It’s time again for us to extend our endless thanks to the wonderful editors and bloggers out there for featuring Smock in their fantastic publications this spring! Smock’s double-sided gift wrap, letterpress wedding invitations, jotters and more have been spotted in some amazing places lately.
First up, Brides magazine featured letterpress wedding invitations from our custom line in their April and May issues — a pretty customization of our Hekla invitation was featured alongside some of our signature envelope liners (based on our gift wrap!) and feature fun chevron stripes in a pretty purple hue. In May, our Tallmossen invitations were featured (also seen with signature envelope liners!) in a gorgeous round-up of wedding elements with Mediterranean charm.
Next up, an absolutely adorable DIY from the June issue of Woman’s Day magazine. Woman’s Day did a “Berry Pretty!” project with our Pollen, Sorbet, and Pearl double-sided gift wrap –aren’t those containers fantastic?!
Stationery Trends magazine did an extensive (and fabulous) feature of our creative director Amy Graham Stigler, showcasing her for their “Designer Profile” in the 2012 winter edition.
Celebrate magazine did an amazing round-up of nautical party-picks in their May/June issue, so we were thrilled to see our cheery Breakers gift wrap featured in such fun company!
Victoria Magazine also featured a fun assortment of vibrant, floral inspired stationery and included our Fete and Veranda jotters along with our Picadilly notebook.
We’d also love to extend a huge “thanks” to the following websites and blogs that have featured Smock over the past few months: Real Simple, Oh So Beautiful Paper (times 2!), Once Wed, Papercrave, Style Me Pretty, Green Wedding Shoes, Eco-beautiful Weddings, Young House Love, Discover Paper, EcoChicDesign, The Stationery Place, Curating Style, Simply Modern Weddings, Wedding Row Charlotte and the Washingtonian!
It’s official: foil stamping has arrived at Smock! Today we’re sharing a special sneak peek of the letterpress invitations we printed for the 2012 National Stationery Show, and we think you’ll love the new additions we’re bringing to the line. We’re adding two gorgeous new fonts to our collection of exclusive Smock calligraphy fonts, and these invitations feature both of those new fonts! Plaza is an elegant, formal script based on Sarah Hanna‘s calligraphy, and Stella (based on a Kelle McCarter hand) has a more playful, whimsical feel. The invitations are just a hint at what’s new: besides foil stamping and new calligraphy fonts, we’re also introducing four inspired new wedding suites, 12 dazzling colors for foil stamping, 100% recycled coasters, and lots of cool new products for our Everyday line (including 6 new styles of double-sided gift wrap, new notebook styles, more man-friendly stationery, and much, much more!). A special thanks to master calligrapher Debi Zeinert from The Blooming Quill for addressing the invitation envelopes – aren’t they gorgeous!? 
Foil stamping will be available at Smock dealers in early June, so stay tuned!
The votes are in: Odin is the Smock design of the month! From now through May 14, all custom orders that feature the bright and bubbly Odin design (wedding invitations, social stationery, save the dates, programs, menus, calling cards, hang tags, baby or graduation announcements, birthday party invites, and more!) will be 10% off (or 15% off for orders with 6 or more pieces!). Locate one of our amazing Smock custom dealers today to get started on your Odin stationery!
Thanks to everyone who voted, we’ll be donating almost $200 to the Earthworks No Dirty Gold campaign to help put an end to dirty mining practices that are devastating the planet. (Click here to read more about dirty gold and find out what you can do to help). To show you just how unique our Odin design can look with a few simple tweaks, our designers put together the stunning customizations below to get you inspired!
inks: ocean + saffron | fonts: parson + chaplin | paper: 2-ply white | printing: letterpress| back patterning: van in saffron | invite size: s8
inks: eggplant and gold | fonts: elsie + lazlo | paper: 2-ply ivory | printing: letterpress| envelope liner: filby in eggplant | corner rounding | invite size: s8
inks: sand + pewter + peacock | fonts: alice + percy | paper: 2-ply white | printing: letterpress + offset | back patterning: everett in pewter | edge painting: peacock | invite size: s8-sq
inks: whisper + pink | fonts: percy + fairchild + louise | paper: 2-ply white | printing: letterpress| envelope liner: fleming in pink | invite size: s8
Stop in to your local Smock retailer to get started on your custom Odin order today!
