Retro Geny

 My friend Genevieve moved into a new house just before the holidays and so I printed her a holiday/moving card. She likes retro stuff and the house is from the 50's, so I designed the card to evoke retro ornaments and font. 

Oh, and Buckeroo is their dog, his whole name is The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. I loved the movie too, but i've never named a pet after it. 
Details: Mohawk superfine paper, with COOL GRAY 9, and a red ink. Remind me to talk about overprinting sometime...ok, I guess I will do that now. Letterpress ink isn't so thick that you can print over some other printing and have it not show through, so if you don't want (for example, the string showing through the red balls) you have to not print the line where you want the balls to go, it makes for some pretty funky plates, and some TIGHT registration! 

The Blind Martini

 So when you print with either NO ink or a COLORLESS ink (aka tint base), it is called a 'blind impression', because you get an impression, but no visible ink. Comprenez-vous?  


Since I learned about it, I love to use it for special effects. Take for instance this soirée invite. While my husband was taking photos for me, I made him give me props for how sexy it is that the martini glass is a blind impression. 


This is for a party that I gave for my birthday one year. I love mocktails (because I don't drink alcohol, but I love the idea of cocktails) and I love to have little parties. It is my considered opinion that you create the 'mood' of the event from the get-go, with your invitation. Sure e-invites are easy and free, but who saves those for a scrap book, and wouldn't you get WAY more excited for a party where you got a real invitation? I know I have a bias. 

Details: Mohawk paper - (I think) it is nice and thick with a super smooth finish. I used basic white envelopes.  Inks: Gray, green, and blind.  Ink (BTW I have a hard time spelling gray and/or grey because I lived in England for a while AND I have cousins with the last name of Grey. I can just never get the spelling right), probably COOL GRAY 9, PMS 383, and tint base. The font is called Mistral. I use it a lot.