Tree and moon etching #tbt

As the instagramers and tweeters say, it's Throwback Thursday!  Although I'm sure you'd prefer to see a picture of me in the tub as a fat baby, you'll have to settle for this class project from the college years. 2005 to be exact.

I was really into trees, at the time

This was a plexiglass etching, sketched freehand directly onto the plexiglass.  The paper is wet and then run through a printing press with the wall paper (moon) and tissue paper (blue leaves), where the pressure fuses the two papers together.  Oh the glory days of having unlimited access to gigantic studios and commercial grade machinery!

Starbucks Coffee Perfection features cut paper and block printing

This artful new video spot for Starbucks Coffee is making its way around the interwebs and I'm happy to share it since it features a few of my favorite things! Animator Rogier Weiland used cut paper to create this stop motion film showing where the coffee comes from. It also appears from the behind the scenes photos to use block printing with laser cut laminate wood and coffee as ink.  Hooray for authenticity!

You can also check out some behind the scenes photos on Weiland's website and make guesses about how much time it actually took to make this (answer: loads).  Plenty of other cool paper stuff there as well!

Now announcing the Etsy Shop: Lightheart Paper Company

Finally, I'm proud to announce the launch of my Etsy shop, Lightheart Paper Company!

Here it is

To start, I'm selling some familiar prints as well as some newbies, and slowly expanding to home items. Here are a few of pics of what is available.

Grow wild print

Life of Love woodblock print

Remember this guy?

Roaming octopus woodblock print

And this one, honoring my great home state post Hurricane Sandy, or Superstorm Sandy according to insurance companies.  All profits still going to the Red Cross!

Still Strong NJ print

As usual, I'll be writing plenty of posts showing the creative process for my pieces and giving away all kinds of trade secrets (if I can think of any).  So check it out here and send me any feedback!

Oh baby (announcements)!

Last week I returned from a two week trip to the Southwest, full of camping, hiking, having fires, and being unapologetically dirty. But more on that in the next post. While I was away, summer officially started, and it's the first summer in years that I have no weddings to go to. 

With lots of friends moving on from marriage to babies, so have I moved on from wedding invitations to baby announcements.  And the smiling face of this little babe will truly melt your icy heart. 

Look, a baby.

Though her parents didn't have professional photos taken, they still wanted to include a picture of their pumpkin for those family and friends who are long distance. In that case, it was best to make the photo part of the announcement, as opposed to having it take up the whole page. The photo is attached with a pastel green paperclip and can thus be easily removed for those who might want to hang onto it. The simple flowers, ladybugs, and butterflies are a cute alternative to storks and diapers and perfect for a baby girl.  The type is a mix of a fat bold font and a soft handwriting, and all is wrapped up in, what else, but a pink envelope. 

The illustrations feel a little Dutch, the colors, not so Dutch.

 

Hey girl, hey.

Looking forward to meeting this bugger in person and calling her all sorts of silly pet names to her face. 

Wedding at the zoo part 2!

Back in January, I posted this fun save the date for a wedding at the Bronx Zoo.  My post at the time was one of the alts that didn't make the cut, so here's the one that did.

Clockwise from top left: save the date, reception card, invitation, reply card

Busy springtime

With the collision of weddings, birthdays, and deadlines, it's been nonstop action this April.  My  conversations all begin with my asking, "When is it going to get warm?" to which my boyfriend sincerely responds, "I think this week it's supposed to be nice." And after one nice day, it goes back to 50 degrees.  But now that the storm has passed, I'm looking forward to a few creative weeks before a road trip vacation to the wild, wild west (this one, not this one).  The biggest news: the soon-to-launch etsy shop where I'll be selling my prints!  And now that I've written it here, I'm committed to it.  Here's a preview of the newest woodblock.

Here you are, a message of love. 

I'll be sure to make an announcement when it goes live!

Modern wedding invitations for Fall

Even though Spring is just beginning and autumn seems miles away, I'm posting this follow up to my previous entry for Autumn save the dates with the actual invitations.

