St. Paddy's Day :: Hat Freebie!

It's almost here! Are you celebrating on Sunday? No matter if you are watching the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade, having green beers with friends or making Irish Soda Bread at home, I have a freebie today that will make you click your heels together - Leprechaun hats!

That's it there in the picture above. Here's what you do:

1. Download it from my Public Dropbox folder. 
2. Print on card stock. 
3. Cut the hat out. 
4. Page 2 has a few bands you should also cut out, tap to the hat & size to your head. You'll also find free printable stickers in the Dropbox if those are more your speed.

Wear it with pride! And send pictures! Tweet @kmbatty (same for Instagram)!

Fridays with Victor

Last week, I got to spend some time making stationery for my mom & I. It turned out REALLY nicely. I learned how to level my press. The impression is looking great. I made correspondence cards (which are flat 4x6 notecards) and my usual A2 folded notecards. 

I've had questions on when I'm going to sell some letterpress stuff - SOON! 

The fruits of my labor...Ta Da!!

{Correspondence cards for my mom} 

 {More correspondence cards for Mom. She now has stationery for eons!}

{I had to make some for myself} 

{And my folded notecards. These might be my favorites...}

A reminder: St. Patrick's Day is coming up on Sunday! I posted free printable stickers earlier this week & have one more freebie up my sleeve for next week. Stay tuned!

New products in the works :: Wrapping paper

Yesterday I pulled out some paper samples, the stamps, the pads, the paint, the brushes...the works! All to work in a new product - wrapping paper. Ta-da!!

I'm working out what colors & stamps to use, what designs to start with...but I am SUPER excited about this. This wrapping paper is going to be fabulous! More exciting, non-iPhone pictures to come...

Paper Porn

Just a little blast of pretty paper to brighten your day...

Iomoi "Monkey & Elephant" note cards on Neiman Marcus. Love? More iomoi on their website, under paper.

** Love stationery & paper products? Submit something for Paper Porn via email me: Kbatty {at} ymail.com or twitter @kmbatty **

St. Paddy's Day :: Freebie stickers

Nothing green in your closet?? Not everyone plans their St. Patrick's Day outfit as far in advance as I do. It's cool.

I put a sheet of stickers for you in my Public Dropbox folder. Download it here! And in case you need some motivation, here's a little song to get you going...

Paper Porn :: A New K. Batty Column

{From Mrs. John L Strong Fine Stationery :: Buddha note cards}

Clearly, as I am a stationery maker, I LOVE paper. It's texture. It's weight...all the colors...Paper is to designers like me what horsepower & Ferrari posters are to a gear head...porn.

Am I exaggerating? Well, yes, a little. But I have your attention, don't I? {muahahahahahaha...}

Welcome to a new column here at K. Batty - Paper Porn. A column about amazing stationery, paper products, accessories and all things personalized. Those of you who have read this blog for a while will remember my Cards of the Week posts. This will be similar, but will focus more on high-end, high-design...probably custom...extravagant pieces rather than every day stationery. That doesn't mean the pieces featured will be expensive, just quality goods that elevate our every day experience!

{Tiffany & Co Kent Correspondence Box}

Audience participation - totally optional, highly encouraged!

If you read this blog you are most likely one of the following:
A. a connoisseur of paper & stationery
B. an artisan, maker of things, DIY-er or appreciator of craftsmanship
C. are a bride or in the wedding world in some way
D. are a friend or family member I force to read my stuff...thus you are A and B!

In all cases, you have great taste.

I want to know what paper products light your fire! Have your eye on a foil stamped custom monogram? Seen any fabulous notepads lately? What about party pieces on your favorite event planner's blog? Bookplates for you kid's books? Pens? Stamp holder? Seriously, how cute is this?

Send them over! Email is good - k b a t t y {at}ymail.com - or find me on social media: Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest.

{Smythson of Bond Street - Poem Notelets}

We all need a little splurge in our lives, whether it's an extra cup of coffee or just something pretty to look at. I hope you enjoy this new feature & feel inspired to participate!

Say "No Way" to Novites

This morning I am seriously disgusted. CBS Philly reported that a new trend in wedding invitations is to send a "Novite" - a note telling people NOT to expect a wedding invitation from you. It's the anti-Save the Date.

As I read the title of the article, I was hoping it was a clever new way to tell people you'd eloped. Something sensationalized to get readers to click into the article. No. Such. Luck.

The apparent defense of this appalling behavior is that your Facebook friends might see an update in your status, announcing you're getting married, and expect an invitation. However, as we all know, we're in a recession. Times are tight & not everyone can be invited to your big day. Couples are sending emails (?!?!?!?!?!?!) or in some cases cards to tell friends or family not to expect an invitation.

Social media does not excuse poor taste or bad behavior. Please promise me that none of you will send out something as tasteless as this. Never ever!! Promise!!!

Found via The Finer Things. Original article on the local CBS Philly website.

Why letters are important!

I say it on this blog, on my website and on my Etsy shop every chance I get:

And today the proof is in the pudding...

