Christine Ferrante's Fine-Line Engraved Detail

A little while ago, I shared some tiny details in Peggy Wong's letterpress stationery for Crane's STUDIO collection. Today, we'll focus (literally) on engraving and fine-line detail as expressed in Christine Ferrante's heavyweight folded notes.

And my personal favorite:

Oh No! You Bruised My Stationery!

Now now, no need to panic. Actually, I was in somewhat of a panic this morning. I couldn't find my box of engraved stationery. I'm notorious for losing stuff in a relatively small space, so this was no great surprise. After about 10 minutes, I came across that signature dark blue box and breathed a sign of relief. The relief was to be short-lived, however. I'm a stationery geek, so every time I look at a piece of stationery, I turn it over to see if it's been engraved. This box of stationery had no bruise. It had been thermographed.

After a few more panic-filled moments, I located my bruised and beautiful stationery and set off to write some thank-yous.

Bruised and beautiful? How can that be, you ask?

The bruising that appears on the back of a piece of stationery is the signature of fine engraving. It tells you that the engraver has etched the design deep into a copper plate to impart all the fine-line detail you expect. It tells you that the engraver has pressed the paper deep into the etched cavity to create a raised impression on the surface of the paper. It tells you that the engraver has taken personal pride in printing each piece of your stationery by hand.

So, the old sarcastic question goes: Whaddaya want, an engraved invitation?

Actually, now that you mention it? Yes.

The Brilliant Lines of Early Modern Engravers

A colleague pointed me to an online exhibit presented by the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) a couple of days ago, but I didn't get to explore the site until this morning.

You Must Not Wait. You Must Go Here! Now!

The exhibit was organized by Emily J. Peters, associate curator of prints, drawings and photographs at RISD, With the assistance of Andrew Stein Raftery, consulting curator for the exhibition and associate professor of printmaking. I love the web programming and graphics by Shun Liang, especially the magnifying glass he created so we can view the "Brilliant Lines" of Albrecht Durer:

Raferty also recreates the process of the 16th-century engraver in a very informative and entertaining video.

This exhibition is well worth a good deal of your time and attention. I hope you enjoy and admire it as much as I do.

A Closer Look at the Art of Engraving at Crane

I was thinking about writing a post about the beautiful fall colors beginning to emerge here in Vermont, but got distracted by a dragonfly. Not just any dragonfly, but one of my favorite examples of the art of engraving:




The design demands extraordinary fine-line detail and absolutely perfect registration through several passes on the engraving press. The pressman is the one who ultimately puts ink on paper, but his success is dependent on many other skilled craftspeople who add their personal touches along the way.

So, to all of you who allow me to show off these beautiful designs, I raise a glass of good old Vermont apple cider. To your health!

A very naughty monkey!

Tropical palms

Peacock Feather

An ornate quetzel

Classic Monogram

Luna Moth

A handsome pheasant

Highlighting Gold Stationery Highlights

I noted with interest the other day that the price of gold has topped $1,000 per ounce. The only gold I have is engraved on Crane's stationery. For those of you who possess some of that magic metal, you can part with only a shaving or two to own some of these:

Word icon correspondence card by kate spade

Engraved gold thank-you note

Engraved three-letter monogram on aqua.

Engraved gold note on flame red

Martha Stewart Engraved Gold Crown wedding suite

And for the rest of us, with no gold on hand, here's a brand new monogrammed note in Amethyst!

Buy low, sell high!

Crane's Engraved Stationery on the Globe 100

Back to reality after the National Stationery Show. I've got some more photos to show and some more stories to tell, and will get to them as the dust settles. But today, I just wanted to hook you up with a new video on the Boston Globe 100 site.

I did an extensive interview for the filming, but I had such a bad day that they left me out completely. And that's a good thing. I remember I was describing the unique qualities of engraved cotton papers, and said something like, the fine-line detail and the signature bruise on the back of the card were the "hallmarks" of engraved stationery.

Oh well, the good news is that I should get an extensive blooper reel....

Solid Gold Motifs - Stationery Show at T-Minus 10

You reach a certain point, when you've got to be out of town for a few days, where decisions must be made:

Do I plant my tomatoes before or after the show?
What if it rains and I can't mow the lawn before I go?
What it it doesn't rain? Will my lettuce die?

All that sort of stuff as well as scheduling laundry, shopping for new clothes and on and on. You can probably tell I don't do this very often. But I'm looking forward to my annual trip to the Big City, and if you're a Crane retailer, I'll look forward to seeing you there.

Today's sneak peek at new stationery designs making their debut at the show centers around gold - engraved gold motifs that adorn new cards and notes:







And my personal favorite:

Bold Engraved Images Grace Crane Holiday Cards

Only 12 days to go until the National Stationery Show. For today's exclusive sneak peek at designs making their debut at the show, I've started to narrow down my favorites for engraved holiday cards. And by favorites, I mean not only personal favorites, but those that will appear on the most mantles during the holiday season. I've got money riding on this....

I'll show you four gorgeous designs today, all enhanced with the unique properties imparted by the engraving press. Sometime before the show, I'll announce my winner for this year, and we'll see how it fares later on.

A Return to the Elegance of House Stationery

As I write from my home office, it's cold, it's snowy and it's windy. It's still February. So it's time to begin thinking about more pleasant things over the horizon.

A couple of weeks ago, the members of the extended Porter family (Wendy's side) sent in their requests for vacation time at the Porter House. This gem overlooks Phinney's Harbor in Monument Beach on Cape Cod, and has served as the family's vacation getaway since 1913. Built in the late 1800s as the boat house for homes on Phinney's Point, it's been in the family now for five generations.