As I mentioned in the first post, one of my favorite things about these is that even though they use a fall color palette, the graphic pattern and bold type are so unexpected. This set also really shines when it comes together as a suite that includes an invite, rsvp, envelope liners, and reception card all held together with a monogrammed band. The band is made of maroon ribbon and adhered to itself and the paper monogram with glue dots, the greatest thing ever.

A monogrammed band: wrap it up

The bride gets a lot of credit for these; she knew just what she wanted.  Elements of the pattern from the save the date are used throughout, and a berry purple was substituted for the golden yellow to better match the flowers.  Here are a few closeups!

The invitation

The reception card

The color palette and pattern could easily be changed to match any season or theme desired by a modern, anti-flower couple!

Celebrating 2 years with a throwback print

Taken by the Hand turned 2 yesterday and to celebrate I ran a few woodblock prints of an old favorite. This was the first block print I'd done since a long post-college hiatus from printing after being inspired by an old piece of poplar I'd found in my parent's basement. The design was one I'd done in Illustrator, something that started out as a doodle but just kept going. It was the melding of digital and hand-made that I'd been seeking.  But alas, my first few print runs were lacking pizazz, a problem quickly solved by jumping on the ombre trend. The original print blends pink and blue ink for a vibrant gradient. This guy holds a special place in my heart, and a specialer place on my wall and the walls of a few friends.

The words came first and inspired the twisting and curling lines,
alluding to graphic vines and roots

So for the refresh I added a third color and instead used yellow, pink and orange.

A little like a sunset

Oddly, these colors remind me of 90s era Oakley sunglasses, and you can judge for yourself whether that's a good or bad thing.  Number two color combo was turquoise-to-blue printed on a sheet of wood paper that'd been sitting in my stash for way too long.  I'd have loved to do the brighter colors on this but didn't think it would show up on the light wood.

Woodblock printed on wood: a world turned upside down

Here's a few more shots.

Group shot!

The block and tools. Pink!

I'm planning on doing a few more color combos when I get some more paper, and putting them up on Etsy along with the new woodblock that I'm working on.  Lots of projects have been done over the last two years and this one got me out of a slump and kickstarted them all!

A wedding at the zoo!

You can imagine how excited I was to be working with Rachel and Clay when they told me their wedding next year would be held at the Bronx Zoo!  What a unique and nontraditional venue that allowed for some really creative stuff.  After speaking with the bride, we'd have to find the right balance between zoo theme and classy wedding, so it doesn't look like a child's birthday party.  To keep it elegant, I went with simple animal silhouettes in black on bright white linen paper.  As a personal touch, one of the silhouettes is actually the couples' rambunctious mutt, Hannah!

I took several stabs at this, and here's one of the alternates, more modern and casual with different kinds of type mingling.

All the animals at the zoo get along swimmingly

The final invitations just printed and I'll post them shortly, along with the official save the date.

The walls of my new apartment

As I mentioned in a previous post, I started off 2013 with a new apartment. Living by myself, I feel like King in the Castle, and I no longer have to trudge up 4 flights of stairs. On the down side though, I did have to scale down my operation which includes stowing my little desk and having my kitchen table work double duty. I've had to get pretty creative with storage (big kitchen+tiniest bathroom=curling irons in the pantry). Here's a little sampling of some of the decor I've put up, with a few effects added to the photos cover up the fact that the pictures were taken with very poor lighting. At least I'm honest.

Living room

The left image is one of my own prints, it reads "you & me can grow wild together," while the right silkscreen from Brainstorm.

Kitchen

Above my kitchen table/desk, a graphic print of New York City buildings from overhead, a Christmas gift from my big bro.

Bedroom, which is also the living room btw

Perfumes on a cake stand, buffered by my Great Aunt's doily.

The potty

The bathroom, where all my jewelry now lives beneath one of my octopus prints. There's a little bit of a nautical theme going here.

There's just one lingering box that is waiting for me to figure out when recycling day is. Now that everything's in its' place, it's time get through the winter with some new projects!

