Dream Cabin

The end of the semester is always crazy, but paired with prep for the stationery show and some very sick puppies I have been fantasizing about a vacation. A real vacation. With no phone, no internet, few people and several books. I also have a longtime dream of owning a small cottage or cabin. So, when my boss showed me his friend Michael's cabin I fell in love. LOVE. Such a quiet, perfect space to get away. I really think Jake and I might book as stay here - once in the summer to enjoy the creek and hiking and once in the winter because I've never gotten to vacation in snow. You can check out the rental listing here.

Copper and Cyan

We got to print this gorgeous suite a few weeks ago. The bride's sister designed everything and we printed them with cyan and copper ink. They turned out amazing and I just love how the pattern carried through to all elements.

And more wall progress

Yep, we're still working on those walls for the show. They've been patched, primed and painted. Jake and our intern Tracy worked hard to get each panel looking great. Now we just have to figure out how we're displaying everything and do a test run. Hoping to do that next week.

Custom calligraphy invitations

We printed these gorgeous invitations a few weeks ago. Black ink on ecru paper and calligraphy by Grace Edmands. I love how they turned out!

Damask in sunny yellow

It's been exciting to print such beautiful bright colors recently. Here's Pantone 116 looking super hot paired with a warm gray. One of my very favorite color combinations. We printed this design on super thick 220# lettra and it turned out pretty amazing.

tangerine

Mixing the perfect orange ink while the sun sets. Hello spring. Finally!

Seafoam green

We made so much progress this past weekend with prep for the stationery show, printing, and even managed to have a bit of fun with friends (and not feel guilty about taking time off work!). I can't tell you what a difference it makes to have done a few shows already and know what my limits are. I'm trying a new zen-like approach to trade show prep - it gets done if it gets done. There will be things that I won't have time to finish and I'm ok with that.

In the midst of planning, we're still crazy busy on the press and sending proofs to our great clients! Our Mexican Tile design has been quite popular lately and was super fun to print with this beautiful shade of green.

*ps - It's in the low 70s here today and my house windows are open for the first time in 2011. I can't wait for spring to stay!!!

Building walls for NSS

After much deliberation (mostly me internalizing and annoying Jake), we decided to go with hard walls for our booth this time at the Stationery Show. This is a bigger decision that it probably should have been, but since we're doing three shows every year we figured it would be worth it financially and more than worth is aesthetically and functionally. We used paper "walls" for the last two shows which limited how we could arrange our cards and prints.

We picked up sheets of plywood and Jake has been busy assembling everything. We aren't allowed to use power tools at the show, so everything has to be planned out beforehand and bolted together. I'm really looking forward to figuring out shelving and to having a reusable booth. The best part is that we can set it up in the studio and troubleshoot beforehand, I hope!

Countdown to NSS, 4 weeks to go

We have exactly four weeks until we leave for the National Stationery Show. We just ordered four cases of paper and tons of new envelopes. No room for it all in the studio, but we've been printing so much I hope we have enough for the next few weeks.

Wall Update: My friend Sara has agreed to let us borrow her van for the show, which means we're going to have hard walls, providing 4x8' sheets of plywood will fit in! I think we'll probably try to see if we can pick it up this weekend and start making a mock booth in the studio.

Random related info: I still don't have a to-do list for the show, so I guess I should make one! I know I'll forget something if I don't put one together. But I'm also afraid to see everything in one spot.

*We printed these invitations a few weeks ago and I love how they turned out! The blind deboss is so perfect with the rich black ink.

NSS 2011, here we come

Perhaps you remember last year, when we exhibited at the National Stationery Show for the first time. Well, it's almost time to head back to NYC for this year's show! I am so excited about this show. Unlike the gift show, I know a lot of other exhibitors and I'm looking forward to catching up with them and meeting new retail shops! We have been super hard at work (aka, not sleeping) designing and printing a few new lines of cards. I'm planning to update our progress here during the next month.

Show related things I'm thinking about today:
1. Jake had a mohawk last year for the show. He might again this year. Some of our friends have only met him during the show and might not recognize him with hair.
2. I need a haircut. Something cute. But cutting it would mean making a decision and I don't know that I'm capable of that.
3. We somehow managed to print two weddings today. They were both big. Our interns are great.
4.We have four new lines of cards and two calendars in the works. How in the world will we be able to print these in time?
5. Yes, haircuts are show-related.

Dolly is cold

It's been a while since I've posted any pics of our dogs, so here are some new ones of Dolly. Yep, we still have her. It's almost been a year. Her favorite space in the entire house is curled up on the heating register in our bathroom. She has almost no fur, so I can totally understand her motivations.