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Join Us for a Gift Wrapping Workshop on Thursday, November 30th

Get a jump start on your gift wrapping this holiday season!

Join us on Thursday, November 30th from 5pm to 8pm for a gift wrapping workshop. The class is $30 per person and includes gift wrapping supplies for 3 medium sized gifts. You bring ready-to-wrap gifts, and we’ll show you different wrapping techniques (like how to make an invisible seam and cute gift toppers). We’ll also help you find the perfect ribbon pairing for your gifts. The class will be held at our studios at 509 West Fayette Street in Syracuse.

All proceeds from the workshop will be donated to our friends at Onondaga Earth Corps. Light refreshments will be served.

You’ll have the opportunity to stock up on additional gift wrapping essentials during the event as well.

Sign up below to secure your spot.

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The 2012 Mother’s Day Gift Guide

Mother’s Day is May 13 and quickly approaching, so make sure you’re ready with a nice letterpress card and a sweet gift for mom! Cheery stationery goods in bright colors and patterns are sure to be a hit, but she’ll be even more impressed when you wrap it up beautifully with some of our eco-friendly, double-sided gift wrap (here’s a hint: you can use one side to wrap the gift and use the other like ribbon)!  We’ve picked out a few of our favorite gifts for mom, but be sure to take a look at all of our new letterpress stationery goods to find the perfect gift today!  And if your mom has a green thumb, be sure to check out our sustainable Sunflower cards (pictured below) — 100% of profits help the Pesticide Action Network, and the cards come with organic sunflower seeds that can be planted in her garden!

Smock's 2012 Mother's Day stationery gift guide

1. Botanical Thanks boxed letterpress cards $14 for 6 | 2. Mother’s Day Flower Burst letterpress card $4 | 3. Ness notebook $9 | 4. Pearl Jotters $6 for 2 | 5. Queen for a Day letterpress card $4 | 6. Flower Burst letterpress scratchpad $7 | 7. Pearl boxes: small $6; medium $12; large $18 | 8. Park boxed offset notes $12 for 8 | 9. Picadilly notebook $9 | 10. Carri attachments sticky note cube $18 | 11. Mom & Trust letterpress card $4 | 12. Sunflower boxed letterpress cards $14 (100% of profits help save the honey bees!)

The 2011 Holiday Gift Guide from Smock

An assortment of indie gift ideas for the holidays, compiled by Smock's owner, Debbie, and Creative Director, Amy
Smock’s owner (Debbie Urbanski) and Creative Director (Amy Graham Stigler) put their heads together and came up with some really unique gifts for this year’s holiday gift guide. While some of the products are local to upstate New York (we love buying local!) everything is available online! Happy shopping!
  1. Fancy oils and flavorful vinegars: you’ll never need to buy bottled salad dressing again. Pick an oil + a vinegar and it’s the perfect gift. The vinegars are wild — a favorite combination is walnut oil + ginger spiked blackberry.
  2. Uncommon iphone cases: support indie artists. Choose your favorite artwork by a cool indie designer, then create your own unique iPhone case.
  3. Snack Taxi snack sacks: great for parents or kids. Get rid of your plastic bags for snacks! Wild and crazy patterns, made in the USA. Stella is partial to the gnomes.
  4. Toothbrushes: a years worth of toothbrushes. Made of bamboo, practical & witty – and perfect for the person who has everything.
  5. Walnut end grain cutting boards – made with local New York State wood – these cutting boards are simply beautiful. Makes cutting pretty and fun!
  6. Canning for a New Generation: get your beloveds hooked on canning with this cookbook (lower sugar, wild flavors!) and a big old case of mason jars.
  7. Lunastix Juggling Sticks: these are the perfect gift for active kids as they keep their hands and minds busy.  There are sticks for all sizes, ages and levels.  Made in Salt Lake City.
  8. Clementine Art Supplies: natural, non toxic, well designed. The natural gift set includes everything needed for your favorite young artist and comes in a tidy box.
  9. Mint owl coasters: Etsy has some of the coolest owl coasters (like the minty ones above)
  10. Hindu Holiday tea: lovely tea made right in brooklyn.  This is the perfect gift for anyone with exquisite taste, and because of their beautiful packaging no wrapping is required.  Amy’s favorite for the holidays is Bellocq’s Hindu Holiday herbal tea – a delicious fragrant caffeine-free Fairtrade chai.
  11. Dead Feminists Broadside: A beautiful, hand-pulled letterpress print, created with hand-lettered original typography and hand-drawn illustrations and patterns (in fact, everything was done by hand, the hard way!). This particular broadside features Jane Mecom and her brother, Benjamin Franklin, but there are more available in the Dead Feminists Etsy shop.
  12. Felt kindle sleeve: make someone’s Kindle reading experience more pleasurable with this cozy sleeve!
  13. Liberty water bottles – made in the USA from recycled aluminum. They are works of art!

