As you might have read a few posts ago, we’re gearing up to launch a brand new line of wedding invitations: Weddings by Smudge Ink. In just a few weeks we’ll be showing off our 26 new wedding suite designs all of which are designed and letterpress-printed right here in our Charlestown studio. Below is a sneak peek at some of the pieces. More to come in about 2 weeks.  Stay tuned!

The Gift Show is coming to a close today, so we finally have some time to pull together our photos and share a bit of the set-up process with you. Setting up for trade shows takes a lot of time and effort and this show was no exception. We start planning roughly 2 months in advance for our display, but admittedly much of the heavy lifting doesn’t happen until 1-2 weeks before the show begins. Below are some early stage set-up pics followed by close-ups of the sticky stars and the booth overall. Thanks a ton to Bruce at Creative Displays who stores our booth and delivered our walls, and to the Smudge Ink team whose combined efforts helped us to have a successful show.

We were pleased with how the sticky stars turned out especially because they added an interesting (and much needed) 3-D element to the booth. In terms of actual product, customers seemed particularly excited about our wrap display. Note to self: it’s good to mix up how you display your products!

The note writing desk was probably the most exciting feature of this booth. We set-up a desk where visitors could sit down, write a note, decorate/address the envelope, and post it.  Everyone here at Smudge Ink makes the time – amidst the craziness of our lives – to write notes, so this note writing station seemed like a natural extension of what we are about and why we are in business. For all those who took the time to sit down and write, thank you!, your letters have been sent. And for those of you who didn’t, we will continue to offer this service in shows to come.

Pictures of the booth all set-up…

As with any trade show we exhibit at, there are always lessons learned. Inevitably there are things that don’t work so well and things that do. We continually try to improve upon our display each year. So, alas, we make a list and tend to such issues between now and the National Stationery Show this May. Hope to see you there!

After 12 years of tasting subpar baked goods, I was lucky enough to experience a donut from Babycakes this morning. Little did I know this lower east side vegan + gluten-free bakery would rock my world. I seriously had trouble leaving with only 3 baked goods in my hand. So far, I’ve eaten the donut (a 10 minute, out-of-this world, cinnamon, buttery, finger-licking good experience). Later I will enjoy the chocolate mint cupcake, and perhaps tomorrow while at the Gift Show, I’ll nosh on the cranberry-apple toasty. I’m going to have to fit in a few extra runs while I’m here–all for good reason, of course.

This past weekend, we took a trip to the Cape to photograph our new letterpress-printed wedding invitations we’re releasing at the end of February. Although we were intimidated by how many pieces we had to shoot (we had limited time), it turned out to be a great success. Thanks to the sun and clouds for perfect lighting, and to my mom for supplying us with a wide variety of props, protein packed meals and two days of free babysitting.

A pre-8am trip to the flower market…

Once we arrived in Orleans, we spent day one outside mostly. It was a gorgeous day, so we hit the beach and used the sand, lobster traps, sea grass and water to our advantage.

It snowed on day two–all day long.  After a poached egg and half a grapefruit, we set up in various rooms around the house.

After we finished our work, we headed outside to enjoy the snow. It ended up snowing about 5-6 inches on the Cape, a coastal storm. It was a long drive home, but kale soup and a turkey sandwich from the Land Ho helped.

We can’t wait to show you our new wedding invitations! Stay tuned…

Now it’s time to actually put the star together. Tools required for assembly: glue gun, styrafoam ball with rebar insert, dyed wooden skewers. See steps below. Here are a few helpful tips to keep in mind: As you insert the skewers into the ball, we recommend inserting them until they won’t go in any further (about 1/2″); each skewer should be about 1/4″ apart (roughly).  As you work, the strings from the glue gun will become entangled between the sticks. It’s easy to pick out once the star is fully assembled. We’ve posted a picture of the result, but we’ll wait until the booth is finished to post more shots of the overall effect.

And, as we gather our collection, they start to look really cool together!

Just when we think we can take a breather after the holiday season is over, the gift show sneaks up on us from out of nowhere! Preparations are in full swing for the New York International Gift Fair at which we’ll be exhibiting at the end of January and mid-August. This time around we are attempting to pull together a new and improved booth. This new look is made possible by one particular hand made decor element: Sticky Stars. We will be sharing how to make a Sticky Star over the next week or so. To be honest, we’re still figuring it out ourselves. Here are a few shots of the first few steps: dying the sticks and preparing the base…

Over the holiday, we escaped to the Cape for a few days to be with family. Our visits to Eastham always include some sort of walk near or on the National Seashore. This time we took off for a 2 hour hike at the salt pond. The colors, the clouds and the air made for a beautiful walk which left me feeling refreshed, invigorated and ready to take on 2012. Happy New Year!

Today we took an unexpected little trip up to Lynn to visit Zimman’s. We were searching for some specific patterns that would compliment our new wedding invitations. How can you not love this place? With coffee in hand, we perused aisles and aisles of bright, colorful, unique fabrics that you can’t find at your run-of-the-mill fabric stores. Here are some of our favorites:

Here’s to much inspiration and bright, happy colors in 2012!