These letterpressed save the dates were submitted to us by our good friend, Aileen at Aileen Invitations in Miami Beach, Florida.  Our Rhon design looks truly sensational printed in our lavender and pewter inks.  There are certainly times when a softer color palette works best and this is definitely one of those times!  We print save the dates for all sorts of occasions and these save the dates happen to be for an engagement celebration.  We can’t help but feel that the lavender ink represents gracefulness and charm while the pewter ink helps keep this set looking refined.  Purple hues have always been connected to royalty which makes these save the dates all the more classic.  The couple chose our payette pattern in lavender for both the offset back patterning and envelope liner – which ties this whole set together nicely.

inks: lavender + pewter| fonts: etienne + auden | paper: 2-ply white | printing: letterpress | corner rounding |back patterning: payette in lavender |liner: the payette pattern in lavender | size: S6

Submitted to us by our good friend, Elle at Petite & Sweet in Toronto, Canada these letterpressed Hekla baptism invitations are downright swank!  I mean talk about being up-to-the-minute!  These invitations showcase our royale and inkless blind deboss inks – and the end result makes for some of the most chic invitations we’ve had the joy of printing in quite some time.  The envelope liner adds another nice modernistic touch to this anything but simplistic set!  We think these invitations are the perfect prelude to such a memorable occasion – and helped achieve the vision the proud parents were hoping for.  We look forward to many more unique and current customizations from Petite & Sweet!

inks: royale + inkless blind deboss | fonts: shaw + social | paper: 2-ply white bamboo | printing: letterpress | edge painting in royale | liner: the ridley pattern in royale | invite size: S8

We love hand bordering! Bringing metallic gold to the front of this rehearsal card was a great way for Rugg Road in Boston, MA to accentuate the silver font and shell-colored liner. I think Cristina did a fantastic job this one. It’s simple and elegant and we were very impressed.

inks: silver + shell + gold metallic | fonts: cahun + lazlo | paper: 2-ply ivory | printing: letterpress | metallic gold hand bordering | rehearsal card |

You just might say we have a soft side for pastel ink colors letterpressed on our thick 2-ply bamboo paper-and you would be right.  Take a look at these elegant Engadine invitations submitted to us by our good friends at Salutations in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  Softer hues have a way of looking peaceful and calm, without being over the top.  The highlight is of course the gorgeous folio offset printed on the interior and exterior in the coolest colors to keep things modern.  There is a real warmth seen throughout this suite and we adore it!

ink: sea mist + wisteria | fonts: smock harrison + graham | paper: 2-ply ivory | printing: letterpress | corner rounding | folio exterior: virelles pattern in wisteria | folio interior: pippen pattern in moss | invite size: 5.125 x 7.75

If you haven’t gotten started on your holiday shopping yet, head over to our sale section for some great gifts for the paper lovers in your life! Sale section items are marked down to 50% off, and if that weren’t reason enough to start shopping, we’re adding a bonus: all proceeds from sale items purchased on Monday, November 28 or Tuesday, November 29 will be donated to Earthworks Oil & Gas Accountability Project to help raise awareness about hydrofracking. Through this project, Earthworks teams up with tribal, urban and rural communities to protect their homes and the environment from the devastating impacts of oil and gas development. Your purchases can make a difference! Need some ideas? We’ve put together some great combinations for gift sets with items straight from our sale section, so check out our picks! We’ve included a wide range, so you’ll find ideas for under $15 or $30.  Our sale section has also got some fantastic holiday cards & gift tags, so stock up before they’re gone!

Great Gifts under $15

Perfect for the person who loves to send little notes just because. Pair a box of our Ellie notecards with a box of coordinating petite folded notes — at just $7 per box, give these letterpress cards as a set for a pretty present at just $14.

Know a paper-crazy kid? Introduce them to letterpress with these sweet cards! Petite folds in fun colors with kid-friendly motifs come in sets of 8.  At only $7 per box, these would be great little stocking stuffers! Choose from our Ellie, Horsey, Liony and Ducky notes.

Great gifts under $30

Our Thackthwaite attachment is a pretty cube full of sticky notes — 700 of them, to be exact. Attachments from Smock are made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper and they’re FSC certified, so they’re eco-friendly and cute. Snag this deal (marked down to $9!) and pair with a set of blank Thackthwaite notecards for just $21.

