{frolic!}

guest blogger elisabeth: thank you!

I'm sorry for disappearing this afternoon! There was a photo shoot in the studio today -- though I took the photo above!

The paper you see on the box was custom screen printed for me by Shannon of rifferaff, and I am so thrilled with how it came out. There are three patterns, printed on six different papers, for lining envelopes for invitations, announcements, and stationery -- all custom designed to coordinate with the designs in Pearl Papers. And also of course they're perfect for wrapping gifts.

Thank you so much to Chelsea for having me this week! And thank you to everyone who commented and wrote in response to my posts. I hope to come back some time!

guest blogger elisabeth: simple flowers

For the wedding, I showed Trish the florist just two pictures, both from the June/July 2007 Domino. The top is from the Chantecaille's home on Long Island, and the second is a from a story about arranging flowers with herbs. I like how carefree it is.

I think we're going to have peonies, small garden roses, and unripe blueberries -- a la Housemartin -- plus sage for greenery. On the tables we'll have small arrangements like the one shown on the desk, but in vintage milk bottles.

guest blogger elisabeth: things about me

that's one of my favorite invites above.

So Shannon tagged me, here we go:

1. With the exception of berries, vichyssoise, and ice cream, I won't eat anything that isn't hot.

2. NPR is the soundtrack to my day, from the moment I wake up to the time I leave my studio. Very often I'll hear a repeat of a morning show at night, which is just fine by me.

3. I am notorious for being, ahem, vocal about politics and the sad state of this country. I recently saw a bumper sticker that said "If you aren't outraged, you're not paying attention". Well put.

4. While most of my grade school friends were doing cool stuff that cool people do at that age, I was at the opera. I've seen almost 20, some twice thanks to my parents being nuts about the performing arts and having had a box at the Met. Every year during the annual run of Hansel and Gretel the Opera Club had a gingerbread house. It was saved for me every year, which was enough for me to think the opera was awesome. That plus the red velvet walls and chandeliers.

5. Since starting black pearl press and designing for letterpress I have had trouble designing anything in more than two colors + white, even when I've had the opportunity to do otherwise.

6. I don't know how to drive, and between you and me I'd be content never learning were it not for the Mini Cooper. I do have a New York learner's permit that I use as my ID and is set to expire in September. According to the woman at the DMV, mine was the only learner's permit she'd ever renewed.

7. I have had a manicure and pedicure once in my life and that was enough for me.

Instead of tagging a whole slew of other people I will instead name 7 people that I would tag if they had blogs or were alive:

Alice Waters, Cecil Beaton, Graydon Carter, Benjamin Franklin, George Plimpton, Beulah Switzler (my grandmother), and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

guest blogger elisabeth: tea party

All three of these tea sets are so pretty, from Source Perrier. And there are dinner plates and bowls and so forth to match the Nesting and Red Mountain designs at the top. I love them!

guest blogger elisabeth: pretty pretty

These are 1) pretty frivolous and 2) pretty awesome anyways. The photo might make you think that it must be a Kate Spade ad, but in reality you can find sorbet-colored Merriam-Websters from Auto.

guest blogger elisabeth: the dress

I don't know if you remember (or care to remember) the few posts I did about wedding dresses last summer. Well two weeks ago I sat down with Daniel Faucher, an unbelievably talented couturier whose dress-making studio just so happens to be down the hallway, five (or six?) doors away from my letterpress studio.

And we have a dress. I think. In swiss dot and other white-on-white cotton voiles, with a bit of other things mixed in. Hopefully not too much overall, more about texture and shape than embellishment. It will ultimately be a hybrid of the two above.

And! The best part is that the bottom tiers will be a separate skirt. Which means that after we have said our vows and eaten our dinner, I can dance in a short dress and sparkly heels and feel like I'm at a kickass party.

guest blogger elisabeth: linens and totes

I love just about anything with a stripe. I wear a striped shirt almost every day, we have striped rugs, our duvet and pillowcases are striped... you get the idea. And I love the look of feedsacks and ticking stripes and anything with a good old-fashioned bent to it.

