365 Weddings: Fluorescent White Embassy Folder

No 19

Design Details: Fluorescent White Lettra Pocket Folder, blind-embossed and letterpressed with Amethyst ink. Typestyles are Colonial Script and Cromwell.

Inside: Fluorescent White Lettra Reception Card and return envelope, letterpressed with Amethyst ink. Typestyles are Colonial Script and Cromwell. Fluorescent White Lettra Embassy Invitation Card, letterpressed with Amethyst ink. Typestyles are Colonial Script and Cromwell. Floral motif MOT894A

365 Weddings: Ecru Letterpress With Couple's Duogram

For those of you unfamiliar with the 365 Weddings project, I've been regularly posting photographs of some of my favorite Crane wedding papers with the ultimate goal of 365 - hence the name. With today's entry, I'm up to 18.

Here are the design details: Crane's Embassy Invitation (5 1/2 by 7 1/2), letterpressed on ecru heavyweight Lettra paper (LWC9326). Fonts are Coronet and Citadel Script with black ink. The duogram is Crane style LWM439AC.

For a Crane retailer nearest you, click here. Or you may purchase online here.

Wedding and Signature Events Kick Off 2010

If you're in the market for wedding invitations or personalized stationery, this is a great time to visit your Crane stationer. Two sales programs began this past Saturday and will continue through April 12. Here are the details:


Crane’s Wedding Event

Two offers are being made for all retailers who carry Crane’s wedding, kate spade wedding and Martha Stewart wedding collections.

Engraved, Letterpress and Foil Stamp Orders: Customers will receive free invitation and return address dies (a $148 retail value on two dies) on orders of 50 or more invitations and envelopes. Letterpress and foil dies are not returned.

Thermography and Flat Print Orders: Customers will receive free return address printing on their outer envelopes (a minimum $58 retail value) on orders of 50 or more. For this offer, the number of printed envelopes ordered must be equal to or greater than the number of thermographed or flat-print invitations.

Crane’s Signature Event

And at the same time, through April 12, Crane will hold its annual Signature Event. Customers will get their name or monogram and return address dies free on engraved and letterpress personalized stationery orders of at least 100 sets (a $96 retail value). Or they may receive a free return address on thermographed personalized stationery orders of at least 100 sets. The number of printed envelopes ordered must match the number of thermographed or flat-printed cards, notes, folders or sheets ordered.




To find a Crane retailer nearest you, click here.

Martha Stewart and Crane: A Match Made in Heaven

This announcement is making its way around newspapers, magazines, radio, television, blogs and tweets pretty quickly, so I thought you might get your first glimpse here.

March 25, 2009 - New York, NY and Dalton, MA – Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. today announced a full line of co-branded social stationery products with Crane & Co. Martha Stewart and her design team will create a line of beautiful, personalized invitation suites to be released this year, beginning with the Martha Stewart Stationery Weddings™ in Spring 2009. The line will be available through Crane stationers equipped with Crane’s Personalized Design Studio—a proprietary stationery design system - through Crane's website and other select online retailers.
The Martha Stewart collection will feature 24 invitation suites comprised of invitations, save-the-dates, and response cards in a range of styles designed to showcase Martha’s unique style and Crane’s timeless elegance. A distinctive selection of papers will include new calligraphic motifs and flourishes, decorative scrollwork, embroidery inspired designs, and hand-engraved details.

“I am delighted to share the Martha Stewart Stationery Weddings collection, crafted with master stationers Crane & Co.,” said Martha Stewart, founder of MSLO. “From the first save-the-date card mailed to the last thank-you note re­ceived, a wedding creates a lovely paper suite. With so many choices for color, lettering styles, and motifs, a bride and groom can create a wedding invitation that will be a unique expression of themselves.”

The new stationery products further extend MSLO’s wedding franchise, which encompasses Martha Stewart Weddings magazine, extensive online content, including a variety of online wedding-planning tools powered by WeddingWire, and wedding-related books such as Weddings by Martha Stewart and Martha Stewart’s Wedding Cakes.

“We are very excited to join forces with Martha Stewart and the brand she has built,” said Anita Brady, vice president and general manager of Crane’s Social and Business Stationery. “The Crane name has been synonymous with the finest stationery available through seven generations of Crane family and the brides they have served. This collaboration will ensure the next generation of brides is equally well served.”

Martha Stewart Stationery Weddings will include a complete range of accessories, such as wedding programs, place cards, menu cards, thank-you cards and table accessories. Couples may customize their designs through engraving, thermography, letterpress, lithography, and foil-stamping. In addition, the collection features papers that are tree-free 100% cotton or contain post-consumer recycled content, and are FSC or Green Seal certified.

In time for the 2009 holiday season, the company will release boxed and personalized Martha Stewart Stationery holiday cards.

Stylish Motifs Grace Letterpress Wedding Invitations

I've mentioned before that I'm a big fan of letterpress. I appreciate the subtle shadows created by type and designs in fine paper, and wish I could photograph them to better advantage.

For an upcoming magazine article, I was leafing through Crane's new Letterpress Weddings album and noticed several new designs that really flew off the page. It took me a moment to realize why - the letterpressed designs bled off the page. I thought I would share a few with you. I especially like the last.