Pair some flat social notes with one of our notebooks for another great gift idea under $30 — we love seeing our Horsey flat notes with a Persimmon notebook, a fun combination for only $16.

At just $2 per card, we love the idea of giving a sampling of cards (paired with a lovely keepsake box, like the Veranda box pictured below).  Simply choose 10-12 cards from our fabulous selection of designs, package your picks in a small keepsake box, and you’ve got a great present for less than $30. Cards for special occasions such as engagements, birthdays, a new baby or ‘just because’ will have the recipient of this thoughtful gift prepared for the year.

Holiday Cards

Don’t forget about holiday cards! Check out the beautiful holiday cards in our sale section — stock up on our Joy & Peace cards and send stylish letterpress greetings this season. Our Joy petite folds make great gift tags, and our Celebrate cards make lovely thank you notes after the gift giving is over. Looking for something more traditional?? Check out our Holly letterpress greeting cards or our festive Poinsettia gift tags – boxes sell for just $7 each!

We’ll be posting more gift ideas along with DIY projects for the holidays over the next few weeks (including tutorials for gift bows and the most beautiful holiday wreaths ever), so stay tuned!

Our latest Smock Design Contest was yet another success (THANK YOU!). We were so thrilled to see all the customizations, and the hard work from our lovely dealers certainly paid off! At this time we are pleased to show off the Smock Design Contest Winner Plaques! Designed by our talented in-house designer Lindsy Aragona, these stunning plaques are letterpressed in our rich ocean and azure inks on our 2-ply white bamboo paper.  The amazing Debi Zeinert adds her gorgeous touch of hand calligraphy. We gave these plaques to our top ten winners. Our next Smock Design Contest will be featured in 2012!

This is the first order sent to us from The Wedding Company in Hong Kong and we already can’t wait to see what’s coming next! Michele uses a combination of whisper and pearl inks to give a wonderful 2-color accent to the invitation text of this Dawson-inspired design. The border chosen frames the English invitation as well as the Mandarin one in such a beautiful way. We are very happy to showcase our newest friends, particularly when this is the quality of the invitations they come up with. Well done Wedding Company!

inks: taupe + pearl + whisper | fonts: cameron + carrington | paper: 1-ply ivory | printing: letterpress | size: s8 | 3-color, bilingual invitations |

It’s that time of year again — the Smock letterpress holiday sale is back! This year, we’ve got even more options to choose from for custom letterpress holiday cards, and to make the holidays even sweeter, we’ve got a special promotion going on! Between now and December 1, all custom letterpress holiday orders will receive free printing on our luxury bamboo envelopes.  All you have to do is purchase the blank envelopes, fill out a coupon with your local Smock dealer and we’ll take care of the rest. Need some ideas for your holiday cards? Check out some of the customizations below!

These are just a few of the designs available for the 2011 holiday season — check out this slideshow on Flickr if you’re looking for more inspiration!

It’s easy to get swept away with this charming letterpress invitation customization made to our Burstell design submitted to us by our friend Ailbhe from Pretty as a Picture in Ireland!  This modern text based invitation has clean lines and the right amount of flourishes to add a touch of elegance to this set.  We love the luscious raspberry on the interior of the folio even more because it is probably not something guests will be expecting!  The exterior of the folio is printed in our virelles pattern which looks positively nature inspired!  Pretty as a Picture always sends us the coolest customizations-and it’s safe to say this will be another crowd pleaser!

ink: espresso | fonts: spence + graham| paper: 1-ply ivory | printing: letterpress |folio exterior: virelles pattern in espresso | folio interior: sinclair pattern in raspberry | invite size: 5.125 x 7.75

We were so happy when we were able to offer to letterpress print submitted artwork for no charge, it opened up the door for beautiful new designs to come our way! Michelle at Paperkiss sent us this wonderful invitation set and it came out beautifully. Michelle is a great friend of ours in Australia and we are always happy to see what she sends. Thanks again to Paperkiss!

ink: navy + silver | fonts: inigo + custom font | paper: 1-ply white | printing: letterpress  | submitted art |