Amy Graham Stigler, Smock’s design extraordinaire and honored design contest judge, chose Urban Coast’s custom letterpress design as the FIRST PLACE WINNER!!! We couldn’t agree more.

Urban Coast in Belleair Bluffs, Florida proudly hosted an event honoring Bryan Rafanelli – a renowned event planner and founder of Rafanelli Events.

As you may know, Bryan Rafanelli’s exquisite sense of style, attention to detail and ability to transform clients’ visions into unforgettable celebrations have made him a go-to planner for the most exclusive and high-profile events. From Chelsea Clinton’s “wedding of the decade” to fairytale-themed galas for Massachusetts General Hospital for Children to celebrations for the inauguration of President Barack Obama –he has produced it all!

And Urban Coast chose Smock to create the beautiful letterpress invitations to this extraordinary event. WE WERE ECSTATIC!!!

The design itself is incredible. Layers of bamboo paper, die-cut into Smock’s new Chesapeake shape, fill a custom letterpress sleeve. The warm summer colors of papaya and taupe feel perfect for a June event. The Everett and Seneca patterns, all letterpress printed, create sophisticated textures as well. This set screams touch me, feel me, love me!

Mr. Rafanelli, I hope we made you smile!

inks: taupe + papaya | fonts: alice + century gothic  | paper 1-ply white | invite size: S-7 | printing: letterpress | die cut: chesapeake | custom sleeve: seneca pattern in taupe and the marsda cartouche in papaya

This design won first place in our Smock design competition for the first half of 2011. This twice-a-year competition recognizes outstanding and inspired designs submitted by our beloved dealers.

One of our greatest reviewed Rhon designs, brought to us by Margaret at Scriptura.  Having struggled to find just the right color combination, Margaret eventually struck gold…or should we say, “struck papaya?”

The papaya ink worked very well with the offset shell and lettepressed pewter.  The addition of the program fan was a great way to tie everything together — the full set looks amazing.

inks: pewter + papaya | fonts: graham + smock bescal | paper:  2- ply white | liner: caspian in shell| folio exterior -rhon in papaya, interior – caspian in shell | printing: letterpress + offset

This design won an honorable mention in our Smock design competition for the first half of 2011. This twice-a-year competition recognizes outstanding and inspired designs submitted by our beloved dealers.

We recently had the pleasure of printing these gorgeous die-cut invitations for our friends at Urban Coast in Florida! These luxe invitations invited local industry experts to a special evening with esteemed wedding and event planner, Bryan Rafanelli. Inspired by our National Stationery Show invitations, we created a beautiful set of invitations and insert cards using one of our new die-cuts, which were neatly packaged in a stunning 2-color sleeve. Taupe and Papaya inks on our white bamboo paper made for a chic, summery look that we just adore.

ink: taupe and papaya | fonts: alice (new for 2011!) and century | paper: white 1-ply bamboo | printing: letterpress | die-cut: chesapeake | sleeve: letterpress, seneca pattern in taupe; marsden cartouche in papaya

Recently we had the pleasure of printing these really pretty letterpress bat mitzvah invitations for Dear Emily in Winnetka, Illinois. They are printed on our 1-ply bamboo paper in our Juine design, showcasing soft and elegant sea mist and papaya inks. Sophisticated script paired with Hebrew text make for a fresh and lady-like invitation.

Today’s Smock Design Contest honoree is a great custom folded save the date design created for our friends at Byrd & Bleecker in Fort Worth, Texas. We offset printed this design in pewter and papaya inks and used a fun seahorse motif perfect for a wedding in the Bahamas. The envelope is lined in our seneca pattern in papaya and we love the unique look and feel of this custom design. Congratulations to the folks at Byrd & Bleecker for being an honoree in our Smock Design Contest and thank you for sending us this great design!

Want in on a little known secret? These ten beauties (standard liners from our Social Occasions album) are over 50% less than our custom envelope liners! Our standard liners are still the same high quality offset printing on bamboo paper, but made more affordable because we keep these ten popular options in stock. Featured colors include pewter, pool, mango, grass and azalea. If your local dealer carries both our Social Occasions and Wedding album, you can use these standard liners with any design, including wedding invitations! To learn more, visit a Smock store near you!

We loved printing these pretty letterpress graduation announcements for our friends at Seaside Papery in Southern California. Showcasing our Alzette design from our Social Occasions album, they were printed in verbena and papaya inks for a fresh, youthful look that is both sophisticated and sweet.

Brought to us by our friends at Francis-Orr in Corona del Mar, California we just love this ocean inspired letterpress invitation suite, printed for a destination 50th birthday party! It is a custom design featuring motifs from our Social Occasions album in fun tropical colors of midnight and papaya. The letterpress invitations, events cards, and reply cards were tucked inside a patterned folio featuring our Willoughby pattern on the interior and a seahorse on the exterior, both printed in midnight. To bring it all together, the envelope was lined in Willoughby in papaya for a complete package that is bright, festive and just perfect for a fun-filled birthday getaway.

As we near the end of our Smock Design Contest honorees, it’s time to share our 1st runner up – a beautiful custom letterpress social note brought to us by Francis-Orr in Corona del Mar, California. This design is truly unique, printed in seamist, papaya and midnight inks in a vibrant combination of color and pattern. The background of the card is our willoughby pattern in seamist and the patterned envelope liner also features our willoughby pattern in midnight. Guest judge Nole Garey of one of our favorite bogs, Oh So Beautiful Paper, loved this design and says, “A gorgeous mix of pattern and color! The papaya ink around the monogram creates a beautiful contrast against the pale patterned background. I’m also just as smitten with the juxtaposition between the flourish design details and strong serif type of the monogram. Gorgeous!”

These custom letterpress business cards for Enchanting Tomorrows were brought to us by the folks at Rugg Road Paper Company in Boston. They are printed in papaya ink on our white bamboo paper and feature a flower motif from our Social Occasions album. We love the unique spin on a traditional business card with a vertical orientation – it’s fun and playful and perfect for Alycia’s wedding consulting and floral design business.