Magpie Paper Works

Handcrafted fonts & lettering

STEVE & AMANDA’S HOMESPUN WEDDING

Three cheers for fellowship, hand-crafted beauty, and a special love-letter project that will totally make you cry. Steve & Amanda are two of our very favorite people, and their down home, supremely-styled Southern wedding is featured over at Green Wedding Shoes. Y’all are going to want to check this one out asap.

Steve… Amanda… Thank you for inviting us into your hearts. It was such an honor and a pleasure working with you. Y’all inspire!

p.s. Let’s also hear it for the delightful Scott & Cristen, of W. Scott Chester Photography, who took the poignant photo above. Georgia couples – go snatch these two up immediately before your date is booked. They’re amazing!

Valentine’s Day Printable Love Note

Pick your favorite sheet of 8.5″ x 11″ paper & fire up that printer because we’ve got a printable perfect for you and your Beloved.

Simply download and print the PDF, trim each card at the crop marks, and pair with A7 envelopes. We think cream French Cordtone paper & rustic kraft envelopes look particularly lovely. Wrap your envelope in black silk ribbon and seal with red wax for a super-sultry presentation. Ooh la la!

///// Love Letter PDF

Love the calligraphy? Want to write your own love letter? Pick up a copy of our brand-new font, Saissant, and personalize something special.

* This printable is copyright protected and provided for personal use only. No commercial use is permitted without prior written permission from Magpie Paper Works.

OUR DEBUT FONT COLLECTION IS HERE!

Root-tooty-toot (that is my terrible trumpet impression) our brand-spankin’ new, debut font collection is live!!!  Let me introduce you to a few of my lovely friends:

There’s more where these came from in our shop and over at MyFonts too. Go check ’em out – we promise they’ll knock your socks off!

Each font is the result of months and months of calligraphy, digitization, Opentype feature-building and coding. For somebody who started with lots of calligraphy experience but only the faintest idea of Opentype code, creating these lovelies was quite a learning experience. While it was a little crazy at times (one teeny-tiny typo breaking 4 days of coding!) Opentype was the only way to go. It really frees up the truly “hand-made” qualities of inked lettering. With a little ingenuity and a bit of time, you can build random letter substitutions, connecting characters, and contextual alternates just to name a few. This means that when you’re using the font, the software can automatically “draw”. It can connect two t’s, for example, or add a swirl to a capital letter but not a lowercase letter. It can turn prepositions into pretty word art, or join two cursive letters in just the right place. I tried to incorporate as many of these features as I could into each font – particularly Saissant, Vermandois and Cerise. Because extras are fun!

Later this week I will be sharing a fun, font-inspired freebie + great wedding tutorial that you’re going to want to see. So. Much. Pretty.

Hope you enjoy!

WITH GRATITUDE, FRIENDS

2011 was awesome. With your support, Magpie Paper Works blossomed from a tiny, part-time passion into the most delightful little adventure a gal could dream of. In February, I tipped my hat to coworkers, deposited my last paycheck and jumped headfirst into solo-entrepreneurship to transform my Etsy shop into a real-life studio! 51 amazing couples, 3 cats, 1 darling husband and countless new friends came along for the ride. It’s been such a joy and I could not have done any of it without you.

Thank you, friends.

p.s. We’ll be back Monday – see you soon!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, FRIENDS!

Just about all of this year’s holiday cards have been delivered, so Internet-Friends, it’s high time to share a bit of the sparkle with you.

Texture and simplicity. Pared-back honesty. Warmth. Love.

Hand-lettered, rough kraft envelopes opened up to reveal a simple, hand-painted gold star. Gilding makes everything better.

My digitized calligraphy was printed onto French Paper’s amazing Cordtone stock. This paper is totally unique – it’s surface is something like a cross between burlap and felt. Really tactile. Because trees are precious, the cards were designed flat to cut down on paper waste.

This was definitely a labor of love – lots of hand work went into each card. When I finished, my post mistress couldn’t believe I’d done it by myself! I dropped off quite a stack.

I really loved how the gold popped against the creamy, textured paper. My only ‘meh’ about things this year was the crummy selection of holiday stamps available at the post office. I ended up ordering a set of evergreen stamps online. USPS, are you listening? Next year please put out some holiday stamps that aren’t overtly religious and/or tacky. Bonus points if they involve kraft paper.

Hope everyone enjoyed the cards and is getting ready for your special December holiday! Wishing everyone out there a very merry season and a most delightful new year.

p.s. Sara & Dave are real, darling people which is why the address you see here doesn’t actually exist. Sorry, internet snoops!

DECEMBER GREETINGS

Every December, thousands of crows begin to assemble in huge communal evening roosts outside the studio. Before they settle in for the night, there is a cacophony of calls – I like to imagine they’re gossiping about the day’s events. Tonight, they were right on schedule.

It’s a strange way of welcoming winter, but for us, the first roost of the season is an event not to be missed. How do you mark the changing season?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, FRIENDS!