So I love this collection of linens from Mothology. Drapes, cushions and table linens, and so reasonably priced!

And for Chelsea's love of French newspapers, these grocery totes should fit the bill. Not Le Monde, but still cool. The silhouettes are pretty too.

guest blogger elisabeth: folk art

I am having a bit of a recent obsession with the simplicity and sweetness of folk art. Not necessarily home sweet home stuff, but definitely things that would instantly make a home feel cozy.

New Preston, Connecticut is a tiny blip of a town at the tip of Lake Waramaug that happens to be home to some incredible shops and antique stores, and a beautiful old mill. Tucked away there is a gem of a shop called Dawn Hill Antiques. I haven't been there in many years since my family used to spend summers in Litchfield County, but it's still there, and it's still beautiful. For dreaming. I love Swedish country antiques, that incredible gustavian blue, and the incredible range of worn whites of the painted furniture. This clock, right alongside everything else in the shop, is perfection.

Clicking through the shop's website I was directed to Rocky Mountain Quilts of Maine. This one in particular is lovely.

The last picture is of some wallpaper that I purchased recently on eBay (though I think the coin probably gives that away!).

guest blogger elisabeth: easy drapes

I told Chelsea that if I was feeling brave I would share a picture or two of our apartment. Well this photo happens to be the only one that I have, and it's not very good (and I took it two years ago to show my dad the flowers he'd sent for my birthday).

But! The point of the exercise is to draw your attention to the drapes, which were just about the easiest thing to make and one of my favorite bits of our living room. I had purchased a vintage crewel bedspread on eBay, I think while in college, and not really knowing what I'd do with it. When we moved to Boston I cut it in four strips, bought two wooden dowels from the hardware store, and looped them through the existing seamed bits at the ends of the bedspread (I'm sure there's a proper word for these). And there you have it! Easy drapes!

PS The dhurrie is from Wisteria and is my second favorite bit of the living room.

guest blogger elisabeth: meringues

From today's New York Times comes this article, with recipe, for "pomegranate-rose cream meringues".

guest blogger elisabeth: tapettitalo

There are no doubt lots of reasons to visit Finland but I might plan a trip for the sake of visiting this shop.

Can you tell I love wallpaper? I have lots more of it to share this week, including some vintage rolls I've recently purchased on eBay that are really something. And I've just seen that Elle Decor has a feature called "Wallpaper the Ceiling". Yes, absolutely, I agree.

Two lucky little ladies in New York have rooms wallpapered in the Tapettitalo papers, as seen in last month's Elle Decor -- I'll scan it if I can find it.

guest blogger elisabeth: justine smith

Justine Smith is an artist whose "work is an exploration of our relationship with money and our response to it, in a political, moral and social sense, whilst also exploiting the physical beauty of the note".

The flowers above are made of Chinese and Turkmeni banknotes; "Ransom Money" is constructed from Iraqi Dinars, Afghan Afghanis, and Colombian Dinars. Brilliant.

There is lots more to see on her website, with a full detailing of the money collection.

guest blogger elisabeth: scorsone drueding

Thanks to the V & A I discovered these posters. I think they're super cool and especially like the one at top, and the second pretty well articulates how I feel every day.

guest blogger elisabeth: moschino

I have a few pairs of Moschino heels that I love but never wear (though being a shorty I have printed in heels when I need a clearer view of my press!), but had never really been aware of the clothing. How often do you really hear about Moschino? Maybe I live under a rock but I don't see too many references to it. But I think it's beautiful!

