Join Me on a Studio Tour

I've been planning this for a while and FINALLY got the papers tidied enough to welcome you, virtually, into my studio.

The studio is in the converted carport of our house, and previous owners seemed to have used it as storage. One chainsawed-out section of a wall and one french door installation later, and inviting moved in. There are been slight improvements since then, of course, like colorful curtains (and thermals to help with the summer heat), some white paint, some near-black paint, a place to sit, a rug (it really ties the room together) and a little feng shui thanks to my mom.

So let's go!

From the Door:

When you walk though the door off the front porch, this is what you see
You've got some type cabinets on the left, a HEAVY composing stone on the right, and Vera the press in the back right corner. The studio isn't air conditioned so near the french doors is my wee cooling unit which gets wheeled over to the window during the hot months, where it makes a difference until about noon, and then I have to call it a day. One day I'll get the place properly insulated and have a small unit installed, where that little pink shelf is.

From Vera's End

This is what you see when standing near the black composing stand. The front door, little seating area for tea, taking phone calls while I'm working, and instagramming. (Sometimes Hobo Cat #3 sits there- he'll come in and watch me work). The composing stone, with all it's wonderful wooden tools, is from the San Jacinto College, which is where I took some art classes as a kid- small world! On it are three boxes of printing plates. There's also a little space heater, and some display items for craft shows by the window.


And this is standing next to Vera. You can see more of the type cabinets and paper storage drawers. I'm always envious of printers who have their press next to a window for the natural light, but that corner has a tendency to flood on really heavy rain days (not a lot, but two of those cabinets are up on bricks for a reason), plus, the outlets are on the opposite wall.

From the Window area

Here's Vera, our lovely, green, small, beast of a press. She's a Chandler & Price New Style platen press, 8x12. There are some folding tables near her for any shows that I do, or if I need extra work space in the house or office, our inks, the mirror that previous owners up had which is convenient for looking out the window without having to stop printing, my little A/V spot for watching netflix or listening to pandora, and cleaning/maintenance supplies and tools.

So that is my little studio. It smells of metal, wood, ink and oil (trust me, it's wonderful), the flooring is cool, ceilings are high (and therefor not painted yet), and it is a happy little corner where I am thrilled to spend time printing lovelies for you. It's not much, but I love it. What do you think? Is it what you imagined my small printing studio to look like?

There's a 360* video on instagram. Check it out @shopinviting

Cheers,

Flashback Friday: Our first wedding job

It’s fun to look back at some of the past work we’ve done, and here’s our very first (paid) wedding job, from 2008.

The invitation suite, designed by the bride, was printed on pearl paper with her requested Pantone color. My favorite part of this set was the map. We don’t print a lot of maps, but they sure are fun.

The following year, we did her sister’s wedding invitations. If repeat customers and referrals aren’t the greatest compliment, I don’t know what is.

Cheers,
ashley

Seek it out or let it find you: Inspiration

Inspiration is a funny thing; it can come from anywhere! You really just need to be open to it.
Personally, I get ideas for type layout from movie credits and film posters (and that could just be me trying to justify my netflix & dvd habit, except it's totally true.)

Seeing this poster led to creating these.

Love vintage labels. Also, this movie is awesome but please don't smoke; it's stinky and it ages you.

Browsing the nostalgia section of used book stores is good, too- the spines and cover printings often use elegant type and simple line art/flourishes that get my creative juices flowing. Sometimes I'll get lucky and find a great title page, maybe with the slightest texture from the letterpress printing. (And sometimes those happen to be a first edition of a favorite book!)

Patterns and color combinations often come from fashion and interior designers. (Pinterest is good for that.) It's nice to see combinations that are often unexpected that work surprisingly well together.

I subscribe to a few designers' newsletters and some of them provide goodies (free, even for commercial use!) to their loyal readers- they take vintage elements and turn them into vector art for designers. Sometimes I'll see one and get immediately inspired to create something with it; it's wonderful! And since they've been vectorized, they're easy to manipulate and edit to fit my needs.

And sometimes inspiration comes from something that I lack or need. ("Necessity is the mother of invention.") I got tired of scrounging for papers in my purse to write snarky notes to people who can't park, et voila:

Newly reprinted and available here.

