Wednesday, July 18, 2012

New Personalized Letterpress Stationery Hawaiian Palm Fronds

Palm leaves sway in the breeze. Newly printed personalized
letterpress stationery in a cool, breezy ocean blue.
Hot off the old printing press!

In this personalized letterpress stationery set,   ocean blue palm fronds dance with the cool Hawaiian breeze. Hand illustrated and printed with aloha on plush white 100% cotton paper for a lovely impression.

Can you picture yourself sunning at the beach, watching the ocean waves frolic as the palm leaves sway?

Share your warmth and aloha with these delightful personalized letterpress stationery.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Letterpress wedding invitations, Tying the knot

Jen and Rob's wedding invitations.
Jen and Rob are a lovely couple who wanted a customized set of wedding invitations for their special wedding. They chose their own fonts, color, prepared their text, and we worked together to create their beautiful and charming invitations.

There are many online wedding sites that provide your family, relatives, friends, and guests to RSVP and to obtain more specific details about the bride and groom's wedding.

This is a wonderful alternative to traditional wedding invitations, allowing the couple to inform and update their guests.

The cards were letterpress printed on plush white 100    percent cotton paper with a slight texture. Jen and Rob added the finishing touches with their oh-so-adorable photographs and tied the knot with thick brown and white baker's twine.

It was such a pleasure to work with Jen and Rob to create their customized wedding invites.  Best wishes to Jen and Rob!

Please contact me at my Aloha Letterpress Etsy shop for your customized letterpress stationery.

Fresh new colors for leafy Aloha Letterpress stationery

Personalized letterpress stationery with your name and leafy
ornamental borders in aqua blue and tangerine orange.
Time for some refreshing new colors with these personalized letterpress cards. I love the cool aqua blue and deep tangerine orange with these leafy ornamental borders and personalized names. The first prints I made were in a purple plum and I had been meaning to print some different colors. A lovely client's request finally brought about these sets in delicious hues.

To create these cards, I first hand set the metal type for the names into the chase (metal frame) with wooden furniture. Then I also set the individual leafy metal ornaments into another chase. I hand mix a combination of inks to create the aqua blue and the tangerine orange inks.

After placing some aqua blue ink onto the ink
disk, I ink the rollers. I have a Chandler Price
press with a treadle, and as I press the treadle,
the rollers glide over the ink disk until the rollers are covered with the ink. Then I lock the chase with the leafy ornaments into the press. After doing some test prints, I then print each card, placing one card at a time onto the platen. After the leafy border is printed, I remove the card and continue to feed another card until all of the cards are printed. I then remove the chase with the ornaments and proceed to print the name, again one card at a time, measuring and making adjustments for the centering of the name.

Once the aqua blue set is finished, I must clean the press rollers, the ink plate, the leafy metal
ornaments,  removing all of the aqua blue ink. The whole process is repeated for the next set with the tangerine orange stationery. Letterpress printing takes time and it can be rather meditative and soothing once I am in rhythm with my press. Each time I use my antique printing presses, I am awed by the craftsmanship of these marvelous printing presses. They are not as quick as printing with a computer and printer, but the effect is one that you must see and hold in your hands to appreciate the lovely tactile impression of images and words on plush cotton paper.