 

Smock’s 2011 Holiday Stationery Gift Guide

The holidays are right around the corner, so it’s time to start shopping for gifts! At Smock, we’ve got something for everyone — whether it’s pretty letterpress stationery for her, or man-friendly notebooks for him, we’ve got you covered. This is a carefully selected assortment of our best-selling items, so they’re sure to please everyone on your list! We’ve even got some great stocking stuffer ideas — all for under $15!! So stop by your local Smock retailer or visit our website to get started on your holiday shopping today! And don’t forget to stock up on a few rolls of our double-sided, eco-friendly gift wrap for a perfectly coordinated present (and to find out how to make matching bows, visit us on Youtube!).

Best-selling letterpress stationery items from Smock that make great gifts for women

1. Veranda Medium Keepsake Box $12 | 2. Quadrille Attachments Sticky Note Cube $18 | 3. Pollen Letterpress Scratchpad $7 | 4. Sorbet Letterpress Art Print Calendar $8 | 5. Honeycomb Letterpress Social Notes $14 for a 6 count box | 6. Veranda Notebook $9 | 7. Berry Memo $7 | 8. Cayman Offset Social Notes $12 for an 8 count box | 9. Picadilly Jotters $6 for a 2-pack | 10. Newport Lettersheets $20 for a set of 12

Smock's best selling, 'man-friendly' stationery.

1. Oxford jotters $6 for a 2-pack |  2. Planet Memo $7 | 3. Ridley Lettersheets $20 for a set of 12 | 4. Bicyclette Letterpress Social Notes $14 for a 6 count box | 5. Peacock Letterpress Art Print Calendar $8 | 6. Koi Notebook $9 | 7. Bicyclette Scratchpad $7 | 8. Pembroke Offset Social Notes $12 for an 8 count box | 9. Oxford Medium Keepsake Box $12 | 10. Beetle Attachments Sticky Note Cube $18

Letterpress stationery stocking stuffer ideas from Smock for the holidays

1. Peacock Letterpress Scratchpad $7 | 2. Bubbles Letterpress Gift Tags $8 for a 6-pack | 3. Ming Memo $7| 4. Herons Letterpress Social Notes $14 for a 6 count box | 5. Pollen Jotters $6 for a 2-pack | 6. Oxford Letterpress Art Print Calendar $8 | 7. Pollen Letterpress Art Print Calendar $8 | 8. Jade Letterpress Gift Tags $8 for a 6-pack | 9. Crochet Memo $7 | 10. Flowerburst Letterpress Scratchpad $7

Mother’s Day Gift Guide

Looking for great ideas for mom this year? Our Creative Director, Amy Graham Stigler, is sharing her ideas for memorable Mother’s Day gifts that shine. What are you getting Mom this year? Check out our Mother’s Day cards and gifts to get inspired.

Deliver a basket of “breakfast in bed” – think scones, fresh coffee, fruit, the NY Times or a favorite magazine all on a cute tray.
{Photos by Honey & Jam.}

You can’t go wrong with fresh flowers that keep! Design and fill Mom’s own containers (or buy her one) with beautiful spring flowers and herbs – have a pro help out or (better yet) do it yourself!
{Photo from HGTV.}

Think luxury. A spa pedicure, massage or facial is always a well-loved treat.
{Photo from Marriott.}

For dads, offer to babysit. Take the kids out to the park or to see a movie so mom can have a few hours at home alone. Bonus: give mom a bottle of pretty-smelling bubble bath and a great novel or chick flick so she can fill her time at home relaxing.
{Photo via IMDB.}

Pay to get her car detailed, because a mom’s car is always filled with crumbs!
{Photo from Oh Happy Day.}

Buy her a private session with a yoga or pilates instructor.
{Photo from Conde Nast Traveller.}

Using a service like Blurb, create a photo book featuring fond memories from throughout the years.
{Photo by Lia Ballentine.}

Smock Holiday Gift Guide

For those of you still finishing up last minute shopping, we wanted to take a moment to share some of our favorite gift giving ideas this holiday season. I polled the Smock team for their suggestions for great presents and honestly wish I could be the recipient of all of these incredible gifts! These ideas are sure to please.

