In the middle of things

I know it's been a little while since I posted on this blog. I'm in the middle of a couple of print projects that I hope to share with you soon. I'm also hoping to print some nice and simple mother's day cards this weekend... maybe a light green ink. ooooh! I can see it now! I'm also designing some baby announcements, a line of greeting cards for a cute little flower shop, and a baby print series for a local baby store... Hope it all goes as planned. (fingers crossed!) I hope you all have a safe and fun-filled weekend! 

A New Little Baby ~ the shower

Weddings and babies are just the most exciting thing on my radar lately! And all I want to do is letterpress anything related to it. Back in February I was busy planning a baby shower for my sister-in-law, Dani, which of course included letterpress invites! I decided to go with a postcard to save a little bit on the cost of envelopes, but also because I thought it would be totally awesome! The blue was bright and fun, and I experimented with tiny dots and lines. The tiny dots were a bit small in hind-sight and next time I try that I think I'll make them a bit larger and further spaced apart, so that they're visible. Also I totally figured out that when printing a flood of colour (like that mega big ribbon), and thin type is going to look even thinner, so it's just a mental note for next time to make it a thin lines a bit bolder. 

Anyway, you live, you learn. I'm just happy that I got to design and print these, so even though they're not "perfect", they're fine by me. 

On another note, this little baby that was on his way, is officially here, and I'm a proud new auntie!!! He is beyond adorable, and of course I had to snap a few photos, which you can see here. 

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Save the Dates for Daniella & Rick

It's been a good few weeks here in the studio were I got to wrap up a few nice projects – One for which was for a very good friend who is getting married soon. (Yeay Daniella!) These are the "Save-the-Dates", and I'm just so excited with how they turned out. They're printed on a super soft, natural white cotton paper. Printed with a lovely deep brown, a light lavender colour with a uber deep blind-emboss emblem. (I think that was my favourite part)

Sometimes mixing a specific colour is way more challenging than others. This lovely, soft lavender was one of those mixes that took some extra love and care to get perfect. A glob of transparent white, a drop of violet and the tiniest bit of black. At first it was way to dark... and took a little bit of time to bring it down to the colour I was looking for. But getting the colour right on was just SO gratifying that I honestly didn't care that it look me a day and a half to get perfect.

I'm so happy for Daniella & Rick as they get all the preparations together for their wedding, and I'm so honoured that I could be part of their day by printing these cards for them. It totally feels a little extra special printing for a close friend! Thanks again Daniella for asking me to letterpress these for you!

Steph & Sanjay ~ letterpress invites

Over the past little while I've been pretty busy printing in my spare time. I'm not sure if all of you know or not, but letterpress is one of those things that I do when I'm not working. It's an absolute labour of love and often I still need to pinch myself to make sure I'm not just dreaming that there is a Vandercook in my living room. Since I don't print every day, during the best natural-light times of the day... I truly cherish the time I spend printing. I've been getting requests here and there to letterpress invitations or business cards for designers and clients of designers... and it really got me thinking hard about what I want Silverplate Press to be for me now and what I'd like for it to become. How much of a part of my life will it be when we have kids for instance? Anyway, I didn't get everything answered, but it was nice to just reflect and think about what is important. I realized that since I'm not just a printer, (I'm a designer too)... one that just happens to have fallen head over heals for letterpress... that I should really print the projects that make me happiest. For now.... with my limited time with the press, I've decided that means that I mostly take on work that I get to design. (Even though the creative process almost kills me sometimes... you can read about that here.)

This invite for Steph & Sanjay was one project that helped me come to this realization. I worked with them for the past couple of months; designing and testing printing, (as I wrote about previously, here) and sorting out paper and colours. It was a lot of work, but immensely fun and I'm so proud with the result. It's got that rustic and handmade feel to it! Just great for them.

Thanks again Steph & Sanjay for trusting me to design & letterpress these for you! It was great working with you!