I can’t believe there are only two days left till The Conqueror Awards. Suddenly, I don’t feel quite as prepared as I’d like!
If you’re already a fan of letterpress, I totally recommend attending for the door gift alone: a specially-commissioned, limited edition letterpress print! I’m not going to ruin the surprise, but here are some sneak peeks of what the lovely people at Antalis (holding company of the Conqueror brand) let me cook up for the attendees:
As you can see, it was clearly designed by a typophile, for typophiles.
Look closely – do you see the hint of glimmer?
Yup. Gold edge painting. No kidding.
I hope you’ll come claim one for yourself on Wednesday! Also, if you wanted to hear me talk about letterpress -and see photos of me printing these – my segment starts at 6:00pm.
Remember, you have to register for tickets so if you haven’t done that yet it might be a good idea to click here and get that sorted post-haste!
So this is actually day-old news – thanks a lot, twitter! – but I thought I’d share the long version here: something very exciting is going to happen on the 14th of March. I’m going to be a guest speaker at…
This is such a great honor, and certainly one that hasn’t quite sunk in yet. I’ll be speaking alongside design industry greats Kevin Finn and Jonathan Yuen in between the segments of award categories. I’m truly, truly humbled.
I can’t wait to take the opportunity to talk about letterpress and share some of the intricacies of the art form. If you’ve ever wanted to know more about what I do, how I do it, and why it’s worth doing, I hope you’ll come by.
That reminds me: I haven’t started planning my seminar address yet, so if there’s anything you’re personally curious about and would like me to address, I’d love to hear from you. Send me an email via the contact form, and I promise to take on as many suggestions as possible. Ask me anything at all…or, you know, just wish me luck. Because when it comes to public speaking, I think I might need it!
More information and registration/ticketing details are available through the The Conqueror Awards’ official site.
I’m feeling a bit like Rip Van Winkle today.
Seems like just yesterday I was telling myself I’d give myself December off from blogging (and work too, but that didn’t happen) but here I am now, smack dab in the last bit of February feeling guilty for not having come back sooner.
Anyway, to catch you up on things, I had a nice, quiet holiday season with friends and family – just the kind of downtime I needed to balance out a fairly eventful work calendar that shows no signs of lightening up in the next month.
2011 was an amazing year for Paper Tiger Press, and from what I can tell 2012 is set to fare no worse…all due to your support, of course. Thank you all so much for that.
I can’t wait to share all the amazing projects that have hit my desk lately – my new year’s resolution is to update this site more – so stay tuned. Here’s hoping your new(ish) year is on the up-and-up too, and that it takes me less than two months to come wandering on back to this space.
Photos via We Heart It
Remember what I was saying about an exciting announcement? Well, they don’t come any better than this!
I’m thrilled to announce that in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month – and in honor of the soldiers, champions and saints of the cause – Paper Tiger Press will be donating a percentage from all October orders to the Breast Cancer Foundation (BCF).
Why is this important to you? Well, because chances are, breast cancer has touched your life somehow. Whether directly, through a loved one’s battle, or through more distant links of friendships, the sad truth is that breast cancer is a real and prevalent disease that affects us all.
For me, breast cancer was my first lesson in mortality when I was twelve years old and my mother was diagnosed with it. She was fortunate to have caught it at an early enough stage to beat it into remission, and that’s really what this month is about. It’s not just for encouraging patients, celebrating survivors, and honoring love ones we’ve lost, but preaching the one message every woman needs to hear: regular screenings save lives.
So on top of effortlessly doing their part to support the BCF’s community programs, October clients will also be given the chance to raise breast cancer awareness in your circle of friends and family without lifting a finger. Simply opt for our Think Pink message and we’ll unobtrusively* print the backs of your cards like so:
Small logo, huge impact. Here’s what it says:
We can’t wait to work with you on raising funds and awareness for this cause, so if you have an occasion coming up and want to make a difference, drop us an email via our contact page. Just so you know, orders placed this month can be worked on and delivered at any time in the future – even for weddings in 2012. To learn more about the good your donation will do for patients and survivors, read about BCF’s support programs here.
*Please note that the alternative to our Think Pink message is our standard “made in Singapore” line above our URL, which appear on the reverse of save the date cards, wedding invitations and greeting cards only. As always, these are digitally printed so as not to cause any impression damage to the front of the card.
Happy birthday, Paper Tiger Press!
I can’t believe it’s already been a year, but on the other hand, it’s funny to think back on my life before letterpress took over: I still remember wondering what the heck I’d gotten myself into, watching six men from the freight company crane-lift Persimmon into my new studio.
I have to admit, it was all very daunting at first. As excited as I was about letterpress, the blue collar reality of being a printer was difficult to wrap my head around. Funnily enough, it was my mom who had the most trouble adjusting. She’d get visibly mournful every time she saw me leave for work in my ratty print clothing and worry that it meant I had no money. Typical Asian parent!
