A baby announcement, based on our French inspired, Avignon design. The heart can be changed out for an elephant, flower or just about anything else.
Last weekend we went to press and created these charming baby announcements. We are thrilled with how they turned out and hope they are the first of many announcements that come our way!
Also, one more day to enter our FREE LETTERPRESS GIVEAWAY!
– Caroline & Stephanie, www.pressedinbrooklyn.com
The detail…
Filed under Baby, Letterpress, Personal Stationery
Our Avignon design in letterpress
This Saturday we letterpressed the invitations for our first contest winner! We are so excited with the way these invitations turned out. The design is classic and simple, so very French. The design is, in fact, inspired by an antique French pharmacy tin. We believe there are sources of beautiful design inspiration all around us…we just have to keep our eyes open!
Our neighbors have beautiful lavender flowers growing all through their back yard, of which they were happy to let us cut some!
This invitation measures 6.25×6.25 inches. Here we printed it on our ultra-lush, 236lb, brilliant white, Savoy paper. This stuff is amazing! We can’t wait to print our next round of invitations!
Be sure to check out our latest FREE LETTERPRESS WEDDING INVITE GIVEAWAY!
– Caroline & Stephanie, www.pressedinbrooklyn.com
This design can also be made more rustic with the addition of twine and a kraft paper envelope.
The RSVP card. This paper is so thick, it makes for an amazing, super crisp and deep impression.
A detail of the super-crisp text.
One more shot of the RSVP card, paired with metallic silver envelopes.
Filed under Antique, Letterpress, Wedding invitation, Weddings
Wonder what Beethoven would think of this album cover...
So, I’m not the only one in this household who likes to bring home random finds. A little while back, my husband came home with these old records. I have no idea where he found them. Right now we just have them sitting on our bookshelf. I would love to get a record player so that we could actually listen to them. Maybe one day… Anyway, just thought I would post some photos of them for a little more vintage design inspiration.
– Stephanie, www.pressedinbrooklyn.com
Love this illustration.
The back of the album.
The diagonal lines give this a very late 70s or early 80s vibe.
A very psychedelic Vivaldi!
I really like this one...
Memories...this was HUGE when I was kid.
I love this photo from a 1960s Life magazine. The story is about finding a cure for cancer. The way in which this photo is taken makes it look like a painting to me. It reminds me of a certain artist's work...I just can't put my finger on it at the moment.
Last week I took Pascal on his morning walk. As I rounded the corner, I noticed a pile of old magazines just sitting, forlorn, on the sidewalk. Around Park Slope, people often just leave items on the sidewalk for anyone to take. So, I just had to grab them. It was an odd mix of Life magazines and communist themed magazines from the 1960s. Once I got home, I leafed through them and was completely taken by the beautiful photos and the simple and elegant page layouts. So, following are some of my favorites. Part of me wants to tear these magazines up and try my hand at collage making, part of me wants to take the photos out, as is, and frame them, then the other part of me wants to leave these magazines exactly as is. What to do?! Anyway, just thought I would share my find and pass on the inspiration!
– Stephanie, www.pressedinbrooklyn.com
A photo of Russian farmers. With all the grains making a dot pattern, this one reminds me of some paintings by Seurat.
I love the clean simplicity of this layout form USSR Soviet Life Today, circa 1962.
Beach time, Russian style! I love how the woman in the middle is still, basking in the warmth of the sun, separate from and oblivious to the the crowd.
A super trippy 1960s ad.
The Russian car of the future. I would love to have this, it could totally fit into just about any street parking spot.
I'm sorry, I will NOT be able to attend your dinner party...
One thing that has certainly improved is food staging and food photography. This just looks rough.
A very real fear of the time. It reminds me of all the old signs I see around NYC about buildings that contain fallout shelters.
Another great layout.
A story concerning flooding in Florence, Italy. It was very sad to see all the photos of art that was destroyed.
Another photo from the Life magazine story on finding a cure for cancer.
Jackie and Robert Kennedy from Life magazine.
Vintage ad for fur.
Filed under Art, Photography
Before rollerblades...
I also have to say, since everything is digital, our family photo albums have fallen to the wayside. I remember, I used to visit my parents, pull our these huge old photo albums and go through them. Right there, so convenient all bound and at my fingertips. We could see the photos of when we all got the chickenpox, the look of sheer joy on my brother’s face when we got our first Nintendo and how lame I actually kind of looked in my favorite, pink and purple unicorn shirt with matching trousers. Well, those days are gone. If I want to see any photos from the year 2000 on, I have to ask my dad to turn on his computer, sort through the various files and show me. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but it just isn’t the same. My husband and I keep saying that we have to get some photo albums made using Blurb, but that has yet to happen.
Anyway, hope you enjoy these photos, as far as I know they have no copyright restrictions so can be used for most anything. They are enough to make me want to find a working, vintage camera on Ebay!
– Stephanie, pressedinbrooklyn.com
Love the wallpaper. Btw, is he knitting?
Vintage Grand Central Station.
Philly street scene.
Wonder if he is available for parties...
Vintage popcorn stand.
Filed under Photography
An old photo of my family. My grandmother with my little mom on the right and my aunt on the left. Strangely enough, 60 years later, my mom still looks exactly like this!
Here we go, another day of the Etsy Holiday Gift Challenge. This list is for my mother. Just to recap, I plan to purchase all of this year’s presents from Etsy or other small businesses/artists and my budget is $50 per person. I skipped a couple days, but Caroline and I were both so busy gearing up to press our Holiday cards, which we will have up soon. Better a little late than never 🙂
So, my mother is from Germany. That being said, a number of these presents have a German theme to them. She also loves nature: birds, flowers, really anything to do with the outdoors. So, following are a few items I think she would like. All are $50 or under, except for one, but it was just so lovely, I couldn’t resist!
