Hand addressing envelopes – how to stand out from the junk mail.

Calligraphy sample from Long Village Lettering
How to stand out in the mail

In this incredibly busy week as we gear up for the new bridal season and work on last minute plans for tomorrow’s flight to New York to set up our booth at the National Gift Show in Manhattan I was stopped for a moment, long enough to sit down even to enjoy a piece of mail that the dripping wet postman just delivered.  It was a hand written thank you note from a woman in North Carolina who runs her own Calligraphy business.  She sent us one of our own seed embedded envelopes back in the mail with beautiful hand lettering on the front and a business card and note on the inside.

I think this can stand as a clear testament to the power of the personalized mailing.  I know everyone is busy, I know I am busy, and yet this simple act of handwriting really can stop someone in their tracks for a few moments and draw their attention to the message you are sending.

For all of you brides out their considering printing your guest’s names instead of hand writing them, don’t.  Just take the extra time to let the people (you care enough about to invite to one of the most exciting days of your life) know that you really care.  You really want them there and your own handwriting spells it out for them.  It is that personal touch missing from so many areas of our lives today.  Your extra effort will be noticed and appreciated.  It really does make a difference.

Okay so clearly we don’t all have amazing handwriting like the image above, but still you have family you can enlist to help, you can pick up a book or watch a video demo for pointers and tips on improving your own handwriting.  Start early and it will be manageable, and worth it.

SOUTHERN SPARKLE

Mary Andrews contacted us this week to share photos and details of her wedding via her Real Weddings post on The Etsy Blog.

The gorgeous affair took place in Richmond, Virginia where Mary, a Merchandise lead for Etsy, and Tim, a freelance writer, blogger and food stylist work and live.

All photos by Marvelous Things Photography via The Etsy Blog

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mary wedding.2

 Mary used our seeded paper to create her save-the-date, featured in the invite suite above.  We love working with all our brides, but this was one rather special considering she works for and sourced many of her wedding elements directly from Etsy.  For a list of all Mary’s resources, check out her My Etsy Wedding page.  And to follow Mary and Tim’s love story and their adventures in creating a sustainable life  in Richmond, check out their blog 17 Apart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our 2014 Seattle Wedding Show Invitations Display – Video!

We just returned from the 2014 Seattle Wedding show two day event that was a remarkable success!  The show was very well attended, with aisles full of smiling brides and their retinue of sisters, friends and family in tow.  We displayed several new invitation and paper designs along with our timeless styles that never fail to please.  Here is a five minute video that takes you through our booth from top to bottom.

 

We hope you have an opportunity to visit us in our new store in this new year and view these designs and more in person.  Our shop has hundreds of papers, dozens of invitation styles, wedding invitation assembly tools, guest books, seed paper by the sheet and much, much more.

 

OREEKO

OREEKO (Organic, Green, Eco, Blog) is a trusted resource on the web for “reviews, how-to guides, current news & ideas on how to simplify green living”. We were listed amongst a group of hefty competitors (7 to be exact) as resource for Eco Wedding Invitations in their Green Wedding series.

“The invite allows you to establish a direct line of connection with all your guests. Use it to make a statement that can be both memorable, personal and green!”  We could not agree more!

Our excerpt from the post:

OREEKO

 

“OF THE EARTH

Soft colors and delicate nuances give these wedding invitations a very romantic and natural feel. They use Lotka paper made from the bark of the Daphne bush, a renewable resource from Nepal. All lotka envelopes and paper are 50% recycled and 100% tree free. The paper is also acid free and your purchase will benefit the economic enterprise of rural craftspeople in Nepal. The company also makes a cotton & abaca paper, created without chemical resources and with special attention to water conservation.”

Our only surprise was that our greenest product trait – that our papers generate oxygen when planted – was not mentioned in the flattering description of our goods.

You can read the entire post here and follow the OREEKO blog, which covers everything from weddings to style to food and health, here.  It is a favorite read in our world – many thanks to OREEKO for the nod!

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR – 2013 IN REVIEW and ON THE HORIZON FOR 2014

2013 was a monumental year for our business: we moved, our shop and clients received a wide array of press, we have segued back into the tradeshow circuit….oh, and did we mention we are rebuilding our website?  All in all, much has been accomplished and there is much to look forward to in 2014!

Here are a few additional highlights:

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  • We are now offering a finished edge silk ribbon (not just bias cut).

    Double faced silk satin woven edge ribbon

  •  We have added many new papers to our already large line, including these papers from India.

papers from india

There is much to look forward to in 2014 including the events and tradeshows we will be attending!

  • Seattle Wedding Show
    Washington State Convention & Trade Center
    Saturday January 11th, 2014 10:00am to 5:30pm (ticket sales open at 9:30am)
    Sunday January 12th, 2014 10:30am to 5:00pm (ticket sales open at 10:00am)
  • Seattle Gift Show
    Washington State Convention & Trade Center
    Saturday January 18th, 2014
    9:00am to 6:00pm
    Sunday January 19th, 2014
    9:00am-6:00pm
    Monday January 20th, 2014
    9:00am-6:00pm
    Tuesday January 21st, 2014
    9:00am-6:00pm
  • UW Bridal Show
    University of Washington Club
    Sunday, February 23

We hope to connect with clients old and new in the next few months, until then Happy New Year!

