We letterpress printed all the cards on a sheet together in two color on Cordenons Canaletto Grana Grossa Bianco 111lb C . It is a 20% cotton blend stock with a textural finish. The A7 folder is sized to fit inside an A7 envelope. It is letterpress printed in a coral pattern with a tone on tone blue ink and then die cut. The folder stock is a bright color 100lb cover stock from French Paper‘s Poptone line. The Save the Date Envelope is also a matching stock color, printed tone on tone.

These beasts are in fact our toys. The graphic beasts are constructed from various press parts and form into a crest that commemorates ten years of printing here at Studio On Fire. The dog latin phrase reads “Iron Beasts Make Great Beauty”. It is printed in fluorescent and dark silver inks on Crane Lettra Flo White 220lbC at 13 x 13 size.

It was ten years ago this month back in 1999 that the first C&P was lowered into the then basement studio. More to come on our own ten year anniversary party soon.

The cards were layed out together on a large 13 x 18 Flo White Crane Lettra 110lbC press sheet. These were printed on our Vandercook Uni III. We letterpress printed two passes of the gold ink for better ink density . Here’s something to keep in mind when running a double pass on a cylinder press – don’t adjust the packing on the press between pass one and two. By adjusting the packing, you also change the circumference of the cylinder, making it very difficult to register the second pass. We like to run two passes of ink metallics to give a little better sheen. Metallic ink, especially on an uncoated cotton stock will never be shiny like a coated stock or approach the mirror finish of a foil stamp, but it is crisp in details and does offer a small amount of shine.

This invitation set is housed within a mini custom die cut pocket folder which neatly organizes the various cards. The folder is printed with a tonal custom woodgrain pattern using a clear varnish ink on letterpress with heavy impression. A belly band is fitted to the exterior of the folder with a custom die cut shape. Two slits on the back side of the belly band interlock and buckle things together without glue or a sticker. Everything fits neatly into a standard A7 size envelope. Inside the folder the rsvp and reply envelope sit together and a details card is tucked behind.

The paper combination is beautiful as well. All of the invite cards and the band were letterpress printed together on a press sheet of 110lb cover weight Crane Lettra Pearl White, 100% cotton. (We’ve actually been printing lot more weddings this year with tonal whites rather than bright whites) The envelopes are The Cement Green color from French Paper Construction. The folder paper, also from French is the 100lb C Hot Fudge color from the Poptone line.

Costwise – adding a custom printed folder with a die cut belly band will easily double the cost of an invitation. Pieces like these take much additional production time and each die cut requires an additional press run. So although there is not a lot of color going down on the invitations- printing and cutting multiple elements, hand assembling mini folders, using multiple paper stocks, printing envelopes – production costs add up quickly. But the beauty from those production details add up to the spectacular elegance in this design.