Making this year's holiday cards

Truth be told, I was pretty unmotivated to make Christmas cards this year, or even writing out store bought ones.  But after a lazy afternoon of watching Home Alone, inspiration struck.  I freehand carved this design into a speedball speedy-cut rubber block, and went for some glitz by using metallic inks.

Here they are drying on my clothing rack (a very good place to dry cards)

I even did a little experimenting with red paper and leftover white ink, which I'm totally diggin'.

The festivities start tomorrow night for my family, and the weather is predicting a possible white Christmas.  Well, 1-3 inches which will melt immediately but I'll take it!

Rustic Fall Invitations

A few months back, I did this watercolor email save the date for Joel and Jazmine, my most country friends.  This organic handmade style carried through to their invitations, but with colors shifting from spring to fall.  Their wedding came just on the cusp of superstorm Sandy, and was the last beautiful weekend in the area, with leaves bursting with every color.  Their invitation fit right in!

Art for Hurricane Relief

As many people know, the East Coast was hard hit by Hurricane Sandy two weeks ago.  Here in Jersey City, we lost power for days, some for weeks, and had severe flooding, down trees, live wires, and other scary things.  It was the worst storm the area has seen in centuries and has certainly made me more empathetic to disaster victims.  Personally, I didn't get it nearly as bad as some others, which I'm grateful for, but there are lots of people whose lost homes, cars, and even loved ones.  Houses floated away—that's insane!

To raise money for hurricane relief, I'm selling these prints out of my studio shop.

All proceeds will go to the Red Cross of Northern New Jersey.  The 8" x 10" piece was created from linoleum block and hand printed, so each is unique.  For only $20, it's a great way to show your support, make a donation, and get a little something to take away. 

You can order with PayPal using the email address stillstrongnj@gmail.com.  Or visit Studio Heart to Hand for one click ordering.  

Thanks for all your support as we continue to rebuild!!

Here's a few more pics of the details.

Things to love: hand-carved wooden stamps

I pulled these super cool wooden stamps out of the clearance bin at one of those Tibetan new age hippie shops on Bleeker Street.  They would be great as stamps or even displayed on a shelf.

Can't wait to use these!

A Graphic Pattern for Autumn Save the Dates

When the bride told me that she wanted something bold and that she "hated flowers" it was certainly a breath of fresh air.  While there's nothing wrong with script font and a floral design, being able to do something different once in a while keeps designs from getting stale.  She knew what she liked: a pattern, Fall colors that don't scream "Fall", and the letter P as a monograph (both their last names being with it).  My job was make these things work together to create something cool.  The result uses mature Autumn colors to create something that's a little modern and a tiny bit rustic, with one big graphic statement.

I'm really into double sided printing right now.

A close up of the big P and banner.

Invitation suite is currently in progress!

A classic invitation set

This traditional and elegant wedding invitation suite was created for Lydia and Rodrigo, a sweet and social couple living in Washington DC. 

For who don't know, DC is prep-city, but a pretty awesome place to hang out nonetheless.  Lydia and Rodrigo both grew up in the area and with their wedding at a country club just outside the city, this style fit perfectly with the scene. 

As seen in real life: Graphic marriage certificate

At a recent wedding, the bride and groom had this beautifully illustrated marriage certificate at the end of the isle for all the guests to sign after the recessional. The vines and green shades were a perfect match for their casual, garden ceremony in downtown Philadelphia.  Of course I love the charming typography!

French tea bridal shower invites

These bridal shower invitations combine watercolor painting with digital printing to fit the girly, French-inspired theme.  No poodles, pink stripes, or baguettes here.

My thoughts exactly

 

Poster available via Studio on Fire.

S is for Squirrels

It's also for Stella, which is the middle name of baby Paige (of P is for Peacock fame) and this illustration was her Christmas present.  This one was much easier to do, since I already had a style based on the first version there wasn't quite as much experimenting necessary.

Like the peacock illustration, this was done using watercolor (with minimal water) on watercolor paper.  The S was hand drawn in Adobe Illustrator.  More pics below...