In June, we'll have members of four of those five generations in attendance at a big family reunion on Phinney's Point, with the Porter House serving as the focal point of activity.

It occurred to me the other day - thinking about summer at the Porter House - that this is the perfect place for "House Stationery."

House stationery is a wonderful tradition going way back where a family engraves an illustration of their home on their stationery. House stationery is available for use by members of the family or by anyone staying at the house. Many times house stationery is in supply at a second home or a vacation home, where the pace of life tends to slow and one can become more reflective.

I found some excellent examples of engraved house stationery when riffling through the archives the other day:







If this strikes your fancy, you should consult with your stationer, who will be able to contact Crane's Art Department for instructions on submitting images and to request a quote for custom artwork. There are some up-front costs, but the reward is well worth it.

Because of the image I hope to use (see below. Painting by Wendy's very talented cousin Tyler Ryder) I may opt for a full-color digital image on Museo Artist Cards. Luckily, I'll have time to explore my options. After all, it's still February.

"The Wealth of a Nation is in the Strength of its People"

That's what is engraved in a gentle arch of type on the large steel engraving plate. This is one of those antique hand-cut plates that we were going through a little while ago. I'd sure like to know its origin.

Underneath the type is a lighted torch flanked by scrollwork. And over the arch are nine engraved images of athletes in their sport: basketball, weightlifting, figure skating, tennis, rowing, football, baseball, diving and running.

Any ideas?

Friday Eye Candy: Corporate Identity System

I'm getting in samples of some very cool designs and printing techniques from the Crane Business Papers representatives out in the field. As I have mentioned, I have no artistic abilities whatsoever, so it's lots of fun for me to live my creative life vicariously through the talents of others.

This Friday's Eye Candy is the corporate identity system for Mamone & Parners of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Mamone & Partners is a graphics, design and communications firm, so they did all the design work in-house.

Letterhead, envelopes and business cards were printed by the Aries Group in Toronto, using offset printing, embossing, engraving and clear foil stamping on Crane's Crest Fluorescent White 24-pound paper, square-flap envelopes and 100# cover stock.

Enjoy

History of Type and Design Through Engraving Dies

Over the past several days, the folks at Crane's Personal Design Services (where they do the engraving and thermography) have been sorting through old engraving dies to make some room. Gayle Driggers, product manager for personalized stationery, and I had a blast first going through two 50-gallon drums filled with handcut steel engraving dies. We didn't count, but there were thousands.

Some we're going to save for their historic significance. I'll find a place for them in the Crane Museum of Papermaking. Others will be used for design inspiration or to create "retro" engraving motifs. And then there are the monograms. In those two drums, in hundreds of large flat drawers. Thousands and thousands of monograms dating from the beginning of the 20th century.

There is a complete century of type, monogram and stationery design just begging for attention.

So we'll be thinking about what to do with these beautiful little pieces of art and history. Maybe you'll even see them as paperweights on crane.com. Who knows?

Have a look at some of the fun things we found. Pardon the dirty fingers. More to follow.

My favorite, so far......

Crane Stationery Collections for the New Year

Just about this time every year, I get the first copy of Crane's annual boxed stationery catalog. Just a heads-up: Don't ask me for one; it's a wholesale catalog, which means that the new items displayed will be in stores and online in February.

As we're all looking forward to the New Year, I figured it would be fun to show you some of the cool designs for 2009. We'll start off today with three new collections: Lace, Tea and Safari. All three collections include folded notes, thank-you notes, boxed gift sets and imprintable invitations to create an entire stationery wardrobe.

Lace is presented in Moonstone Grey and Pearl White with delicate hand-engraved stitchery. The Tea set is steeped in jewel tones and teams with scrollwork details crafted in gold foil. Safari features exotic animal prints letterpressed on Crane's naturally neutral shades.

Enjoy.

Disney Stationery Collection Brightens a Day

Let me set the scene for you. It's 41 degrees and pouring. There are still leaves on the trees and there's a Nor'easter on its way. I can't finish stacking the four cords of firewood because my back is killing me. I could go on, but you get the picture.

I'm cranky.

But Walt Disney makes me smile. Even today.

Crane is launching the new Walt Disney Signature Collection on its website today, and flipping among the designs is just a happy thing to do. It recalls the launch at the National Stationery Show and how well the collection was received by the media. It brings back fond childhood memories.

Walt Disney’s legacy has lasted more than 80 years, and his life inspired generations to be innovative and creative. The Walt Disney Signature Stationery Collection celebrates Walt and his creativity with three distinct and elegant lines including: The Executive Collection, Sleeping Beauty Collection, and Fantasia Collection. In order to authentically interpret Walt Disney’s brand essence, designers from Crane were provided special access to artwork from the Disney archives.

There's a lot to look at and admire in this collection, but I can't do justice here to the beauty and elegance of my personal favorite - Fantasia Fairies. The images on these cards and notes are stunning. In my opinion, they represent the height of the art of engraving. You'll understand when you see them in person.

Here's a look at some other highlights of the collection:

And though the new Mickey Mouse Initial Notes are not officially part of the collecton, I think they're pretty special and will be very popular this holiday season.

Oh, almost forgot. Check out the "Buy 75, Get 25" stationery sale.

And finally, Ms. Bliss (she's keeping her maiden blog persona) is back from her glorious honeymoon, nesting away in northern Vermont. On Friday, she posted a link to one of my favorite things I need to avoid: chocolate peanut butter cupcakes.........