Tailored, youthful, sophisticated silhouettes, in polished, substantial fabrics, with just a little something different -- like a wink -- all rolled into one. Just my thing, though I'll have to hit the jackpot before I can start indulging.

guest blogger elisabeth: bemelmans

I love the famous wallpaper at Bemelmans at the Carlyle in NYC, named for Mr. Ludwig Bemelman of favorite book Madeline. The Madeline Tea Party hosted every Saturday and Sunday is really for kids but I'd probably enjoy it too.

guest blogger elisabeth: vintage stamps

I've been buying sheets of vintage stamps on eBay for our wedding stationery and for clients, and I thought I'd share a few things about finding them and some ideas for your own correspondence. This search for sheets of vintage US stamps is probably the best place to start. From there, add a keyword or two but leave out the word "stamp", since you're already there. Once you've done a bit of searching you'll start to find dealers with prices, shipping, and so forth that appeal to you. From there the fun begins.

For instance, Z is a scientist, so I've bought the sciences stamps above. I'm from New York and he's from Maine so I have both statehood stamps. I've also purchased birds, trees, flowers, forest preservation, and the camp fire girls stamp since we'll have a bonfire Friday night. Why not make it personal I say. And there's a stamp for everything! Not all attractive, but most are.

But. And this is important. You are going to want to find at least one stamp that is 15 cents or more, because there is little chance of fitting ten 4 cent stamps on an envelope.

And once you've found stamps you like make a note of the Scott number and search that way, since some dealers won't even include descriptors in the listing titles. The Love stamp that is so pretty is Scott # 1951.

guest blogger elisabeth: ray fenwick & pantry press

Also on Etsy, I'm not sure it gets much better than these two (actually there are 2 Pantry + 1 Ray = 3) who have collaborated on some awesome prints and coasters now for sale in the Pantry Press shop.

I have been very diligent about buying the letterpress prints that come up for sale on Tiny Showcase, like this one, and every time I get to the site in time I feel like I've won some sort of prize. It's not exactly ground-breaking to say so but I'm pretty sure this mentality is why limited editions are such a brilliant way to do business.

guest blogger elisabeth: bread + butter

Last week Maria wrote about a super-talented collective of three designers living and working in Brooklyn. I especially like this excellent piece for sale in their Etsy shop.

guest blogger elisabeth: sandberg

I can't remember when I first heard of Sandberg, a Swedish textile and wallpaper design firm that produces such beautiful papers. I have a bit of a wallpaper obsession: the first order of business when I signed the lease on my studio was to select a paper for the wall behind my desk (as opposed to worrying about how to transport 1,500+ pounds of cast iron to the space), and now I dream of papering every available flat surface in my (fantasy) Vermont farmhouse. The papers above, especially the blue trees, are high on the list.

guest blogger elisabeth: postcard from provence

Shifting Light is the only "mailing list" email I receive that I don't automatically delete. Julian Merrow-Smith is a painter living in Provence and his little oil paintings are so lovely. A new one appears daily in my inbox and makes me smile. Someday I hope to duke it out in the daily auction and win one for my mom.

guest blogger elisabeth: a vermont wedding

Six months ago, when Chelsea first asked me to write some things for the week, we were all set to get married in Maine and that was that. Well then. We are now getting married in Vermont, just over the Green Mountains from where we met, and we are so excited!

When researching the Maine property I came across a truly spectacular property on Flickr, but it might as well have been in North Dakota because it never occurred to me that it was perfect. And it turns out it's beyond perfect.

So now we will be married at Riverside Farm in Pittsfield, Vermont. Don't worry, Stacey Kane is still coming! Courtney and Liz own and run the property and they are awesome, fantabulous girls. Since there are always weird connections in my life I should tell you that it turns out Courtney's mom talked with me for a while during a studio event a week before Z proposed, and had told me about her daughter owning an excellent property in Vermont.

