adventures with wood type

Awhile back I finally got ahold of a font of wood type — it was in great condition and a serious steal.  They are pretty large — about 3 inches high — so they work well for monogram cards or invitations with a bold look.

It was fun playing around with the type and remembering how to lock everything up so that  it prints just where I want it to.  There is definitely more planning required and more limitations imposed than printing with photopolymer plates, and I definitely felt a little out of practice.

But I just love the worn out left edge of that capital “A” and the funky texture of the type — especially the overprinted areas.  If you love it as well, let us know — we can certainly design a project for you that uses our antique wood type.  I’m always looking for more to add to the collection…

Goodbye!
Tara

pink with envy

Have I told you about how every time I get an order of envelopes addressed by Brigitte I want to keep it?  I’m not a hoarder by nature, and logically I know that I have no use for envelopes addressed to other people’s friends, but when I see this kind of beautiful, I can’t help but want to steal one:

I mean, look at the “ss” in Massachusetts.  They are so cutely disconnected.

At least I can find and then hoard these vintage stamps .  Thanks for the images, Sophie and Andre!

–Tara

gothic textura quadrata

I just started a new calligraphy class with Brigitte — this time I’m learning Blackletter!

I am so bad about creating projects for myself to stay in practice.  I think it’s because there is something almost too-permanent about ink on paper.  It’s hard to commit!   However, for quite awhile I’ve wanted to design a last-name-logo for Dave and myself, and this would be a really fun hand to use for that.  Then sometime next year after we (hopefully!) move, I want to get it made into an obnoxiously-large custom return address stamp.  If it goes well, I think such a stamp will become my “signature housewarming gift.”  Cute, right?

This is my miniature inspiration board for our stamp:

Blackletter Alphabet by amazing calligraphy genius, Ward Dunham; Return Address Stamp by the wonderful Maybelle Imasa-Stukuls.

In the meantime, here’s some homework:

Yikes… I really need to work on that Z…

–Tara

king and queen of hearts

I hate the forever stamps… I have no problem waiting until after they’ve hiked up that first class rate and forking over an extra however-many cents for cute stamps.  Check out the new LOVE stamps — so adorable!

If I was a bride, I would be very tempted to over-stamp my invitations and put both a king and queen on each.  Nauseatingly cute!  You know you want to do it… (Thanks to C# for the head’s up!)

Happy stamping,
Tara

buttercream

Here it is… the first fun gem from my Scary Box of Ephemera. For this to make sense, you have to know that one of my odd college part-time jobs was as a cake decorator. Actually, a cake decorating apprentice would be more accurate. Or maybe, Hey You Come Over Here And Wash This. On the whole, it was lots of fun, but utterly exhausting. I am still convinced working with food is one of the toughest jobs ever. I came home every day reeking of sugar. You might be thinking that sounds like a good thing, but you would be wrong.

Anyway, although this gig was most certainly what Wayne Campbell would call a “joe job,” my friends Lindsey and Alane were still way proud of me for landing it, as evidenced by this rad inkjet-printed and glue-stuck card wishing me well on my foray into cakedom:

Don’t ask me, I have no idea.

With support not only from the two of them, but also none other than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., how could I possibly fail?

And so it was that I entered into a period of cake-obsession. My friends, it was a little sad. There was a Sesame Street cake (featuring Ernie) for Alane’s birthday. There was a disturbing bloody heart cake for Halloween. There was the Union Jack bon voyage cake for when my roommate Michelle ditched me for a semester abroad. This was all going on in the late ’90s — IMHO, the golden age of the medical drama ER, of which I was also a little too fond. Behold:

That would be Noah Wylie, AKA Dr. Carter. I think Lindsey and Alane must have needed the calculator to determine exactly what level of dork they were dealing with.

Sledding down 26th Street at UT, MLK Weekend, 1997

I now live so ridiculously far away from these two, that we haven’t kept in touch as much as we ought to. But Lindsey recently called us out on it, inspiring their trip up to Seattle in January for a fun-filled faux-bachelorette weekend (Alane just got married a few weeks ago). We celebrated with a really great night out at The Pink Door, a late night horror movie and obviously… cake. Can you guess which one I made, and which one was at the wedding a few months later?

Miss you,
Love,
Tara

ps. If any of these end up on cakewrecks, I’m gonna be very upset.

things we keep

Awhile back I posted a little bit about my long-neglected box of funny / sad / incriminating / treasured ephemera, and wondered what I should do with all that stuff.

Since then I’ve decided it belongs in some kind of unique hand-made book. I hesitate to use the word “scrapbook” because I’m picturing something more interesting and artistic than that… something like this beautiful handmade accordion book by Sylvia Yang made just for holding letters:

Pockets = genius.

I plan to document my progress here, slowly, one part of the story at a time. This means some of it will be going on the internet, and if you know me, you might find a little bit of yourself here. (Don’t worry… I’ll be very nice, and I’ll even ask you first.)

Yes, it’s a little personal, but I think it will be fun and cathartic too. I’ll still post most often about our recent projects and happenings, but I like to think this blog is evolving. And it’s starting soon.

Here goes nothing / everything,
–Tara

you design, we print

Do you have the burning desire to create your own invitation or stationery design?  If so, we can help!  More and more, Ephemera is offering print-only services to creative brides and grooms who want to truly personalize invitations, save-the-dates, programs and more by designing themselves.  Here are a few of the recent projects we’ve had the pleasure of printing:

Of course, if it’s a little daunting, we are happy to help you in any way you need.  Whether you just need to run your design by us, or aren’t sure how to get started.  Just submit an inquiry to let us know how we can help make your ideas a reality in print!

–Tara

Weddingbee Contest + 10% off!

Today we’re doing a little contest over on Weddingbee… Go check it out for a chance to win some custom letterpress stationery from us! We’re also offering 10% off our our à la carte invitation prices to all Weddingbee readers who place an order on or before May 29th. Just submit an inquiry to get started!

–Tara

just a little peek

This is one of the recent projects I am really excited about — it’s our first booklet-style invitation.  I’ll be blogging about it in depth later this year after I have some photos of the big day from the bride and groom.  In the meantime, I couldn’t resist posting a little bit of it now!

It’s an orange and gray soft-cover booklet printed on bright white stock and bound with bright orange satin ribbon.  Four pages tell the couple’s story, invite, and inform, while a tear-off panel acts as a reply postcard.  The design itself is also really fun and preppy, so we’ll be adding it to our Ephemera collection soon along with a few others.

Fun!
–Tara

well hello!

Source: Randy Heisch, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

We’re back!  We were in the great state of Texas for a wedding over Easter weekend.  It was a total whirlwind of activity, and lots of fun.  The wedding was also totally blogworthy, so look for that on the horizon.

The Texas Hill Country was looking pretty spring-like with tons of bluebonnets and other native flowers springing up all over the highway.  Dave and I took a drive to Austin to visit a few of our favorite places, visit old friends, and eat chicken fried steak (ever elusive in the Pacific Northwest):

Yowza.

On our drive around Austin, we passed a turnoff for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, which made me think of Ashley and Matthew, who are getting married there very soon.  It’s sort of funny… Back when we had all that insane weather in December, the whole city kind of shut down and I snapped this picture of their poor little invitation stuck with me in the snow!

Not to worry, Ashley and Matthew… Spring has sprung in Texas!  Actually I’m sure it’s been sprung for awhile down south.  I think it’s finally arrived in Western Washington as well.  Hopefully brighter evening hours will help me blog a bit more often this season.  Lots to say!  Thanks to all you loyal readers… I endeavor to deserve you .

–Tara