Hallo, Germany! Where's the sun?

January is almost over and I am happy to report that our family has been here for almost five months! Wow, that was fast. In December, we received a lot of snow with the rest of Europe. Now that it is almost February, the weather has been unusually Spring-like. The December snow is long gone, causing many of the rivers to swell and flood. We have had many days in the 40s (Fahrenheit), but the sun is hiding. Since late November, the days have been dark and cloudy. The picture of my husband (above) was taken a couple weeks ago at around 2:30 in the afternoon - we considered that a sunny day! We just try to stay as active as we can despite the overwhelming feeling like we should take a nap. I try to remind myself that at home (South Dakota) it is in sub-zero temperatures with lots of snow on the ground.

We are feeling a bit nostalgic lately, as we can already look back on the past months and feel really great about the things we've seen and done. There is still so much to do!

The above picture is of my son, Alexander, in Frankfurt. We love this picture of him because it shows his personality - very silly at times - Mr. Giggles. His most memorable experience was at BMW World in Munich.

My oldest son, Aaron, is head over heels in love with German public transportation. We do not have a car, so we rely on the buses and trains to get us places. Aaron can tell you from memory the bus routes in Marburg. A boy from South Dakota, Aaron has enjoyed the Deutsche Bahn. He was thrilled when we went to London at the beginning of January and got to ride the London Tube AND a double decker bus! We heard much analysis of how the London Tube was very different from the Munich subway (he prefers Munich's underground).

Since our arrival, we have traveled down Germany's Romantic Road, visiting fabulous towns along the way - Wuerzburg, Rothenberg, Dinkelsbuhl and Fuessen. We took a train to Munich with family, enjoyed Frankfurt's sights like the Goethe museum and the Dom, and even took a train down to Salzburg, Austria- which is so lovely in Winter.

Wuerzburg shopping area (above)
Rothenburg (below)

Neuschwanstein the Fairy Tale Castle (above)
Salzburg, Austria (below)

We are planning out our time this Spring, knowing that we have to choose the places we visit wisely. Nuremberg, Berlin, Heidelberg and Koblenz are on our list this Spring. We have received many suggestions - thank you! Take care, stay warm and rest assured, Spring is around the corner. I can hear our family and friends at home saying, "Yeah, right, dream on!"

Retailer Profile: The Dandelion Patch- Georgetown

The Dandelion Patch- Georgetown
Washington, DC

Owner: Heidi Kallett
Length in business: Doors for this store opened October 8th!

Why did you choose to carry the new Spark albums? We had a lot of success with them at our other locations (Vienna and Reston). We love the playfulness of the designs. We really like the flexibility and variety of the designs as well.
Favorite Design: Claire "Top Secret" (because we are in DC), and Ava

Social Media
Website: thedandelionpatch.com
Blog: blog.thedandelionpatch.com

Other thoughts about the new albums: We like them a lot! I enjoy working with your staff (two thumbs up). They are user friendly albums.
Average client: Traditional with a modern twist.
Strengths as a retailer/store: Customer service and the ability to help our customers with the design and layout to really make things custom.

It has been fun to get to know the staff at The Dandelion Patch in 2010. We were thrilled to see them open two new locations in October - Georgetown and Leesburg! They are a great resource for creating custom stationery and truly have an attentive, creative staff that will help you every step of the way.

Welcome to The Pressroom...

(Please note that the designs shown above are created by designers Spark is collaborating with in The Pressroom & Company. We respect their talent and the rights of ownership for their own designs. Please note that these designs are not available through our retailers. Spark has a vast collection of designs to choose from should you choose to work with one of our retailers.)

Many of you may not realize that while Spark offers its own custom line of invitations and stationery, we are also a commercial letterpress shop printing for some of the best and brightest stationery designers and design firms here and abroad.

We wanted to introduce you to our newest venture, The Pressroom & Company.

The Pressroom & Company (TP&C) is a select group of experienced and passionate stationery designers, proudly offering beautiful stationery to an ever-expanding community of online buyers. Our timeless designs and exceptional, yet affordable letterpress printing are a perfect match for all of life's events.

