Letterpress Christmas Cards available to purchase

I'm pleased to announce that we have a limited number of Christmas card packs available for purchase.

The cards are 145mm sq with white envelopes. The cover design is letterpressed in dark purple on 300gsm soft white cotton card and finished with a single crystal diamante and satin ribbon spine tie. I have several ribbon shades that particularly suit such as dark plum, gold, wine red, even bright pink but if there is a particular colour ribbon you would like let me know and I can add it instead (subject to availability). They are available in packs of 5 for £9 (£1 p&p).

If you would like to buy them please email me at enquiries@prettywild.co.uk

Payment is via Paypal- I'll email an invoice link if you wish to purchase.

In the Pipeline . . .

Ok, I admit I've been a bad blogger. I have had good intentions to update this blog and Flickr gallery regularly but it has been the busiest of summers and I have neglected to do so due to work load. But as we enter into Autumn I have lots of plans . . .

Firstly we are working on a beautiful new website relaunch - so watch this space! I'm so excited!

I've also recently discovered Twitter which has opened a whole new world of wedding professionals, and we're looking into launching a fan page on Facebook. I have yet to be persuaded to use Facebook - a mere look has always been enough to frighten me away so I invite you all to explain to me the advantages to joining the Facebook community fully! Please?

The Letterpress work is coming along well - some special designs will be debuting very soon.

And we've had lots of exciting enquiries and bookings for bespoke stationery suites - Prettywild hearts the challenge creating something new!

Bridal Soup

I'm delighted to be featured on one of my favourite wedding websites www.bridalsoup.com this week!

The piece is a "No nonsense guide to modern wedding and civil partnership stationery". I hope it will be of help to couples taking their first look at suppliers. I will be preparing a piece for my own blog and website (when it's relaunched) expanding on this.

Hope you enjoy it - www.bridalsoup.com

BESPOKE CARD DESIGN

I love the beauty of words and experimenting with typography. . .

UNUSUAL WEDDING STATIONERY ITEMS

I thought I'd show a few items we recently devised and completed for an imminent wedding in our very popular "Arboris" style.

To save money and space for a couple's reception, we combined 3 items in 1 - a place card, menu and favours and came up with this dinky little wallet for each guest, suitably sized to hold a lottery ticket favour . . .

Incorporating the couple's reception theme of their favourite movies, we were asked to come up with a special quiz card for each film named table. These are slider quiz cards - each question of 10 is shown in a window at the front and the corresponding answer in a window on the reverse side. The finished size is approx 30cm x 10cm. It was certainly a design challenge as we needed to ensure the windows and text fitted comfortably and lined up equally on each card but still within a uniform and elegant style . . .

ALICE IN WONDERLAND THEMED WEDDING

Following the invitations I designed and produced for this wedding, we were recently requested for a post box, guest book and Wedding Souvenir booklet keeping in the same spirit of the original booklet style invitations but with a slight colour change to black and teal. 

I thought it would be a nice idea to incorporate as much information as possible but in a slightly unusual page format. The booklet was divided into 16 pages between 3 sections - welcome information, the church service and the reception. Each section's pages were different sizes to make a self tabbed index. 

The design on the cover was developed from the invitations and the monogram I created from the couples initials (they both shared the same initials single and married!) The L's were positioned back to back like a little mad hatter hat.

**********IMPORTANT NOTICE**********

We will be closed between 1st -10th August for a short summer break and battery recharge!

We are currently fully booked until mid October 2009 but we are taking bookings now for then onwards and into 2010/2011. For this reason we will be suspending the sample service until September to allow us to concentrate on this summer's weddings - reception stationery orders, which have grown much larger and more elaborate than we anticipated earlier this year!

LETTERPRESS PRINTING WORKSHOP - HARRINGTON & SQUIRES

I had the most fabulous day in London today attending a one-to-one workshop for letterpress printing. It was run by Chrissie and Vicky who own a letterpress studio in Tufnell Park

www.harringtonandsquires.co.uk

I learnt to set traditional hot metal type and prepare a chase ready to print from, as well as the basic operation of the press and tips to get the best result from it. And I even got to prepare a little trial project of my own to take home with me. 

I couldn't have had more patient and helpful teachers, Chrissie and Vicky made me feel very welcome and were so helpful answering my (probably quite daft) questions. They showed me their gorgeous work, so tactile and inspiring as only letterpress really is that - I can't wait to get started again! Thank you Vicky and Chrissie! x

40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST MOON LANDING

Time sure flies! I was just a one year old when the Apollo 11 mission landed on the moon so although I didn't watch it actually happening it is part of my generation's life.

