Filed under: BirdDog Press, Friends, Handmade Revolution, Letterpress | Tags: custom framing, Letterpress, Mon Atelier, Valerie Combs, vintage, Wedding invitation, wood type
Speaking of weddings, we have collaborated our way to a unique wedding keepsake with our studio neighbor, Valerie Combs of Mon Atelier, who is a brilliant bespoke framing artist. Letterpress matting, french line details and handmade frames are her specialty and preserve wedding stationery suites with heirloom quality. The paper goods are mounted in a shadow box style and the border hand painted on an archival rag mat to set off the typography-heavy design. Then, using vintage wood type, we pressed the wedding date into the mat and finally the frame was custom constructed with a distressed finish to complete the ensemble.
This has been such a successful collaboration, we have begun crafting a line of photography-ready frames with letterpress patterned mats. Stay tuned for more on these designs soon.
Filed under: BirdDog Press, Friends, Letterpress | Tags: custom framing, letterpress matting, Valerie Combs
At it again with the custom letterpress matting! Neighboring studio artist, Valerie Combs was commissioned to frame a series of old photos from the Central City/Blackhawk area. Her vision called upon a past collaborative project and the idea to press a classic but unique design defining the corners of the custom mat. She sketched design elements indicative of the era and together we came up with the final illustration on the computer. To complete the concept, we pressed the design on the corners with a clear ink and brushed on an antique gold pigment powder to give it an intricate gold-leaf effect.
Filed under: BirdDog Press, Friends, Handmade Revolution, Letterpress | Tags: custom framing, letterpress matting, Valerie Combs
I promised these yesterday, but I was printing like a mad woman, so here they are today instead. Sometimes babies come late, but they sure are sweet. Read Tuesday’s post for more info on this new collaborative custom framing effort!
Filed under: BirdDog Press, Bozeman Collaborative, Craft Biz, Friends, Handmaiden Papeterie, Letterpress | Tags: collaboration, custom framing, french lines, hand painted mats, handmade frames, picture framing, shadowbox
My studio neighbor and I worked on a project in collaboration back in the Spring that has now led us here. Valerie Combs is a fine art framing virtuoso. She offers 14 years of experience in handmade frames, french lines, gold leafing, shadowboxing, hand-painted mats and conservation work to her clients. We are now thrilled to add letterpressed mats to her already vast list of custom matting techniques. Last week we finished up this wedding invitation and two baby announcements {i will post these tomorrow} to hang in the studio and exemplify our collaborative skill.
Filed under: BirdDog Press, Friends, Inspirations | Tags: Boulder, colorado, custom framing, Lyons, NCWIT, Sushi Matsuri, Symons Innovator Award, wordle
Have I ever told you how much I LOVE my little town of Lyons? Last night, I had dinner at the new Sushi Matsuri restaurant in town, … we walked! Friday night several families gathered cooked out on the fire pit that is right outside of my studio after finishing up a collaborative project with my neighbor and friend, Valerie, an amazingly artistic custom framer.
The project for NCWIT, a Boulder based non-profit organization, began with another local who works for the coalition and a wordle, as shown in the word cloud above. We collectively married new technology and traditional craftsmanship to create the Symons Innovator Award which will be presented next month to an outstanding entreprenurial woman. I documented the whole process of creating this art print in pictures and will be sharing more tomorrow. The point is, I was able to work with phenomenal women and be a part of an awesome worldly opportunity all from the homebase of small {but spectacular} Lyons, Colorado.