Holiday Gift Ideas from Smock

Smock’s creative director and designer, Amy Graham Stigler, is in love with upcycled mittens made from old sweaters. (You can visit Simple Up for easy to follow patterns for making your own hat and mittens.)

Smock co-owner Debbie Urbanski recommends Cannellini heirloom beans – these beans are so delicious you’ll never go back to grocery store beans again. In fact, they are so popular, Rancho Gordo was sold out of them for nearly a year!

My personal favorite gift to give this holiday season is a great hand-poured soy candle (or two) from Linnea’s Lights. Not only are the fragrances amazing, but the packaging is simply divine.

Our client coordinator, Lindsy, is a big fan of this pretty embroidered clutch from Free People. It’s a lovely gift for any lady in your life like a sister or a special girlfriend.

Beth Ann, one of our in-house graphic designers, is gifting this great recipe basket from Longaberger this year. This handcrafted basket is the perfect gift for the cooking or baking enthusiast in your life.

This idea is quite near and dear to our hearts – our office manager, Carrie, took old salvaged books and created cool boxes by hollowing them out and lining them in scraps of our eco gift wrap. She’s filling each with fun little goodies for her family and friends.

Smock Holiday Gift Wrapping Ideas

When thinking up fun ways to use our eco gift wrap this holiday season, we dug deep into our craft drawers at home to find cute bows, ribbon and tulle. We used the wrap to stuff gift bags, crafted it into ribbon and curly bows and played with the double-sided patterns to create pretty stacks of presents all tied up with cute embellishments. At Smock, we’re the type of folks who adore a pretty package anytime of the year, but it’s especially fun at the holidays to gussy up packages for giving to loved ones. All of our gift wraps feature double-sided patterns printed on 100% post consumer recycled paper and come in over-sized sheets that are 24″ x 36″ – each roll comes with two sheets.

Smock Gift Wrap
Smock’s Market wrap topped with a big yellow bow.

Double-sided Smock Gift Wrap
Smock’s pretty pink Plume wrap and Chiffon wrap tied up in a cute stack with iridescent ribbon.

Smock Recycled Gift Wrap
Smock’s Liony blue and green gift wrap paired with salvaged fabric ribbon we had lying around from an old craft project.

Smock Recycled Gift Wrap
Smock’s Julep gift wrap with a tuft of bright blue tulle on top.

Smock Recycled Gift Wrap
This package is all wrapped up in pretty recycled kraft paper and features Smock’s Liony gift wrap as both ribbon and curly bow.

Smock Recycled Gift Wrap
For those gifts better off rolled, we used our Savoy gift wrap to form a pretty patterned tube and then finished it off with white tulle.

Smock Recycled Gift Wrap
No time to wrap? Here we used our Savoy and Ceylon gift wraps as stuffing for gift bags.

Smock Recycled Gift Wrap
Smock’s Tissot gift wrap tied up with pretty purple and lavender ribbons in a basket weave pattern.

Smock Recycled Gift Wrap

Our philosophy at Smock is that gifts don’t have to be lavish to be extraordinary. Even the simplest of gifts can leave a lasting impression when you get creative with great gift wrap and the perfect little letterpress card or gift tag. Still on the hunt for great gift ideas? We’ll be rounding up a few of our favorites next week for those of you who – like us – still have a long list of gifts to buy. Don’t miss it!

Special Smock Sample Sale to Benefit Fresh Air Fund

Smock is thrilled to be hosting a sample sale in conjunction with the New York International Gift Show and our Monday Morning Mimosas event with Delphine, Green Paper Company, Russell+Hazel and Linnea’s Lights. All proceeds from the sample sale, featuring the finest in letterpress, paper goods, stationery, hand-poured soy candles and chic office supplies, will benefit Fresh Air Fund, an organization that works to help inner city children experience life in nature outside out of the city. If you’ll be in New York on the evening of Monday, August 17th, we would love for you to join us for an evening of fun to benefit a tremendous cause. We can’t wait to see you there!

Smock Sample Sale to Benefit Fresh Air Fund

Smock Store Spotlight – Six Chancery Lane, Hong Kong

Today we’re really excited to introduce one of the fabulous new stores Smock is working with in Hong Kong in our new Smock Store Spotlight feature. Julie Sung is the proprietor of Six Chancery Lane, the exclusive location of Smock’s letterpress wedding invitations in Hong Kong, and she happily shared some incredible insight and a look into her fabulous shop. Six Chancery Lane is a unique shop devoted to Julie’s handmade soaps and her love for letterpress, a combination we find especially fun.