TP&C designs are styled by renowned invitation designers from all over the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Their design styles showcase a wide variety of artwork from modern to vintage, floral to calligraphic and more.

Spark has contributed a few designs to this site and we'd love for you to check them out. All of our 80+ retailers can also offer you these designs, so if you see something from Spark you like and would prefer to work through a local retailers, then head on over to see one of our amazing Spark dealers!

Gift Tag

Hi there! This is Sarah, one of the new interns with Spark. I'm very excited to immerse myself in the world of Letterpress Love!

Here at Spark we offer 41 different color papers (soon to be more!) to add a splash of color on your special day! We also offer die cuts to create unique-shaped tags such as rectangles, circles, hearts, flowers, leaves and more. You can personalize your gift tags anyway you want as long as it works well within the allotted space.

Here are some ideas for what to put on your tags:

• A favorite religious verse or phrase
• A quote related to your wedding or something that is meaningful to you
• The date of your special day
• The names of the happy couple
• Something simple, like "XOXO"
• Nothing - leave space for your guests to write you a message!
  

Here are some ways to make your special day as memorable to your guests as it will be for you!

• For beach or tropical destination weddings, fill small jars or bottles with sand and use fun ribbon to attach your gift tags.
  
• Another beach idea is to attach tags to seashells, starfish or sand dollars
• For a winter or holiday season wedding, tie your Spark gift tag to a seasonal or themed cookie cutter (such as a gingerbread man!)
• Everyone can use a corkscrew; attach a tag to one and your guest will use it to open up those bottles of bubbly!
  
• Salt and pepper shakers at the table will make an adorable wedding favor. Don't forget a possible tag like "we go together like salt 'n' pepper!"
  
• Leave an area of blank lines on your gift tags and tie them to personalized pens. Your guests will be compelled to write their congratulations and wishes that the happy couple can enjoy later!
  

Floral Weddings

After a long and cold winter nothing seems more welcoming and beautiful as flowers! Naturally, flowers have become a top request for the upcoming spring wedding season. They are perfect for bringing out small pops of color and textures while still bringing a delicate element into your wedding. Spark has various flowers to fit in with any wedding. Some of these include: a daisy, poppy, hydrangea, orchid, dogwood and roses to name a few. Below are a few examples of floral stationery.


Please contact a retailer near you to see the wide variety of flower artwork we offer. And, of course, we would love to create something custom to make your wedding day even more special!

Retailer Profile- Gus and Ruby Letterpress

Gus and Ruby Letterpress
Portsmouth, NH

Owners: Samantha Finigan and Whitney Swaffield
Length in business: A little over 2 years

Why did you choose to carry the new Spark albums? Loved the versatility! Such a variety of designs from traditional Caitlyn to fun Valerie - there is something for everybody. We love the bold use of graphic and type. Also whimsy :)
Favorite design: Amelie and Isabel

Social Media
Website: gusandruby.com
Blog: paperhounds.blogspot.com
Facebook: gus & ruby letterpress
Other thoughts on the albums: Because there is just the two of us and we really give our couples the personal experience (appointment, champagne, etc), who we work with is really important and you guys are fun! You have built a relationship with us, and us with you, which actually helps our clients go from their vision to reality.

Average Client: Slightly more contemporary, really design savvy clients.

Strengths as a retailer/store: Really our customer service as we try to establish a relationship with each client and we care about each one of them. We can talk about their vision and give direction as we are both graphic designers and letterpress printers. This helps when we bring the order to you as we know what works and what doesn't for letterpress.

It's true, Samantha & Whitney know letterpress. All of us at Spark consider them a friendly dynamic duo. The projects they send our way encourage our willingness to mix and match the designs, creating custom pieces that are very personal to their clients. We love that. By the way, their paperhounds blog is a must read - check it out!

Photo credits:
top image- Mark Davidson Photography
bottom two images- Emilie Inc. Photography

1000 Twitter Followers! Let's celebrate with a giveaway!

Contest now Friday the 21st- We are moving our contest until next Friday. Sorry for the suspense but worth the wait for the lucky winner!!!


