Our great friend, Toni at The Write Image in Rockville, Maryland submitted these breathtaking Sabion letterpress invitations to us.  Our midnight and lavender inks print beautifully on our thick 2-ply bamboo paper. The couple chose to coordinate their set with two cards that were printed with the lavender front patterning and then two cards were printed with only midnight ink – which makes for a peppy look with contrasting pieces! Corner rounding and a beautiful patterned envelope liner in midnight complete this suite.

inks: midnight + lavender | fonts: poetica and therese | paper: 2-ply ivory bamboo | printing: letterpress | front patterning: sinclair in lavender |corner rounding |liner: the rousseau pattern in midnight | invite size: S8

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)

Thanks to Melanie at Salutations in Charlotte, North Carolina for the opportunity to print a beautiful letterpress + offset wedding invitations. Using submitted artwork to combine offset printing for their folio and letterpress printing for their cards, the patterns and designs used in this set were very striking. Seamist compliments taupe very well to begin with, but we were very pleased to see how elegant everything looked when put together. Great work, Melanie!

inks: seamist + taupe| fonts: custom + therese | paper: 1-ply ivory bamboo  | printing: letterpress | folio interior: windemere in taupe| folio exterior: custom in seamist |  invite size: s-7 folio |

Save the dates should help generate excitement for your special day and these contemporary custom offset save the dates are spot on!  The custom artwork for these was submitted to us from our good friends at Papery & Cakery in Boca Raton, Florida these fun save the dates are perfectly personalized.  We’re absolutely smitten with the ultramodern and trendy feel of this set.  The dark pewter ink helps the spring ink stand out and this color pairing is absolutely enchanting!  We love seeing save the dates that express style and these certainly do the trick.

inks: pewter + spring | fonts: custom | paper: 2-ply white bamboo | printing: offset | liner: the seneca pattern in spring | invite size: S-5SQ

At Smock our goal is to ensure that our brides have one of kind invitations for their big day. With that in mind, we often accept custom artwork to pair with our wide variety of fonts and letterpress (or offset) print in our luscious ink on our luxurious bamboo paper. The artwork submitted to us by Peabody Papers in Grandview Heights, OH once compared with all of the above, blew us away!

The 3-color offset invitation was printed on both the front and the back in pewter, slate and gold inks. The juxtaposition of the flat yet colorful imagery with the black letterpress text created such a dignified look. The subtle hint of masculinity is impeccable. Well done Peabody Papers. Well done!

Meg, from Peabody Papers had the pleasure of working with the happy couple and says, “Working with Shawna has been so much fun! She wanted to convey a sense of elegance while evoking thoughts of champagne bubbles. I drew the “bubbles” and decided that I would use the block for their names vs. a more traditional treatment. The last piece to come together was the kalogram – 5 sheets of proofs! It payed off though as she loves it and is using it & the dot design throughout the reception at the Statehouse. I have a degree in printmaking and enthusiastically convinced her that Smock letterpress would be the most beautiful printing option!!! She really loves the invitations – thanks for everything!”

Excellent thinking Meg!!! Champagne kisses and Caviar Dreams to you!

inks: black + pewter + gold + slate | fonts: cameron + indigo  | paper 2-ply white | invite size: S-8 | printing: letterpress + offset | edge painting: pewter | corner rounding

This design won third place 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.

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.

We are crazy in love with this great customization of our Lashar design, submitted by our friend Libby from Byrd + Bleecker in Fort Worth, Texas (who we had the joy of seeing last week when she came up for a visit – see the fabulous letterpress coasters made for her while she was here on Boxcar’s blog!).  We can’t get enough of the creative ways she uses our designs and motifs to create unique invitations for the lucky couples that walk into her store!

ink: midnight + peacock | fonts: engravers + engravers gothic | paper: 1-ply white | printing: offset | invite size: s-8 |

by Sarah Walroth, In-House Designer.

The next honoree in our Smock Design Contest is this custom save the date that we printed for our friends at Saluations in Charlotte, North Carolina. This is a double-sided design that we offset printed in peacock and seamist inks on our 1-ply bamboo paper. Salutations’s self-proclaimed Chief Style Officer Holly shares, “This save the date is my favorite so far! This was a collaborative effort with a fabulous bride who had a great design sense. We started with a vintage duogram. Inspiration was then drawn from the Tallulah design in the Social Occasions album, as well as the champlain pattern that she saw on a Smock box we had in the store from an order that had just arrived. It was so exciting to see the design ideas crafted into a beautiful reality by Smock’s wonderful designers and printers!”

Thank you so much to the team at Saulations for bringing us this incredible customization – it’s one of our very favorite save the dates!

Having first printed beautiful letterpress wedding invitations for Cathy and Tom in our Cavall design, we were sincerely thrilled when No Regrets in Newton, Massachusetts contacted us again about printing letterpress event schedules for the couple’s guests. Using the same size booklet as our letterpress program covers, we created a completely custom piece where we letterpressed the exterior and offset printed all of the weekend event information on the inside so guests would know where to be, what to see and what to wear the weekend of Cathy and Tom’s celebration. The exterior is letterpress printed in raspberry and peacock inks while all of the details inside were flat offset printed in peacock. We also corner rounded the booklet to give it that perfect finishing touch, making it a truly special way for the couple to welcome their guests and invite them to join in on all of the weekend fun.

Thanks to team at No Regrets for the great opportunity to print something so special and fun!