Yesterday we got a shipment of a dozen or so boxes, each one filled to the gills with new merchandise.  Not just new stuff, good stuff!  So much good stuff that almost all of the employees here have our own secret stash of stuff we want to get for ourselves. 

My stash includes the following: 

 

– Jack and Lulu boxed notes.  They are so cute I can barely stand it.

– Atomic Soda chlldren’s notes for my nieces.

– A Linda & Harriett paper broche (handmade right here in Brooklyn) — this is for my friend Keely.

Come check it out!

Nicole Ossola’s Kirei Nest, a blog chock full of great finds, focuses on NYC this week and features our suggestions for Brooklyn-centric welcome baskets and favors including a link to our free downloadable Brooklyn bicycle designs of notecards and tags.

Today’s post is inspired by a great conversation I had with our new friend Eugune from Rolling Press, a great local Brooklyn printer, that uses only recycled papers, vegetable inks and environmentally-conscious practices.

Check out their beatuiful website http://www.rollingpress.com/.

Our clients always express their interest in being environmentally friendly with the decision they make about their invitation and stationery choices.  So we thought we would share some info about making your paper choices and keeping your invitation beautiful and eco-conscious.

One easy solution we often recommend is to consider using paper made of cotton fibers rather than post-consumer recycled. Cotton paper is strong, beautifully textured and a more renewable resource that takes less energy, bleach and chemicals to successfully achieve beautiful paper.

While there are many companies that make cotton paper, Oblation Paper & Press can boast that they make their own.

Crane & Co. paper is probably the most recognizable source for cotton paper.  Best of all, they use recycled cotton rag so no new cotton is grown to make the paper.  

The down side to cotton paper, however, is that due to its weight and texture sometimes your printing methods are limited. Post-consumer recycled paper is another great option and now is available in a beautiful array of colors and sizes, no more of the old school speckeled brown card stock.

http://www.greenpapercompany.com/difference.html

Our talented and creative Store Manager, Mallory Larson, illustrator extraodinaire, just constructed the most darling display for our very large corner storefront windows, inspired by Hello Lucky’s Trade show booth from the NSS. 

In case you don’t get a chance to stroll down the avenue to come see it, we thought it would be fun to share it with you all here.

The best part is that it was fun and inexpensive and (if you’re a great artist like Mallory) pretty easy to do!

Many thanks to Alana Phinney for taking the pictures.

If you are on the hunt for the perfect wedding invitation, birth announcement, menu or even stationery, consider blind debossing—also known as blind letterpress. “Blind debossing” means pressing a design or text into a soft cotton paper without ink leaving an imprint.

While blind debossing a motif has been popular for awhile—especially for a monogram personalized stationery—recently designers have been using this process in a new way. As you can see, by covering the entire paper with a blind debossed design and printing text on top of it, the paper begins to look like fabric.

If you are a tactile person who has a habit of groping every piece of stationery you see, like me, this will take your obsession to a whole new level. Be sure to stop by the store if you need to give these pieces a feel.

See you soon,
Kalin

I guess it’s old habits from school days… as September rolls around I always get excited thinking about my new datebook. We just put out our calenders for 2010 so here are a few faves that we have in the store right now!

And of course there is always the classic Moleskine weekly planner available in the very popular red… formatted to show the week’s appointments on the left and complimented by a ruled page for notes on the right. It’s a planner and notebook in one! It even comes with adorable and organizer friendly stickers – genius!

You’ll never have to worry if you lose your iPhone again.

Beautiful days like today make me want to go to Coney Island and eat fried clams on the beach. So since I’m feeling nostalgic today I have decided to post my top ideas for fun and personal ways to “Brooklynize” your wedding day…. all of the pictures are things we have done for our clients’ recent Brooklyn weddings.

• Use a vintage Brooklyn postcard for a save the date
• Have your ceremony in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Bubby’s Pie Company, or the River Cafe – all have staggering views of the Bridge
• Have loved ones read quotes or passages from writings of Brooklyn authors
• Use a picture of a Brooklyn landmark such as the bridge on your invitation
• Instead of numbers, name tables after Brooklyn neighborhoods

• Instead of a wedding cake, offer a Brooklyn dessert bar serving Juniors cheesecake, cupcakes from Betty, and black and white cookies and egg creams

• To denote the tables, use a picture of a landmark or drawing of each neighborhood
• Rent a Coney Island style photo-booth for your guests at the wedding (and you get copies too!!)
• As a favor, send guests home with authentic Brooklyn bagels and cream cheese for breakfast the next day
• Send a thank you note with a photo of the happy couple on the cyclone saying “we’ve taken the leap”

 We would like to thank our dear friend Rebecca Kutys from Moontree Press for her fantastic guest blogging this summer. We are so grateful for her distinctive clean style and phenominal photography which graced the pages of our blog. We hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did. Of course you can continue to keep track at Rebecca’s blog at www.moontreearts.com.

So now I’m back to blogging and jazzed for the job! Watch out for some great new inspired features, including ettiqutte and planning tips, “just unpacked”, a real wedding feature, and tons of photos. Stay tuned….

Although we’re not yet decking the halls, we in the printing biz are already thinking about the holidays. Bring in a copy of our ad before Nov. 1st and receive 10% off holiday cards.

Melinda shares her choice for “My Favorite Invite of the Year” in the Fall/Winter 2009 issue of Brides New York.