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.

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.

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!