We have Liz at Paper Place in Austin, Texas to thank for submitting this bright and beautiful Dawson invitation to us for printing. Lively and cheery are definitely adjectives that come to mind when taking a look these beauties! We feel that pairing our ocean and yolk inks together is the perfect choice for a wedding in early spring. When this is the time of year we’re used to seeing softer color palettes – pastels, too – it’s refreshing to see such a bubbly and bold invitation. The couple also chose a custom letterpress sleeve which adds even more pizazz!
inks: ocean + yolk| fonts: smock clermont + carrington| paper: 1-ply white | printing: letterpress| letterpress sleeve: custom pattern in yolk | invite size: S-8 for sleeve
Paper Place was also sweet enough to send along the accessory pieces they printed in house to coordinate with the letterpress wedding invitations we printed. The reply card, information card and rehearsal dinner card were sent along with the invitations. The larger reception invitation and registry card were sent separately by the groom’s parents. We love that the vibrant color palette is maintained throughout this set. We always adore working with the lovely ladies at Paper Place – and we’d like to give a huge THANK YOU to them!
Our Dawson design is one of our most popular here at Smock – and we always get really psyched to see the ways couples customize this suite to truly make it all their own! Take a look at this rustic Dawson suite submitted to us by our friend, Jahna at The Pleasure of your Company in Lutherville, Maryland. Not only does a fresh color palette make a set all the more trendy, but richer tones also have a way of bringing warmth to a wedding invitation. There’s almost a comforting feeling in such an earthy and bold color palette. Then toss in our sherbrooke envelope liner for even more sophistication!
inks: sage + midnight | fonts: smock spencerian + carrington| paper: 2-ply white | printing: letterpress | liner: the sherbrooke pattern in sage | invite size: S8
Today we’re highlighting Urban Coast, one of our fabulous Smock retailers! Based in Belleair Bluffs, Florida, Urban Coast specializes in custom letterpress wedding invitations and event design. Owner Soosie Lazenby was kind enough to give us a behind the scenes scoop on this fabulous paperie.
Tell us about yourself & the shop. What was the inspiration behind Urban Coast?
I had a very blessed 20 year career in sports and entertainment marketing. I worked for companies such as IMG and Adidas, and served as the Sports Commissioner for the State of Massachusetts, an appointment by Governor Mitt Romney as the Chair of the Governor’s Committee on Physical Fitness and Sports, and then built my own company which I later sold. A geographical move made me ponder what was next. I decided to create a business that represented all the things I loved about my prior career and the challenges I faced in planning prestigious events. Thus, I founded URBANcoast: marrying the creative side of events and developing a model that provides a one stop shopping experience for clients. URBANcoast offers custom invitation designs, and represents the best in stationery, personalized gifts and accessories, and tabletop decor.
What do you love most about what you do?
Designing a one-of-a-kind look for clients that conveys the style and experience of their event. I also love getting to know our clients – it is such a personal process that takes place over an extended period of time. It creates a special opportunity to form a bond that goes beyond their wedding and carries over into other momentous occasions in their life.
Any predictions for 2012 weddings? What do you think will be popular this year? We are seeing a huge surge in letterpress. History always repeats itself. Additionally, fonts are taking center stage. This is why Smock and Bella Figura [Smock’s sister company] do so well for us. Having your design libraries allows our clients to create a unique look that represents their personality.
What’s the hottest color palette out there right now? Taupe — this color somehow makes its way into a majority of our designs.