I’m not sure she’ll ever stop worrying enough to look back on that and laugh, but at least I can – something I owe to all of you. Thank you so much for being here and reading this, for being interested in what I’m doing, for allowing me to share my passion. I am so overwhelmingly grateful for the support I’ve received from my fabulous clients and regular readers, that if I could reach through my screen and hug you…it would be creepy, but I’d still do it.
Now I’m off to spend this birthday the best way I know how: in my ratty print clothing, at the studio, making beautiful things for wonderful people.
Picture via weheartit
Let me preface this post by saying this: while letterpress wedding invitations are extremely affordable if you’re planning a large wedding, low quantity orders can be costly. It’s always bothered us that brides who want intimate celebrations get the short end of the stick when it comes to invitations, so this was something we’ve been wanting to do for a while.
We’ll be offering 50 letterpress wedding invitations at just $300 – customized with your favorite colour and information. Ta-daa! Letterpress democracy!
But it gets better: each invitation order comes with free matching personalized notecards. Use them to send a sweet handwritten note with your invitations, save them for your post-party Thank You’s, or just keep them to use as personal stationery. Are you loving this as much as I am?
All you have to do is drop us an email naming your favourite design, your colour choice (refer to the chart below), and your wedding info. Then, sit back and wait for us to get in touch to work out text details. We only have one set of invitations and notecards available per design though, so do jump on this before all four sell out.
So what are you waiting for? Scroll down to choose your invitation…
The nitty gritty:
A 50% deposit is required for design reservations. Until we receive payment, we are unable to guarantee you’ll get the design you want. We only have one of each design for sale, so move quick, people!
Sale prices apply to quantities of 50 single-colour invitation cards only. Larger orders of these designs are welcome, but are priced regularly after the first 50 sets. Envelopes for both invitations and notecards aren’t included in this offer, but are available at regular prices.
Invitation and notecard design and text are fixed. We are however happy to alter the amount of text to accommodate the hosts’ details, RSVP information and/or dress code.
Sale orders do not include personal consultations. This sale is open to international as well as local clients, so in the interest of fairness, we’ll be communicating via email only. But don’t worry – sale orders include up to 2 rounds of digital proofs.
Turnaround time is about 14 days on most orders. We’ll be able to give you a better timeline once you’ve confirmed your order, but the countdown starts once we have received your deposit and scans of the final signed proof and contract.
Thank you for helping us spread the word. We’ll be printing our logo and URL very small, on the back bottom edge of all cards. It’s tiny, really! Normally, we’d love word-of-mouth recommendations, but who is going to have time for that on their wedding day? This’ll be so much easier, we promise.
Your invitations will be immortalized as samples! We’ll photograph them for our online gallery, and will be happy to send you the professional photos for your own use as well. We’ll also be using the cards in our physical portfolio for clients and trade partners. You’ll be famous!
Yesterday, I got to meet the ridiculously talented Sarah of The Wedding Chateau (after blog-stalking her for about a month, which I’m only admitting to because I can tell she’s far too nice to hold it against me) and got so carried away in our conversation that I managed to leave without my notebook and had to drive back for it. True story. She is mesmerizing.
Brides, if you aren’t familiar with TWC’s work, you really need to be: their floral arrangements and dessert bars (they bake everything themselves!) look like professional photoshoots come to life.
More photos here and here, and be sure to check out their blog too, where she featured us recently.
As a follow-up from my last post, this is the beautiful personal stationery set we were photographing this morning. These are actually a special commission for my stepmother, but we’ll be rolling them out for public orders soon.
Each personalized, folded card is paired with an envelope hand-lined in a different gilded Japanese Chiyogami paper. The intentionally-mixed linings echo striking Japanese kimono and obi combinations: often unexpected, but somehow perfectly balanced in their tonal asymmetry.
I think this is my favourite stationery set to date…and I love that it’s going to someone I know, because maybe I’ll get one back someday!
Now that I’m done moonlighting as a party planner, it’s time to head back to the studio for some real work.
But first, an annoucement: Paper Tiger Press is now on Facebook! I’m also working on the whole Twitter thing, though it really seems like the antithesis of what I do – wouldn’t it be nice if I could just mail everyone little handwritten tweets on letterpress stationery?
I think so.
On a related note, I’m loving this series of photos by Phillip Maisel, who took long-exposure photos of a computer screen while scrolling through facebook photo albums.
I actually found these photos more alluring before I read the artist’s mission statement, which came across as an over-dramatized afterthought to an exceptional idea. Of course now that I’ve said that, I’m sure you’re dying to go and see what I mean. Seriously though, just try to not roll your eyes at that last question.
More photos and the accompanying article here.
Melissa, of Wonderland For Detailed Planners (WFDP), just featured Paper Tiger Press in a lovely write-up on her blog. When I had the pleasure of meeting her in person, we immediately bonded over a shared aesthetic and all the other things we had in common – one of which was an ex-employer, believe it or not!
Crazy coincidences aside, I can vouch for the fact that Melissa is as charming as she is talented, but don’t take my word for it: check out WFDP’s website and see for yourself. Here’s a quick preview of her work in event styling and Tiffany chair rental:
