Fusion :: Watercolor and Letterpress Wedding Invites

My client asked me for an illustration of roses on her wedding invitation with more nuance than I felt letterpress was able to do. We decided watercolor was the best direction to take. I discovered letterpress even more wonderful when fused together with watercolor.

I set out to find the right materials from watercolor to paper. The first question I had to tackle was whether to use watercolor or gouache. The color red had to stand out on the invitations, and at first gouache was the obvious choice, but later watercolor had the advantage of layering color and having a more luminous quality.

WATERCOLOR ILLUSTRATION
SAMPLES ON ARCHES PAPER

Creating Value :: Paper

Paper choice. It's an important part of what pushes your work towards sophistication and something your client can value. Some of the considerations when choosing paper are its weight, color and texture, or/and taking it a step further by understanding the paper manufacturer's history and culture.

Italian Paper Choices to Devour

Paper choice - we’ve heard of and absolutely love Neenah, French and Mohawk and not to mention their amazing creative marketing teams behind their collateral products, but Italian paper is pretty fine too. Even if it can lack in assertiveness or edgy on-line appeal, they make up for in innovation and bare bones history and culture.
Italian paper innovation, print techniques and graphic design is a feast, buon appetito!

FABRIANO’S TAKE ON
LA CUCINA ITALIANA - REPRINT OF THEIR FIRST ED.
VIA FABRIANO BOUTIQUE

Letterpress Insert Covers :: Traveler Notebooks

NOTEBOOK INSERTS FOR TRAVELER NOTEBOOKS
LETTERPRESS COVER

I’ve been delving and developing notebook inserts. It all started with a bullet journal article I read. Like many of us we have a note book or ten floating around us at any given moment. They are promisers of taking a load off our brains, getting things better organized and the added bonus of sitting pretty on a table, but after a few pages filled they can be like an old toy left alone.

Letterpress Planner and Methods

Paper, thinking and writing come hand in hand in planners, notebooks, calendars, journals...  I wrote in an earlier post of the newest wave, the bullet journal, bringing note taking all together. It’s a creative and tidy method to put all your projects, to do lists, sketches, calendar of events into one place rather than having sheets of paper, numerous notebooks or even bookmarked links all over the place. What’s is more, you have more control over what goes into it.

i.e. ABOVE ALL, ME
CUSTOMIZED LETTERPRESS COVER - PLANNER

Caro Babbo Natale

Kids enjoyed having the chance to dress-up in apron and gloves and play tipografo i.e. printer for a letterpress demonstration yesterday. I helped kids get their Santa letters started and taught a thing or two about letterpress and Gutenberg. In no time, with the occasional backward b and fantastic typographic mix of lower and upper case lettering, kids jotted down ideas.

L-R CHILD CAREFULLY STUFFS SANTA’S BAG,
TIPOGRAFO, WRITING SANTA LETTERS
AT CONFABULA LIBRERIA MONDOVì

Lettera di Natale

Pop up laboratory for kids set for the 4th December at Confabula bookshop. Children and I will write our “caro babbo” i.e. dear Santa letters for the season followed by Christmas stories.
Rsvp!

POP UP WORKSHOP LETTERA DI NATALE
"CARO BABBO” MONDOVI, ITALY

Bon Ton :: Classic Wedding Invites

Maria and Fulvio have officially tied the knot and I had the privilege to print up their wedding invites. In the design process I got to learn a thing or two about etiquette; wasn't the Emily Post type, but the Italian version Donna Letizia painter, illustrator, writer and perhaps better known for her commentary on how to be polite.

IL SAPER VIVERE

Style Your Next Party With Paper Goods

DIY PAPER GOODS: FOXY BABY
FEATHERED HATS, WOODEN CAKE TOPPER,
LETTERPRESS BUNTING & ORIGAMI FOXES

Seems like forever since I last posted, and it’s not for idleness, and actually I like the fact that I don’t have to post (despite the rules of social media), but want to post. My baby girl turned a year and I had a very full couple of months preparing for her party. As the usual, there were some obstacles, like finding the right decorations, cake and outfit. The rest and certainly most importantly fell into place when friends and family arrived and enjoyed the day with us.

I initially started by thinking up of a theme. I turned to Pinterest to gather some birthday themes for kids and created an inspiration board to gather ideas. I really liked the woods animal theme, but I also loved the origami theme too, and I knew I wanted some sort of photo backdrop. I figured out how to fold a fox, a bear, a rabbit, but as time permitted I could only project and letterpress one of them. The deer would have won out, but I couldn’t find a simplified origami version of it, and so my Foxy Baby was born!

We got a cake made, and made a calligraphic cake topper ourselves. I did some freehand calligraphy and my hubby carved it out of 2 mm aeronautic plywood--a nice keepsake for the coming years. The cool thing about this is we didn’t have to stop short with style choices that on-line businesses offer you for calligraphy cake toppers. If you’ve got a flair for doodling, I’m sure finding a laser or wood cutter could help do the job.

TEEPEE WITH STAR RIBBON & POM-POM
BIRTHDAY CAKE WITH WOODEN CALLIGRAPHY TOPPER

My color choices were salmon, gold and a watery green (best way to describe it). The watery green was hard to find in paper. Actually I did find an awesome Japanese paper in just the right color and did get it shipped from Denmark. I absolutely love it, so much I decided not to use it! So, that’s how watery green got nudged out of the design. Surprisingly gold paper was easy to find and got some shimmery sheets in thick card stock by Favini for half the price.