...or rather the telegram. Rachel of Attic 17 collects & sells vintage ephemera. Knowing her love of old paper & things, her brother gave her a box of it for Christmas. An intriguing telegram was inside, something that held her special attention, something that clearly marked an important moment in time for 2 people, Kay & Donald. And now, literally 55 years later, thanks to the magic of Google,  Rachel is able to return this telegram to Kay, who lost Donald last year & is very thankful to this total stranger for providing another memory of her late husband.

No one is ever (ok, probably never) going to find a meaningful email that you sent 50 years ago. The server it was sitting on will be long gone. Notes, letters, cards...and telegrams...that's a different story. Those are the things we save, the things we'll be pulling out here & there over the years to read & remember.

An example...

My dad sent me a card a few years ago with pictures in it of a trip we'd taken YEARS ago. He found them in a box somewhere & thought I'd like to have them. In the note, he told me a little of what's going on at home & some parts of our trip that he remembered. That is a keeper to me! I love to pull it out & read it. I remember the trip, the horses we road, the people we met, the time we spent together.

So, again...a reminder!

Nothing will replace the sincerity of a hand written note! Buy some stamps, pick up a pen & show someone you care by sending them a note.

I'm not talking a diatribe...just a hi, how are ya, happy birthday. How about Happy Friday!

Read the original post on Attic 17 here, the follow up here. Rachel has a lovely Etsy shop where she sells her vintage finds. I read about it on Snippet & Ink. AWESOME wedding blog!

Elevating my envelopes :: A Handstamping How-to

Even though my new print-making medium is letterpress, I do not want my stamping to completely fall to the wayside. On a recent paper buying trip I found some cute heart stamps. I thought I'd use some them to spruce up some envelopes for the cards I made for Valentine's Day.

Here's what I did so you can have some fun too! 
Detailed instructions below

Materials I used:

White acrylic paint (or whatever color you'd like)
sponge brush
my stamps!
dry paper towel
damp paper towel

Not pictured:
Colored envelopes (with white envelopes, you can use regular pigment ink pads)
Scrap paper!! If you can get it in the same color as your envelopes, it's even better.

Inking your stamp with acrylic paint

You only need a LITTLE bit of acrylic paint to ink your stamp. Dab a little on the end of your sponge brush. I like to dab it on a scrap sheet or on the cap of the paint jar to even it out. Then, lightly sponge it on to your stamp.

I've learned is to be very careful with the amount of paint you get on the edges of the stamp. It's easy to over ink with that sponge brush. Also, after you've used a stamp several times, you'll see it build up around the edges. This is where that damp paper towel comes in handy. Use it for a quick clean up & you're ready to go again.

Practice first!

Did your parents ever tell you "Practice Makes Perfect?" They weren't kidding.

Most paper stores sell card stock or text weight paper in the same colors as the envelopes.  Grab some in the color of your envelopes. Now you'll know how your stamp & color of paint will look on your envelope.

Practice stamping & arranging your design on your scrap paper. This is especially important when you are first figuring out how to ink your stamp with paint. When you've got something you like & feel confident about it, move to your envelopes.

Make your envelopes

After a few practices, I went to my envelopes. Set them out of the way to dry. If you're working with 2 stamps as I did, stamp them one at a time, like in an assembly line. I stamped my large heart first, as it was the foundation of my design. Then, I came back with the small heart. It helps avoid smudging!

Have fun!

Personalize envelopes for anything with this technique. Next time I might use a monogram! Or a bunny for Easter...

Try it & let me know in the comments (or on Facebook) how it goes!

Playtime with Victor

The weekend before Valentine's Day I did it. I FINALLY inked up my letterpress & did some printing. I wish I had tons of pictures but I don't. I just didn't trust myself to keep the ink off my camera. Sometimes I think I can see into the future...

Here I am opening my ink can for the first time! Look at all that!!!

This is me 5 minutes later. It took no time at all for my hands to be covered in ink. Taking the top packing off the ink should be done with gloves from now on. I got enough off to start touching things...like the paper...or anything that I didn't want to turn pink, but clearly this is stubborn stuff.

I hit some snags. For some reason, the lower half of my platen prints deeper than the top half. The platen (which is a fancy name for the front part of the machine) needs to be leveled. For now, I used some wide painter's tape in my packing to get an even print.

Cleaning up was actually less messy than starting. I think by that point I was more comfortable moving around the machine, in general. I will still get gloves for this part. I am an ink magnet & I would prefer not to walk around covered in it. If anyone is thinking about getting into letterpress, read the forums on Ladies of Letterpress. GREAT resource. That's where I picked up some cleaning tips like the one above - standing my roller up in a board. It was so easy to steady it, clean it & leave it to dry.

Here's the finished product...Oh, that's right. I forgot to take those pictures. I was so concerned with getting my cards in the mail that after they dried I wrote them immediately, addressed, stamped & mailed them. Done!

So??? How'd I do?

Thanks to Mr. B who took these pictures for me!!