First, we have this amazing antique Deutsch Mark necklace from sweet2bliving. I think I am going to have to get it, that is if it is not already gone! I’ve never quite seen anything like it before.
Antique Deutsch Mark Necklace from sweet2beliving.
My mom also loves photography. This vintage looking photo of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin taken by RetroLovePhotography, would probably be a big hit with her. I’d even love to have one in my apartment!
Retro-looking photo of Berlin by RetroLovePhotography.
Yum, all my favorite winter ingredients: pumpkin, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon. Speaking of nutmeg, that reminds me, when I used to live in Saudi Arabia many years ago, nutmeg was illegal – really, you couldn’t find it anywhere. It was considered an aphrodisiac. Omg, I can’t believe I just wrote that sentence about a gift I am thinking about getting my mother…just, wow. ANYWAY, this pumpkin soap by wyldeivy looks like it would make an excellent present.
Pumpkin soap by wyldeivy.
My mother loves bees, I mean really, really loves them. There are bees all over her house: Queen Bee signs, bee art work, bee coasters, bee photos, bees, bees, bees! But these tea cups have the most elegant bees on them that I have ever seen. They come in sets of two and are made of porcelain AND the are made by fellow New Yorker, Faith Adams. Check out her great Etsy shop for these bee tea cups and all her other beautiful work.
Sweet bee tea cups by FaithAdamsCeramics.
Another German themed gift. I love these Edelweiss hand towels by EmbroideryEverywhere. They are so elegant and they come in many different colors. I happen to like them in the natural color, as shown. This design can even be put on other items such as pillowcases and aprons.
Pretty Edelweiss hand towels by EmbroideryEverywhere.
My mother is a big coffee drinker. Whenever I visit my parents, my mom and I can sit around the table drinking coffee for a very, very long time. This set of 6 Azberg German teacups, from WrappedRoundMyFinger, would be perfect for our coffee marathons. A couple years ago, after a particularly long coffee drinking session, I realized my hands were shaking a little…that’s how much coffee we drink! The more I look at these, the more I like them…I am kind of thinking I might get these for myself now!
German tea cups from WrappedRoundMyFinger.
I love the Scherenschnitte work by ePaperCuts. Scherenschnitte is an old German art, whereby an image is created by using small scissors to cut out intricate designs. ePaperCuts has tons of great work, but I love this French Bulldog. My mom would love it, too because it would remind her of her little four-legged grandson, Pascal!
Little Pascal Scherenschnitte by ePaperCuts.
As I mentioned, my mother loves nature. I think this butterfly art by BugUnderGlass is just lovely. The detail, the color, the delicate lines, it is all just so pretty.
Butterfly art by BugUnderGlass.
So, this gift is over my budget a little, but I just had to include it. It is a mid-century serving dish by Ernest Sohn and can be found in the BrakingSandsVintage Etsy shop. I’m going to share this listing with my husband and see if we should just get it for ourselves…sorry mom!!
Beautiful mid-century serving dish from BarkingSandsVintage.
I love any type of salty and sweet combo and these sea salted carmel lollipops by VintageConfections look too good to pass up. I think they would make an excellent stocking stuffer for my mom…and unlike nutmeg, neither caramel or salt are known aphrodisiacs!
Totally tempting, caramel and sea salted lollipops by VintageConfections.
This vintage inspired locket by dreamyvintage is absolutely beautiful. What I think would really make it perfect is a photo of my mom’s grandson, Pascal, on one side and another photo of her other grandson, Gabe, on the other!
Beautiful vintage locket from dreamyvintage.
This set of 4 Spode saucers from sesameandsparrow is lovely. In fact, so lovely I would almost want to hang them in my (I mean, my mom’s!) kitchen as decoration.
Spode saucers from sesameandsparrow.
Like I said, my mom is a big coffee drinker. I think she would love this vintage apothecary shot glass by fifthseason.
Vintage shot glass from fifthseason.
Here we have another German inspired gift. Love this sweet little Fachwerkhaus ornament by ARTISANIEeurope. Actually, I love all of their architectural ornaments!
Sweet German inspired ornament from ARTISANIEeurope.
Sometimes my mom can become a little wound up. Things that set her off: people who cut her off while driving, people who move too slow and people who slurp while eating. On the flip side, certain things make my mom really happy: the bluebirds in the back yard, seeing me (haha) and getting joke emails from her friends. Well now, with this cute Mood Diary from EineDerGuten, she can chronicle the day’s events and write down what mood each one put her in! I have no doubt all entries pertaining to me will have “good” checked off next to them!
Mood Journal from EineDerGuten.
I love these bees wax candles from underthefigtree, and I bet they smell amazing! What makes them even better is that half of the proceeds for each candle will make sure that a child in need gets a Christmas gift, too!
Bees wax candles by underthefigtree. They come in these great little tea cups that can be reused once the candle is finished.
And finally, Caroline and I are in the process of drawing and printing monogram stationery. My mother’s name starts with a “B” and I think she would love our set of “B” letterpress, monogram cards.
Our hand-drawn, letterpress, monogram notecards from PressedInBrooklyn.
Oops, I almost forgot. I took this photo a couple weeks ago. The full moon was glowingly intense and the way in which it illuminated the clouds and bathed the night sky in an other-worldly light was gorgeous. I just had to take a photo, this is from my living room window in Brooklyn. When my mother saw it, she told me she would love a print of it. I think I will go ahead and do that…now I just need to find a nice frame.
A night in Brooklyn.
So, that wraps it up for my mother’s holiday shopping list. Just have my dad, brother and husband to do…saved the hardest for last!
– Stephanie, www.pressedinbrooklyn.com
Filed under Antique, Jewelry, Letterpress, Personal Stationery, Photography, Shopping
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