Hooray!  I’ve made it through another year of blogging!  Craft lovely is officially two.  I have lots of things planned for this year, (and this year, they’re actually getting done!) so stay tuned.  I’ve been letterpress printing consistently about once a week and can’t wait to share my projects with you.

Thank you for being loyal readers, I cannot tell you how much your readership and comments mean to me.  Your positive feedback always puts a little wind into in my sails!

Best wishes,
Colleen xo

PS:  Don’t those cupcakes from Lobster & Swan look amazing?!

{image shown belongs to Lobster & Swan}

Who knew root vegetables could photograph so well?  Photography by Sunday Suppers.  Reminds me of an unbelieveable roasted root vegetable platter we did for Christmas from my favorite, Jamie Oliver.  Definitely a must-try recipe.

{images shown belong to Sunday Suppers}

I have quite a few cyclist friends who would love this idea… getting all of your wedding guests to participate in a giant bike ride!  This wedding looks like such a fun time.

{images shown via Oh Happy Day; photography by Rachael Thurston}

I recently had the pleasure of working with two very talented artists, who I am proud to say are also my dear friends.  They collaborated together with Paul preparing the illustration which shows tidbits and memories from their years together, while Colleen used her fantastic calligraphy skills (*she did some work for me that I will be sharing very soon!) to finish the Save-the-Date.  I was honored to letterpress print them and Colleen addressed the envelopes with a lovely flourish.

I can’t wait to work with them again for their wedding invitations; almost as excited as I am to see them marry!

{for more of my letterpress work, please check out my Flickr}

I haven’t yet started sleuthing myself (it’s been on my running to-do list forever) but one of my cousins started doing research on our family history on Ancestry.com and sent me these photos.  I’ve heard about my great-grandfather being an engraver but only now got to see some photos of him.  Besides working for Shreve, Crump, and Low engraving items, he also printed engraved wedding invitations.  It’s a really neat feeling to know the letterpress work that I do is somewhat connected to the work that he did as a craftsman, which in turn makes me feel connected to a family member I never got to meet but has a shared role in why I’m here today.  Very cool.

I love this photo of my great-grandfather working at his engraving bench, on the left.  I wonder if he would be proud of me to have learned and be a small part of keeping an old craft alive.

{images shown via Ancestry.com}

Have you been keeping up with all of Jordan’s updates about Paris?  I’ve been so enjoying reading about her experiences and living vicariously through her.  Loved this post about a surprise find, La Droguerie.  Reminds me of a tiny local craft store (sadly, long gone) I used to shop at as a little girl before there were giant craft chain stores.

{images shown belong to Oh Happy Day}

Check out this simple but gorgeous bouquet of daffodils on Project Wedding by frolic’s Chelsea Fuss.  Makes me so excited for spring to see these in my garden!

{images shown via Project Wedding}

Found a new (to me) letterpress studio: Low Country Press (via simple + pretty).  Lots of cute stuff!  Excited to see what’s to come.

{images shown belong to Low Country Press}

Wishing you a relaxing weekend and leaving you with a lovely piece from the very talented Geninne.

{image shown belongs to Geninne via Flickr}

Some of the recent visitors to the feeder this week.  This pair have been coming together every time.

{for more of my visitors at the feeder images, check out my Flickr}