Invitation Inspiration
OK, guys, ready for the epic tale of my unhealthy fixation on letterpress? It goes a little something like this…
Late 1990s: In my elementary school classes, I became obsessed with filling a notebook page with notes (written in pen only), flipping the page over, and running my fingers over the raised reverse-lettering on the back. I was an odd child. To this day, I insist on taking all my notes in pen, never pencil.
Spring 2010: On a whim, I took a letterpressing class in my last semester of college, “just for funsies.” I ended up spending more time on that class than I did on all my other classes combined (senioritis, what?). I just loved the classy twist on my pen indentations. Turns out, I’m not the only weirdo who likes to run her fingers over tactile print!
It was around this time (or maybe it was a year or two later—at this point, who knows) that I first heard about the L letterpress and the DIY letterpress possibilities. Somewhere in the back of my brain, I thought that maybe someday I would make our wedding invitations with one.
Early 2014: Yeah, eff that. I got totally overwhelmed in the flurry of vendor booking and decided that I was definitely not going to be making our invitations. Farm that ish out!
Spring 2014: But…look at the pretty!
Hooray Creative for Minted / The texture. Gahhh, the texture.
DancingPenandPress / Ooooh, I could even put my future calligraphy skills to good use!
Jessica Tierney for Bella Figura via Paper Hounds / Look! This one even has stripes, to match my table toppers! It’s MEANT TO BE.
Summer 2014: Further investigate the price for such prettiness. Specifically, the price for 125 copies of such prettiness. Die a little bit on the inside. If it’s been said once, it’s been said a thousand times: these things will eventually end up in the trash. No matter how obsessed I’ve been with paper products and texture for how long, for us, they’re not worth the money.
On the other hand, when I priced out how much it would cost to letterpress them ourselves (after a weekend of rabidly hunting down every single thing ever written about the L lettepress on the internet), the projected end result wasn’t too bad. Still not cheap, but not really any more expensive than ordering a flat-printed set from a big invitation store would be—especially since we were making a fairly large quantity, which meant the fixed cost of the machine would be pretty well spread out. (I was also well aware of the fact that that large quantity also meant that these puppies could take quite a while to put together. But that’s another story for another post.)
So, yeah. We letterpressed our own invitations. Over Valentine’s Day weekend, because nothing says “I love you” like barking crafting orders at each other. I’m soooo happy with how they turned out, though, and I can’t wait to show ’em off to you all when we’ve sent them out in a few short weeks!
Tags:
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