When we had a contest for 500 followers back in August, our year-end goal was to overall increase our social media followers. It's early January, and we now have higher readership of the blog then ever before, have 1000 Twitter followers, and have a constant stream of facebook "fans." Thanks for spreading the Letterpress Love!

Now for the contest!

To celebrate our achievements, NOW Friday the 21st someone will receive 100 free one color letterpress calling cards. (You all loved this offer last time, so we thought we would have it again!) RT our Twitter about the contest between 1-3pm Central Standard Time and you will be entered. Only one entry per person will be accepted. Then we will "pick someone from a hat" and announce the winner later that afternoon!

Same rules as before:
1. You must RT in the designated timeframe.
2. You must be a @letterpresslove follower.
(Of course it would be nice if you were also Facebook fans, too!)
3. Yes, it's that easy.

The winner may choose from any of our Spark calling card designs of the non-direct variety in the following sizes: 3.5x2 standard, 3.5x1.5 skinny, or 2.5 square on any of our standard 1-ply papers, printed in one color letterpress. We will customize the card design for you. By entering this contest you agree that we can photograph and post about the final card design (with private contact information obscured of course). If you have your heart set on a two color design, higher quantity, fancier paper or a diecut shape, we will let you pay the difference of the upgrade.

Wedding designs for Valentine's or Engagement parties!

Did your special someone propose during the holidays? Why not celebrate with your friends and family with a romantic engagement party? We would love to help you create the perfect lovey-dovey, flirty, or romantic stationery just in time for Valentine's Day! Perfect for engagements, save the dates, or Valentine's Day parties and cards!

Lace and luscious red - the perfect romantic combination for the Arianna engagement announcement!
Erin has always been fun with the "Spark squiggle" and its heart shape leaving your guests to turn their heads as they read the text. This would make a fun Valentine's day card, invitation, or an engagement party invite.

A great design can be used for anything, let Spark help you design your stationery - perfect for any celebration!

Just got engaged? Here's our timeline

Organized Sister here to help. First of all, congrats! Deep breath in and out. Everything will work out beautifully, your day will be magical. It "just" takes a little planning.

The above image outlines our wedding stationery timeline month by month. We are showing a 12 month scenario because this seems to be an average timeline for today's couples.

Save the Dates. Notice that we are suggesting sending out your save the dates up to 10 months in advance of your big day. However, we feel that save the dates can be mailed up to 5 months prior to your wedding date. After that point, you'll be sending them right on top of your invitations.

Invitations. Wedding invitations are mailed 6-8 weeks in advance of your wedding date, however the trend lately is sending them as early as 12 weeks from your wedding date. I don't want to give you the impression that you have all the time in the world. Talk to us or one of our retailers EARLY to start planning on your wedding stationery. Why? This is the first thing your guests will see. Planning your stationery early inspires all of the little and important details you'll use for that day.

For example, we worked with a lovely couture bride from Sioux Falls awhile back. She was settled on using a bright green for her ink color because the bridesmaids dresses were going to be green as well. Guess what happened? After our initial discussion and first proof, her stationery changed to a soft blush and chocolate and the love birds we created especially for her were used throughout her day of stationery and keepsakes.

Day of Items. Print some of your day of items at the same time as your invitations, such as your table cards, seating cards and gift tags. Doing this provides you with enough time to have any of these items sent to your calligrapher.

Other Helpful Tips:

• allow at least two weeks for calligraphy, longer for in-demand calligraphers; consider digital calligraphy if you have less time or are on a budget.
• order extra envelopes as most calligraphers require at least 20% extra envelopes.
• we recommend save the dates for destination weddings and/or detailed invitations sent well in advance of your wedding date to allow guests ample time to make plans.
• letterpress is an antiquated print method which is why we appreciate additional time to produce your wedding stationery.
• order extra invitations for unexpected additions to your guest list or keepsakes, re-prints are costly! We sell our stationery in 25 qty increments.
  
• the more custom your wedding stationery, the more time you should allow for design.

Best of luck to you and happy planning!

