Roadside Attraction #3 - The Queen Mary

Wow, it's September already. Last month was a whirlwind with one event as a particular highlight. Not only did we get away from the Louisiana heat, but we stayed aboard the grand ocean liner, The Queen Mary.

Margie and her beau Morgen (my cousin & dear friends) decided to have a destination wedding on the ship. Now located and docked in Long Beach, Ca, The Queen Mary was quite glorious in her prime (though she is still stunning). In 1936, The Queen Mary, of the Cunard White Star line, left the port in Southhampton and traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to New York. She was hailed as the fastest ocean liner of the time, arriving in a little over four days. During World War II, she transported troops until the end of the war (sometimes carrying 16,000 people-troops, crew, prisoners). In 1946, she made thirteen war-bride voyages transporting European brides and children to reunite with their husbands in the US and Canada. After the war, she continued as a glamorous ocean liner carrying passengers, up until her final voyage in 1967. She is now owned by the city of Long Beach and is a wonderful roadside attraction. The interior has been preserved and ongoing restoration projects keep the beauty of the ship intact.

Interior details. And I found the letterpress.....

Elements in our room and the elevators

Of course there were paper elements.... I was honored and excited to be Margie's personal printer. She is probably the best client I have ever had. She flew down to Louisiana for a weekend visit and we brainstormed the design. She came prepared with great ideas and I customized the ideas for letterpress and added a few design elements along the way. I'll post more photos of the entire invite suite and details of the other items soon. But here is a peek to a few.

 clockwise: Moleskine favors for the lady's luncheon, place tags/luggage tags, cake topper, coasters (Margie made the super fortune tellers)

 

clockwise: the guest book: coptic bound, with cotton pages. The pages each have two sets of photo corners & vellum envelopes-to insert an Fuji instant photo and to insert a typed slip of paper with well wishes etc for the bride & groom in the envelope. Table details.

 

 The bar was awesome! And on the weekends they have a quintet that plays 1940s standards. (David and I on the dance floor.)

 

 The loveliest couple, Margie and Morgen. And the always hungry seagull.

The entire wedding was so beautifully planned and put together, from the napkin wraps to the flags in the gazebo. Colors were unified and thoughtful. Can't wait to see all the photos of the day.

Wishing Margie and Morgen continued happiness and love and all the good stuff. Thanks for having us along on the Queen Mary adventure!

Stay tuned for more photos of the paper elements of the event, wedding suite, and all the small details.

 

magazine love

It's clear I am a huge fan of Uppercase Magazine. When it comes in the mail, I actually put it aside until I can spend uninterrupted time relishing every page. Usually this means that I bring it down to the camp, husband goes fishing in the morning, and I sit on the porch with coffee, Uppercase, and a really beautiful view. The quality of the printing, paper, and content is amazing, full of art, inspiration, design, beautiful graphic layout, & new discoveries. The last issue #10 was especially fun. I had submitted to a call for participation for pet portraits, and well... I have many of my old dear dog, Hayden. It was a great surprise when I got to this part in the mag and saw my sweet girl!


There are many calls to be involved. Subscriber profiles, flickr groups, community pages. There are some great photos of Uppercase in action uploaded by readers. One is the Flickr group "iloveuppercase" and a while ago I uploaded a pic of my favorite place to read and it turned up in issue 10! Here it is again, double take, double double... (just couldn't help but take this pic)


I could go on, but this is truly an exceptional periodical. I'll keep submitting and supporting them however I can. Janine, thank you, you have created a masterpiece!

in progress

topographical wedding invitation in progress....

Pics from the Sunshine letterpress show

The Curiosity Shoppe has posted some pics of the Sunshine letterpress show they are exhibiting.


The opening sounded like huge fun. The Type Truck was there (how cute is the truck?), a transportable print shop that Kyle Durrie is driving all over the US, sharing the printing love.



You can see more about her travel adventures here.
You can buy any of the Sunshine letterpress prints here.


pie bird press

F-2 Designs

Gillian Welch and letterpress, what could be better?

I saw a tweet about this video (by @typetruck). I have been waiting for a new Gillian Welch album for a long time. And what couldn't be better with a letterpress cover? You bet I ordered it and it is just as beautiful in person. See more at her website.

Letterpress show at The Curiosity Shoppe

The Curiosity Shoppe in San Francisco is having a letterpress show all about Sunshine. And we sent a print! It's called "Sun Sign", and illustrates how to sign "Sunshine" in sign language. It is a 2 color reduction linocut with handset type, printed on a Vandercook SP15. It is such a pleasure making prints for art's sake. There are many awesome prints by lots of super cool printers. You can check them out here. The show is up until mid August. Check it out if you are in SF.

art: Margaret Kilgallen

There's a fantastic exhibit of the late Margaret Kilgallen's work in San Francisco at Ratio 3. I'd be so happy if I could see it in person. But since I can't be there, you can see all the work on Ratio3's website. Kilgallen's bold, simple use of color and shape, form and pattern is more than lovely. It's timeless and timely. pure inspiration... You can see more photos here.


Thanks Ratio3 for letting me post some pics!