 
What about you? What inspires you?

{Project} Raindrop Bookmarks for Sweet Paul

Last month we had a rather large project for our friends at Sweet Paul Magazine! It required over 5000 impressions for a 2-color run, plus coordinating with a local offset printer who printed the beautiful raindrop pattern prior to my printing.

Finished & trimmed bookmarks

Eat & Make (title of the upcoming book) printed in gray with the logos blind punched (no ink)

These bookmarks for Sweet Paul's upcoming book release, at Anthropologie stores! And I can't wait to check out the book- if it's like anything else Sweet Paul and his sweet team get their hands on, it's going to be fantastic!

Cheers,
Ashley

Good-bye Show Car, Hello Pretty Cards

Two years ago, Mr inviting bought a new car. A tiny, 2-seater with a joke of a trunk. (It is really fun to drive.) He wanted to use his old car as a trade-in but I convinced him that since he'd only get $50 or so trade-in-value that he should keep it so we can use it for craft shows- lugging folding tables, displays, pop-up tents, and merchandise.

Well, that was two years ago. And now the show-car is dead. It starts up fine but won't drive, and the numerous repairs will cost too much money; spent enough getting it towed back and forth. (The recent heavy rain damaged the spark plugs and other things. Also needs new brakes and a full system flush.) I'm just going to clean it and try my luck on Craigslist.

SO. That's fun. Spent a week dealing with that and little else except for printing Client work.
Should Mr Inviting's current contract job go permanent, we'll discuss getting a pre-owned car that I can drive around and use for shows. For now, we'll go the as-needed-rental route. Cheaper than a car payment, right?

But on to happier things!
Last week I printed business cards and art prints for a designer & illustrator in San Antonio, both designed by the Client:

8x10 2-color prints of a Peter Pan scene

2-sided business card printed deeply onto thick 220lb cotton cards

And then edged in purple!!

This week, printing weddings! For sneak peaks, follow us on instagram (@shopinviting).

There are new wedding designs in the shop, and those are the last until the next Shop Update on 12/1/13. I don't know about you, but I get excited about the Shop Updates.

Cheers,
ashley

Checking in with Weekly Challenge

Here's what I've sent out so far:

• Last Thursday : birthday card, note with snarky coasters to a fellow creative team
• Saturday : birthday card, postcard
• Friday: birthday cards

Have you sent anything out this week?

A few years ago inviting participated in a postcard swap with other members of a letterpress group so I have a box of 150 postcards from across the country. They've been just sitting there in a box, taking up space (except for the 4 that I have framed in the hallway), so I've decided to stop hoarding and get those out there in the world, too.

The stack of postcards on my desk.

Can I say something about self-employment? This is the 3rd month of it for me, and I'm finally settling into a routine that works. I HAVE NEVER WORKED HARDER. Never.
And I love it.
Thank you for helping to make this possible.

Hope to see you at the Austin Flea on Saturday.
Cheers,
ashley

p.s. new items will be added to the shop on Nov. 1!

Newest Offering- Stationery Package

This is something I've been working on for a while and am very excited to finally share it with you!

Using Emily Post's correspondence notes as a guideline, these are the items I feel make up the ultimate stationery kit:

This sample ladies' set was printed on pearl white with brown ink.
The men's set has a smaller enclosure card.

Flat stationery, flat correspondence cards, folded informals, and gift enclosures.

Three different weights of cotton paper are used for these: our standard 110lb flat card, text weight, and the newer 90lb weight used for the informals. All come with matching cotton envelopes.

A modern monogram is shown, as is a classic text version on the store page. I'll include more examples on the listing as they are made. 

Of course the most appropriate ink colors are black, gray, brown, and navy, but I don't see why fuchsia can't be done, too!

The flat, personal sheets are great for more formal correspondence or professional letters (and can go through a typewriter for that vintage charm/to conceal your messy handwriting). Folded informals are perfect for a short note, response to RSVP, or a thank you note. The flat correspondence cards, for when you need a little more space than the informals offer, but it's less formal than the personal sheets tend towards. And the enclosure cards, to tuck in with a gift with no message, or a short message written at the top. (If your note requires more space, use an informal.)

