My Story is Art – Watercolor Letterpress and The Hand Painted Moment

In December of 2009 the hubby and I sat around my parent’s kitchen table and chatted of our upcoming 10 year anniversary.  It seemed like only months had flown by together, when in fact it had been nearly a decade.  Stories of THE party (our wedding) as it is known in my family began to circulate across the table and in that moment it was decided we would renew our vows. Over the next few months the details unfolded and it was time to create save the dates.  I hadn’t created stationery for myself since our original wedding but knew it needed to speak of the new people Adam and I were, how we had grown and where we were headed.

See this is how I think… hand painted stationery isn’t just about cotton papers and fresh brushes.  It is literally about telling a story;  where each color choice or swoosh of a brush and droplet of paint has a voice.  A voice that communicates stories in unexpected/intricate ways that are hard to put into words.  I wanted to amplify the voice so this is how our Watercolor Letterpress Wedding Invitation Collection was born…

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Our vow renewal ceremony was to take place in Zion National Park, a magical place you’ve heard me speak of time and time again.  I wanted a way to express the sheer volume of texture, light and color that is present everyday.  Flat printed paper just would not do.  I immediately thought of letterpress, the way each impression melds into paper and creates a luscious texture that nuance we all love.  Then my mind went to watercolor.  Letterpress + watercolor, where meaningful impression meets grace in a brush.   Creating the hand painted moment where everything seems fluid and good.

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Thank you for listening to me wax poetic about paper and paint, now onto the good stuff!  Today I’m taking a walk back through time to feature our favorite Watercolor Letterpress projects from the past 2 years

Brides love our Venue Illustrations and nothing says classic like a stately castle or Inn as the focal point for a finely crafted custom invitation.  For Jaime, we couldn’t stop at letterpress.  We added billowy watercolor clouds and lofty brushstrokes of green to the sketch of Adare Castle.  Each wedding invitation had a unique quality of watercolor detail.

Our signature and well loved Vintage Lacy Tree Collection is no stranger to the Watercolor Letterpress technique we have grown to adore.  Each impression of the tree was surrounded by hand painted fuchsia blooms and silvery sage green leaves.  Even the letterpress dragonfly was individually painted with shimmering watercolor for an added touch of interest.

Extra thick watercolor paper boasted the deepest of letterpress impressions in this captivating design.  No outlines to follow here, lemons were painted on each with accents of branch and leaf.  Each truly had a unique personality…

Oh the drama of white letterpress on charcoal stock!!  Here we took advantage of the chalkboard feel and hand painted a luscious peony bloom in shades of blush, gold and ivory.