When we first heard about the Salt City Urban Art & Craft Market, we were excited. Really really excited. And then we learned that the market was taking place right here in Smock’s neighborhood in downtown Syracuse – and that so many of our favorite talented local artisans were participating – and we literally jumped for joy. So if you’re here in Syracuse this weekend on Saturday, October 24 – or even if you’re a short drive away – you can’t miss this.

Salt City Urban Art & Craft Market is going to be an exciting marketplace for local and regional independent artists, designers, and crafters to showcase their work. It’s all about bringing fresh, fun and unique handmade goods to the public. There will be music, door prizes, and some of the area’s most talented artists, designers, crafters, jewelry makers, and artisans. All under one roof. We can’t wait.

We’re completely excited with the depth and variety of vendors participating at Salt City. Some of them are even our favorite designers with studios right here in the same old warehouse turned artist’s haven that Smock calls home! From book binders to stationery lines to fashion designers to potters and blown glass aficionados, there will be something for everyone. It may just be the perfect time to check a friend or two off your holiday gift-giving list!

Above, just a small sampling of what’s in store at Salt City. Fun and adorable organic baby and yoga wear from babybe and we love the beautiful jewelry from after winter. Unique prints and drawings from Anne Slattery | Tilting Press and beautiful hand-bound books from Amaranth Press. The funky, fashionable handbags from Lilipad Creations are a favorite with the ladies here at Smock – we all have at least one! And bright polka-dotted bowls from Luckalilly are definitely on a few holiday wish lists around here. Consider us completely inspired.

If you’re not in the Syracuse area and interested in finding out about cool indie craft fairs in your area, check out Handmade Nation and their listing of indie markets on the Handmade Nation blog – scroll down for a listing of indie craft fairs on the right sidebar. And if you are in Syracuse, make sure you get to Salt City this weekend. With the impressive lineup of inspired artisans who will be exhibiting, you won’t be disappointed.

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!

Brought to us by our friends at Alphagraphics in Chicago, the first runner-up in our Smock Design Contest is this truly customized letterpress social note in our Lashar design. It features fabulous edge painting, pattern backing and a gorgeous lined envelope for a look that is totally luxe and completely personalized. Letterpress printed in red and pool inks, the card itself showcases gorgeous red patterned backing in our champlain pattern. It’s edge painted in espresso and then paired with an envelope lined in our payette pattern in espresso ink. This is truly a piece where every detail was considered – the front of the card even features beautiful hand calligraphy in red ink. Smock’s Creative Director, Amy Graham Stigler, fell in love with this customization for it’s unique play between pattern and color. We’d love to be the recipients of one of these amazingly beautiful letterpress correspondence cards!

Thank you to Alphagraphics for sending us such a truly unique creation!

The second runner-up in our Smock Design Contest is this inspired Rhon customization, a beautiful suite of pieces in tangerine and taupe, from The Write Image in Salt Lake City. Smock’s Creative Director, Amy Graham Stigler, fell in love with the sophisticated color palette and the use of our beautiful Smock Spencerian calligraphy font. With the leaves changing rapidly in Upstate NY, we think it’s the perfect letterpress invitation set for a charming fall wedding.

The letterpress reply cards feature 1-color letterpress, printed in taupe. Not only is it really chic, but it’s also a great option for keeping letterpress more affordable. We always suggest this as a great way to save money without losing a bit of style.

And we all know that nothing says “thank you” quite like customized letterpress thank you cards to coordinate with your letterpress invitations. These letterpress thank you notes are especially beautiful and definitely among our recent favorites to print. (See more of our favorite letterpress thank you cards.)

Thank you so much to our friends at The Write Image for sending us this beautiful letterpress customization! We’re winding down on revealing the winners of our Smock design contest so stay tuned – the last two honorees are absolutely incredible customizations!

Like the first honorable mention from Judy Paulen Designs in our recent Smock Design Contest, we were completely thrilled at the opportunity to print this unique customization of our Burstell letterpress wedding invitation design. Using custom inks in a brilliant green and vibrant pink, it’s paired with a chic custom folio for a total package that is nothing short of show-stopping. Mixing our payette pattern on the exterior and our sinclair pattern on the interior, the folio is bright, modern and playful. Folio inserts included a fabulous letterpress events card detailing all of the weekend wedding events for the convenience of guests, particularly appropriate for this destination wedding in Jamaica.

Once again, thank you to Judy Paulen Designs for dreaming up this exciting customization – it was such a pleasure for us to print these fabulous letterpress wedding invitations!

