Turntable Tuesday :: Ephemera Flag Tags

If you are a paper lover, chances are you have saved some type of beautifully designed ephemera along the way. I know I have! Some of my absolute favorite types to collect are paper sample booklets. They are such a great source of inspiration, as mentioned in a previous post. They are usually beautifully designed by agencies with the sole aim to showcase the companies paper. They are wonderfully tactile, and most times humorous telling the story of something or someone around the theme, paper.

Why not put some of this collected ephemera to work and create something for your own stationery needs? In this instance, I used some paper from an old sample booklet I had by International Paper featuring Beckett Paper’s 'True Felt'. Petrick Design designed a booklet with truth quotes foil stamped or engraved. With them, I cut out flag tags, punched a hole and added a paper cord.

FLAG TAGS :: MADE FROM EPHEMERA PAPER

"BEAUTY IS TRUTH, TRUTH BEAUTY.
THAT IS ALL YE KNOW ON EARTH,
AND ALL YE NEED TO KNOW."
JOHN KEATS

“THE TRUTH IS RARELY PURE AND NEVER SIMPLE."
OSCAR WILDE

How to Sketch Ideas

For some of us sketching might mean doodling on a napkin, for others it means saving visual inspirations on a mobile application (Evernote comes to mind) or perhaps Pinterest. But it all starts with an idea and then evolves into visual form.  Brainstorming the big idea is the hard part, but it’s also the most stimulating for me.

After the big idea and visual doodling, mock it up.

Print tests: checking out lay out and best paper for this project :: Stay Tuned!

Turntable Tuesday :: Letterpress Seed Packages

This post is long overdue, but hey really relevant come next spring! I organized a letterpress seed project with other European letterpress gals, except for two ladies who came from California and Mexico City. There is a brief description of the concept and list of participants here. It was fun collaborating with these talented people. I even managed to eat some of the fruits of our labor and have seen some of the plants come back to flourish again in 2015!

EUROPEAN LADY LETTERPRESS PRINTERS 
FROM GERMANY, ICELAND, BELGIUM, ITALY, NETHERLANDS, CALIFORNIA AND MEXICO

Mini DIY :: Paper Gauge Pins For Letterpress

When I first started out printing, I used metal gauge pins on my tabletop press. Now I prefer the disposable paper gauge pins made at home. I had a very tight registration to do for a client once and broke a metal one having to shift my paper around to find the perfect position.  I was a little sad about it and rather than break another, my husband jumped in and suggested we make some paper ones.

Paper ones give me a lot of leverage when I have to reposition my paper to get the colors to line up perfectly. They are inexpensive, easy to make and work well in my opinion. If you want to make your own, read on!

PAPER GAUGE PINS

Turntable Tuesday :: Milan Loves Trendy

HIGH TECH IN MILAN

If you’re in Milan, and have an hour to spend, High Tech may be your type of space. It’s an all go to mash up concept store which has samples of the latest trends in stationery to post modern furniture design.

Turntable Tuesday :: DIY Kraft Wrapping Paper Tips

There’s a flood of cool wrapping paper on the market today. A simple home printer and ordinary kraft packing paper can be all you need...well almost. Kraft paper is a good choice for home printers, because it already has a rustic lack-luster look to it. Often times with home printers, color prints aren’t as vibrant as one would hope. After you’ve created or found artwork, you need to use graphic design software, in particular layout software to print the way you want on your home printer.  An alternative are the tons of savvy blogs or sites (heard of pinterest) today with free pdfs that you can print directly from!

DIY KRAFT WRAPPING PAPER