Exclusive Martha Stewart Wedding Invitation Design

Earlier this year, Crane produced a custom wedding invitation for Liesl Menning, Martha Stewart’s assistant, for her wedding this summer in Tennessee.

The letterpressed invitation and postcard reply are a perfect combination of quality, beauty and environmental responsibility. A striae pattern is gently etched into the 100% cotton fluorescent white paper, adding texture and depth. Text is letterpressed in kona brown and surrounded by a stylish double-line frame. Coordinating response postcards are available.

The invitation will be featured in the Winter issue of Martha Stewart Weddings, on Martha’s television show and on the Style Network.

Have a look:

Don't Miss Fall Martha Stewart Weddings

I just got my early copy of the Fall issue of Martha Stewart Weddings, and even though I knew what was coming, it was a thrill nonetheless to see things in print.



In this issue, joining the likes of Oscar de la Renta, Mindy Weiss and Sylvia Weinstock as contributors to the regular "Ask the Expert" column is Crane's own Brand Director Megan Kuntze. Megan is featured in a Q&A about all things stationery with writer Jennifer Miranda. They cover such topics as:

• What you should look for in a reputable stationer?
• What trends are you seeing now?
• What if a bride wants to go "green?"
• What are popular design elements, and
• Why is printed stationery so important for weddings?

The column is highlighted by the photography of Johnny Miller. Megan noted that one of the most special parts of the day was getting all dolled up for her photo by hair and makeup stylist Sophie Kaspar. I spoke to Megan just after she got back from the photo shoot and she said the folks at Martha Stewart Weddings couldn't have been more friendly, courteous and professional, making her feel right at home during a long day of photography and interviews.


A second highlight in this issue is a stunning wedding invitation suite created especially for a feature article on "The Golden Touch." As you can imagine, the article focused on metallic gold as a thematic design element from the invitation to the cake. Hand-gilded heavyweight stock is adorned by a hand-drawn monogram and a regally engraved crown.


Have a look.

Life on the Edge: Gilding Crane Stationery

Some of the most elegant Crane papers used for stationery, invitations and announcements feature beveled and gilded edges. As with many other embellishments to Crane papers, beveling and gilding is done by hand; by Crane artisans who train under a master and who will spend up to a year to perfect their craft.

Here's a video of Tom Garvey, a master gilder of 20 years at Crane.

21st-Century Wedding Etiquette

So many questions; so little time.

I get questions all the time about the “proper” etiquette of correspondence. And many of those inquiries center around weddings. Some questions are relatively easy to answer; others are much more complicated.

“Proper” etiquette is a moving target. In Victorian times and well into the 20th century, there were hard-and-fast rules that defined proper etiquette for wedding correspondence. Though strict, these rules brought with them a level of comfort. This is how it’s done, now let’s deal with the cake.

As society evolves, so does etiquette. The fact that people are marrying later, the emergence of intercultural and interfaith marriages, second and third weddings, and alternative ceremonies are all contributing factors to the changing rules of etiquette. Many of the rules of etiquette were made (and continue to be made) to deal with changing social situations. Some of the etiquette deemed proper today would have been unthinkable a generation ago. And, surely, a generation from now many of the current guidelines will seem archaic and obsolete.
To assist today’s brides, and to help me with all those wedding etiquette questions, Crane has released its newest edition of the Wedding Blue Book.

This new edition continues to offer definitive rules relating to traditional correspondence and guidance for implementing a more contemporary approach to everything from save-the-date cards to thank-you notes.

The Blue Book features an easy-to-use format with more sample designs and examples of wording and an extensive selection of traditional and contemporary typestyles. The Blue Book has been expanded to address current and emerging trends in save-the-date cards, commitment ceremonies, wedding programs as well as religious and cultural considerations.

Here’s what my new BFF Letitia Baldridge, the nation’s leading etiquette authority, has to say about the new Wedding Blue Book:

“Greatly needed? Crane’s Wedding Blue Book, that’s what’s needed. Today’s world is in such a state of befuddlement regarding the dos and don’ts of behavior, it’s a joy to see the old traditional rules honored, but updated to make things work better. Thankfully, there’s a new elasticity in invitational language that is based on efficiency without sacrificing kindness.”

Friday Eye Candy

Whew, it's been a big day. This happens to me every year, the first really nice day here in Pownal, Vermont, and I've got to get everthing done, in addition to the day job.

Let's see, I bought seeds for my plot in the Community Garden. I started raking a spot of lawn. I bought a new lawnmower. I filled up my propane tank. And Sunday will be my first round of golf after a long winter layoff.

Anyway, I'm feeling very springy, and thought I would share with you some springy stationery for this week's Friday Eye Candy.

Enjoy your weekend!




Top row, from left, Spring Garden Thank-You Notes, Engraved Hummingbird Notes and Letterpress Woodcut Floral Wedding Invitations. Bottom row, from left, Wasabi Personalized Calling Card, Adirondack Chair Bar Harbor Notes, and kate spade butterfly place cards.