Clean House, Clean Planet by Karen Logan is an incredible resource, explaining how to mix up your own eco-friendly household cleaners from everyday ingredients you likely already have at home. It’s the Smock Eco Read pick of our office manager, Carrie, who shares with us a bit more about one of her favorite eco reads…

I love this book! Karen’s recipes for cleaners are effective, fun to make, and  a pleasure to use. I cleaned houses for a while after my son was born and used only these products, and everyone for whom I cleaned begged me to make some for them to have. This book really breaks down the benefit versus harm of cleaning agents used in the home, with an eye to the long-term effect these different chemicals have beyond our home environments into the environment we all share. Making your own cleaning solutions is greener in every way, and an easy habit to adapt as part of the journey toward living sustainably in today’s world. I read that book three years ago and continue to this day to use the cleaning solutions found here!

The first of two honorable mentions in our Smock Design Contest brought to us by Judy Paulen Designs at Bloomingdale’s in New York, we’re completely in love with this chic customization of our Engadine letterpress wedding invitation design. It’s printed in elegant wisteria and pewter inks and features our playful Etienne and Shaw fonts for a finished design that is the perfect blend of traditional elegance and modern sophistication. The set also includes a really lovely letterpress reception card that makes the most of a play between the script Etienne font and the clean look of the sans serif Shaw font. It’s minimal and simple, but still fresh and completely chic.

Thanks so much to our friends at Judy Paulen for sending us this beautiful customization!

Here at Smock we’re not only in love with printing beautiful letterpress invitations (and letterpress business cards, letterpress thank you notes, letterpress greeting cards…you get the picture), we’re also in love with the earth. Really really in love with the earth. We’re always working on improving our eco practices to do our part to help protect the environment for future generations. The Amazon Conservation Association is just one of the organizations we partner up with in our effort to promote

What is the ACA?
“Our mission is to conserve the biological diversity of the Amazon. Road construction, logging, and land clearing for agriculture are endangering the health of the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon Conservation Association works by forging ties with governments, nonprofits and people who depend on the rainforests for their livelihood, with the goal of saving rare species and habitats and learning from the land.”

Why is the Amazon significant?
The Amazon rainforest is home to 30% of the plant and animal species on Earth and additionally, 20% of all fresh water on the planet flows through the basin’s rivers. Recognizing the importance of the Amazon rainforest to the greater ecological systems of the world as a source of countless foods, fibers and potential new medicines, the ACA works to protect these invaluable forests as they are facing increasing threats from slash and burn agriculture, wildlife poaching, mining, illegal logging, oil prospecting, and large development projects. Rainforests are also a vital force in shaping the world’s weather and climate patterns with the UN citing that 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions are related to tropical deforestation. It is estimated that at current rates, more than half of the Amazon rainforest may be destroyed or severely damaged by 2030. ACA is working together with local communities and partner organizations throughout the region to protect these precious forests.

Want to get involved?

• Consider visiting one of the ACA’s two research centers – they welcome travelers of all types. (Talk about a cool idea for an eco honeymoon!) They have one location in the beautiful cloud forest outside of Cusco, Peru, called Wayqecha. The other location is in the Amazon, in the state of Madre de Dios, Peru, called CICRA. Both stations provide 3 meals, cabins (private or shared) and an endless amount of hiking trails. Wayqecha also houses a world class canopy walkway, which visitors are welcome to explore and enjoy the birds-eye view of the rainforest. Volunteers are also always welcome!

{Top – CICRA photo by Raechel Running | Bottom – Wayqecha photos via ACA}

• Opt to make a donation to ACA in lieu of traditional wedding favors. Those couples who make a donation to the ACA will receive beautiful letterpress favor cards designed and printed by Smock. We’re also offering free personalizing of the favor cards with a couple’s name for those participants who have worked with Smock for their letterpress wedding invitations. You can read more here.
• Sign up for ACA’s quarterly newsletter to keep up to date on recent events and announcements
  Sponsor a small program; $40 conserves 5 acres of rainforest, $80 conserves 10 acres of rainforest, $400 buys a GPS for a park ranger, $50 sponsors a “Science Saturday” program for local children, $150 provides a uniform for park rangers, $400 buys one pair of binoculars for park rangers
• Sponsor a program; large-scale donors can sponsor a reforestation or micro-enterprise project, starting at $10,000

For more information about the ACA and how you can get involved or to make a donation, contact Gena at info@amazonconservation.org

Two creative women after our own hearts, owners Samantha Finigan and Whitney Swaffield, were inspired by their shared love of letterpress, stationery and great design when establishing Gus & Ruby Letterpress in a quaint storefront in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Having met when working at the same advertising agency, the two bonded over mutual affection for their dogs before realizing they had so much more than that in common. Newly opened, their shop is not only named after their lovable dogs Gus and Ruby, but also a true reflection of Samantha and Whitney’s mutual passion for all things letterpress.

