Check out our new illustrated cards

Awhile ago we received some card orders to be sold at local farmer’s markets and produce stands, which inspired a few new card designs in the process.

So, check them out…our new, long-winded “illustrated-vintage-farmer’s almanac-botanical-inspired cards” (and more on the way!).

For now, we’ve got the most adorable Chicken Combs cards, bravely boasting their various comb styles in four, yes, FOUR colors.  Who doesn’t love chickens!?  In fact, I used to call all my friends “chicken” as a term of endearment.  I’m weird, I know.  I should probably send some of these to them to say hi.

We also designed two Illustrated Vegetables cards in celebration of fresh produce, farmer’s markets, my love of gardening, and the soon-to-come spring.  They are fabulously detailed with black line-drawings, and oh so colorful too.

Visit our site and check them all out!  And don’t miss our new illustrated birthday cards while you’re there!

xoxo,

Marissa

Illustrated Woodland Wedding Invitations

Every so often I get the privilege to design an invitation suite for a friend, which is always super fun!  When my friend Jennie approached me for “woodsy, Northwest, outdoorsy” invitations I was super stoked.  Best part is…they gave me free reign to design to my heart’s content, which I rarely get to do.  Most brides have a pretty good idea of what they would like to see on their invitations, which I totally understand, but the chance to envision the whole concept with no “limits” was very freeing and I often feel I do my best work this way.

I decided to go with a design inspired by the increasingly popular woodland theme.  “Woodland” is exactly what Jennie and Alex were looking for- it usually involves animals, twigs, trees, branches, and wood and is perfect for the outdoorsy, casual, “greener” types- just like them.

Because they are getting married on Orcas Island, at Doe Bay, I immediately envisioned Orca whales & deer, doh!  Combined with hand drawn trees, wooden signs, waving banners, and other details from nature this invitation radiates a true outdoorsy, natural feel…yet it is elegant too.  We used my favorite 100% cotton paper for their printed pieces and recycled Kraft envelopes & belly bands (subtly blind impressed with their wedding “logo”; half of a pine wreath with deer portrait) to hold everything together.  Way to be “green”!  We also incorporated earthy muslin bags to add a little more texture, which were hand-stamped with a second version of their logo (a full pine wreath with a deer silhouette), also seen on the flap of the envelopes in a slightly different version as a return address stamp.

Almost every detail was hand-drawn first, which I then converted into vector graphics for printing.  Hand drawn illustrations are just absolutely beautiful when letterpressed- such a neat combination!  I want to do morrreee.

These invites are packed with tons of little details carried throughout the whole suite, from the little mini wooden sign marking “Doe Bay” on the invitation piece, to the super detailed ferry boat on the Map Card, to the little deer peeking out everywhere and pine cones making appearances throughout.

Guess it’s best if I just let you have a look for yourself.

An old mining town wedding invitation

Recently I completed an invitation for a wedding taking place in an old copper mining town- filled with ghost haunts, once abandoned buildings, and bordellos-turned-hotels galore.

The inspiration for this invitation was the old-fashioned, 1800′s, rustic nature of the location mixed with the femininity of the “women of the night”; pearls & lace and a dash of elegance.  We also incorporated some traditional Arizona-inspired arrow graphics that are fixtures in the locale.  We created a wedding “logo” for the couple consisting of an outline drawing of Arizona State with a heart over their wedding location, which we carried throughout the invitation suite.

The completed suite is just gorgeous, combining rustic kraft paper and hand-stamped muslin bags with elegant 100% cotton paper & a three color letterpress design in peach, eggplant purple, & olive green.  The muslin bags held a double-thick RSVP postcard for guests to mail back and a directions card.  I loved the bride’s idea of doing two wrap-around labels on the envelopes, one for addressing with their Arizona state + ♥ logo on the back and another for their return address with a ♥ on the front.  So charming!

Here are some pictures:

If you haven’t already, check out the newest issue of Bride & Groom Magazine; we’re in it!

When I was contacted to be part of a photo shoot for Seattle Met Bride & Groom magazine I was floored.  We are so honored to be featured in the just-out-on-stands Winter/Spring 2012 issue!  A 2-page spread, featuring a gorgeous South Asian-inspired photo shoot.  Check it out below!

 

Lush flowers by the fabulous Daniela at Varmala…and paper goods by me at Covet and Swoon.  If you haven’t already caught wind of Covet and Swoon, here is a little 411:

Bella Signature Design’s founder, Daniela, and I created Covet and Swoon.  From custom invitations to branded wedding items such as totebags, drink stirs, favors and all sorts of crazy yummy details, Covet and Swoon can create as much or as little as you need.  Whether you need to simply add on escort cards or want to create a custom logo for your event, and have that logo carried out into the details, Covet and Swoon promises to delight and make you and your guests swoon.

It’s still in the early stages, which is why you haven’t heard me talking about it much before now, but with a magazine feature done…and possibly another already on the way!…it’s just about to take off.  Feel free to visit the Covet and Swoon website, but keep it mind that most of our products are currently in production and will be available shortly!  Soon, we’ll be blogging through a C&S blog…but this one will do for now!

Did I show you the Woody Wedding goods yet?

