These awesome business cards were sent to us by a great store Invitations & Company in Massachusetts. The use of two sided printing in foil and letterpress make these a business card worth taking a second look at.

letterpress ink: blind deboss | foil: silver shine | fonts: customer supplied | paper: 2-ply white | size: 3 x 3 | printing: letterpress + foil stamp | customization: 16281

We’ve got a special treat to share with you today! Carol from Jolie Colis — a talented gift wrapper with an amazing local boutique here in Syracuse that offers custom gift wrapping for special occasions — put together some tips and tricks for how to create a gorgeous gift. We love this stacked set of gifts featuring our pastel Seersucker wrap that Carol put together — it would be perfect for a baby shower, spring holiday gift or even a birthday present!

You will need:

Trisha Logan, a paper and textile obsessed designer, and owner of Shindig Paperie in Fayetteville, Arkansas is joining us today with a spectacular spotlight on her charming storefront. We love the way she incorporates Smock products throughout the shop — the pops of bright colors contrast beautifully next to crisp, clean whites.

Behind the scenes of Shindig Paperie. My background is in textile and apparel design, but I’ve worked as the art director and designer for a large gift and paper line for 9 years. I saw so much beautiful product at trade shows and in my trend research. In addition, I’m very attached and connected to my quaint college town, Fayetteville. Eventually, over many late night conversations with my good friend Brooke, a former shop owner and sales rep, we decided to open a shop to bring some of these fabulous lines to our eclectic little downtown district.  No similar concepts for a store existed in the area, and many local brides were frustrated by the lack of great paper here. Most chose to go online for unique invitations despite the surging trend and movement toward “buying local”. We had been in love with Smock for a long time and knew it would be the first line we wanted to get for the shop.

Stationery Love. My favorite part has to be discovering new lines, bringing them to town, then seeing people go crazy for them at the store, on Instagram, and on Facebook. I also love helping people add unique, personal touches to their weddings and special occasions. I’ve always gone a little nuts with my own parties and this way I get to do it more often! The most challenging part is definitely trying to juggle the different roles of being a small business owner, art director for another company, mother, and wife. It gets a little crazy. Thankfully I have a great business partner in Brooke and an understanding, supportive family.

Supporting local + green businesses. We make an effort to carry as many green lines as possible; I would say they make up about 70% of the store. We also try to carry as many local and regional lines and artists as possible. In addition, we donate pretty regularly to various fundraising efforts in our area, through both design work and product. We’re also in the process of starting a monthly group focused on writing letters and cards to area residents going through rough times. Must-see stops in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I love my town, and one reason is the locally-owned retail renaissance of recent years. We have a great relationship with a lot of stores in our downtown neighborhood, and they truly are some of favorite places to shop: the Mustache, Savoir-Faire, Mae’s Heirloom’s, Riffraff and Good Things, just to name a few. If you happen to live near (or visit!) Fayetteville, be sure you stop in and explore Shindig Paperie. Thanks so much Trisha (and Brooke!) for letting us get a peek inside your beautiful shop!

Another beautiful set from Pretty as a Picture! Ailbhe sends us more custom artwork and finds ways to make each piece of this set individually unique. Somehow this set looks like more than just two colors. Perhaps it’s the clever use of negative space on the inside of the folio, bringing ivory butterflies through the offset pearl ink. This was a very popular set and serves as a great example of how much you can achieve through the right colors and layout.

inks: pearl + pewter | fonts: meaculpa rob + shaw | paper: 1-ply ivory | printing: letterpress + offset | submitted artwork | invite size: S7 | folio: letterpress + offset in taupe + pearl | customization #: 11535 |

Check out these amazing letterpress invitations from our friends at Jenny’s Paper Ink. These invitations are simple yet elegant and are tied together with the liner pattern being duplicated on “The Night Before” card.

inks: midnight + coral | calligraphy: spencerian hand calligraphy | font: tennyson | paper: 2-ply white | invitation size: S8 | envelope liner: amble in coral offset | printing: letterpress + offset | customization #: 15635 |

Gold and Espresso are one of the most elegant pairings of inks in our library. The submitted artwork sent to us by Paperkiss for this order was not only beautiful, but looked even better in print.

ink: gold + espresso | fonts: submitted artwork | paper: 2-ply white | printing: letterpress | submitted artwork | invite size: S8 | customization #: 16107 |

We’re heading South! Join us at Salutations for our next trunk show event — we’ll be in Durham on Thursday, March 21st for their grand opening celebration, and we’ll also be in Charlotte the night before for a trunk show! Take advantage of show specials and meet with a few of our design experts to create the invitations of your dreams. Visit Salutations for more information and to RSVP!

If you want to know the extent of letterpress potential, just ask Ailbhe at Pretty as a Picture. Not only do our dear friends from Ireland consistently send us amazing work, but this set was for Ailbhe’s own wedding! With a hand-drawn map and coat of arms that Ailbhe created herself along with hand calligraphy by Sarah Hanna, plus the combination of letterpress and offset printing with foil stamping, this will forever be one of our all-time favorite invitations. Congrats again, Ailbhe!

inks: taupe + seamist + gold shine foil | fonts: garamond | calligraphy: custom by Sarah Hanna | paper: 2-ply ivory | printing: letterpress + offset + foil | submitted artwork from Ailbhe Ryan| invite size: S7 | folio:  offset + letterpress in seamist + taupe | customization #: 12824 |

Nothing says “thank you” like pressed foil! For an invitation order, it’s expected that a thank you card would be much simpler. However, Alisa from The Write Stuff in Tampa has found a way to enhance the card without sacrificing writing space. Using the two foils from the Tatra suite is a great way to incorporate foil into additional card types.

foil: gold matte + gold shine | font: smock plaza calligraphy font | paper: 1-ply ivory | printing: foil | card size: S6 | customization #: 16447 |

Courtesy of Frances at Paper & Chocolate, this set focuses less on elaborate inks, but rather on showcasing the right design elements and embellishments. Opting for a single color sometimes frees up the budget to include the extra embellishment options like edge painting and envelope liners. Add to that some submitted artwork for a custom hang tag and you end up with a lovely invitation set.

ink: black | fonts: submitted artwork | paper: 2-ply white | printing: letterpress | edge painting in taupe | custom hang tag | liner: metallic camel | invite size: S7 | customization #: 15711 |