Want in on a little known secret? These ten beauties (standard liners from our Social Occasions album) are over 50% less than our custom envelope liners! Our standard liners are still the same high quality offset printing on bamboo paper, but made more affordable because we keep these ten popular options in stock. Featured colors include pewter, pool, mango, grass and azalea. If your local dealer carries both our Social Occasions and Wedding album, you can use these standard liners with any design, including wedding invitations! To learn more, visit a Smock store near you!
Recently unveiled at the National Stationery Show and the New York International Gift Fair, today we’re excited to introduce you to our latest eco stationery and paper goods from our Everyday collection! Just in time for back to school season, our new letterpress greeting cards, eco gift wrap, gift bags, eco sticky notes, patterned boxes, letterpress notepads, pocket-sized notebooks (and more!) can be found on our website and at Smock retailers worldwide.
Eco Sticky Notes
Our new eco sticky notes are bright and vibrant, featuring 700 sticky notes made from 100% post consumer recycled paper. They are FSC certified and made locally here in Upstate New York.
New Jotter Notebooks
Our jotter notebooks come in a set of two coordinating jotters with 40 pages each. They are made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper with covers made from our signature gift wrap and letterpress printed with the word “notes.” We keep them in our pockets, our purses and at our fingertips for jotting down great ideas.
New Letterpress Notepads
Our pretty new letterpress memo notepads feature letterpressed bamboo paper covers + 90 blank interior pages made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper.
New Patterned Eco Boxes
Acid-free and made from 100% post consumer recycled materials right here in Upstate New York, our new eco boxes come in three sizes and a variety of patterns and colors. They are perfect as gift boxes, keepsakes boxes and as stylish storage solutions. How will you use yours?
New Eco Gift Bags
Our new eco gift bags are truly one of a kind. They are made for us in the Himalayan forests of Nepal by a really cool community-owned group devoted to sustainable forestry. They are FSC certified and silkscreen printed on handmade lokta paper – they’re also sturdy enough for re-use! These bags are made using papermaking techniques that have been around since the 12th century A.D.
New Letterpress Greeting Cards
More of our letterpress greeting cards you know and love, our new cards feature all new occasions including happy new home, baptism, bar/bat mitzvah, pet sympathy, and graduation in additional to perennial favorites such as happy birthday, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, baby, wedding and engagement greeting cards. All of our greeting cards are sustainably letterpress printed on our bamboo paper and come paired with patterned envelopes.
New Eco Gift Wrap Patterns
A long time Smock favorite, our eco gift wrap is made from 100% post consumer recycled paper and features colorful double-sided patterns. We’ve introduced six new patterns all perfect for the upcoming holiday season and occasions beyond.
Stay tuned for even more great new designs and updates!
Today we’re excited to share the first of our ten honorees in our recent Smock Design Contest! These letterpress baby announcements were a very special project for us, one we got to work on directly with the new mom herself – Kelley Beirne Stephens, owner of Houston Invitation Service. (Talk about exciting!)
Kelley shares, ” Being the owner of a stationery boutique, I knew I wanted to do a truly special announcement for our first baby. That meant using Smock for sure! We didn’t find out the sex of the baby ahead of time so I sketched out both boy and girl designs. As soon as our little girl made her debut, I took out my draft and made a few revisions…the main one was to ‘girl it up’ and change the paper color to the soft pink so that her name would take on a softer, more tone-on-tone quality. I had our calligrapher pen her name, monogram, and a few items to punctuate the text. I then set up a draft and sent it on to the pros at Smock. The monogram liner was a last minute decision and I think it really completed the look. We are so pleased with the result and have had such great feedback from recipients, too!”
These pretty letterpress baby announcements were printed in dove and blush inks on our pearl paper with silver edge painting and corner rounding to ensure no detail was left forgotten. They feature pattern backing in our sherbrooke pattern in blush and the envelope liner features a custom monogram in blush. They are feminine, girly and perfect for welcoming a new baby girl. Congratulations to Kelley and Steve on welcoming the new addition to their family and on being a winner in our Smock Design Contest!
