Spark Custom Artwork for Wedding

Letterpress Wedding Suite
Retailer: Michael C. Fina, New York City
Description: This invitation set is letterpress-printed in spring green ink on Crane lettra pearl white 110# cover. Included in the set is the invitation panel, inner and outer envelopes, custom envelope liner on the inner envelope, reply card and envelope as well as a reception card.

The inner and outer Crane envelopes come in a pointed baronial flap. The inner envelope has a letterpress-printed envelope liner, printed on Crane lettra pearl white 80# text weight paper.

What we love most about this invitation set is the custom artwork created by our designer, Kate. She is so good at turning ideas into reality on paper. This wedding took place in upstate New York, so the trees and canoe on water fit in with the landscape as well as with the overall tone of the wedding.

Isn't He Cute?

Halloween Henry is one of our favorites! He is letterpress-printed on Crane lettra 110# pearl white cover in a transparent white and dark boo-licious brown. He comes with a custom-printed, whip cream envelope.

The joys of printing on metallic paper.

Lots of people are interested in the range of pearlescent/metallic papers available, such as Stardream. They are available in lots of striking colors, and can be used for numerous applications. However, they are not necessarily ideal for letterpress printing.

These are not the “lofty” papers that are often used for letterpress, so if the current “deep impression” is sought, you may need to use a softer packing for the impression to be blatant enough on the front of the paper. The softer the packing, the more it forms (in effect) a debossing counterforce to the printing plate.

Because of the finish on these papers, they are also almost completely non-porous, and behave like a hard coated paper. If the ink used is not an oxidizing ink it will probably never completely dry and will rub off. To use common examples, oil-based ink rather than rubber-based should be used.

With this non-porous finish, the harder the impression the more the ink will tend to squeeze out under pressure and cause “halos” or otherwise sloppy-looking printing. One way around this is to use two separate impressions with lighter inking—perhaps a first with hard impression and very little ink, followed by more ink with less impression.

A Modern Approach to Wedding Invites

Retailer: Gateaux Inc., Plymouth, Minnesota
Invitation: Mini Circles design by Spark
Description: This invitation and thank you set is letterpress-printed on Crane Lettra pearl white 110# cover in charcoal ink. The invitation circle is 6.75" in size and fits into a 7" square envelope. The reply card is a 5.25" circle and fits into a 5.5" square envelope. Thank you notes are flat, A2 cards.

Calling All Interns!

We currently have an opening for a part-time, paid internship. Duties include, but are not limited to: finishing work, photography, sales & marketing calls, order fulfillment, and more. Please contact us today for more details! Hurry!

Simple is often best.

Maybe at first glance there is nothing special about this invite, but I keep coming back to this image when looking for past projects I want to share. This type-based design by The Paper House in Newport Beach, California, does seem to have a lovely simplicity to it that I can appreciate. I think it is the combination of everything - the sans serif typeface, the luxuriously thick stock and the lack of ink.

Ink Mixing: opaque white vs. transparent white

In mixing Pantone colors we encounter the phenomenon of “transparent white”, which in other fields would be called “clear.” Many have found that for letterpress printing, opaque white works better for color consistency or for other reasons. I’ve found that with transparent white it can be tricky to maintain even color over a run, as slight variations in the ink film thickness show much more than with opaque ink.

Since the PMS formulas don’t use opaque white, some adjustments are sometimes required. A pastel color may specify 97 parts trans white to 3 reflex blue, for example. Transparent white ink is actually somewhat yellowish, as it contains linseed oil, resins, and other things essential to being ink. So, often we need to add some yellow into the mix when using opaque white.

Replacing transparent with opaque white is also essential when printing over darker papers. If the artwork will allow it, the piece can be run through the press two or even three times to achieve fairly complete opacity. On a hand-fed press this can be quite a stunt for testing consistency of registration, where on a windmill (for example) you will rarely see a variation if everything’s set right.