What charities does your store support? We support a number of local charities, but the one we champion most is the Morton Plant Mease Foundation. Morton Plant is one of the top 50 hospitals in the country and we are fortunate to have the care they offer in our backyard. We have raised almost 100K and named a hospital suite on the new Women & Children’s floor after my father who has been on staff there for over 40 years, in addition to three other physicians who have made a profound impact on the lives of many in our community. (more…)
Nole Garey, editor and publisher of Oh So Beautiful Paper, gave this fantastic invitation set first place in our design contest! Nole loved the texture and the playful yet elegant mix of patterns for this wedding invitation set, and we couldn’t agree more – it’s simply stunning!
Danielle from Creative Touch Party Design in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida always sends us gorgeous designs, and this set is no exception. Much of the inspiration for this design was pulled from Smock’s Dawson suite, sleeve and all. Layers of dynamically designed pieces in this suite really bring it to life, and the colors of pewter and merlot give the playful patterns a little sophistication.
Danielle gave us the scoop on the inspiration behind these invitations. “The wedding colors are shades of wine and berry with silver. The wine color comes from her Lulu Kate bridesmaid dresses, which are just beautiful. These were the inspiration for the border color. The gray picks up the silver throughout the wedding decor. And the men are wearing gray tuxedos, which is reflective in the pocket she chose. The linens are a modern lace pattern which is reminiscent of the quilting in the invitation itself.”
We loved this set — congratulations, Danielle! And a huge thanks to Nole for judging the contest!
Customization = letterpress inks: merlot + pewter | fonts: carrington + smock clermont | paper color: white | paper size: s-7 for sleeve | envelope liner: ashford reversed in pewter | sleeve: custom design in pewter letterpress
This design won first place 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.
We featured these stunning letterpress invitations back in October and are thrilled to show them off one more time as a design contest honoree! This sophisticated set was sent to us by Darcy at Pearl Beach Paperie in Orlando, Florida, and features charming vintage airplanes and a rich color combination of cherry and black inks. The swirls and flourished fonts set a whimsical tone which balances the chic gold stripes printed on the folios and envelope liners. Congratulations and thank you to Pearl Beach Paperie for sending us such a lovely invitation set!
ink: cherry + black | fonts: custom| paper: 2-ply ivory | printing: letterpress | folio exterior: custom pattern in cherry | folio interior: custom pattern in gold | liner: custom pattern in gold |invite size: 5.125 x 7.75 |
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.
Randi, owner of the Printed Page in Atlantic Beach, New York customized a bright and beautiful bridal shower invitation for her daughter, Kelly. We often design small cards for our Smock dealers in order to display our promotions, and the card that we designed for our free envelope printing promotion just so happened to inspire Randi.
Randi had mentioned that the shower would be held in April and would have an “April showers” theme. She explained that the party favors were going to be pink and yellow umbrellas and wanted an elegant invitation to tie everything together. She states, “The inspiration came from one of your designs that reminded me of a modern heart. Since this is a shower invite, I thought it was both feminine and relevant. I bought pink and yellow umbrellas for give away gifts for all of the guests, and I am attaching hang tags with the same design to the umbrellas with ribbon. The tags will be the place cards and the umbrellas will add color and fun to the place card table!”
Randi, congratulations to you and your daughter! These invitations are perfect!
customization = letterpress inks: azalea + yolk | fonts: spence + cooper | paper color: white | paper size: s-6 | edge painting: yolk | envelope liner: sherbrooke reversed in yolk
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.
If you’re looking for a traditional wedding invitation suite – then look no further! We’re head over heels for this simple and sweet letterpressed set submitted to us by our friends at The Dandelion Patch in Reston, Virginia. Letterpressed in black ink with gorgeous mulberry edge paint that acts as the perfect accent to this one color set – we can’t help but swoon! After looking at photos of the The Ritz Carlton in McLean Virginia, where the fabulous wedding was held – we see what a fanciful and lavish venue the couple chose for their special day. Of course we believe tossing our mulberry ink into the mix helps keep this set looking romantic, but this set also encourages the feeling of the winter months. The three letter monogram on both the invitation and letterpress belly band adds another touch of elegance to this striking set!
ink: black | font: smock spencerian | paper: 1-ply white | printing: letterpress | edge paint in mulberry | liner: the champlain pattern in mulberry | letterpress belly band | invite size: S6
