blind quilt

I really loved working on this winter invitation. The envelopes are a gorgeous and festive red, but my favorite part is the blind border on each piece. I used 100% cotton paper and a very soft typan to get the maximum impression.

korhogo 126

The delicious Bouillabaisse 126 here in Brooklyn is reopening in mid-September as French African style restaurant, Korhogo 126. The logo is somewhat similar but we've changed paper/color scheme.

Because it's a harder cover stock, this marigold Rossler paper was a little tricky at first. Unlike a 100% cotton paper, there isn't a lot of "give" with hard or coated papers. In this case I changed the tympan (the backing that goes under the piece to be printed) to a very soft somerset stock. This seems to have worked, it pulled a great impression while keeping the small text very sharp and clear.

rounding corners

One option for stationery finishing is to have the corners rounded. But as with any project, using the right tool makes all the difference. If you think you'll be doing a lot of rounding it's probably worth investing in a good machine. I use a manual lever-operated rounder. It is set up to handle a small stack at a time, but I think the corners look better when done one by one.

merci

I finished some thank you notes last week for a very nice client in Paris. Just some flat A6 cards and envelopes to match her wedding invitations. In fact, they are crossing the Atlantic as I speak. merci beaucoup madame ranjard. :)

abigail

I had a fun collaboration this week with designer Sean Oakes. Sean welcomed his new daughter in style by designing this lovely birth announcement in grey and fuscha. :)

the return of diego

A busy week here in dumbo. Our favorite press rigger Diego (striking a serious pose here) came by on Wednesday with a new addition to the studio, a beautifully restored C&P press for my studiomate Breck. Diego worked as a mechanical engineer in a large print shop before becoming a machine mover some years back, so his expertise with presses puts him in a league of his own. Anyone needing a mover in the area just let me know and I'll forward his contact info.

tiny website mention

A lot of people struggle over whether or not to include a website address on their wedding invitation. On one hand it can look slightly out of place, but on the other is rather necessary these days. I love this solution - a small, separate enclosure card. Very sweet and it gets the job done.

obi calendar

Hooray...now that August is here I'm starting work on my latest pet project, a 2008 calendar in all neutrals. Even though I love experimenting with different colors, I'll admit that my favorite style is minimalist - in both graphics and inks. I modeled the page design on Japanese obi's, which are the wide cloth belts worn with kimonos.

I'll be working on these for the next month or so, and if all goes according to schedule they will be available for purchase on the site in early Fall.

summer break

Whew, just back today after a much needed getaway. I had a chance to escape to europe for 8 days, with a nice mix of city and country in france and england. I'm truly inspired, what a fantastic experience. I'll be back on track this coming week with photography and starting the august printing schedule. But for today its laundry, plants and jetlag... :)

sage and chocolate brown

I'm delivering this batch of invitations today to a couple just over in brooklyn heights. This is a nice sage blossom with brown text on pearl white Cranes paper, 100% cotton.

The wedding rush seems to be winding down for this summer. I have two weddings booked for August, but otherwise am going to be working on some different projects. Which is good because I'll have some more variety in my postings... :)

steve and kirsten

Lavender cherry blossoms, with chocolate brown text, printed on natural white heavy card stock. A very pretty combination of traditional script and modern graphics.

nina cherington

Believe it or not, I've printed three weddings this summer to be held at Gedney Farm in New Marlborough, Mass. This last project was a collaboration with west coast illustrator Nina Cherington, who created these gorgeous summer farm graphics for a friend's invitations. This was a blast for me...thanks Nina!

miami

I printed this invitation Tuesday for a September wedding in Miami. Paper is a lush 179lb cotton stock - text in chocolate brown, orchids in clear ink.

regal pink

Things have been a little hectic around here since Saturday. But I just shipped out my last project of the week, and now have lots of nice things to photograph. I think I'll tackle that tomorrow, but for now a few words of gratitude...

monday

I spent most of the weekend printing like crazy, and will be continuing until Wednesday night when (fingers crossed) most of my current projects will be delivered. I'll post some shots as I go, but for now I like these delicate poppies in yellow.

nihongo de toppaninsatsu

I'm going to try a little departure from the normal today. Long long ago (after graduating college) I moved to the rural prefecture of Tochigi-ken in Japan to teach junior high english. I lived there for two years, and had a wonderful experience. Lately I've been getting reader traffic from Japan, so I thought it might be fun to brush off my language skills and post in Japanese. I did have this entry looked over for any major errors, but feel free to let me know if you see any glaring oddities.

Konnichiwa, Moontree Letterpress no Rebecca desu. Americajin dakedo ju-nen mae Nihon ni sunde imashita. Dakara chotto nihongo hanasemasu. Konkai, Nihonjin wa watashi no toppaninsatsu no burogu o yomimasu. Sugoi desho! Watashi no nihongo wa heta dakedo korekara mo nihongo de burogu gambarimasu. (tokidoki) Romaji wa daijobu? Shitsumon to 'comments' mo onegai shimasu... :) ('Letterpress' wa nihongo de 'toppaninsatsu' desu ka?) Korekara mo yoroshiku onegai shimasu!

PS: here are some shots from a wedding invitation I delivered today.

curvy pine tree

Just messing around with ink levels on the press this morning. I like the combination of a good impression and just a hint of ink. It seems strong and subtle at the same time.

sunday snapshot

I'm taking some pictures today to update the website, and I really lucked out with this nice sunlight. I found this gorgeous mushroom coral on my way to the studio this morning (in a store of course...). Hopefully I'll have some new images up on the site by tomorrow or Tuesday.

dress up in sweden

This is one of those weddings I dream of crashing. A nice grey and clear color scheme on mohawk superfine, hot off the press. I found this beautiful cucumber parchment at NY Central, which I'm just using as a background for this photo. Unfortunately its way too fragile to send through the mail.

thank you in green

I had to post this final piece of Sasha and Kevin's wedding invitations. They did such great design work, the whole job was a lot of fun to print. I'm off for the weekend - tomorrow to the renegade craft fair in williamsburg and sunday out of town. Next week I'm printing invitations for an August wedding in Sweden, which include some cool typeface elements. I'll be sure to post shots!