Why Wedding Stationery Matters

Valerie on Wedding Stationery in 2011

Oh how wedding stationery has evolved. I was married only seven years ago and I can't believe the changes that have taken place. Gorgeous, tactile, exciting, elaborate changes!

We didn't do Save the Dates for our wedding, but I did have invitations that still hold a special place in my heart. I also had lovely programs and place cards, embossed labels for our favor tins, and some special manzanita branches with individual cards handing from them instead of a traditional guest book. I paid attention to the details of our wedding while remaining mostly on budget. I will admit that I had four different lipsticks and three pairs of shoes by the day of our wedding because I became increasingly indecisive about these personal style details!

Even though I thought I was into the details, now that our new custom albums are out there I can't believe all that I missed out on. I'm not that into dwelling on how things could have been different for my wedding because what mattered most was being married at the end of the day. And now I have a new found passion for helping our clients make something truly special for their weddings.

We have couples who want something entirely all their own and we have people that get the designs as they are shown in our album because it fits their wedding day style. No matter what category you fall into, we developed our albums to help everyone find the right stationery for their event.

As I endlessly peruse wedding blogs, there are many showing gorgeous stationery and others that do not. Nothing makes me cringe more then when I see every other detail of the day attended to and yet the stationery is lackluster. Of course it bothers me in large part because I am a custom stationer, but what I've learned about stationery over the years is that even the smallest paper details can make an impact. Sometimes it is the quote from your favorite author on the tag of a gift you are bestowing upon each guest, or it could be the special thank you to your parents and remembrance of a loved one you've lost too soon on your program.

The paper goods you create for your special day are the first tangible item a guest receives and one of the few things about your wedding that your guests can hold in their hands and get up close and personal with. From a save the date through the thank you note - the paper, colors, printing, design, and words - they all come together to help convey emotion and make a personal connection between you and your guests.

I hope you will review that lengthy list of must-haves for your wedding day and make sure you have your paper goods accounted for. I know we'd love to help you make them special!

Welcome to Wedding Season 2011!

Happy New Year Everyone and welcome to what we in the wedding industry call "Wedding Season." We would love for you to think of Spark for your wedding stationery.

Spark has 20 customizable designs which are fun, fresh, and a nice mix of traditional and modern. Maybe you like a traditional design but want more bright or crazy colors? No problem. Everything at Spark can be customized to your taste from the colors and fonts, to sizes and layout.

We currently have 82 retailers around the USA, Canada, and Grand Cayman who are very willing and able to help you find and create your perfect wedding stationery. Click here to find the retailer nearest you!

New for 2011, we are introducing seed paper (Prairie Paper), when planted this pretty paper grows wildflowers. We are also bringing back our most popular metallic papers, 10 new ink colors, and fresh creativity for your pieces.

Make your stationery a memorable part of your wedding - starting with a great Save the Date. Starting to think about your Save the Date now? (I (Joy) am as well.) Consider a creative option like using our trifold or monarch sizes, or a letterpress photo, postcard, or passport for your destination wedding. Later this week, checkout our wedding stationery timeline, so you can learn how early you should get your order placed!

And do not forget about our current promo: when you order a 4-piece invitation suite, get a one color 4bar or A2 insert card for free in the same quantity.

Please email Spark@letterpresslove.com with questions regarding our line, our prices, or where to find your nearest retailer. Congratulations to you all!

And from us to you:

Organized Sparkler -Joy says "I am in the same boat as all you brides out there- let's have fun and memorable stationery!"

The Organized Sister- Diedre says "Don't wait until the last minute to select your wedding stationery- it helps set the tone of your event!"

Creative Sparkler- Andrea says "We're very excited for a great upcoming wedding season, so be creative and let us add that special sparkle to your wedding stationery! Congrats and happy planning!"

Creative Sparkler- Alyssa says "To the happy couple, congratulations on this joyous occasion and best wishes for everything good in the years to come"

Finishing Mom - Shawn says "Remember your wedding is only one day, marriage is a lifetime. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Finishing Daughter- Zoe says " Honestly the only things other people will remember about your wedding are whose it was, the food, the music, and if you use Spark for you stationery.... ;) "