The Story of a Coaster, Business Card and Holiday Card.

Milk Jar Cookies – A perfect pairing for letterpress

I walked into Milk Jar Cookies on the day of their soft open. Their store told a wonderful story. So much effort was put into the store that I knew the cookies were going to be incredible. The cookies were like no other. They are soft and luscious with great taste combinations. I worked on a card to house their gift card, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to work on three new projects!

The story begins with the coaster set. They wanted a set of coasters that included the Milk Jar Cookies logo, their iconic Milk Jar and Spatula illustration, and “Life’s Short Eat Cookies.” I printed them on double thick cotton stock and gave them rounded corners. They included the coasters in the cookie of the month mailing this past fall. Plus they selling them as a set of six at the store.

Then I got to design and print their holiday card. Their storefront is so charming with the window displays changing for each season and holiday. It welcomes you from the street and I felt it would be perfect vignette for their holiday card. A loose and hand drawn style helped to convey their warmth and friendliness. I love that we printed it in red

The last chapter of this story is about the business card. The store has a business card, but Courtney the owner wanted letterpress cards for herself. I knew that I wanted to create a double-sided card to give it more substance. The back was designed with a pinstripe design and their tagline. It gave the cards a great textural feel that made you want to turn them over. For an extra visual impact, there is a layer of aqua between the front and back of the card. 

If you haven't had a Milk Jar Cookie, check them out. www.milkjarcookies.com.

Raven Note Cards

A custom notecard set for artist, Stephanie Miller

Stephanie did a series of quick brush and ink sketches she refers to as, 2 minute sketches. This was a series of 4 ravens that she commissioned me to print a set of note cards. The jet black of the letterpress ink made a striking contrast to the white of the lettra stock. She sells them on her website, StephanieMillerArtist.com. The crows were printed on the Vandercook 4 and the indicia on the back on a C&P Pilot Press. I decided to print them on two separate presses. This gave me the ability to make the ravens a super dense black and give detail to the indicia. Although this added time to the project I was quite happy with the end result.

You can read about Stephanie’s 2 Minute Sketches on her blog. http://www.stephaniemillerartist.com/blog/2014/8/22/the-two-minute-sketch

Buckslips, Buckslips Everywhere!

Personalized Buckslips

One of my personal favorite stationery items is a buckslip. What a wonderful casual note. And it is the perfect size to fit into a No. 10 envelope - policy style of course. Not everyone has works at a place where this is part of the standard business stationery. I was fortunate to have learned about these handy note cards.

For those of you wondering the origin of the name. It was a small vertical note that was the size of a dollar bill - a buck. Our dollars are smaller now and for my designs, I have made it larger.

These buckslips were commissioned as a gift for a friend's wife. She has a love of paper and an appreciation for buckslips. Instead of getting one design I recommended that we do a personalized variety pack. This way she can use a different design depending on her mood or the person receiving it. Since I love buckslips, this was a great project for me!

Duplexed Holiday Card

The Refinery Creative Holiday Card - 2013

This is the third year I have had the opportunity to print the holiday card for The Refinery. They are a creative agency located in Los Angeles working primarily for entertainment clients. Each year a different designer works on the design... and since their print work is motion picture and television, designing in two color line art is a little different for them. 

I always look forward to printing their cards. Each year we do a flat card duplexed with a color stock. This year the back was Aspire Juniper Berry with Lettra on the front. It is a nice contrast between the smooth hard finish of the Aspire and the soft cotton feel of the Lettra.  The shimmer always gives me a challenge when mixing the ink to match. But isn't that part of the fun! It is for me. The second color was a red-orange which complimented the winter aqua nicely.

I hope all of those receiving these cards enjoyed them as much as I did printing them.