You’d never know this invitation was offset printed unless you felt it! Libby of Byrd & Bleecker definitely knows how to work within and around our albums, combining a converted version of the Lashar design that looks completely unique, with the peacock plume from our Everyday line.

Because the full order was offset in midnight and peacock inks, she was able to help the client save a bit of money and still get them an eye-catching design.

inks: midnight + peacock | fonts: engravers + gothic engravers | paper: 1-ply white | invite size: Tier 3 | liner: repeating lashar cartouche design in white + peacock  | printing: 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.

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 are so excited to kick off another round of the Smock Design Contest! Over the next 10 days, we’ll be honoring some really gorgeous designs that have been sent to us by our Smock retailers. So without further ado, let us begin by showcasing our first honoree!

Joellen and the team at Bennett Schneider, Inc. brought us what may be the perfect color selection for the letterpress wedding Aberdeen suite.

The tangerine ink helps this wedding announcement pop in such a way that it doesn’t overpower the design or distract from the details.  Sometimes all it takes is a little tweak to make a letterpressed card look fantastic, and that is just what they did!

inks: tangerine + black | fonts: Spencerian +  Cooper  | 2-ply ivory | printing: letterpress | liner: payette in tangerine | invite size: S-6

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.

Although it seems we have just kicked off the summer season, it’s time to start looking ahead to fall weddings that are only around the corner! What about fall inspires you — maybe it’s the foliage or the the cool nights or the feeling of change? One of the things we have been seeing a lot of lately is lots of jewel tones paired with light vintage colors and classic themes, these are all great inspirations for a lovely autumn wedding! We love this pairing of our Eggplant and Antique Gold inks letterpress printed in the Lashar wedding invitation design, submitted by our friends at Inklinations in Manhasset, NY.

inks: eggplant + antique gold | fonts: clermont calligraphy font + cooper | paper: ivory 2-ply bamboo | printing: letterpress

by Racheal Decker, In-house Designer.

We are so happy to see that our friends at  Haute Papier were featured in Southern Living magazine! The post also included a gorgeous customization of our letterpress Helani wedding invitation design that Haute Papier submitted! Thanks Haute Papier and Southern Living!

We’re so excited to share this fabulous birthday party this morning! Our Creative Director, Amy Graham Stigler, recently planned an incredible party to celebrate her husband Zach’s 40th birthday. (Which just so happens to be today!) Back in the day Amy and Zach used to host an annual Valentines Day party – it’s such a great time of year to celebrate and get festive after the chaos of December and downtime of January. Then kids came and the party went by wayside, but this year they decided it would be fun to resurrect the celebration. However, little did Zach know that Amy decided to make the party a surprise birthday party as well, including a card with the invitation asking guests to plan to toast Zach’s 40th birthday at the party. His brother even flew in from Seattle to surprise him and gave the honorary toast.

Zach loves old school rap so a recurring theme throughout the party was 40 oz of Funk complete with 40 oz beers! A mix cd of Zach’s favorite old school rap songs were set out as favors and cocktail napkins were printed with a favorite LL Cool J quote. In true form, Zach donned one of Amy’s oversized chunky gold necklaces. Amy mixed up an assortment of festive punches and set up the fixings for a “guys” bar with an assortment of whiskey, scotch and beer. Tasty hor-d’oevres and a dessert table were set out for munching and decorations were mainly silver, white and sparkly with the number 40 incorporated here and there.

Many thanks to Jaclyn Tyler for sharing these incredible photos from the party and a big happy birthday to our friend Zach! Here’s to 40 more!

{Photos by Jaclyn Tyler.}

Check out the latest issue of 30West where Smock’s Creative Director Amy Graham Stigler is featured. (She’s also the cover girl, too!) Learn about Amy’s design inspiration, her love for letterpress and the unique art history background she brings to designing for Smock. Check it out online now!

Today we’re extending an overdue shot out to two of our favorite shelter magazines for featuring Smock! First up, Smock’s Creative Director, Amy Graham Stigler, was featured in an incredible interview and fashion spread in Better Homes and Gardens. She was whisked off to New York City where she was a model for a day, sharing her love for vintage accessories and her inspiration for all things Smock. You can read more about her Better Homes and Gardens photo shoot on our blog.

That same month, our Bourbon letterpress thank you card was featured in a great round up of thank you cards in House Beautiful.

Thanks so much to two of our favorite magazines for including Smock in such fabulous issues!

In honor of Father’s Day I asked the dad of my children (aka my husband Zach) to share a quick list of his favorite things. Here it is…

You.
The kids.

Campfires.
Kayaking.

Running in the woods.

Boating.
Hanging out with friends.

Belgian beer.
The view at dusk over the lake.

This basically reads as an itinerary of our Father’s Day weekend traditions. Friday night campfire with me and the kids and a Belgian beer (or two). Saturday morning trail run and hop in the kayak (with kids or solo — Dad’s choice). Saturday night boat ride with family and friends and a breathtaking view of the sun setting over the lake. Sunday morning includes breakfast in bed — juice, coffee, a piece of toast with jam, a flower from the garden, hand drawn cards and lots of hugs and ‘I love yous’ and ‘you’re the best dad EVERs’. The rest of the day is step and repeat: kids, run, kayak, beer…..dusk. We always bring some of the chaos into my dad’s life. And family being his favorite thing he can’t resist. And this year Zach’s dad is joining us so we will pull up an extra chair at the campfire and the kids will make some extra cards and toast.

In celebration of spring and the upcoming Easter weekend, Smock’s creative director Amy Graham Stigler shares a few of her favorite things about spring with us today. We’re feeling completely inspired to start our spring cleaning and planting now. How about you?

Spring is my favorite season (when it cooperates) so its hard to narrow the field of things I love best. So here are a few things: I LOVE the light and early blooms and freshness of the air. I LOVE that I can run outside without worrying about ice and snow and frigid temps. I LOVE that the markets resume (flea and farmers). I LOVE that my kids are either on a bike or in a tree. I LOVE our magnolia and apple trees that absolutely explode with flowers and fragrance.

For Easter, we always start with an Easter egg hunt. The kids each get a basket with a few goodies and then go searching for sweets and eggs, which we dyed the night before. If weather permits the hunt continues outside. And we always do brunch with the Easter bunnies that the kids still adore – even though they are ‘on to them’.

We start to reclaim our yard and prepare our vegetable and herb garden. We start frequenting the farmer’s markets for herbs and flowers to plant and early edibles. We start our weekend family hikes on the many trails in our area. And my husband and I try to fit in a ‘date trail run’ at least once a week.

Casual dinner parties with friends and their kids is our favorite way to entertain so in the spring we just tweak the menu and decor to fit the season. The vases are filled with tulips and daffodils and other happy spring blooms, the menu gets a bit lighter, such as a seasonal soup and a salad, and we always hope that some portion of the evening can be spent outdoors. Of course, decorating cupcakes or sugar cookies with pastel candies is always a sweet way to end the evening.