New for 2010 and recently unveiled at the National Stationery Show, we are excited to introduce you to the second of our two new calligraphy fonts exclusive to Smock! Calligrapher Patricia Mumau of Primele Studio created our new Harrison font, a bold, fresh calligraphy lettering style that we showcased on our 2010 NYIGF invitations. Patricia worked alongside our internationally recognized typography firm to create her amazing new font and we’re proud to show it off! All of our calligraphy fonts (now four in total) are available with no additional calligraphy fee when you order custom letterpress stationery from Smock. Visit one of our awesome Smock dealers to see samples!
Today it is our pleasure to welcome Patricia to the blog for a little Q + A session. Welcome, Patricia!
How did you become interested in calligraphy?
I was studying in Rome at the time, and I came across a street vendor selling antique mail to collectors – old letters and postcards, amazing postage, meaty papers – and all with the most fascinating handwriting. The penmanship was imperfect but graceful, for everyday and yet lucidly personal. I wanted to capture that candid natural hand in a contemporary calligraphy and began experimenting.
What tools does someone need to start learning calligraphy?
Patience, creative freedom, access to a library, a pen nib and holder, and a bottle of ink in a irresistible color.
What was the process like for designing a font for Smock?
For my part, I created gobs of handwriting samples. I took time to consider the nuances of my mark making – the way I dotted my “i”s, the curve of my question mark…
What do you think makes hand calligraphy so special?
Some projects really need that look of handwritten typography, and having access to handwriting styles on demand with calligraphy fonts makes a great addition to a graphic designer’s toolbox. But however useful, fonts can’t do everything. When it comes to spot phrases that require a bit of artistic flare and incorporated flourishes, hand calligraphy is the better fit.
What was the first lettering style you learned?
Classic American Cursive in 2nd grade. I am glad to have put those “Q”s masquerading as “2”s behind me.
Are you right or left handed?
I’m left handed, which made things interesting at first as I was learning. But with a bit of trial and error I figured out techniques that worked for me.
What’s a normal workday like for you?
#1) Coffee. Next I usually go over what’s on the docket with my sister Rachel who manages the studio’s projects. I do most of my addressing in the late morning and early afternoon, and work on design projects such as invitations in the later part of the day.
Other than invitations, envelopes and place cards, what other fun things do people have hand-lettered?
I’ve created logos, transcribed letters, and designed calling cards. Currently I’ve been creating a lot of hand-lettering for return address stamps.
What is your favorite letter in the alphabet to calligraph?
A capital “Z”, all the way.
What fictional character would you be and why?
Virginia Lee Burton’s Little House. I’d like to think that while the world is constantly changing all around me, that I’d remain true to the builder’s intentions…and maybe someday make a move to a fantastic landscape and get a new coat of paint.
Where do you look for inspiration?
Mid-century picture book illustration, piped birthday cakes, American folk needlework, Swiss graphic design, opening credits to films from the 40’s and 50’s, Swedish decor, happy thoughts.
What is your favorite book of all time?
A Hole is to Dig by Ruth Krauss
How long have you been doing calligraphy professionally?
I started marketing my services late summer of 2009, so a little over a year now.
Primele consists of you and your two sisters, does everyone have a say in the design process?
We all bring our own strengths to the table. For me it’s the hand-drawn typography and illustration. I also tend to work a lot with the initial concepts and designs. Rachel does most of the work once a design is brought into the computer. She’s our Adobe software guru who makes everything graphically perfect. At different times throughout a project we’ll run it through the-kimmy. Kim has an amazing eye and a sensitive design palate, and her perfected taste acts as a kind of editor to my sometimes too-funky ideas.
