Over the summer I had the pleasure of working on a letterpress wedding invitation suite for Jamie & Michael, who got married at the elegant Ocean House in Rhode Island this fall.  The bride was lovely to work with and through the project I was also able to work with two talented women.  The entire set was designed by Kristin DiVona; often while I was printing these pieces I had people stop while passing the Vandercook and praise the ink choice or design.  I also worked with the bride’s event consultant, Meg Cimini of Cairn Event Consulting, who couldn’t have been nicer.  The bride, Kristin, and Meg were so great to work with and the entire suite was beautiful to print… I was lucky to work on such a great project!

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

Wow, it’s Friday already?  This weekend I have a few parties and get togethers with friends and family, but I’m planning on spending all day Saturday inside, in my pj’s, baking with the apples I still have (which is a lot!), and having a fire in the fireplace.  It snowed here last night (which is sort of early for us, but it was just a dusting) and it made me really excited to have a fire to sit next to.  I’m planning on trying Katy’s Rustic Apple French Toast and the Apple Cider Doughnuts, and maybe make a loaf of multigrain bread while I’m at it.  I’m so excited!  I cannot remember the last time I spent an entire day in my pj’s and not working.

What are your plans this weekend?  Whatever it is, have a relaxing, cozy one!
- Colleen

{image shown belongs to Katy Elliot}

While flipping through Li’s wonderful photography on her blog today, came across this cute photo from Merinda & Ben’s wedding.  Love the lighting and tent, but also really love the bride’s dress!

{image shown belongs to Li Ward & Fat Orange Cat Studio}

Next week is November (already?), which means December with all of it’s holidays will be just around the corner.  To celebrate the upcoming gift-giving season, from now until December 5th I’m offering personalized & custom letterpress note cards at a special rate.

A set of A2 (4.25″ x 5.5″) folded note cards, one-color printed on 100% cotton stock, with unprinted envelopes in two quantities and prices:
• a set of 25 for $170 or
• a set of 50 for $190
(if you’d like the return address printed on the envelope flaps, add $1.50 per envelope)

Customize with a name, a design, a favorite quote, or a pattern.  I’ll work with you to design cards that your family member, dear friend, or you will love.  To begin the custom process, contact me here.

*Please note: December 5th is the last day I can offer this pricing in order to design, print & mail your note cards in time for December 25th.  Also, this pricing does not include shipping costs or sales tax (6.25% for MA residents only). 

If this offer isn’t quite what you were looking for, please contact me and I’m always happy to prepare a custom quote.

I’m crazy for Amy Merrick’s flowers.  These fall arrangements are to die for.  What inspiration.

{images shown belong to Amy Merrick & An Apple a Day}

This past weekend I stopped into Fancy That while they were having an open house.  Had to share these photos – they have such an amazing space and wonderful china.  If you’re in the area, you really should stop in!

{images shown via my iPhone – yes, I did download new Hipstamatic film this weekend and I love it!}

Really inspired by the light and colors of autumn lately.  This kitchen would be the perfect place to bake during a fall weekend!

Happy weekend everyone!

{image shown found via Mossiere tumblr}

This past weekend was my cousin Caitlin’s bridal shower, a wonderful afternoon for one of my favorite people in the world.  Caitlin is an avid reader and like many of our family members, a big tea drinker… so the bridesmaids and I thought what better type of shower for Cait than a Book Lovers Tea Party?

For the design and color of the invitation, I was inspired by vintage book covers along with the colors of autumn.  For favors, the maid of honor suggested we do custom bookmarks, so I found the perfect tea & book lovers quote from C.S. Lewis and created an illustration of a stack of books with a tea pot and a tea cup.

The menu was put together by the bride’s mother and the bridesmaids: an autumn butternut squash soup, various tea sandwiches, tea bread, scones (homemade with all the accompaniments), and finger desserts.  For serving, the entire extended family went through their fine china and everyone brought tea pots, tea cups, platters, and the like.  For anything that we couldn’t find or share, we rented from a local company called Fancy That Tea Boutique.  I recently visited their retail space and it is gorgeous!  They have the most amazing collection of vintage china & glassware and the pieces we used made the tea party extra special.

For decorations, I collected vintage books from a local library (and a few special ones from Ebay) and bought tea pots from thrift stores to hold the floral centerpieces that we put together ourselves.  The bride’s sister-in-law (and fellow bridesmaid) put together paper flowers made from book pages, handmade thank you notes for Caitlin, and two gorgeous boxes that looked like books to have as memory keepsakes.

It was a lot of planning but the women in the family really all came together, and you could tell how much love everyone put into the event.  Now I’m very much looking forward to Caitlin & Alex’s wedding next month!

{for more of my perfect parties images, check out my Flickr}

The last few weeks were a big blur of illustrating, designing, and marathon printing, and yet it was all done with lots of love and care.  I’m pleased to share my first letterpress calendar, A Year in the Woods.  It’s inspired by my local Mass Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary and all the time I’ve spent there during the 12 months of the year.

Things are always changing, life is always growing.  Often I’ll bring my camera and stop to try and notice all the wildlife the forest holds: the tiniest mushrooms in the fall, various animal tracks in the snow during winter, or a clump of fiddleheads coming through old growth in the spring.  Even when the woods are silent, there is always something new to see or be inspired by.

To reciprocate my love for those 2,000 acres, I’ll be donating 10% of each calendar sale to the Mass Audubon Society.  For more details, check out the calendar in my shop.

{image shown via my online shop}

I’m teaching another Business Card workshop at the AS220 Print Shop in Providence, RI on Thursday, November 3rd from 6–10 pm.  Students can either submit their own design ahead of time or they can pick from three templates; everyone leaves with 250 letterpress business cards printed in a dark blue ink.  For $80, that’s such a bargain!  Come on over and have some fun learning the letterpress process while printing your cards.  Sign up here.

{image above via my portfolio}