Happy Thanksgiving, Lovelies! In addition to preparing our AMAZING Cyber Monday specials (more on that first thing Friday morning) today finds me putting the last touches on a Thanksgiving feast:

– Bacon-Wrapped Turkey with Pear Cider Gravy
– Cornbread Hazelnut Stuffing
– Green Bean Casserole from Scratch
– No-Knead Bread Variation with Oats
– Gingersnap Crust Pumpkin Pie with Fresh Cinnamon Whipped Cream
– Appleton Estate Rum Toddy’s for the Grown-Ups (sorry kids)

Wherever this feasting day finds you, I hope you have a delightful holiday + a full belly when all is said and done. See you Friday!

JENN & MIKE’S CAMARILLO WEDDING

Today we are sending congratulations, toasts, and a ginormous bear hug two of the most effervescent and totally in-love people in Southern California. Meet Jenn & Mike, teacher & firefighter extraordinaire, who tied the knot at Maravilla Gardens this fall.

These two lovebirds handcrafted a totally amazing, autumn-inspired day filled with meaning and joy. From exchanging favors for donations to the Los Angeles Widows, Orphans and Disabled Firemans’ Fund, to including Mike’s grandfather’s vintage Chevy truck (lovingly restored by Mike, his brother, and his father) to sprinkling red teacher’s apples throughout the floral arrangements – the day was truly their own. And filled with love! We were so honored – and ridiculously excited – to help them spread the word to their guests.

Jenn, Mike, what can I say – you two are love, personified. Thank you for sharing your spirits and your wedding day with Magpie.

Special hugs to Jordana Hazel, of Hazelnut Photography, who captured their celebration perfectly and who generously provided these beautiful photos. You can see more on her blog, and view the entire gallery on Style Me Pretty. L.A. brides and grooms – if you’re looking for a photographer as sweet and real as you are, Jordana’s your girl. Go book her now before someone else does!

Jenn & Mike chose the Yellow Fern Suite, available in our shop, as well as coordinating thank you cards. They also commissioned a custom monogram & stamp kit, which was used throughout their ceremony.

More lovely folks: Venue: Maravilla Gardens | Floral Design: Greenwich Floral | Bakery: Stone Ground Baking Company | Photobooth: Magbooth | Transportation: GLC Limo

SOUTHERN WEDDINGS V4

I was so honored to collaborate with the amazing team of gals behind Southern Weddings on an absolutely dreamy editorial shoot in one of my favorite places… Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia!

I designed a custom wine label and coaster for the story’s dream couple based on their quintessentially Virginian romance. Susannah and Gardner fell head-over-heels for each other while attending the College of William and Mary so I just know that they would have crossed (and kissed!) atop the historic Crim Dell Bridge! Legend has it that when two lovers kiss at the tippy-top of the bridge’s arch, they are destined to be together forever. Naturally, I had to incorporate the bridge into their design.

I was also inspired by the beautiful monogram that calligrapher Moya Minns designed for our couple.

Champagne mint juleps – yes, please! The perfect refreshing sip for a Virginia wedding.

Such a treat & an honor to work with all of the talented, creative folks involved! This issue of Southern Weddings is so. jam. packed. with gorgeousness and ideas and amazing things… Seriously, y’all, I don’t say this much but from cover to cover this is definitely one magazine you must pick up. You will be inspired!

Love for the talented folks who made this beautiful shoot possible: Photography by Katie Stoops / Styling & Floral Design by Courtney Spencer of Merriment, assisted by Danielle Hines / Hair & Makeup by Avenue 42 Designs / Flowers provided by Fifty Flowers / Bridal Gown “Arabella” by Christos / Bride’s shoes (“Forbes” by Nina) from Bella Bridesmaid / Location & chairs by Colonial Williamsburg / Coaster and wine label – Magpie Paper Works / Invitation & Program designed by The Lettered Olive with calligraphy by Elizabeth Porcher Jones / Linens – La Tavola Linen / Monograms, menus, place cards, popper wraps, drink sign – Moya Minns of MMInk

NUMERO UNO, LOVELIES!

Today I finished my first officiale calligraphy place card order!

Letters make me happy, folks! I’ve doodled and drawn my own alphabets for as long as I can remember. Recently, I began tinkering with hand-lettering behind the scenes for a soon-to-be released collection of handset fonts. That project was so much fun (apart from the coding) that I began quietly offering real-live-calligraphy to current clients. Intrepid and lovely bride-to-be Katie, who is planning a Greek-themed rehearsal dinner, took me up on my crazy hair-brained idea!

We paired opaque white lettering with a textured Adriatic-blue paper and (my favorite part) a tiny Greek key border that dances down the left side of each card.

After some significant testing of just about every white ink, paint and pigment under the sun, it was clear that a concoction of Dr. Ph Martin’s Bleedproof White and distilled water was the only way to go for this project. The water helped the thick pigment glide across the textured paper smoothly and, as Dr. Martin promised, it didn’t bleed a bit! Love love love how nice and opaque the ink dries – such a pretty pop against the dark blue. Santorini-rific!

For now, calligraphy services are available only in conjunction with stationery orders but I’m seriously considering offering custom calligraphy and illustration in our shop next year as a “stand alone” purchase… The tactile aspect of hand-lettered logos and cards and stamps is really intriguing to this crafty magpie, and feels like a natural extension of the brand. (In fact a majority of our new invitation designs for 2012 feature original lettering.) Lots to consider!

What do you think? Is calligraphy something that resonates with you?