Black and white letterpress wedding invitation suite

Simple and elegant are usually the 2 most common requests I get for an invitation suite. This elegant invitation definitely ticks all of the boxes. For this invitation and more, visit our GALLERY.

SPECIFICATIONS:
Invitation:
Size: C6 Insert
Paper: Gmund 100%cotton
Envelope: black with black and white rose liner

Marble and Geo Letterpress invitation suite

This invitation suite was experimental. An excercise in registration and in combining a digital print with letterpress. The angles of the lines had to fit perfectly within the spaces on the digital print - a big ask when each card is manually fed into a 100yo machine! Never the less, it worked and I love it!  It was produced for the Perth Wedding Upmarket in May earlier this year purely for me. To push the boundaries of the letterpress craft and modern design and to challenge myself.

I will be exhibiting at the next Wedding Upmarket:

When: Saturday 29th August 2015
Time: 10am to 3pm
Where: University of Western Australia’s Winthrop Hall Undercroft
Entry: Free

 

SPECIFICATIONS

Invitation - 150x150mm, Digitally printed onto Crane's fl White, Post letterpress in gold ink.

Vintage lace letterpress wedding invitation

This beautiful invitation was inspired by vintage lace.
The lace (blind impression) forms a frame around the script text in silver.
The cool thing about these invitations was the belly bands that addressed the invitation.  They were digitally printed onto matching text weight paper.
The same belly band idea was applied around DL menus and used as place card alternatives.

SPECIFICATIONS:

600gsm cotton - bright white

A5 (148x210mm)

2 colour - blind and silver

Rails and Bails - fix

One of the great things about owning a vintage press is the visible wear that human hands and error have made on it over 100+ years. Last month I thought it was time to repair a nick on the rails that I had put up with for some time by compensating in different ways, but I'd had enough!

There were 2 'chunks' taken out of the rails where the platen had been shut while the bails were left open.  Several times over the past 100 years it would seem to leave such a mess!

Essentially, the bails hold the tympan and packing down on the platen, so when you change the tympan, you need to lift the bails to take it out. 

The problem with having such damage on the rails, is that in that spot, the rollers can dip down onto the forme and over-ink that part of the image = frustrating!

A little research told me that steel putty could do the trick. Steel putty is readily available in hardware shops and if you happen to have someone handy in the family (like me) then you will find it on your shelf. (Thanks awesome husband for these instructions)

1. mix the epoxy to the instructions of the tub.
2. smear the putty onto the damaged area
3. smooth it over but leave a slight bulge so it can be sanded back
4. once completely set, sand back using coarse grit (~320) then sand again using a finer grit (~500)

We made the conscious decision only to treat the damaged spot as once you start mucking about with the rail height, unless done VERY accurately, you can make a mess out of it pretty quickly.

As you can see from the final results its pretty good!

I have needed to re-tape the rails to get the rollers back up to roller height as is recommended.  I use a special tape called UHMWtape/ slick surface tape (127um) - 18mm. I sourced this from Embossing Tape Supplies here in Australia.

Next step was to re-level the platen.. but that's another story!

Bails and diagram of press parts

The damage to the rail

Damage to the feeder board - I love this nick as it shows the 100's of times someone has lifted the bails up and scraped the feeder board ever so slightly, like footsteps on ancient cobblestones.

Bails left open and press has been run crushing the bails against the rails - not good.

Proper position of bails for safe printing.

The gaps and general unevenness of rails before fix (side view)

After repair, only slight dip and much straighter rails - yay!

Plastic steel putty

Bold script, hand lettered, modern letterpress wedding invitation

A beautiful soft mint green script is splashed across this luxurious invitation. Another instance where these fabulous clients suggested edits and styling to the design which contributed to a perfect final result.
Also, these super kind words make me feel a little bit special!
"I just wanted to say a huge thank you for the most beautiful wedding invitations! The suite was gorgeous, very high quality and beautifully presented. We really appreciate how easy it was to work with you, nothing was an issue and none of my many many emails seemed a bother. We have had so many compliments on how exquisite the invitations were. I have been recommending you to other brides at work and will continue to do so. You do such beautiful work : )
Thanks again Jess & Matt"

SPECIFICATIONS
Size: A5
Paper: 300gsm 100% cotton rag
Colours: grey and mint green

Variation on a theme.

These three invitations are very similar, but all have been customised to match the budget and theme of each wedding. They are 'variations on a theme'.

1. A classic rose garden

 

 2. Classic rose garden with Modern text

3. Classic Peony

Letterpress birth announcement for a baby boy

Our first letterpress birth announcement for a baby boy!
A very special birth announcement/ baby thank you card, with custom designed envelope liner.
Welcome into the world Lukas!

SPECIFICATIONS
SIZE: 110X155mm
PAPER: 300gsm 100% cotton rag
COLOUR: 1 colour
OTHER: Chrystal archive photo developed image, glued onto printed announcement/ thank you card
ENVELOPE: C6 with digitally printed envelope insert

Luggage tag Save the date invitation

Every now and then, you get lucky enough to produce something breathtaking. This was it for me, from the moment Jacinta contacted me and shared her vision for her Save the date cards, I knew they would look awesome.
Jacinta and Travis would be getting married in Colorado USA. They both currently reside in Western Australia.
Their brief was 'floral, vintage, natural browns, warm greys and blush pink with peonies and a luggage/shipping tag' theme.
As soon as 'The Admiral' pressed into the double thick 600gsm 100% cotton paper on his first motorized run, with a blush impression of a vintage peony flower, I swooned. I had spent some time adjusting the roller height by taping up the rails of the C&P press and the impression was pretty perfect, that is the ink touched only the very surface of the plate and when the pressed closed to form the impression, the ink transferred only into the 'valley' of the impression and not onto the internal sides of the impression. Smiles all round here.
The results speak for themselves.

First press

Second press

Stitching

Corners cut, Kraft re-enforcing ring embellishment and jute string

Envelopes were addressed with white calligraphy ink. Mint vintage Australian stamps were sourced - the perfect final touch.

We have been featured!

Our wonderful friends at We love Perth have featured Fluid Ink in an interview! Check it out HERE

NEW Doily cards

My doily plates have been given a new lease on life!
As polymer plates are quite an expense, I try to design so that the plates have multiple uses. These humble doily plates have been used for the 'Yellow and grey save the date cards', 'Christmas Peace Hope gift tags' and now, a super cute doily blank greeting card. I love these colours. they remind me of Fruit Tingles!