Our flower lady, Trish, is also awesome. So is Connie, who will be in charge of the pig and all of the delicious food. Dave the music man is a star (and wears cool sneakers). All in all, awesome all around. I have finally printed the save the dates and will try to take a picture of them if you'd like to see them.

photos are by Cronin Hill Photography

guest blogger elisabeth: the book of the kiss

From UK purveyor of pretty little things Cox & Cox comes "The Book of the Kiss", an anthology of quotations about kissing. It's probably too late to have it shipped for your Valentine but there are some really sweet gift suggestions in their shop like this "love origami", also above.

guest blogger elisabeth: elisabeth dunker

I love this screen printed poster from supremely talented Elisabeth Dunker. It is available for purchase here for $35 or so, plus shipping.

guest blogger elisabeth: multiple choice

I went to grade school next door to the Cooper Hewitt, one of the coolest museums in New York. It is housed in an incredibly beautiful limestone mansion, and the juxtaposition of (typically) modern design in the richly detailed interiors is such a treat to see. The next time I'm in the city I am definitely going to Multiple Choice, an exhibition that runs through the first of September. The website is well worth checking out to see what's on display: marketing and merchandising sample books of textiles, wallpaper, and so forth from the last 300 years. I do love my ribbon and paper swatch books but now think they're pretty second-rate after looking at the amazing hand-lettering and design of samples from the past. As usual, the old is definitely better!

guest blogger elisabeth: hello

Hello, it's me again! It's so nice to be back here for the week -- thank you, Chelsea! Since the summer quite a bit has been going on here: new wedding plans, new paper collaborations, new ideas and inspiration and letterpress things. I was under the weather last week so was able to spend time (re)collecting some fun things to show you. A perfect sick-bed activity.

In my dreams I live in a small farmhouse with a garden that is overflowing with flowers. Here you see a pretty copper mailbox that would suit me just fine.

{guest blogger elisabeth: thank you!}

Thank you, Chelsea! I could blather on for days but the week's over, my time is up! I'm sorry I couldn't post more today, I am busy getting ready for a web update on Monday (finally!). I had a look at the site today and was horrified by what I saw. So stay tuned for that, plus an exciting new thing on August 1. Send me an email if you'd like to be notified of when "it" happens.

Have a fun weekend! And thanks again for having me!

{guest blogger elisabeth: one more dress}

For all the girls who loved the Carolina Herrera dress, one more for you, from Reem Acra Spring 2007. I don't know about the flower but the silhouette and draping and shirred bodice are beautiful. Last one, I promise.

Photo from brides.com

{guest blogger elisabeth: pretty bangles}

Let's say you're like me and don't wear much jewelry but you do like the occasional fun piece. I don't picture myself wearing something that is made to appear that it came from Harry Winston at our wedding, and I certainly wouldn't buy something like that just for one day. So I love these bangles from Alexis Bittar: I think they're super fun but have a classic look to them, and if I needed to convince myself that they are perfectly suited to a Maine wedding I might say that the sparkly bits are shaped like rocks on the shoreline. Or something. The dress would have to be really simple, like the Carolina Herrera number I posted a few days ago. But the best part is that one of these bracelets wouldn't be relegated to the bottom of a jewelry box, you could totally put on a white tank, jeans, metallic flats and a bracelet, and you'd look pretty sharp.

Photos are from Alexis Bittar

{guest blogger elisabeth: supercool invitations}

These are, in my most humble opinion, the coolest, bestest invitations ever. They let you know right off the bat that this is going to be fun, fun, fun so don't get stressed about icky formalities. And it's clear from the responses that the happy couple has super cool friends too. If I can figure out a way to encourage the same from our friends while keeping the whole barn in Maine theme in mind, I'll do the same. Printed by Coeur Noir for Robin Rosenthal and Matt Hall, in Martha Stewart Weddings Winter 2006.

{guest blogger elisabeth: a short dress}

This isn't exactly a novel idea but there are so few shorter dresses out there. Why is that? I'd love to wear a shorter dress and these are some of my favorites. The Oscar de la Renta is totally perfect and my mom saw it said "that dress was made for you", but is it a bit much for a field in Maine?