Back before Gus & Ruby was born, Samantha and Whitney used to talk about their love for letterpress while walking their dogs. With a family history in printing that now dates back three generations, Whitney was able to get her hands on an old press. She and Samantha took a couple of classes and started letterpress printing cards, invitations and announcements they would design for friends and family. While launching their own stationery line was something their loved ones encouraged them to do, Samantha and Whitney are self-described paper hounds and wanted a way to share their love for some of their favorite letterpress lines. The result? A beautiful boutique on Market Street in Portsmouth where they sell beautiful cards, gift wrap and wedding invitations from a carefully curated selection of artisans.

Recognizing that no one in their area was offering design-forward artisan-crafted stationery to the local market, Whitney and Samantha set about carefully selecting only their very favorite paper vendors and stationery lines to carry in their shop. Every item in the store was lovingly hand-picked and is something they personally love and want to share with their customers. Great design and fine craftsmanship is at the heart of what Gus & Ruby stands for and the process of choosing product was a very involved one that Samantha and Whitney loved. While they continue to do custom design and printing on a very select basis, their true love comes from sharing their favorite stationery vendors with the local community.

The selection of exquisite stationery is not the only aspect of opening shop that had Whitney and Samantha working hard. Even the physical design and layout of the store carries their thumbprint. All of the furniture was custom built to fit the design aesthetic they were aiming for and the two women readily rolled up their shirtsleeves and tackled all of the spackling and painting on their own. After a year of intense research, business plan writing, dreaming, and crossing fingers, the shop is finally open and all of that hard work is paying off as their shared dream becomes a reality.

In true Smock fashion, we had to know a little bit more about Portsmouth and Whitney and Samantha’s picks for the top things to see and do while visiting their beautiful little town. Their recommendation? Stop by Flatbread Company for lunch followed by an afternoon shopping along Deer Street and ice cream at Annabelle’s. For the ladies, a stop at Making Faces, a lovely cosmetics boutique can’t be missed and taking time to visit Prescott Park promises to be a highlight of any trip to Portsmouth. (Aside from your visit to Gus & Ruby, that is.)

While Whitney continues honing her expertise as a designer and letterpress printer, Samantha has taken to the forefront in helping to tackle the business and marketing side of keeping the Gus & Ruby operation moving forward. She was more than happy to share a bit more with us…

If you could take a vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be? What would you do? Who would go with you?
I’d go back to the Okavongo Delta in Botswana and I’d go with my children (this would need to happen in the future…when I have kids someday!) I had the great great fortune of going to Botswana on safari with my mother after I graduated from college. Standing smack dab in the middle of the African wilderness – I have never felt more a part of the world community, more connected to those around me than I did in the delta. I observed herds of elephants grazing, listened to the lazy evening calls of hippos, watched a pair of cheetahs hunt and kill an impala – it was a pretty incredible experience and made me remember what a small, perfect world we live in. Hugely humbling and inspiring – the idea that I could ever share something as amazing as what my mother shared with me makes me weak in the knees with hope and gratitude.

What are you top 5 prized possessions?
This is too hard a question! But, here goes…
1. The photo albums my mother created for me and my brother of our various family vacations. Looking at them never fails to remind me of how much we laugh together.
2. A collection of notes my father has written me over the course of my life. He used to travel a lot for work when I was young and every single trip he went on, he would leave a little hand-written note under my pillow before he left that I would then find while he was gone. They aren’t fancy – mostly just little “sweet dreams” notes written on scrap paper – but they mean the world to me.
3. My grandmother’s ring. It’s as sparkly, unique, and treasured as she was.
4. My saddle – there is nothing like the smell of worn leather or the feel of galloping around on a pony. Riding horses reminds me that no one is really better than anyone else when you’re up to your ankles in manure while cleaning stalls.
5. My cupcake pans. I love love love to bake!

If you could describe your personality in letterpress, which Smock invitation would you be and why?
I’d be the Haddington invitation with Spencerian style calligraphy complete with verbena edge painting and a  rousseau lined envelope in verbena. It’s bright, cheery, and classic. The calligraphy adds a personal, loving touch – but it doesn’t take itself too seriously. I couldn’t be black tie. Could I be “comfy shoes recommended”?

Thank you, Samantha and Whitney, for allowing us to take a sneak peek into the inspiration behind Gus & Ruby – congratulations on your beautiful new store!

{All photos by Emilie Inc. Photography}

Our next runner up in our recent Smock Design Contest features a unique combination of custom artwork and signature Smock design, a truly unique customization that came to us from Paper Love in Brooklyn. Showcasing a custom hand-drawn illustration depicting the couple’s wedding venue, this letterpress wedding invitation is undeniably personal and thoughtful. Bright verbena and soft pewter inks make for a combination that is bold yet incredible sophisticated while the pattern backing in our marav pattern provides an unexpected touch. The letterpress reply card is in our Aberdeen design and all of the pieces feature corner rounding for that perfect finishing touch.

Thank you to our friends at Paper Love for sending us this fun and festive customization! It was such a treat for us to print something so unique.