Today we’re excited to announce the winners of our most recent Smock Design Contest! Our friend and paper blogger extraordinaire Kristen from Paper Crave did the honor of selecting our first place winner and runner-ups from among our favorite recent customizations, sent to us by our beloved Smock dealers. Over the next few weeks we will be sharing full details and photos of all our honorees here on our blog so don’t miss it. In the meantime, a big thank you to all of our awesome Smock dealers!
FIRST PLACE WINNER – Salutations in Charlotte, North Carolina
Brought to us by Salutations in Charlotte, guest judge Kristen says, “I love that it’s feminine without being too feminine,” about our winning design, a stunning customization of our Kurai wedding invitation.
FIRST RUNNER UP – Luxe Expressions in Atlanta
Saying that “…the vibrant colors and bold pattern make this such a fun invitation” we loved Kristens’s pick for first runner up, a custom 40th birthday party invitation design for our friends at Luxe Expressions in Atlanta.
SECOND RUNNER UP – Judy Paulen Designs in Manhattan
Kristen’s choice for second runner up is a custom letterpress wedding invitation brough to us by Judy Paulen Designs at Bloomingdale’s in Manhattan. She loved it because “the fantastic color choices and patterns give it a very modern feel.”
HONORABLE MENTIONS
In addition to our three winners, we’re recognizing seven additional designs that inspired us to no end. We extend a heartfelt thank you to our friends at the following stores – we are continually awed by all you do!
Details in Philadelphia
We loved printing these pretty letterpress graduation announcements for our friends at Seaside Papery in Southern California. Showcasing our Alzette design from our Social Occasions album, they were printed in verbena and papaya inks for a fresh, youthful look that is both sophisticated and sweet.
A while back we featured Andrea and John’s penguin motif letterpress save the dates, which we printed for our friends at Union Street Papery in San Francisco and today we’re excited to share their invitations! The charming custom penguin motif is carried throughout the invitation suite, letterpress printed in grass and midnight inks. Both the invitation envelope and the cute letterpress escort cards feature envelope liners in our Seneca pattern in grass, making for a fun, preppy look. Thanks so much to the folks at Union Street Papery for working with us on such a cool design!
Last week our Smock team temporarily relocated to New York City and the Jacob Javits Center where we attended the New York International Gift Fair for the first time. Now that we’re back in Syracuse, we thought we’d share a behind the scenes look at the setup of our booth and the final result, including a sneak peek at some of our newest eco paper goods and stationery!
When you show up at Javits, this is what you show up to – a blank space with bare floors and a sign declaring the space as yours. In our case, the sign was crooked and hanging by a thread. No worries! We had a plan.
We ship everything to New York in two large freight crates. Then begins the task of unpacking, laying down flooring, putting up walls and assembling furniture and shelving.
After many hours of work, we finally started unwrapping product to place in the booth. We merchandise the booth the way we envision merchandising an awesome store filled with nothing but Smock goods. (Now that would be a cool store!)
Once everything is in place twelve hours later, we’re left with a booth that looks a little like this…
So there you have it! Check out our newest eco paper goods (including new gift boxes, sticky notes, gift wrap and gift bags!) and thanks to everyone who stopped by to visit us at NYIGF last week!
Brought to us by our friends at Francis-Orr in Corona del Mar, California we just love this ocean inspired letterpress invitation suite, printed for a destination 50th birthday party! It is a custom design featuring motifs from our Social Occasions album in fun tropical colors of midnight and papaya. The letterpress invitations, events cards, and reply cards were tucked inside a patterned folio featuring our Willoughby pattern on the interior and a seahorse on the exterior, both printed in midnight. To bring it all together, the envelope was lined in Willoughby in papaya for a complete package that is bright, festive and just perfect for a fun-filled birthday getaway.
Many long but fun hours later, we’ve finally wrapped up setup on our first ever New York International Gift Fair booth! Tomorrow through Thursday, you can find us in booth 7555 at the Jacob Javits center showing off all of our favorite paper goods and stationery. If you’re attending the show we do hope you’ll stop by and say hi. We’ll be blogging and tweeting throughout the week so stay tuned for more from New York!