Calling all Sioux Empire Brides

If you happen to live in the greater Sioux Empire, stop by our booth at the Sioux Empire Bridal Spectacular. Here are the details:

Sunday, September 21, 2008
12:00 Noon to 4:00 PM
Ramkota Exhibit Hall
Sioux Falls, SD
Click here for more information

J.D. Gordon Stationery

Our friends at J.D. Gordon Advertising in Sioux City, Iowa, are slowly working their way toward becoming letterpress junkies. We printed their stationery suite (business cards, letterhead and envelopes) late last year and I still am so pleased with the final look. They used French Paper Muscletone 140# cover in pure white for the business cards and French Paper Dur-o-tone 80# butcher in white.

One thing I found interesting about the final look of the stationery was how using letterpress really allowed the paper's unique butcher paper finish to shine through. I think in this instance letterpress printing really adds to the design because each piece is slightly different from each other depending on how the ink covered from sheet to sheet.

Guess who's back...back again...

Spark is back...tell a friend. Well, a friend who is interested in stationery, design or letterpress printing; otherwise they may not find this blog all that interesting.

We finally figured out how to keep up with the demands of keeping a blog. We write the posts ahead of time instead of waiting until the last minute to do them and then realizing you have an order to get out the door, an estimate to do or a kid to pick up from daycare.

Wish us luck as we get back on track.

Die Cut Shapes for the Holidays

Who doesn't love a die cut shape? The two die cut cards shown above are just a couple of the fun shapes we have available this holiday season. We also offer a snow globe, modern tree, penguin and other interesting shapes.

Die Cut Snowman: This fun die cut comes in a large and small size to fit into either an A7 or A2 envelope. The above snowman was printed on Pegasus Brilliant White 130# smooth cover on our Digital Indigo press last holiday season.

Die Cut Ornament: This die also comes in a large and small size to fit into either an 7" square or a 5.5" square envelope. The ornament above was printed on Pegasus Museum White 130# smooth cover on our Digital Indigo press last holiday season. It is a double-sided piece, with a photo of the family on the other side. The envelope is Crane Lettra Pearl White 5.5" square and has a Stardream Vista envelope liner. Although not shown in the photo, this holiday card was tied off with a light blue organdy ribbon, so family and friends could hang on a tree.

If you would like to know more about our die cuts and how it all works, check out our Holiday Handbook for more information.

The Holidays are here...almost!

Hey designers, check out the attached PDFs detailing Spark’s special discount for holiday projects, as well as our handbook that shows you what options we have available for die cutting, paper, envelopes and finishing.

We hope to work with you and your clients this holiday season!

Spark Holiday Handbook
Spark Holiday Promotion

Spark Retailers...don't worry, we have special holiday pricing for you as well! Contact Diedre for a holiday custom quote today!

Wedding Spotlight: Blast from the Past

Back in the day, Valerie and Jim were knocking out wedding invitations for customers in the Minneapolis area. The two shown above are great examples of how Spark has always thought outside of the box when it comes to styling and packaging an invitation.

T&E Spring Floral
Who doesn't like the idea of making your invitation into a standing piece that friends and family (especially Mothers and Grandmothers out there!) can keep on display? This invitation is digitally printed on metallic cover paper. A lavender and spring green ribbon compliment the design. Reply card and envelope are tucked inside the invitation panel when mailed.

Corset Wrap
The corset has been around for ages, thankfully not in use as much these days. This invitation is digitally printed, wrapped with a decorative paper and tied up with a silver cord to imitate a corset. Reply card and envelope may be tucked in on the back side of the invitation.

Both designs can be easily adapted to letterpress. We also offer a variety of artwork, decorative papers and embellishments - anything can change. Contact Spark to request a link to our private images page and check out more of our designs.

We'll be back on Monday!

We're off this week with vacations, opening up our new Stationery Loft and trying to get some orders out before Jim and I head out for a weekend getaway. We'll be back with some exciting new posts next week!