However, I recall a lesson at primary school some eight years later when the teacher asked us who was the first man on the moon. I thrust my hand skywards desperate to answer . . . "Sir, sir" I cried, "it was "Louis Armstrong!" 

Oh the shame! - I'm so sorry Neil. Happy Anniversary!

THE KENT COUNTY SHOW

We spent a lovely day yesterday at the Kent County Show near Maidstone. It's mainly a livestock exhibition but also large market and fair and general exhibition of country pursuits. 

I feel madly in love with the alpacas. They are from Appledene Alpacas on the outskirts of my village, Marden. They are the most gangly, odd looking creatures - as if they are modelled on some 50's style kitsch bambi toy and of course I'm smitten!

THE HOP FARM MUSIC FESTIVAL - KENT

I recently spent a gloriously hot weekend of music in the company of good friends!

Particularly loved Ash, Paul Weller, Super Furry Animals, Doves and Pigeon Detectives but had a seriously great night on the Saturday watching The Fratellis and nursed my sunburn.

MORE DETAILS FROM THE WEDDING

REBECCA & LEE'S WEDDING

As promised I've some photos from my niece's wedding to share. It was the most fabulous day, and was incredibly moving and joyous at the same time. 

The couple chose a great vintage theme with chocolate brown, pale dusky pink and ivory as the main colours - from the stunning vintage cars to the dashing suits of the groomsmen. The bride shone in an exquisite ivory wedding gown and beautiful flowers - the bridesmaids were dressed in a flattering dusky pink with little pearl details in their hair. 

Special memorable touches included the male voice choir who broke into a medley of Abba songs during the signing of the register to the pure delight of the congregation, the casino tables in the evening and of course, the cutest little pageboy and flowergirl- their son Jac and niece Rosie! A special mention to my nephews, Peter and Simon who were totally dedicated to their special usher duties.

And apparently some random auntie was later caught windmilling violently to "This Charming Man" - by the Smiths but luckily there aren't any photos (ahem).

A PRETTYWILD FIELD TRIP!

We are off to a wedding this weekend. My beautiful niece Rebecca, will be tying the knot with lucky groom, Lee on Friday. It will be really exciting to see her plans come to fruition and we will of course post some photos when we return, including the stationery, which I was delighted to create for them. 

Good luck Rebecca & Lee xxx

ADVENTURES IN LETTERPRESS - 4

It's here, it's here, it's here! My refurbished press has finally arrived and it's beautiful.

I am now the proud owner of two vintage printing presses. I need to get a few more items to set me up and then I can really start to experiment. So watch this space!

ADVENTURES IN LETTERPRESS - 3

Hurrah! I'm now in possession of a fabulous treasure chest full of old printing equipment! I'm still waiting for the proper reconditioned press to arrive but in the meantime I've got these to amuse me. Spent much of the weekend rummaging around and "cooing" at dirty old metal type and fleurons.

Tried it out the other day - all be it with a hand brayer for the ink as it needs a new set of inking rollers and some ready set type I found in the chest - and with a bit of patience I think I may be onto something!

ADVENTURES IN LETTERPRESS - part 2

I've only gone and bought another press! I'm still waiting for the first one to arrive but in the meantime I've been looking for some accessories to get me started. Ebay has been my new addiction for the past few days and also a wonderful site called www.caslon.co.uk that sell refurbished presses, parts and inks. They couldn't have been more helpful and I'll definitely be using them.

Last night though, I bid for a second press because it came with a whole host of parts such as a cabinet of various fonts and other equipment and managed to win it for much cheaper than buying things individually. My next problem is finding somewhere to set it all up as I'm outgrowing my normal studio space already. The garage is starting to look tempting!

ADVENTURES IN LETTERPRESS - Part 1

Yesterday I became the proud owner of a letterpress printing press! (well, it's been ordered - hopefully will arrive in a week or so.)

Now, I firstly need to admit that I know next to nothing about the process in practical terms but as a self confessed Stationery Geek I love the idea of at least giving it a go. So, I hope to share photos of my trials and tribulations with my new "toy" er, sorry, I mean "equipment" with you over the next few months.

As a bit of background . . . when I studied in the late 80s, our year's intake were among the first to use Apple Macs for graphics and typography for degree work so I was an "inbetweener" of two generations of design practitioners. Remember, this was just before the revolution in home computing so I hadn't grown up with one in the house or even really touched one even at school as computer studies back then consisted of drawing flow diagrams with "Goto" labels etc. But I also learnt old school type mark-up, manual artworking with a bromide and scalpel and preparing pristine mock ups for clients tracing from type sheets with a 0.25 Rotring pen. I believe all these disciplines have actually given me really sound handskills for the work I do now.