The lovely thing about opting for a less bridal-y dress is that so many designers come out with white dresses for the summer, so you don't end up with a bride's price tag.

Dress are top to bottom: Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, and Romona Keveza, all from brides.com

{guest blogger elisabeth: some origami}

A while back a client asked if I was "good at folding". I thought of course I'm good at folding, who isn't? And then I remembered that not everyone took origami classes for six years. I did, and it was pretty cool because every year we'd help set up the JAL tree on Park and fold the stars for the incredible tree at the Natural History Museum. My teacher was super cool and put honey on his french fries. One day he came over and taught my mom and me how to fold a baby grand piano, with white keys and everything. It took us about 3 hours. Very sadly he's since passed away.

The photos here are from Joseph Wu, an origamist (I may have made up that word) who has a pretty neat website chock full of really intricate work that would probably take a lot longer than 3 hours to fold (or at least it would take me that long).

But here's a neat trick, and probably the only thing that I remember how to fold because I'm in the habit of folding bills into peacocks and leaving them as tips at bars. It's also a useful skill if the person you're with is boring. I was able to find instructions for a similar (though I will say, not as cool) peacock, and if you'd like to give it a try click here. And don't be offended if the bartender unfolds your tip and adds it to the jar. I got over it the first time it happened.

{guest blogger elisabeth: the invitations}

I am beginning to understand how clients feel when they say "But I want it all!" I have no idea how we'll come to a decision about the wedding stationery and truth be told we haven't talked about it. I will however come clean and say that on the train to New York a few weeks after the proposal I pulled together an idea for the save the date, a snippet of which you see here. Just a first draft, and the paper that you see is a swatch I picked up recently at Paper Source because I liked the look of it. It might end up as envelope liners for the invitations, which will be much simpler than the save the dates. We'll see.

Update: Not sure about the colors either, here's another.

{guest blogger elisabeth: flowers and stripes}

I am picturing flowers and stripes, through and through. Seersucker suits with different Liberty pocket squares, a striped ribbon for my bouquet and for the girls, and more to decorate the tables. I will share my ideas for the invitations next.

Liberty London fabric photos are from Heirloom Imports; flowers and table setting are by Artfool from Martha Stewart Weddings Spring 2006

{guest blogger elisabeth: flea market wedding}

This is a brilliant idea: I saw yesterday on Social Design photos from a spread in Brides, for which the editors scoured eBay and acquired all of the decor and trimmings for a wedding. I have had in mind for some time now a flea market / antique store just north of Lake George that we would visit on our way up to Middlebury, chock full of vases and pitchers and plates and flatware and linens and the list goes on. And the lovely thing about it is that you'll have, presumably, loads of pretty things that you might otherwise have rented for the occasion, and which are no doubt more meaningful and better suited to your party.

All photos by Jim Bastardo for brides.com

{guest blogger elisabeth: budgeting for letterpress}

Two comments that I have heard dozens of times before and since being engaged are: I bet you'll go all out with your own wedding invitations, and You must have already designed your own. I have a small inkling of what they'll be like: simple and straightforward. I am lucky of course that I can design and print just about anything we might want, but we're not over-the-top folks so there's no need to go overboard.

I do know that we'll be using vintage stamps, some of which you can see here from my searches on eBay. I buy them in sheets, at a premium comparable to what one might pay to have custom photo stamps made.