LOVED this “woody” wedding theme and all the swoon-worthy goods we created for this playful couple, who got married on Lopez Island, WA early this past fall.  From blanket tags, to escort cards, to our first ever drink-stirs (and certainly not our last!)…to customized tags for cellophane baggies filled with granola…this wedding was a blast to design for.

Check out our new paper cake toppers!

As promised to a few who have asked…here are some quick pics of  a few of the paper cake toppers I made.  I have many more! (bet you knew that didn’t you?) but want to wait until I have a better setup (this calls for a vase of flowers & a nice cake stand) to take nice pictures.

I love the idea of being able to personalize the cake toppers (with different fonts & sayings)…your names, maybe with “just married”, or with your wedding date, or “happy birthday”, or anything really!

Printed onto a thick card stock and mounted onto 8″ bamboo sticks.  Sizes can vary depending on the size of the top piece of your cake (between 5 – 8 “  usually).  I have several other banner shapes, triangle bunting toppers, and letter/word toppers as well!  Pics soon, promise!  (yes, I know…I always say things like this and then shoot myself in the foot).

The one letter a week challenge

Nothing can beat the old-fashioned hand-written letter.  That sweet ache of anticipation in hopes you have something inside your mailbox; the trip to the mailbox, the opening of the lid, and the excitement or letdown that follows.

Email and Facebook are great, but they can’t pull off that magical feeling about the real thing.  Snail mail: just so whimsically beautiful and personal.

There’s just something about writing a handwritten note that’s very centering and peaceful.  It forces you to be in the moment.  Present.  Serene.  Nothing going on but writing.

I’m challenging you!  One piece of “real” mail sent out each week.  It can be a letter, care package, postcard, thank you note, drawing, etc. and it doesn’t have to be to all different people.  Write to those you’ve lost contact with or write to those you talk to every day.  Write a note to your spouse or neighbor and mail it…or maybe even a letter to your kids.  Make a new pen-pal.  Send something the old-fashioned way and you’ll see…it’s addicting.

xoxo,

Marissa

Our cards + Paper Crave blog

We had the pleasure of being featured on another big website this week, and we just had to share the news!

Today we were featured on another blog favorite, Paper Crave.  Thanks Kristen for spreading the love!  Make sure to check it out so you can see some of the other awesome holiday cards out there too!  I have a few I’m eye-ing for my own collection!

I absolutely adore Kristen’s blog, a go-to site for anything and everything paper; greeting cards, stationery, crafts, and more…plus she has a totally separate blog specifically for invitations  (swoon!).

There are so many gorgeous holiday cards featured in Kristen’s roundups, so we were very excited to see our Vintage Merry Christmas Card and ‘Tis the Season Postcard  in the mix!  Yay!

We’ve been featured

It has been super busy here at ForTheLoveofPress the last month.  In early November we participated in a holiday boutique event in Irvine, California.  In mid November we were busy approaching local stores to carry our cards (success!).  And then of course Thanksgiving, in never-sleeping NYC nonetheless, which resulted in me being super sick the night before my flight back home and still sick today.  Ugh!  And now…a bunch of holiday card orders to fulfill, two wedding invitations, and three very devious dogs needing my attention.

But this morning we got a pleasant surprise!!!  Two of our holiday cards were featured on Oh So Beautiful Paper’s blog today.  This is SOO exciting for me!!  Go ahead and check it out!

xoxo

then & now; these are just a few of my favorite things…

I’ve always loved stamps.  They’re miniature pieces of art; their little tiny details crammed into their tiny little surface space.

At a young age, stamps fascinated me and I collected them.  I was unknowingly into art and design even then.  When I was in second grade my Grandpa gave me a bunch of his old stamps from his collection, which was a great start.

I lost my stamp collection years ago during one of my family’s many moves.  It saddens me to this day whenever I think of that big ziplock baggie I had just filled to the brim w/unique stamps and of the loss of my Grandpa’s collection.

Whenever I go to the post office, I love looking at the new stamps they have.  I wonder how one gets their art memorialized into a national stamp?  Wouldn’t that be neat?

I love the simplicity of Kraft paper.  It’s earthy, it’s rustic, and yes…I think it’s elegant.

I LOVED making the book covers in elementary school.  You know…the hour we’d spend in class folding big sheets of Kraft paper over our textbooks to protect them?  I wonder if I’m one of the only ones who really enjoyed that…  They were a blank canvas to doodle and decorate…and I used every opportunity I had a break in class to practice my drawing skills.

As an adult, Kraft paper is still a favorite of mine!  It’s great for wrapping presents (try stamping or drawing w/markers on it) or for making a bookshelf look cohesive (see below)…or of course, as boxes for stationery (ie: our stationery packaging).

Another thing I absolutely adore is streamers.  I used to wake up early on my birthday as a kid and be so excited to see the streamers and decorations for my big day!  Not to mention, I loved helping out with the decoration process for my birthday parties.

I once famously asked my mom in fourth grade if people put up streamers in the bedroom to let the other know they wanted to make love.  I’ve never lived that down…but it sounds like a nice idea to me.

I think my streamer style has turned a little more “grown up”…but none the less…strips of paper or fabric are beautiful when done right.

xoxo