These days I need to be surgically removed from my laptop and suffer withdrawal symptoms when the internet connection occasionally goes down as it did earlier this weekend. Such is technological evolution! Which brings me back to Letterpress . . . 

So, after 20 years of working on Macs and PCs I've decided to explore the wonderfully archaic and tactile qualities of a little vintage printing press. It was a "bargain" but of course I'm now committed to buying all the stuff I need to get started. It may all end it tears but like every hopeful of X-Factor - I'm now on a journey. 

CASE STUDY OF A BESPOKE COMMISSION - PART 2

Once the clients received the sample pack of the 3 concepts they decided to use both the portfolio for the evening invitation and the booklet for the day guests. From there we tweaked the designs to suit the actual text and produced another set of proofs. We also changed the fonts slightly to unify them for both invitation packs. Once approved the final packs were made and sent. The next brief is at the initial design stages - a wedding programme. This will be a booklet for all day guests incorporating a timetable of the day, the order of service, table plan and menu, along with "thank yous" and dedications. 

Feedback has been very positive. Here are some of the comments my lovely client kindly emailed to me:

"Hi Suzanne

 

Invitations have been posted and just wanted to let you know that everyone has commented on how beautiful they are. Here are just a few messages received...

 

• 'WOW What sumptuous invitations. A sign of things to come for the big day!'
• Wow I love them, just gorgeous!
• What stunning invitations. The quotes are wonderful, so pretty.
• Thank you so much for your beautiful invitation. Love the theme!  "

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At this point I would like to say a very big thank you to the couple involved for giving me the opportunity to work on such an inventive theme and for their wonderful vision and receptiveness to the ideas we concocted in the process!

CASE STUDY OF A BESPOKE COMMISSION - ALICE IN WONDERLAND - PART1

Last summer I was contacted by a bride to design stationery for her wedding taking place the following summer. The first brief was to create a day and evening invitation pack based loosely on the theme of Alice in Wonderland and incorporating the colours of teal and turquoise . . . 

Rather than follow an obvious Disney-fied fairytale look, we discussed staying true to the spirit of the original Victorian novel by Lewis Carroll with a hint of Vintage Tea Party styling. My full bespoke service includes up to 3 design concepts and samples to choose from. From there, the chosen design is worked up fully and adapted as required to produce a full set of proofs until ready for production.

Originally I came up with three concepts within 3 pricing tiers:

1 - A portfolio pack containing the invitation, an information and map enclosure and RSVP postcard.

The style was light and fresh with a 50's kitsch feel leaning toward vintage tea party rather than the book.

2 - A booklet containing the invitation and subsequent pages of information and maps with a separate rsvp pocket. This was designed in thorough detail with more than a nod to the Alice story. 

The cover had a keyhole cut through enticing the reader with a hint of the foliage graphics beneath. Quotations from the book were used to introduce relevant sections such as directions. The typography was quirkly set in contrasting sizes echoing the constant change in size Alice experiences and finished with a teal ribbon and silver plated key charm. Even the initials of the couple hints at the shape of the Mad Hatter's hat!

3 - A boxed package containing a tiny glass bottle with a miniature scroll invitation and fold out enclosures. The bottle had a "read me" tag tied around its neck. The graphics and typography were purposely styled with a Victorian look.

The concept samples are shown above.

CATCH UP

Well, it has been a while since I last posted - mainly due to being so busy, so I thought I would catch up on some news . . .

I'm pleased to say that despite the credit crunch and recession I've never been busier! We've taken even more orders than the first half of last year which meant we have been booked up till September for some time now, and have even started taking bookings for 2010. I hope it continues!

At the end of January I was delighted to meet up with fellow stationery designers Zoe Rusga from the wonderful "Bunny Delicious" and Nicola Mathews from fabulous "Millie and Me", at the awards ceremony for Wedding Ideas Magazine. The team from Giraffe Publishing were perfect hosts and a very pleasant afternoon was had by all. 

I've had an increase in bespoke commissions - one of the most fun has been an "Alice in Wonderland/vintage tea party" themed wedding - more details to come. As a designer, orders like these are joy to be involved in and the couple have been lovely.

I'm looking forward to a relaunch this autumn and currently working on lots of exciting new ideas and products.