Really loving these, and I'm trying to open a wholesale account with a company that makes a box perfect for storing these on a shelf or desk, making them not only a fantastic addition to your stationery (and with enough space that you can store ALL your letterpress printed stationery & cards in it), but also a wonderful gift. Will keep you all posted on that.

Prices for this package, 25 of each item plus extra blank sheets for the stationery, start at $165. Production time is about two weeks.

Are you as excited as I am? Can't wait to print them for you!

Cheers,
ashley

Press Envy...

Oh my goodness I can't believe I haven't blogged until today! Whoops.

Well, in my defense, I've been prepping for Saturday's Austin Flea. Have new birthday cards, gentlemanly cards, grab bags of assorted flat cards, and finished our book of personalized cards that you can preorder. That is a biggie: card samples, pricing, paper-ink-and-envelope swatches, all nicely contained and presented. (Next week I'll get them all online!)

On Monday I drove to Round Rock to meet a Client, pick up her supplies for a job, and almost all her printing equipment! All except for her press and paper cutter. Her husband gave it to her as a first wedding anniversary gift (traditionally, 1st year = paper). Stellar choice, I'd call him a keeper. It's a C&P Old Style, completely restored and just beautiful:

Poor Vera... she's no where near as beautiful as her older sibling...

Also, in the past week, we've sold 6 of our framable quotations. They're really going fast, especially the Tina Feys!

And you can read my interview at This Creative Life HERE. Thanks to Renee for featuring me.

If you're in Austin/central Texas, do come by the Austin Flea on Saturday. It'll be lots of fun.

Either way, have a lovely weekend.

Cheers,
ashley

Berry, Pink, Coral and Gold

Oh my goodness.

You might remember my posting and instagramming photos for wedding papers that we printed for Kathy of Kathy Phantastic, but here are the professional photos from her GORGEOUS event, including some of our work:

Photo by Ashley Garmon, taken from StyleMePretty.com

Click HERE to read the article and see all the beautiful photos.

Cheers,
ashley

The History of Typography

Here's a neat little video that Trent shared with me on the History of Typography. It's pretty well done!

The History of Typography - Animated Short from Ben Barrett-Forrest on Vimeo.

And if you're curious which of the fonts mentioned do we have in metal form, we have Bodoni, Egyptian, and Futura.

Cheers,
ashley

Fresh New Looks

I purchased a new light box for product photography last week, and spent the weekend taking photos for the shop. Previously I used one made by a friend out of a large cardboard box and freezer paper, which worked, but this one is smaller, came with lights and backdrops, and I'm loving it!

New light box for fancy product photos

Also purchased some fancy papers to use as backdrops, as shown in the picture, but used the black velour one that came with the kit for our portfolio pictures:

Are you on Flickr? If so, add us as a Contact to see our latest photos. You can see our portfolio {here}.

What do you think? Any photography tips to share?
Cheers,
ashley

 

Pink & Gold Glamour

So... I'm a little behind in printing projects, but only because I've spent the last two weekends printing these awesome wedding invitations! (The only other acceptable excuse would be "because I'm vacationing in Paris/Edinburgh/the beach for a month.")

The bride, Ms Phantastic, provided the design and papers, a bold raspberry card stock and bright white cotton Lettra. I printed the design with the transparent white ink (clear) so the naked impression is just a little more noticeable. The belly band was also edged in gold paint (my new favorite thing!) Once Ms Phantastic got the invitations back, she rubber stamped their names and embossed in gold. AWESOME! Check out these pictures from the instagram feed:

Then this weekend I printed menus, food tent cards, and program covers. The program covers are so pretty, and yup, you guessed it, edged in gold. LOVE.

They turned out so nice, I can't wait to see photos of the finished booklets.

Congrats, Kathy & Chris! Let's talk thank you notes once you're done honeymooning! : )

Cheers,
ashley

Show & Tell: Polymer Plates

So you've seen some of the metal type used for letterpress printing. But how about "modern letterpress printing" techniques? How do you take a design on the computer and get invitations made from it?

