We love hearing a touching love story – the way that a couple meets, falls in love, and seeing these details woven into their wedding day. We were thrilled to find out the story behind the couple that ordered these three color letterpress wedding invitations. Peak Xperience was kind enough to share with us their engagement session, love story, and photos from their gorgeous wedding.

The Garden of Eden inspired the wedding ceremony: lush florals in purples and greens combined with a mix of modern and vintage details set the scene for this jaw-dropping celebration.

Peak Xperience explains, “The reception was kept modern and sophisticated in shades of dark purple, blue and silver. All of the details of their wedding are inspired by their love story, so for the dinner, it was almost like a ‘twilight’ theme (not Twilight the vampire movie!) but twilight as in between sunset & dusk, when the first glimmer of stars begin to appear, the ambiance is romantic and nostalgic.”

We were blown away by the size and beauty of their impressive wedding cake, which towered over the couple! Each tier is incredibly stunning.

Vendors: Caterer: Nathalie’s Gourmet Studio | Wedding Cake: PassioNate Cakes by Man Kwan | Cake Pops, Mini Cake & Tarts: TrulyScrumptious! | Wedding Gown: Divine Couture | Flowers: Flower Series | Wedding Ceremony: Cheras Baptist Church | Invitations: Smock via Peak Xperience

It’s easy to get swept away in these beautiful and delicate letterpress save the dates.  These beauties were submitted to us by our great friend, Nancy at Epitome Papers in Edina, Minnesota.  We think you’ll agree that these save the dates are current and look absolutely fabulous printed in three ink colors.  The oversized textured starfish is the perfect motif for a seaside wedding in Key Largo, Florida.  These save the dates are whimsical in their own right – while still being playful and chic.  The seahorse pattern envelope liner really makes a bold statement of what guests can expect as far as wedding atmosphere.  We can just close our eyes and feel the warmth of the golden sunshine and the white sandy beaches!

inks: spring + slate + inkless blind deboss | font: smock harrison | paper: 2-ply white bamboo | printing: letterpress | edge painting in spring | back patterning: gala in spring |liner: the seahorse pattern in slate | invite size: S8SQ

How do you outdo an awesome save the date? Our good friend Niki at Papery & Cakery in Boca Raton, Florida has the recipe. We posted these lovely save the dates for Niki’s sister back in September!!!

Now that the wedding has passed, we are able to show you the amazing suite she designed, and we couldn’t be happier to share these with everyone! The suite was letterpress printed in our Pewter ink on our beautiful white bamboo 2-ply paper. All of the pieces were fitted with an offset border in pewter and die-cut in our new Chesapeake design. Each piece has a decorative offset backing and is finished with perfect edge painting in Pewter. The invitation, reply cards, and events card are tucked nicely into a custom offset sleeve.

inks: pewter + spring | fonts: submitted fonts | paper: 1-ply white + 2-ply white | printing: letterpress + offset | sleeve: custom pattern offset in pewter + spring | liner: seneca pattern offset in spring | invite size: S-8 sleeve | die-cut: chesapeake

Cori at Social Graces in Nashville, Tennessee sent us this adorable Odin customization!  These offset printed save the dates are both personalized and creative, and were printed in a very cool color palette of our sea mist + grass inks. When we asked Cori what inspired this design she told us that the bride was drawn to the fun font style and whimsical frame, and loved how these elements balanced the striped background.  The wedding reception will be on her family’s horse farm, so the couple thought it would be appropriate to include a horseshoe.  Here at Smock, we believe these save the dates are lucky!  Common legend is that keeping the ends of a horseshoe point up keeps all of the good luck in. Congrats to the lucky bride and groom, and bravo to Social Graces for such an inspired design!

inks: sea mist + grass | fonts: mack + louise | paper: 1-ply white bamboo  | printing: offset | size: s6

This design won an honorable mention in our Smock design competition for the first half of 2012. This twice-a-year competition recognizes outstanding and inspired designs submitted by our beloved dealers.

It’s that time of year again – the Smock Design Contest is back! Twice a year, we search through our customer jobs in search of the most beautiful, most inspired customizations submitted by our lovely retailers all across the country. We think you are really going to be impressed – the designs we found blew us all away! Check back daily for new posts; we’ll announce the winner of the contest, chosen by the lovely Nole at Oh So Beautiful Paper, next week! For now, let’s ooh and ahh at the first honoree!

