Vintage Paper Inspiration

If you spend any amount of time on my website or in my studio you will notice, I'm a vintage paper junkie. Seriously. I have collections of paper, especially vintage. Vintage gift wrap? Check. Vintage notebooks? Check. Vintage prescriptions? Check. Vintage labels? Check. Vintage checks? Check! You get the idea. The list goes on and on. I especially enjoy vintage office papers. I often find the desk or office area of estate sales to seek out new finds. I have over-sized freezer bags filled with random office papers I've scored from church rummage sales. Many of them I use for correspondence with a very dear, long distance friend. I also have visions of using them in collages or art projects. But most recently I was thumbing through some of my papers for the background of my website product shots. I found myself sorting them. First it was just a special pile for letterpress printed papers (yes, that is a thing — ledger, legal, index cards, etc. all beautifully letterpress printed). And Finally by style: Legal, ledger, notebook, loose leaf, grid, etc. The variety within each style was amazing. Printing, paper color, line colors, margin width and so many more variations. While I was sorting them I kept thinking how paper is such a universal thing. Most human beings have used it and if not, certainly the majority have seen it. It’s a common thread we have. I love that thought. It sparked another… I should create vintage paper inspired cards. And letterpress print them like the oldest papers I have.

Voila! Here is one variety of a new series I worked on this winter. You can see the complete line in the goods section.

Be sure to look closely at the two papers in the middle of the first photo & one below. They happen to be letterpress printed. And not just letterpress printed but THREE colors. That means each of the thousands (possibly millions) of printed paper ran through the press three times. With cleaning the press & registering the print each time. That's impressive. And fuels my love for all things vintage paper.