Well, once the design is finalized by all parties, we send it off to our friends at Boxcar Press- they not only do their own printing, but create plates for other printers. And they have a special way to do it- with adhesive-backed polymer. (The traditional way was metal on metal. Another method is steel-backed polymer.)

At the class in which I learned to print (YEARS ago, oh my goodness!) we made our own polymer plates. Our line art file was printed onto a transparency sheet and was placed over the unexposed polymer. Together they were placed inside of a really cool machine that exposes the areas behind the transparency that are not inked. Once the timer goes off, we took the plate to the sink and scrubbed gently under running water, brushing away the part of the plate that won't be inked! Dried off, et voila, a polymer plate!

The plates we used were steel backed and attached magnetically to the base. Watch those fingers, the edges could slice them! The instructor told us about Boxcar's aluminum base and adhesive-backed plates- no more sliced fingers. I was sold.

Photo from BoxcarPress.com

As long as inviting's been printing, we've used Boxcar's plates. In a perfect world, I'd have a plate maker and be doing it myself, but as they're the size of a dining table, we just don't have the space.  Not to mention, they're crazy-pricey.

Cool facts about the polymer plates:
-These can be reused over and over. In fact, we're still using a plate from our first wedding job, back in 2008. The print quality hasn't diminished one bit.
-And you know what else? They're recyclable! We just send a pack of scraps and old-old wedding designs back to Boxcar. Awesome.

So, from start to finish:

Let's use this wedding design as our example. Here's the design from the .ai file.

Here's the plate, after trimming from the larger sheet. You can see how the text & image are raised.

And here's a photo of the printed invitation:

You can't tell by this photo but the text and art are crisp and the impression is strong.

So, that's how we do a lot of our cards. It's great not to be limited to what we can find on ebay!

Show & Tell Friday: The Imposing Stone

Today I thought I'd share one of the pieces in the print room, the imposing stone.

The Museum of Printing says this about it:
After basic composition, type must be assembled into galleys for first proof and then “imposed” pages and multiple-page forms in preparation for printing. The table upon which the type is organized into one or multi-page forms is called the imposing stone, and often is made of marble. Later industrial models are precision steel. Marble and steel are preferred to ensure flatness and levelness of the surface when a form is prepared for the press. Forms are stored temporarily and long-term tied with page-cord (strong fine waxed string) on a galley in a galley rack. Forms that are going to or from the press for proofs or corrections will be stored in chases that fit the press, which are stored on edge in special racks and (in larger sizes) wheeled about on special “trucks” or dollies.

This thing is HEAVY. Took me hours to push it over a few feet, and it's on sliders!!

Like they say, it has great storage- the side up against the wall is all galley trays, plus the wooden furniture storage and storage for chases, which are all in use right now but would normally be in the top right section.

Good "junk drawer" storage, too- deep enough to use a big sorter and still have room for ginormous composing sticks underneath.

But I use it as a big work station. : )

Pardon the mess!

Perhaps the coolest thing about this, though, is where it came from: San Jacinto College.

When I was in elementary school, my parents would sign me up for children's art classes at San Jacinto College. And 23 years later, here we are.

Hope you enjoyed the little peak into the workshop. One day I'll introduce you to Vera. A day when i have time to take a decent video.

Wishing you all a great weekend. Mother's Day cards coming up!
Cheers!

Show & Tell: 6pt Type

So we all know how small 6pt type is on MS Word, right? It's small. But do you know how small it is in the letterpress printing world?

Doesn't look so bad, right? It's a B, no problem.

Innocent little "B" in 6pt Bank Gothic Medium

But when compared to a plain bobby pin?

Yikes! That is small! I'm only 30 but I'd need to find that little magnifying glass to read some of the letters!

What's really cool about this set though, is it's never been used and is still in it's original wrapping! Was found during move #2- how strange that we missed it with the first move. I love that I'm always finding "new" things though.

Personally, this set is too small for me. I've got some 6pts that I do use, but consider this one For Sale. (Email if interested.)

So anyway, thought I'd share a little something from the printing world with you. If there's anything you'd be interested in seeing, leave a comment or shoot us an email.

Cheers!