a collaborative effort.
Something I’m learning to appreciate more and more is good collaboration. I think some of the best products out there are a result of people with different strengths and passions coming together to create an end product that each party couldn’t have accomplished alone.
Since Andrew and I are both designers, we always want to design and produce our own Christmas cards. But for the first time in six years, we decided to look outside of our own capabilities and resources to produce something truly amazing.
We came up with our concept, inspired by our love for letterpress and these business cards. Our goal was to create something simple that highlighted the message but would also make people think about how it was created. We contacted Concrete Lace, an Atlanta-based letterpress printer who we met at Indie Craft Parade this year. Katie was great to work with, and was kind enough to send a few photos of the process over so I can share. Our card has a blind embossed (letterpressed) message on a beautiful heavyweight cotton stock. We then dip-dyed each card to add color and interest.
Below are a few photos of the process — from letterpress to dyeing.
Concrete Lace Studio, photo courtesy of Katie Daniels
Letterpressed! photo courtesy of Katie Daniels
Testing the dipping process/mixing colors
Dipped cards drying
The final product
Although I love print design, I’m fascinated by the thought this card doesn’t use ink at all!
christmas, handmade, products,o christmas tree.
The prospect of not having an actual Christmas tree for a second year running was a gloomy one, so after looking at several different tree options, we finally settled on a small live tree. I’m so glad we did! It was fun unpacking all the ornaments that we never pulled out last year and remembering the ones we’ve purchased or been given. Here are a few of my favorite additions this year:
Crochet snowflakes purchased on Etsy last year.
Delicate tin icicles from Tinworks.
Porcelain pears from Crave Studio.
Now to finish choosing what will go under the tree!
christmas, craft, handmade, products,keep it local.
A few weeks ago some friends and I headed up the road to Asheville, NC. The main reason for our trip was to meet Grace of D*S at her book signing there. We had so much fun exploring the city and checking out the shops, galleries and restaurants before we headed over to the bookstore. (If you want to see where all we went, look for more photos at Erin’s blog.)
Asheville has always had a strong ‘buy local’ movement (see examples of their campaigns below), but I was excited to see a new ‘Local is the new Black’ promotion around town. Beautiful silver screenprinted posters stand out against shop windows all over town.
Various Asheville Grown Business Alliance (AGBA) Campaigns as seen around town. Photo credits clockwise from top right: alicia.pimental / briface / ello lovey / Ron Gunzburger
It’s a great reminder as we head into the holidays. Every city has independent retailers struggling to make ends meet, and we can choose to support them and our local economy with our purchases.
If you’re not sure where to start, there’s a growing movement that can help. The 3/50 Project has been very instrumental for me in demonstrating exactly what kind of impact buying local can have. From their website:
“For every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures. If you spend that money in a national chain, only $43 stays here. Spend it online and nothing comes home.”
The basic idea behind their project is to encourage consumers to pick 3 local businesses whose doors they would be sad to see close, and commit to spend $50 (total) each month at these stores. This is a great campaign with a very worthy mission.
I’ve seen a sign online that says “If you really want to occupy Wall Street, do your holiday shopping at a small independent merchant.” While I don’t know if that’s the entire answer, it’s definitely a good start! Support your local businesses this holiday season — whether that’s an artist or a restaurant or shop owner in your city. Think of creative ways to give gifts that support others in your community.
Greenville, local food, products, art, Business, christmas, good ideas,handmade holidays.
I’m always a bit nervous to take the official handmade pledge. Mostly because I know that while I love hand-crafted goodness, not everyone has the same appreciation for handmade things. Plus, in years past, I would have tried to do all the hand-making myself, but I like to think I’ve become wiser this year, realizing (a) I’m not superwoman, and (b) there are a lot of really talented people out there making things much better than I ever could.
Also forefront in my mind this year was the fact that Andrew and I have been working to simplify and de-clutter our lives and our home. This made me look harder than ever to find meaningful and useful gifts for others. The great news is that when all the shopping was said and done, I’d given a lot more handmade gifts this year than I expected!
Because I’m a designer, and a bit of a nerd, I made a chart (using Daytum) that shows where the gifts we gave came from. I think visualizing data is the best way to understand it.
