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, Handmaiden Papeterie | Tags: 5280 Magazine, Wedding invitation
The Bird Dog’s spirits are 5,280 feet {or a mile high} today. On newsstands now, the January 2010 issue of 5280 Magazine, page 79, you will find a feature article by Julie Dugdale, Warm Reception an inspiration on winter weddings – featuring BirdDog Press wedding paper goods! And great to be mentioned alongside Calluna Events.
Filed under: BirdDog Press, Design, Handmade Revolution, Inspirations, Letterpress | Tags: Dunton Hot Springs, Flux fine furniture, Julia Vandenoever Photography, Keira Ritter Design Co, paper goods, wedding, Wedding invitation
I have anxiously been awaiting Julia Vandenoever’s photos from Keira & Joe’s wedding at Dunton Hot Springs a few short weeks ago. Keira Ritter and I had such fun collaborating on these handcrafted mixed-media works of art. I can’t imagine anyone would be less than thrilled to receive a welcome bucket like that or who would have the heart to throw away a seating card that looked like this? For the invitation, we set the tone of the whole event by starting with walnut veneer cut by Joseph Kitt of Flux fine furniture, echoing the rustic grey-brown tones of Dunton’s weathered cabins and a sheet of soft cotton paper for just a hint of luxury. The next step was blind debossing the wheat-like organic texture and pressing wood and metal type in layers, keeping the message simple and the white space balanced. For a pop of color and an ode to the ghost town feel, orange grommets fastened each corner. Each invitation was presented in its own box, like a gift, with a sprig of wheat, then wrapped in distressed leather and wire with a token coral closure. This unique combination of unusual materials and rustic chic textures could only be built by an architect and the can-do custom spirit at BirdDog Press. Can’t wait to see more images from the wedding weekend on the Julia Vandenoever Photography blog!
Filed under: BirdDog Press, Handmaiden Papeterie, Letterpress | Tags: Dunton Hot Springs, Keira Ritter, Wedding invitation, wood type
What a wonderful weekend for a wedding. One of my very favorite clients, Keira Ritter, came to me recently to print invitations for her sure to be fabulous wedding in Dunton Hot Springs this past weekend. This is a quick shot of the work-in-process version as we were figuring out just what combination of wheat, veneer, grommets and wood type to use. Finished product and maybe even some photography from the wedding, coming soon!
Filed under: BirdDog Press, Letterpress | Tags: Planet Bluegrass, wedding, Wedding invitation
Keeping up with my promises in the frenzy of preparation for NSS ….
Right down the road, here in Lyons, sits an old historic farmstead now known as Planet Bluegrass, a fantastic venue for the various music festivals that are held there in the summer, and it is also a beautiful place to get married. Emily + Mark ultimately designed their own invitations, but in my collaborative style we had several meetings to chat about paper, unique layout, and a custom guestbook {our unique combination of letterpress signatures and envelopes handbound with a coptic stitch are now being developed into a baby book series} – developing a trust that allowed me to take their design and print it with confidence, infusing my own artistic take.
Filed under: BirdDog Press, Green, Handmaiden Papeterie, Letterpress | Tags: kraft, perforation, response, reuse, rsvp, stickers, Wedding invitation
Word of mouth is my bread and butter. When I did this wedding last year, I not only got two great clients – Sabrina & Max – I lucked out with with Max’s sister, Elli and Lucas too. All wonderful to work with and trusting of the creative process. Elli and Lucas had a great idea to send 10″ swatches of fabric to their guests for them to decorate with well-wishes and return with their response card. They will sew them together to make “prayer flags” to hang at the site of their nuptials on their wedding day. In the spirit of this wonderful, hands-on concept, I decided to engage the guests even further with an interactive and green RSVP process. Accept/Regret stickers, perforation, kraft paper address labels and instructions all eco-efficiently packaged – a little upcycled craft project for each guest to honor their connection with the bride & groom.
Filed under: BirdDog Press, Friends, Letterpress | Tags: Design, Letterpress, Wedding invitation
I find it so refreshing to print for other designers now and again. Everyone has their own style and while I didn’t author these Adobe Illustrator files, I became a vehicle for getting them out into the world on paper. They challenged and delighted me. Thanks, Lou, for letting me be a collaborative part of this project!
