We just love the way that the cherry blossom flower has been picked-out again on the top of each cake!
Thank you so much to Sarah & Patrick for sharing these photos with us. Ah! roll-on next summer!!
Real wedding: Georgina 'High Tea' Worthington
Earlier this year we were delighted to print the invitation suite for the owner of one of our favourite UK stockists, High Tea of Highgate (the fact that this is a delightful tea shop in a lovely part of London and that Georgina is a fabulous cook is entirely co-incidental!)
Georgina's wedding to Riccardo Carrelli took place in the magical setting of Burgh Island, an Art Deco hotel situated just off the coat of Devon and the setting for several Agatha Christie films. Our letterpress suite printed over images of the island set the mood for Georgina's 1920's inspired celebrations and the whole event was beautifully captured by the photographer Joanna Wilkinson
The Burgh Island hotel and the equally famous 'Sea Tractor' used to transport guests at high tide.
Georgina's fantastic dress was designed by Alice Temperley and, we are assured, was just perfect for doing the Charleston in!
...and to prove it!
A truly genius way of creating an edible centrepiece!
We just love the detail of these wedding favours a uniquely British delicacy - seaside rock from The Rock People. The couple's name runs right through it!
Congratulations, Georgina and Riccardo!
Invitation photos by yours truly, wedding photos by Joanna Wilkinson.
Le Train Fantome
French born and UK-based artist Fanje Ralison has stolen our heart with her sweet handmade creations, Lewis and Lumi! This fabulous poster set above is available here.
Fanje's one-of-a-kind dolls are handcrafted with new and vintage fabrics. So lovely!
Thanks to Alex, currently on maternity leave, for spotting these via Baby Gadget!
Wee Birdy = Queen of Craft!
Thanks to Wee Birdy, one of our favorite bloggers, who's been guest blogging over at Oola Moola, for sharing her amazing feat of crafting 35 cards in 1 day (and for only £20)!! Several of them were from our book, Handmade Hellos!
Check out the hilarious in-process shots of her Owl-y Friend card by Petra Boase...
...and the amazing results!!
Ms. Birdy also made the Paper Portrait card by La Familia Green.
Check it out! We love it, including the tiny nostrils!!
Birdy, you are a crafting queen! Welcome to the fold, grasshopper!
See more of Wee Birdy's feats of crafting endeavor here and here.
Present & Correct
We just love all the vintage stationery supplies at London-based retailer Present & Correct. Among their impeccably curated collection are authetic vintage items like these old fashioned money bags -- perfect for gift certificates.
These post cards, made from vintage wall paper, are to die for!
They also carry a great collection of graphic design classics from the 1960s and 70s like The Red Balloon...
...The Apple and the Butterfly...
This beautifully designed rainbow pencil calendar is also fabulous! Check out all their goods here.
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!
Ladybird Prints
With the holidays approaching, we can't help but feel a wee bit wistful about childhood. So when we discovered that Lady Bird, the British children's book publisher of the 1950s and 60s, sells prints of its iconic illustrations right here, we felt a happy glow of nostalgia!
We especially love the simple still lifes of everyday things from their picture books by Ethel Wingfield & Harry Wingfield and Baby's First Book illustrator H. Wooley. They're simple and oddly modern - we'd love to use them to decorate around the house!
Book Love
Grace from Design*Sponge posted about this gorgeous, gorgeous collection of classic novels from Penguin Classics. We are avid collectors of vintage books, so needless to say the beautiful patterns in matte foil and super old-school look of these volumes are making us swoon!
They are an exclusive to Waterstone's in the UK (cue weeping, fretting and deep, deep envy, here in the U.S.), but they are available online, and may very well be worth the shipping charges!
Sigh.
Kate Sutton
Speaking of fabulous illustrations, we just have to take a moment to opine about the brilliantly talented Kate Sutton. She just posted these new cuckoo clocks on her blog - how hilarious are they?! Love the squirrels especially.
Here are some hilarious soft items she sewed - the pirate peas and carrots are our favorites! Avast, pea hearties! ha ha
Kate has not one but two projects in our new book, Handmade Hellos, including this charming pop-up birdie card...
The beaks pop open - a chirpy way to say hello!
Kate also illustrated these fantastic letterpress valentine's day cards for us; check out all her cards for Hello!Lucky here. We'd seen Kate's work around - like this poster for the Renegade Craft Fair - and fell in love with her quirky style!
We also love this custom illustration she did for a baby girl named Grace. What a sweet idea! Check out Kate's work and blog here.
Vintage China
Daily Candy London featured Katy Potts Tea for Two Vintage English China today, and we are smitten! All the china shown was created between the 1920's and 1950's and comes charmingly wrapped in a vintage-inspired hatbox.
How adorable are these butter dishes and toast racks? Not that we need anything else to covet!
The line is available for purchase at Liberty of London, the V&A Museum Shop, Orange Pekoe or by private sales (the next one is in November in central London). Visit the website here.
Designer Wedding Show
We're exhibiting our wedding invitations at the Designer Wedding Show in London this weekend - here's a sneak peak of our stand in the process of being set up...
Also at the show are gorgeous selection of wedding vendors and designers, including Temperley London and The Vintage Wedding Dress Company.
Please stop by and say hello!
Designer Wedding Show 10 - 12 October Battersea Park, London
Two Girls and Some Flowers
The name really says it all; if "Fourteen People, Some Ink and a Handful of Vintage Presses" wasn't such a mouthful we may be tempted to take a leaf from their book! We learned of these two talented floral artists from a client who staged her wedding in the sculpture galley at Woburn Abbey and who subsequently sang their praises. Their service both on and in the run-up to the day were exemplary and a look at their website indeed bears testament to he beautiful work that they produce.
The way they coordinated the flowers with delicate cake design taken from antique engravings is just sheer genius!
The beautiful hand-tied bouquet of roses and peonies in soft pastel tones would be the perfect choice for a bride wanting a classic, traditional look but the girls are equally competent at creating understated, modern elegance as seen in the striking bouquet of green Calla lilies or gorgeous orchid buttonhole(below).
The two girls are based in Arlesey, Bedfordshire SG15 6SW and can be contacted via e-mail: info@two-girls-and-some-flowers.co.uk or Telephone: Julia: 07732 403 072 or Jenny: 07952 649 829
Inkymole
It is more than likely that you have already seen the work of British illustrator Sarah J Coleman without realising it as her work has been used on packaging from products as varied as Avon cosmetics to Double Gloucester cheese. Her work is a brilliant marriage of design and lettering ; quirky and retro, sharp and amusing. All the things we love in fact!
We especially love the little map she has created of the Crystal Palace area of London with charming designs for the relative shops drawn over a background of a fine lace tray-cloth.
The delightful illustration titled "The Protest" showing a phalanx of disgruntled traditional childrens' toys, is also hugely appealing to anyone old enough (ahem!) to remember having only the option of toys that relied on clockwork, muscle-power or a fertile imagination!
Sarah J Coleman can be contacted through her website and has her own blog.
The Jacksons' Mural
We love walking around the Notting Hill neighborhood, with its pretty row houses, trendy boutiques, and thriving weekend street scene thanks in part to Portobello Market. On a recent visit, we had to stop and admire this mural on the shop front of The Jacksons, a neighborhood clothing boutique.
We love the apricot and sea-foam color palette and the graphic pattern of flowers and buds. Lovely!