The idea that these party paper goods inevitably get taken out with the biodegradable paper plates and excess cake frosting made me a little uneasy. But that’s what party paper goods are made for, for the sole purpose for party. So I thought it important to weight in equal parts function, design and cost. Best not to spend a fortune on specialized paper for kid parties, but still find the right paper, design and printing technique to make it look good!

PARTY HATS & ORIGAMI LETTERPRESS FOX

I wanted party hats, but I knew I would never find them at any stationery store here. Yes it’s true, online everything is a cinch, but as noted before, most of these novelties come from America...and living in Italy you must tag on shipping costs and the like and decorations alone can push you over budget! The obvious solution was to make my own (with a little help from my friends). After looking at a few tutorials online, party hats, festooning and bunting was made.

For the photo backdrop, we got an Indian teepee custom sewn by a local tailor. We chose a cotton linen blend material for the teepee and some pretty trim and cotton star ribbon to embellish it from La Boutique, a modern old fashioned haberdashery in town.
It was to serve not only as a backdrop, but a cubby hole for our growing girl that can last her long after the cake’s been eaten.

Letterpress Chalkboard :: Beer On A Curve

My recent explorations in chalkboard paper for a client has been satisfying. On an earlier post I wrote about making your own chalkboard paper rather than downloading a digital file. At first I started off with hand lettering and a paper wire bound construction for the drink menu, but with the client we thought it wouldn’t survive the wear and tear. Back to the drawing board...

MY VANDERCOOK MAKES BEER ON A CURVE

Turntable Tuesday :: Paper Chase

What is the most important factor when designing a stationery project? Some would say the concept others would say resources. I would have to say paper a lot of times. It communicates feeling, craftsmanship and richness that is hard to convey with ink and ideas alone.

Italy is an old country and along with it come craftsmen from generations down. They have their methods, and imbue soul into what sometimes seems a soulless market place. This is indeed why we, paper lovers, are so inclined to them. They are elusive, plainly dressed and always at the dinner table to share a story.

DETAIL WINTER WEDDING Piedmont, Italy
 Letterpress silhouette bride and groom
Magnani’s Etrusca - textured Italian paper

Turntable Tuesday :: A Typecase Made with Amore

The end of the day can be an accumulation of, well just that, the end of the day. There are some habits I try to keep even with a newborn soon to turn one, like walking at the golden hour listening to my favorite podcasts.
Today on my routine walk was Radiolab’s tribute to renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks. On my normal route this evening, crossing a barrier gate I’ve crossed over a number of times before, I noted the word “nice” printed on it as part of the insignia.
I’m not sure how to come full circle with this Tuesday post except for the loud and clear message of love. The things we do and make for each other, not just on certain days, but base a life on it, like Mr. Sacks did. You base a life betting that the person you come into contact with will have a good share of it and at some point at that golden hour it will come back full circle, and it does.

MY TYPECASE MADE WITH LOVE 

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

Old Printer Trick

Before you go to press, you need your form locked up nice and tight. However, it can happen that when you lock it up, your composition inside the chase isn’t tight enough, but the furniture you have available doesn’t fit in the loose space. What do you do?
An old printer trick is to cut paper to length/height size and slip it inside. It works!

E-mail Newsletter :: Letterpress, Workshop & Handmade

Pirouette Press is located in Piedmont, Italy. A very special place and just a skip from the Langhe wine hills. For those of you planning a wedding, or for those of you planning a special event I would love to work on your stationery designs. I also conduct letterpress workshops in my studio if you are more interested in learning the craft. Keep up with latest and subscribe to the email newsletter. 

What I Love About Letterpress :: Messy & Wonderful

What I love about letterpress.
Playing with paper-its colors and textures that come in direct contact with ink. The results are often surprising and even the mess ups are wonderful. They often times encourage your creative impulses. I think I’ll dedicate a few posts to the messy and wonderful!

Letterpress Summer Camp :: Risparmiate DIY Inviti

Save money on your special letterpress prints for a special event and come to a two day letterpress summer camp! By the way, I’m located in north Italy -- just a skip away from the wine hills. Letterpress by morning and sip outstanding Italian wine from the tons of wineries in our area. Sounds like my kind of camp.

IT: Risparmiate soldi sulle vostre invite matrimoniale o qualsiasi evento speciale! Venite a un campo estivo DIY.

more info. pirouettepress@gmail.com

Baptism Letterpress Invites :: Inviti di Battesimo

Battesimi (baptisms) are a pretty big deal here in Italy. A Sunday lunch out in a nice restaurant is customary to celebrate after mass. I printed up our little one’s invites for the special occasion. It had been a while since I’d used my metal type/decoration opting many times to use cliches.

INVITI BATTESIMO | BAPTISM INVITE LETTERPRESS SUITE
METAL TYPE COMPOSITION | TWO COLOR PERIWINKLE & HOT HAUS ROSE

Letterpress Bomboniere

These letterpress “bomboniere” (fancy sweet box) were made for a baby who was born about a month after Maya. In Italy, it’s common to give back a little treat to those who gave you and your baby a gift. Here in Italy that gift is typically given after the baby is born...baby showers are a newish thing here.

I’d really like to add more of these wooden vintage toys to a collection soon!

LETTERPRESS BOMBONIERE | TWO COLORS BLOSSOM PINK & STEEL GREY
PRINTED ON CLASSIC CREST 110 LB PAPER | BESPOKE DESIGN