Silk Flower Hair Clips for Flower Girls, Brides and Bridesmaids

We announced earlier this year a partnership with Sashaco, a local (Kirkland, Washington) startup company who began buying our silks last year and makes beautiful hair clips and pins out of our ribbons.  Here we have a collection of photos of their wonderful work!

As 2013 winds down, we find ourselves without much time to reflect on what a crazy year it has been as we are looking forward to what 2014 has in store for us.  We expect big things to come from this and our other (soon to be revealed) partnerships as we keep our eyes on what is next.

I am sure you will agree, these silk flowers are fantastic!  We have over 170 colors now in our silk line and there are so many that would work beautifully in this clip format.  Imagine the brides who can color coordinate their whole suite of paper goods with their bridal party attire, just by tying together the ribbon on their invitation with the ribbon in their flower girl’s hair.  What do you think?

These hair clips (or pins, they have both hardware on the back) measure 3.5″ in diameter and sit 2″ tall.   You can find them for sale right now on Etsy here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/173418350/.  They can be ordered in any of the colors shown here: http://www.custompaper.com/earthsilk/hand_dyed_blends.html

Each color we make comes out so uniquely on these flowers, we can’t wait to see them all!

Pink Silk Flower Hair Clip
Pink Silk Flower Hair Clip

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Purple Silk Flower Hair Clip
Purple Silk Flower Hair Clip
Purple Silk Flower Hair Clip
Purple Silk Flower Hair Clip
Purple Silk Flower Hair Clip
Purple Silk Flower Hair Clip
Pink Silk Flower Hair Clip
Pink Silk Flower Hair Clip
Pink Silk Flower Hair Clip
Pink Silk Flower Hair Clip
Pink Silk Flower Hair Clip
Pink Silk Flower Hair Clip
Pink Silk Flower Hair Clip
Pink Silk Flower Hair Clip
Pink Silk Flower Hair Clip
Pink Silk Flower Hair Clip
Pink Silk Flower Hair Clip
Pink Silk Flower Hair Clip
Pink Silk Flower Hair Clip
Pink Silk Flower Hair Clip
PInk Silk Flower Hair Clip
Silk Flower Hair Clip
3" silk flower clip
Lavender silk flower pin

 

 

WRAP IT UP

Our green flower print handmade wrapping paper was included in a round-up of holiday wrapping options in Artizen Magazine.

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“Artizen magazine’s goal is to spread the love with inside scoops on the artisan and handmade industry.” The magazine is free to readers and offers myriad of inspiring images and projects.  We love seeing the creative holiday uses for our papers and we also love being recognized by our fellow artisans – what a compliment!

While we don’t like to contribute to the frenzy of the season, we know there are only a few shopping days left and hope you consider using handmade, beautiful packaging this year. A thoughtful and lovely finishing touch to even the most practical or impractical of gifts – you can check out our selection of papers here.

Happy Holidays!

COVET GARDEN HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

We were pleasantly surprised to discover our handmade wrapping paper included in a list of “Fantastic under $50 finds” on the front page of Etsy last week!

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The list was curated by Covet Garden, an Etsy Tastemaker and online publication based in Toronto that “peek(s) into the homes and lives of some of the city’s most interesting people”.

We love the concept behind the magazine, profiling “spaces that have not been styled by interior decorators”, focusing on the “inspirational not the aspirational”.  That is a mantra we can get behind!

wrappingwrapping.3We also love the selection of wrapping papers we are offering this holiday season!  The extra touch of packaging a gift in something beautiful and handmade not only adds a lot to the presentation, it illustrates the time and thought that went into every last detail.

 wrapping.2wrapping.4At least, that has always been our experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VERSATILITY: RIBBONS FOR EVERY OCCASION

We know we are biased, but we are consistently amazed by the projects our clients create.  Luckily, many of them are eager and excited to share said creations and generously send photos our way upon completing a project.

Jewelry designer Amanda Ace creates one-of-a-kind pieces and delivers them to clients in beautiful packaging (if we do say so ourselves) featuring our handmade papers and ribbon.

ribbon.1

It is an enormous compliment to know your designs are being chosen for a first impression.

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We recently worked with another client who created this gorgeous bridal bouquet using our silk ribbon, shown here in her wedding day portrait.  Any of you brides and creative folk reading this; be sure to share your work with us so we can feature it here.

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Northlake Wedding Event Programs

Here is a quick look at the Northlake Wedding Program for the Center for Urban Horticulture event space.  We are using our Earth Silk ribbon blend #016 in conjunction with the lotka seed paper, black print and a light weight slate background.  We think this says Whimsical Romance!  What do you think?

Northlake Program
5×7 wedding program
Northlake Program
5×7 Wedding Program
Northlake Program
5×7 wedding program
Northlake Program
5×7 wedding program
Northlake Program
5×7 wedding event program
Northlake Program
5×7 wedding program