Here are some tips for brides and grooms in budgeting for wedding stationery, specifically letterpress:

1. 2 color will always be more expensive than 1, big more costly than small. Consider a smaller invitation in just 1 color, like Lexy and Neal's invitations.
2. Consider including a reply line on the invitation itself, especially if you don't need to collect information about meal selections and the like. You'll have to be prepared for the phone calls though.
3. Skip the directions and info card. Instead include a small card that directs your guests to a website where they can find relevant information.
4. Skip the inner envelopes. My clients pay little to me for them, but if using a calligrapher, they have to be lettered too.
5. Ask your friends to help address envelopes.
6. Ask your stationer to create an image file that matches the cards in your invitation set, and have a custom rubber stamp made for the return address on both invitation and reply envelopes. The cost of the blank envelopes will be minimal compared to the cost of having them printed.
7. If you are having small cards printed, ask your printer if they can be printed 2 or 4 at a time. Some of the best looking escort cards and gift tags I've printed included a single illustration printed in the center of a card that is cut into quarters, with a little piece on each card
8. Let's say your invites are illustrated with a design in 1 color and the typography in another. If you need table numbers, or other large cards, ask your printer to run 20 (or however many you need) extra cards that contain just the illustration, then add the numbers or text to the cards by hand
9. Bells and whistles -- belly bands, ribbon, overlays -- cost more and won't always enhance your invitations
10. Unless you are hosting a black tie affair, include a reception line on the invitation

I'm sorry if I sound too bossy.

{guest blogger elisabeth: setting the table}

I don't think having a pig roast means that our reception can't be casually, simply elegant. But the difficulty of serving dinner family style is that there will be little room for large floral centerpieces. This is just fine by me, I don't go in for that look except in small doses (as opposed to on 12 tables). I love the look of single blooms in small vases or mason jars, unfussy and maybe with some rosemary and sage tucked in for greenery.

All images from Martha Stewart: top, from Outdoor Living special issue, middle from Weddings "Color" special issue, bottom from Weddings Winter 2005

{guest blogger elisabeth: a garden wedding}

(click the photo to enlarge)

This invitation is another of my favorites. Liz and Craig were married a few weeks ago in her mom's garden in Connecticut. The invitation is printed on a 600 gsm stock on both sides, with a full pattern of orchids and ferns printed in fuschia ink, and the text and larger ferns in leafy green and chocolate brown on the front. Printing on the back was an unexpected surprise for guests when they flipped the invitation to find the reply card and envelope.

I'm sorry the photo is so bad, I'll update it with a better one if I can

{guest blogger elisabeth: linda & harriett}

A few weeks back I found Linda & Harriett thanks to Grace. Linda & Harriet is the work of Liz Coulson Libré and after looking through her portfolio I was smitten with her work. And it turns out that we either have a whole bunch in common or it feels oddly that way. Well the two most recent weirdest things are the following: Stacey Kane photographed her wedding last September (see below) at Kingsley Pines in Maine, and a photo from the wedding appeared in the current issue of Martha Stewart Weddings. Last weekend I went up to a friend's camp and it turns out Kingsley Pines is just down the road. Weird, right?

Now, I had planned to write about her today, and guess what: it turns out that I should also be wishing Liz a Hippity Happity Birthday! Have fun today!

You can see the slideshow of Liz and John's wedding on Stacey's site right here. It looks magical to me.

{guest blogger elisabeth: stacey kane}

Z and I have each picked the one thing that matters the most to us for the wedding: for Z it's the music, for me it's photography. I found Stacey Kane while researching where all of this is going to happen, and her photos made me cry (in a good way). I think her work is tremendous and her sensibilities are just what you would want in a photographer. We've yet to sit down together but I think we will in the next few weeks. I'm thrilled about that.

I will tell you about a very strange coincidence next.

All photos copyright Stacey Kane.

{guest blogger elisabeth: this could be the one}

A dress that suits me to a T, I think. Though I would love it in cotton voile. Even better in a swiss dot. Any cotton wedding dresses out there?

