Over here at Smock, we believe that environmental letterpress and eco green printing is so much more than simply using recycled paper & soy inks. If a print shop is committed to the environment, its green practices should really affect everything that company does. So we were thrilled when our parent company, Boxcar Press, subsidized a 20-week Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm subscription for employees this year. It was a perfect fit: we got to love local organic farms; love the environment; and care for our letterpress team here too via really, really good vegetables. Tuesday was the last day that these amazing bins of produce got delivered to us from Grindstone Farm in Pulaski, NY and Wyllie Fox Farm in Cato, NY. We all know the growing season in CNY is pretty much over (we had our first snow fall this week too!), but we’re sure going to miss all the veggies. Pictured below is Carrie, our office manager, who helped organize everything. Thanks, Carrie + Grindstone + Wyllie Fox! We can’t wait until summer next year.

We love these colors for a letterpress save the date! The Rhon design in pewter and raspberry, plus our Smock calligraphy Clermont font. The two color letterpress envelope is really, really, really special too. And why shouldn’t the envelope be a keepsake? Sent to us by Francis Orr in Corona Del Mar, California.

We love customizing our letterpress wedding invitations for other joyful events — and we loved how our Rhon design transformed into a perfect letterpress Bat Mitzvah invitation. True elegant sweetness. This was sent to us by Aileen Invitations in North Miami Beach.

THE MADISON CAPITAL BUILDING. i love its grandeur and loftiness. i love its weight and delicacy. i love its testament to 19th century craftsmanship. i love that it is surrounded by incredible locally grown produce every saturday in spring, summer & fall. and i love how it silences my kids (and silenced me as a child).

We loved the pairing of this airy envelope liner (the Jusan pattern in lake) + eggplant ink/a blind deboss on the Lashar invitation. Just a lovely letterpress invitation all around….sent to us by the Stationery Station in Highland Park, Illinois.

Check out our eco-friendly 2008 letterpress holiday cards, all printed sustainably on our bamboo paper. We also have letterpress holiday gift tags, fill-in party invites, and some cute holiday-themed social notes. If you’re in the holiday mood, you might want to check out our other gift tags & matching gift wrap as well….we can’t believe it’s almost that time of year again either, though the Syracuse area did receive it’s first snow dusting today (!). Now that all the leaves have turned their colors and fallen down, we’re actually looking forward to seeing everything in a blanket of pretty white.

My Studio. After a many wonderful, albeit ‘unboundaried’, years of working from home I moved into a lovely space in a neighboring town. Here is a peek. Furniture still needs to be found and things still need to be finessed but I love the quiet and the fact that ‘everything has its place until /I /move it’ and the clarity of “mommy’s at work.” Consequently, I better appreciate the (many many) squeals and questions and “hold-me’s” I receive when I return home.

Black was the original letterpress ink hundreds of years ago, and we can see why….it’s hard to beat such a crisp, classic, perfect look. We’re seeing a lot of black ink this year and we love it. This is the Cavall letterpress wedding invitation design in black, sent to us by RSVP Today in New York City.

Wow. This stationery just made our jaws drop when it came through our print shop. The combination of envelope lining (willoughby pattern in midnight) + backing (seneca pattern in pool) + the name letterpressed in midnight ink + rounded corners + ivory bamboo paper is so perfect! This design was sent to us by our friends at Salutations in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Here are a few great ideas from Smock’s client coordinator Tiffany Field that will help keep your letterpress invitation costs down, while still giving you a really wonderful letterpress wedding invitations.

Take a 2 or 3 color design down to 1 color
Many of our 2 and 3 color designs look equally impressive when printed in one color. Fewer colors mean fewer runs through the press which equals less expense. Our designer BethAnn is amazing at this – she knows just what to add and take away so that your design looks just as inviting as its more colorful counterpart.

Splurge on a 2 or 3 color design for the invitation and opt for 1 color accessory pieces
If you absolutely cannot live without a multi-color invitation, opt for your other pieces (reply card, directions card, reception card, etc) to be printed in 1 color. You will get the same impact with your invitation while saving considerably on your additional pieces.

Downsize and use a smaller size card (i.e. a reply card size for save the date)
Some budget savvy friends of ours came up with this idea for their clients’ save the dates and birth announcements, and the idea has really taken off. This is one of my absolute favorite cost cutting options – they are such a sweet little size!

Eliminate the reply card all together and put the contact information on the invitations
This idea is becoming more popular with brides who are not just minding their budget but the environment as well. Printing your reply information in the bottom left hand corner of your invitation is an acceptable alternative that can save you money.

Use a “website card” (usually the size of a place card or reply card) instead of a direction and accommodations card
Website cards direct guests to a site that will feature information related to your event – directions, accommodations, weekend activities, etc. This is a great idea, especially for the brides who have a wealth of information on their websites. From a guest’s point of view, I think they would appreciate that one card can direct them to so much information; I know that trying to keep track of so many invitation inserts can be challenging to many people. This allows them to access information about the wedding at their convenience.

Choose a reply postcard instead of a reply card and envelope
Reply postcards are less $, less postage, less bulk (but also less formal).

Pictured below: #1. Our 2 color Chasseral wedding invitation (on right), letterpressed in one color (on left) // #2. The Cavall letterpress reply card postcard (double-sided) // #3. Sweet, small save the dates (these cards are the same size as a reply card). Engadine design on left; Lashar design on right. // #4. Rhon two color wedding invitation (on left), with 1 color reply card and 1 color direction card (on right)