Finally, the moment you’ve been waiting for breathlessly for weeks – it’s time to wrap up our first ever Smock Design Contest by sharing our first place winner! This absolutely stunning customization, brought to us by our friends at Real Card Company in Seattle, was the clear favorite, taking our ever-popular Rhon letterpress wedding invitation design and completely reinventing it into something extraordinarily special. We loved it before we even printed it and seeing is believing – the end result is truly beautiful! It was a real favorite of Smock’s Creative Director, Amy Graham Stigler. From the soft romantic colors, pewter and wisteria, to the asymmetrical layout featuring a unique variation of the Rhon floral motif and horizontal orientation, Amy loved how this design was truly personalized to make a one of a kind creation.
Letterpress printed in soft wisteria and pewter inks, this invitation also features chic patterned backing in our rowe pattern in pewter.
While the letterpress invitation itself was printed in 2-color letterpress, the reply card was letterpress printed in 1-color in pewter ink. We love the play between colors and patterns in this incredible set – it’s both elegant and formal, but still fun and just a touch modern. A huge thank you to Real Card Company for collaborating with us on this incredible customization and congratulations on winning the first Smock Design Contest!
For more fabulous customizations of Smock’s letterpress wedding invitations, check out the rest of the honorees in our Smock Design Contest for incredible inspiration!
Miette and I recently attended a fairy festival at a local perennial farm. It was our first, so we weren’t quite sure what to expect (aside from lots of little be-glittered girls). On arrival, Miette was slightly awe-struck. Once she got her bearings, in true fairy fashion, she became quite industrious — sprinkling water on ALL the flowers with her wand. For nearly an hour. Other fairy-day moments: watching a puppet show, chasing butterflies and kissing a frog (ok, more princess than fairy, but still). I daresay, by the end, we were both fairied out.
While my last post focused on a ‘big’ summer event, this week I thought I would reflect on a small and frequent tradition of our family – the evening walk. The best thing about this tradition (besides its ease) is that it is completely mutable. There is no start and stop time. No map. No itinerary. Very few rules. The kids run and look and shout and wrestle. They point out little things they find interesting – bugs and balls and old coins. They ask questions. They chase the dog. They get tired out. And my husband and I just try to soak it all in. Because this time together seems like it may go by just as fast as their little legs…
Every summer there is an event that reminds me just why we moved to Wisconsin. It’s called the Fishoree and, as the name implies, its a fishing ‘competition’ for kids. (Competition in the sense that there are awards given for such categories as ‘cutest fish’.) It’s a favorite of ALL my boys as it involves worms, tangled line and consequent fish-tales. Oh yes, and a locally brewed beer for my husband (who needs it after dealing with the tangled lines.) Miette loves it as well. This year she spent the entire evening squealing “I wanna catch a beauty!” (As in….“what a beauty!”) And therein lies my focus of the evening – soaking up the sheer beauty of it all.
I adored camp as a child. The dusty cabins, the spirited counselors, the fireside songs — I ate it ALL up. So it was with great anticipation that I went as chaperone to my oldest’s camp this past month. My main role was as witness; witness to the constant (loud!) silliness, the new found independence, the occasional scraped knee and consequent (quickly wiped away) tears.
But I also got to participate in a few of my camp-time favorites — a treasure hunt, a hike in the woods and a visit to the canteen. Next year I am hitting the rope swing.
Its no secret that I adore the farmer’s market. It make me feel hopeful and inspired and, well, just like that ‘kid in the candy store.’ Most Saturdays we zip over to our local market which is quaint and neighborly and somewhat predictable in its offerings. But when we are feeling the need for the unexpected we load up the car and head to Madison for the BIG kahuna of markets.
My kids love the sights and samples and crowds. And the man with the bee-hive hat. And I love seeking out that odd vegetable that will inspire a new recipe and on a good week, may even convert one of my (very outspoken) strange-food-naysayers.
Truth be told, as a family, we’ve been know to blow off parades. One reason is that, in our area, there are just so darn many of them. But one parade we LOVE (Mom for the old cars & the kids for the LOADS of candy) happens on the fourth of July in a neighboring town. The colors alone are worth the one plus mile hike to get there….
Smock’s creative director, Amy Graham Stigler, is a successful designer and an incredible mother. We are thrilled that Amy will be sharing weekly glimpses into life as a designer and a mom, and snippets of inspiration along the way. You can read Amy’s past posts on the Smock blog here. First up, Amy’s kids have fun with homemade Father’s Day Cards…
It seems apropos that the children of a card designer love designing cards. And, oh boy, are my children prolific (and competitively so). Father’s Day alone resulted in 20 plus cards filled with loving sentiment and vibrant color.
The best part is that our mantel is always filled with a seasonally-appropriate-budget-friendly display of original artwork…
As we gear up to head to New York City this weekend for the 2009 National Stationery Show, we wanted to share a few photos of Smock’s 2008 stationery show booth – it’s hard to believe it’s already been a year since Smock first launched at the show! Our Creative Director, Amy Graham Stigler, did an incredible job of making our first booth absolutely beautiful and we can’t wait for everyone to visit us this year – you can find us at booth 2741.
Smock’s very first National Stationery Show booth showed off our pretty double-sided gift wraps made from 100% post consumer recycled paper – we think it would make totally pretty framed wall art, too! Our Calliope suite {top right} has become one of our best sellers, featuring a fun blue and orange color combination and the sweetest of butterflies and flowers that are oh so chic.
Displays of Smock’s pretty custom letterpress wedding invitations, informational cards, catalogs, gift wraps and greeting cards were made even prettier by great lighting in our tiny little booth. And who doesn’t love bright pink peonies in spring?
We’ve had such an exciting first year and we can’t wait to see what the 2009 show has in store. We promise to come back with lots of photos to share with those of you who can’t visit us in person and to everyone else, we can’t wait to see you next week in New York!
Stay tuned this week for lots of show-related news and special sneak peeks of our many new releases!
Smock’s designer Amy Graham Stigler is guest blogging on Design Mom this week about how to host kid-friendly dinner parties. Lots of smart, practical inspiration and advice. Check out some general tips, how to set the stage, the food, and the food and drinks. Also check out a a sweet post Design Mom did on Smock a few months ago, featuring some of our letterpress social stationery and letterpress fill-in invitations too. Enjoy! And then go out and host a dinner party of your own!