Dress from Carolina Herrera's Spring 2007 collection, from brides.com

{guest blogger elisabeth: a maine wedding}

I'm having some trouble writing about our wedding because it's essentially all in my head. This is a good exercise though (thanks, Chelsea!) Here is what we've come up with so far, off the top of my head:

pigroast / bluegrass band / Lunasa's Inion Ni Scannlain for my walk down the aisle / long tables, family style / seasonal, local produce and flowers / galvanized tin tubs at each table for wine and beer and lemonade / strawberry shortcake / mojitoes / z will likely play some sort of song with his dad and brothers / seersucker for the boys / painted chuck taylors and a bowtie for z / loads of fairy lights for the barn / not too much in the way of decoration because it's beautiful as it is

I think I'll stop there. I have a few photos that I will share in other posts.

Left photo from Seasons Downeast Designs in Rockport, Maine; right photo from the barn site.

{guest blogger elisabeth: maison de vacances}

I don't think that I would feel totally at ease living in one of these spaces, but I do like the styling and different bits and pieces from French interiors brand Maison de Vacances. Maybe I would just visit. And I do love the pattern and saturated colors of the floor pillow in the second picture. Also that beautiful wall of wood.

{guest blogger elisabeth: sensura studio}

I like to see what other letterpress-ers have loaded to Flickr, and am always delighted by new work from Sensura Studio. I love that her work has the feeling of experimentation but is so clearly thought out, not to mention perfectly pressed. It's exquisite. Her letterpress Flickr set is here.

{guest blogger elisabeth: a winter wedding}

Mid-summer is about the time that I start thinking about how much I'm looking forward to fall and winter and the holidays. A few years ago my family spent Christmas at the Pitcher Inn in Warren, Vermont. It is an incredibly cozy and welcoming place, and if we weren't getting married on the Maine coast in summertime we'd do the opposite: a small gathering just over the mountains from Middlebury, at the inn in January. The interior of the inn is amazing: every room so cleverly designed around a theme relevant to the area. My mom, brother and I bunked up in the Mountain Room, and the picture you see here is taken from inside the room but outside of the cabin that is in the room, housing the bed and painted murals of the Green Mountains. There is a cabin inside the room. Can you picture it?

Now if you were to be married in wintertime at the Pitcher Inn or anywhere else in Vermont for that matter, you'd need a cake to suit the setting. This cake was designed by artist Will Cotton for the New York Times Magazine, and appeared on January 16, 2005. Of course I clipped it.

{guest blogger elisabeth: joseph cornell}

A few weeks back I saw a poster for an exhibition called Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem. I like fanciful, imaginary things and so I'm bananas for Mr. Cornell's box constructions.
I haven't had a chance to hop on the train to see it yet but I will before it closes in mid-August. The interactive website is quite cool, you can see it here. And more of his box constructions can be seen here at the Smithsonian.

Top photo, Untitled (Cockatoo with Watch Faces), about 1949 from the PEM site; bottom photo Setting for a Fairytale, 1942 from the Guggenheim Collection.

{guest blogger elisabeth: thinking small}

I have always preferred small things, they just feel more cozy and intimate. For invitations in particular, unless there is loads of text to include, I think the convention that they be quite big is off the mark. And so I'm happy to say that three brides in the last two weeks have opted for smaller invitations that measure 4.5 x 6.25, with a reply card that is about as small as the post office will allow. They are ultimately less expensive, nicer to the environment, and often cheaper to mail. I love how they look, and these in particular are to my mind close to perfect. The liner is a flocked paper from Paper Mojo.

Thank you to Lexy and Neal for letting me include their invites!

{guest blogger elisabeth: hello}

Hello! I'm so happy to be here this week and many thanks to Chelsea for the invitation. She asked that I post about letterpress, inspiration, and wedding-ish things, since I'll be marrying my guy of almost nine years next summer. We've yet to formalize any of our plans but we're getting there.

Most importantly, we've found the perfect spot. The saltwater farm is a 100 acre property in Martinsville, Maine, on the coast between Tenants Harbor and Port Clyde. The beautiful barn will be the site of the ceremony or reception, though we may ultimately have to have a tent. I hope not.

You can see more photos of the barn and vacation rentals here.