Julie grew up in Taiwan, but spent many years in the U.S. when she was younger, having just recently moved to Hong Kong about five years ago. Her background includes experience in the media industry, in both television and movies, but her passion has always been design and creating things that are handmade. Julie shares, “I think I have found my calling with Six Chancery Lane – wonderful, thoughtful, handmade products and great designs just make me happy. I get so much satisfaction out of creating beautiful stationery for my clients or seeing them appreciate a beautifully packaged bar of our handmade soap.”

Six Chancery Lane - Smock's Hong Kong letterpress dealer

We were so intrigued by the concept of Six Chancery Lane as a soap and letterpress boutique that we just had to know more about Julie’s inspiration behind her lovely store…

Six Chancery Lane really is a reflection of who I am and what I love, bringing together my two passions – handmade soaps and letterpress – and combining it with a desire to share products that are unique, handcrafted, not mass-produced, environmentally-friendly, and beautiful, with people who care about the same things. Originally, I started making soaps myself when I couldn’t find anything suitable for my sensitive skin in retail stores. I immediately fell in love with the craft of soapmaking, ultimately spending countless hours in my kitchen researching, testing new recipes and improving upon existing ones, until I finally had to find more space! Our soaps are all made in-house at Six Chancery Lane from the very best ingredients and then individually wrapped in beautiful paper I have personally sourced from around the world. I fell in love with letterpress when I was planning my own wedding and discovered, to my dismay, that I could not find letterpress in Hong Kong. I decided to learn all I could about letterpress, through research and taking classes in the U.S. Through Six Chancery Lane, I have finally have a venue to bring beautiful letterpress cards and stationery to discerning brides and customers in Hong Kong.

Six Chancery Lane - Smock's Hong Kong letterpress dealer

And we just had to know…
If you could describe your personality in letterpress, which Smock invitation would you be and why?
I would have to choose “Haddington” in black and raspberry ink with a raspberry Champlain liner. It is simple, clean, and subtle; classic yet contemporary at the same time. The splash of bright color on a black and white background stands out without trying too hard.

What are some fun traditions typical of Hong Kong weddings that you enjoy?
An interesting tradition for Hong Kong weddings is something known as “Door Games”. On the day of the wedding, the groom accompanied by his groomsmen, must go pick up the bride at her home. But before he can get in the door to see his bride for the first time, he must pass a series of test and tasks presented to them by the bridesmaids who are guarding the door. The “games” include quizzing the groom on facts about his future wife and other physical and embarrassing deeds. The bridesmaids can be pretty creative with what they demand the guys to do. It’s always a lot of fun and laughs. Of course, I enjoy this tradition, because I’m on the serving end and not the receiving!

Six Chancery Lane - Smock's Hong Kong letterpress dealer

What’s your top pick destination for first time travelers to Hong Kong?
Hong Kong is such a dynamic city. It really is a blend of East and West. There is so much to do, but if you could only do one thing, I would recommend taking in the breathtaking view of the city on Victoria Peak. Hong Kong has some of the best architecture in the world, and when the city is lit up at night, there really isn’t anything else in the world that really compares.

Where are your favorite places to shop?
I love to browse small, distinctive, local shops in SoHo, Hong Kong. There are a lot of great boutiques selling everything from trendy clothes to antique jewelry. I also love night markets in Taipei. You can find all sorts of wonderful things for amazingly low prices.  Not to mention there is a lot of delicious street food for you to sample. Oh, and I can spend hours on Etsy.

Why did you feel compelled to bring Smock’s signature bamboo letterpress to the people of Hong Kong?
Well, first of all, the designs are amazing. So clean and classy, yet very modern. Also, I love the fact that Smock is so eco-friendly. A lot of times people think things that are environmental means you have to sacrifice on quality or looks, but Smock proves that that’s not the case. And basically because letterpress from Smock is about the most beautiful I’ve seen and I just want to share that with people in Hong Kong.

Thank you so much, Julie, for sharing a glimpse into what Six Chancery Lane is all about! We love knowing more about the great places where Smock is featured and hope you’ll make Six Chancery Lane one of your stops if you’re ever in Hong Kong. This is just the first of several Smock Store Spotlight features to come and we can’t wait to share more of the great shops where you can find Smock across the globe!

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