We fell in love with these trendy Dawson wedding invitations submitted by our wonderful friend Liz at Union Street Papery in San Francisco, California. It easily shows off simple beauty, with the grass ink perfectly contrasting the cheery apricot folio!  This set has the most subtle elements, keeping it looking fresh and fun.  With its clean lines and beautiful color combo, this minimalistic invitation is what’s happening!  A huge CONGRATULATIONS and THANK YOU go out to Union Street Papery!

ink: grass | fonts: smock harrison + percy | paper 1-ply white | printing: letterpress | die cut: chesapeake | custom sleeve: page pattern; custom cartouche in apricot |invite size: 5.4375 x 8.0625

We’re thrilled to introduce our new “change the world” letterpress card series, where we’ll donate 100% of profits to a critical environmental issue. The first card in our series is called Sunflower, and will benefit the Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA).

Here’s the problem: Honey bees are in trouble — colonies have been collapsing mysteriously and adult bees are disappearing. The problem started in the mid 2000’s and is known as “Colony Collapse Disorder,” and researchers believe that pesticides, habitat loss, pathogens and immune system damage are factors that may be causing the collapse.

Why you should care: Of the 100 crops that provide 90% of the world’s food supply, over 70 of those crops are pollinated by bees. In the United States alone, the bees’ contribution is valued at over $15 billion, and this vital industry is on the verge of collapse.  One out of every three bites of food are dependent on honey bees for pollination, so government action is critical to help the colonies recover.

Take action now:

• Sign this petition to help protect the bees. By doing so, you will encourage the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enforce restrictions (such as not spraying while pollinator-dependent crops are in bloom) and to take action against pesticides that are toxic to the honey bees. 
• Get informed: learn more at PANNA.
  
• Start your own bee-friendly garden: Grow plants (like sunflowers!) to help the bees out. Download this handy brochure from PANNA for some bee-friendly gardening tips.
• Make a contribution: help PANNA continue their program work by making a direct contribution, or purchase our sustainably printed Sunflower cards — 100% of profits will be donated to PANNA to help save the honeybees, and organic, locally grown sunflower seeds are included with the cards for you to plant.

Christmas is right around the corner, and we love having an extra reason to get crafty around here! We made these festive Christmas Trees with our double-sided gift wrap for a little extra holiday cheer — they’re a fun DIY project and pretty enough to give as a gift — just be sure to make a few for yourself!

You will need: a cone/tree form (we preferred the cardboard cones, but styrofoam works, too!), paper, scissors, and a hot glue gun. Start by covering your tree form in the paper color of your choice. We used our Merry wrap for this tree. If you purchase a cardboard tree form, these typically have a point on top, but if you use a styrofoam form (like the one shown above), we recommend making a point with the wrap for a sleek look (see below).

After you’ve covered the tree form, you’ll need curls. LOTS of curls. We used our Merry wrap and our Mistletoe wrap for this part for some variety.  To make the curls, cut your paper into thin strips of varying lengths and widths — the variety will help the tree ‘fill in’ nicely. Then, begin curling the strips with scissors the way you would for curling ribbon. When you’ve compiled a decent amount of curls, begin adhering them to your tree with a hot glue gun.

Fill the entire tree form with the paper curls until you’re happy with the look. If you’d like, make a star to adhere to the top or leave it as is — and tada! A very merry (paper) Christmas tree.

If we were not already in the holiday spirit- these colorful and cheery Christmas cards would surely turn that right around!  This custom and lovable set was submitted to us by our good friend, Sara at Salutations in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  Check out the reindeer envelope liner that is actually made from our Smock gift wrap!  Looking at these cards we can’t help but feel good inside, as the holiday season is just around the corner!  What a perfect way to send warm wishes to your friends and family!

inks: grass + cherry | fonts: smock clermont | paper: 2-ply white bamboo | printing: letterpress | signature liner: C9G1-1 | card size: S6

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

This cool Hekla custom letterpress + offset invitation suite was submitted by our friends at Hitched in Washington DC. The invitation is letterpress printed on our bamboo 2-ply paper in black with a blind deboss ink that makes it pop. The edge painting in spring and an offset back pattern in black add to the uniqueness of this piece. To top it all off, they decided to go with one of our new chesapeake die-cuts. It is accompanied by an outer envelope lined with our ashford pattern in spring. The piece that makes this suite amazing is the custom sleeve – offset with our seneca pattern in black.

inks: black + spring + blind deboss | fonts: percy + louise | paper: 2-ply white  | printing: letterpress + offset | liner: the ashford pattern in spring | back pattern: the van pattern in black | sleeve: the seneca pattern in black | invite size: S-8 (chesapeake die-cut)