Give a Chimp a banana!

MailChimp - these are for you!

I have to give a shout-out to the live chat team at MailChimp right now. Throwing you guys a whole bushel of bananas this morning!

Even though I have created a bah-zillion direct marketing emails for clients, I never had to code them, send them, manage the mailing list. In short, I just made them look pretty. Now the whole enchillada is up to me. And my eyeballs glaze over when people start talking about code & merge tags. Thanks to the live chat team at MailChimp, though, I am maybe, just maybe going to get the hang of this email newsletter thing. Thanks, MailChimp!

Want to be a part of the fun? There's a sign-up box on the right-hand side of the blog. And! There are goodies in it for ya when you sign up. Tempted?? Come join the fun!

Photo credit to Fernando Stankuns via Flickr

Rockin' the Web

Hey! I mentioned before, but thought I'd gently remind you guys, that you can also find my highly amusing writings over on the NewNew Team blog. I recently took a survey on who actually makes up our team (here) & also attempted to post on vacation from a PC last week (here). Maybe skip that last post...unless you like an example of a  Mac users unable to function on a PC...stupid machines...

Anwho, there is lots of interesting stuff going on over there! Enjoy!

Catching up: Bridal Shower Invites

Hey! Remember me? I write this blog. Well, when I can. Obviously. Also obvious is that I haven't been able to write much here recently. Guess why?? 'Cause I have been BUSY. It's been great!!

Let's start with something I did way back at the beginning of the summer & haven't had time to share. This was the kick off to my busy season...bridal shower invitations & coordinating gift tags.

My cousin, Kate, who I did previously discussed note cards for, came back with another project: shower invites for a party she was throwing for her BFF. The bride, Rachel, very fashion oriented, has worked for fashion brands & had picked some great dresses for her bridesmaids that we used as inspiration.

Cards of the Week :: Fall is here!

Thursday started out as a beautiful late summer day. The high was 80. And by 6pm it was 60. Holy-shock-to-my-system, Batman.

Ok, Mother Nature, I got it. Apparently it's time to get on with Fall.

(Autumn Leaves with Birds - Set of 8 Notecards by Dots and Dahilas)

While you can get these in any combo of colors, I love Autumn Leaves notecard set by Julia at Dots and Dahlias for Fall stationery. Add to the colors the bird & leaves...which are traditional symbols of Fall...and it's perfect for any message. Know someone with a Fall birthday? I may have just done your shopping for you!

Batty Photog Blog

Yes...I need another project like a whole in the head. But! A friend of mine has motivated me to shoot more often so to keep myself motivated (and to learn Wordpress another blog format) I started a photo blog. Posts may be few & far between, but I love photography & now I have an outlet for it.

So Batty Photog Blog was born.

Cards of the Week :: Back to School

(Teacher Silhouette Notecards - Set of 8 by Pop Heart Press)

Ok, vacation is over. Time to get back to everyone's normal routine & for me, that means back to end of the week posts about fun stationery/products. Cards of the Week!

Martha Stewart Crushes Escort Cards

Talk about shaking things up! When you walk in to your friend's wedding reception & see these to tell you where to sit for dinner you know you are in for one Hell of a good time.

What's more, you are only limited by your imagination with these escort balloons. You can use any combination of colors with whatever color paint pen you want. Whatever matches your decor. You can weigh them down with all sorts of fun stuff, as well. Ideas anyone? How about vintage paper weights?

Article from Martha Stewart Weddings, Darcy's Idea of the Day

K. Batty on the NewNew Blog

("blog" by Inju via Flickr)

As I'm sure I've said here or there, I belong to a seller's group on Etsy strictly for makers of handmade goods in the NYC Metro area. We are called The NewNew. We have a blog which covers all kinds of things. Who we are, where to find us, what we make, where we sell. And yours truly is the newest
NewNew Blog team member! Try to say that 3 times fast...

Newest NewNew, Newest NewNew, Newest NewNew...I can barely type that 3 times...

Anywho! My first post went up on Monday. It's a little glimpse behind the curtain on how I create my cards by way of a hand stamping tutorial. Check out here!

What I did on my summer vacation

(Mr. B & me with the Queen Mary, Long Beach, CA)

Hi guys! Remember me? Your fearless blog writer??

Whatcha been up to? I've been on vacation - well, kinda. There has been work with the play but there has been LOTS of play...

(Dodger's game in LA with my Uncle Jim)

(The beach in Dana Point, CA after Mr B's cousin's wedding. Beautiful!!)

(The golf course, Bellport, NY, where we rent in the summer)

(The Great South Bay from Bellport, spent A LOT of time on the bay this year in our new boat, The Beach Buggy)

In between fun on the bay & our trip to California, I have been hard at work on custom wedding pieces. Really excited to share them as they are all really different & were fun to work on - like these menus for one of my clients...hand stamped doilies!

Stay tuned for more!

I hope you all had a wonderful summer!! Just Labor Day weekend left to go really, so get out there & enjoy it!!

Learning Letterpress

{One of the first designs I ever printed on a letterpress machine}

Love what you've seen on the blog this month? You can learn to do it!

It's not all that complicated, though there are many steps to the process and, much like sewing, most if it has to do with preparation. For me the biggest barrier to creating more through letterpress has been access to equipment. It's just not practical to have a press in my apartment, let alone anything for plate making or setting type.

There are however, a few places near me where I can rent press time. If you live in Brooklyn, or the NY Metro area, & are interested in letterpress, check out The Arm in Williamsburg. Dan is a great guy & after you take his Intro to Letterpress, you are eligible to rent time at his studio. There is a studio in New Jersey that I just learned of & have not had a chance to check out yet - The United States Business Card Company has classes & a good deal on renting a press there for a day.

Oh, also! My favorite place for almost any class is the Make Workshop in lower Manhattan. Awesome! Diana is so helpful & a great teacher, not to mention highly creative. If she isn't leading the class, have no fear. She attracts plenty of good teaching talent. Her letterpress schedule here.

I've also taken a class for letterpress at the School of Visual Arts in the Continuing Education department, but that's back when I was a freelancer with deep pockets. It's insightful. You learn plate making as well & get access to the studio during open hours throughout your class, but it can be crowded. And again, it's not a cheap class. If you're thinking of doing a DIY job on your wedding invites, this is probably not your option. Check this link later in the summer for their fall schedule - you'll find letterpress under printmaking.

Also, searching for letterpress on Etsy led me to Sycamore Press, based in Utah. If you're in their area, they offer classes that you can sign up for through their Etsy site. Check them out here.

In the past I've seen at home versions of letterpress machines. This one, similar to those I've seen, is quite an undertaking to make, but do-able. Most recently I came across one at Paper Source which is made by the same folks who created all those cool Cricut machines, called the QuickKutz Letterpress.

Hope this has been helpful! No ready to jump in? Totally understandable. There are tons of amazing designers & printers. Check out this earlier post for some of them.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

** P.S. Sorry if any of you are getting this post twice. It was meant as the final post of the month, but I wrote it weeks ago. Somehow Google misunderstood when I wanted to post it! Hope you have all enjoyed the letterpress deep-dive & that you are as in love with it & appreciating it as much as I do. See you soon!**