Crane & Co. Craftsmanship: A Photo Collection

Today we thought you’d enjoy a guest post courtesy of Jessica from Crane, with a behind-the-scenes look at the incredible craftsmanship that goes into the Crane & Co. brand of stationery and invitations.

crane & co. thermography operator

We are constantly in awe here of the intricate, beautifully hand-crafted work the employees in our printing and stationery factories do day after day. Many of them have been here for decades painting borders by hand, engraving names and images with enviable patience and making sure each and every detail is absolutely perfect before our customers open that Dalton Blue box.

With that in mind, here is a collection of images – taken by our wonderful resident photographer, Trisha — of some of the hands that make such fine craftsmanship possible every day.

Crane & Co. Pink Ribbon Baby Stationery
Adding the finishing touch — a pink ribbon — to our Ecru White Baby Notes.

Crane & Co. Die Cut Envelopes
Getting die-cut envelope liners ready to be placed inside our 100% cotton envelopes.

Crane & Co. duplex cards
Precision is just one of the details we pride ourselves on, which means each duplexed invitation is hand-measured for a perfect border.

Crane & Co. hand bordering stationery
That colorful border you see on each Crane & Co. invitation or note card you receive is lovingly hand-painted by one of our oh-so patient and skilled borderers.

Crane & Co. personalized stationery
A Crane & Co. employee checks the alignment to make sure all the type on this personalized stationery is equidistant from the edge.

Navy Swiss Dot Invitation
A belly band is carefully placed around a custom-made invitation.

Thank you to Crane & Co. for this informative and enlightening collection of photos. What do you think? Did you ever realize the amount of hand-crafting that goes into these pieces?

We’d love to show you more of this premiere line of wedding invitations, event invitations and stationery here at Salutations in Chapel Hill and Charlotte, North Carolina.

{© 2011 Blog Boutique | Crane & Co. | Photos © Crane & Co.}

We Love Bella Figura

Bella Figura offers one of the most extensive collections of letterpress wedding invitations for style-savvy brides, printed on exclusive 100% reclaimed cotton paper made just for Bella Figura by a 500-year-old European paper mill. Bella Figura’s letterpress invitations have been dreamed up by some of the nation’s most sought-after designers and calligraphers.

Bella Figura’s latest designs capture up-and-coming wedding trends ~ envision clean, minimal typography, fanciful calligraphy stylings, bright and vibrant colors, and motifs inspired by fabric patterning. In addition to expertly designed letterpress invitations, each Bella Figura design suite also features letterpress save the dates, menus, thank you notes, place cards, reception cards, programs, and coasters.

As eco-conscious weddings have grown in popularity, Bella Figura stands out as an iconic industry leader. A true environmental letterpress shop, Bella Figura uses 100% reclaimed cotton tree-free paper and eco letterpress inks, in addition to being wind-powered, a member of Green America’s Green Business Network and donating 1% of sales to environmental causes via 1% For the Planet. For employees, they offer free bus passes to encourage use of public transit and subsidize 20-week Community Supported Agriculture memberships with a local organic farm.

You can see more of this fabulous line of letterpresses wedding invitations by visiting Salutations in Chapel Hill and Charlotte, North Carolina.

{© 2011 Blog Boutique | Bella Figura | Photos © Bella Figura}

Smock’s New Wedding Collection

We have just brought in the new Smock wedding collection and we could not be more excited to share it with you. The collection features fourteen smashing new letterpress wedding suites that may force even already married couples to get married again. Think rich and saturated colors, hand lettering, organic shapes, and really amazing bamboo paper, made just for Smock in a 500-year-old European paper mill. All Smock products are made in upstate New York.

Smock’s all-new letterpress wedding invitations feature fashionable must-have embellishments, including unique die cuts, letterpress folios and pocket sleeves, hot new inks, hand bordering, and strong design, all printed on Smock’s luxury bamboo paper. These modern designs are about strong typography and pure wedding style. In addition to the wedding invitation, the new album showcases custom postage stamps, as well as letterpress save the dates, rehearsal dinner cards, menus, wedding programs, social stationery, favor tags, escort cards, reception cards, reply cards, direction cards, and web site cards. Several designs feature Smock’s exclusive calligraphy fonts.

One of our favorite features of Smock’s new wedding collection is the all-new Design Library. On trend with the latest styles for weddings, this new design library allows us to work with brides to make a design truly their own, with a gorgeous selection of hand-drawn and one-of-a-kind motifs; new inks; new fonts; new patterns; folios; sleeves; liners, and much more.

Smock is a true environmental letterpress and stationery line. In addition to printing on sustainable bamboo and 100% post consumer recycled papers, Smock is also wind powered, a member of Green America’s Green Business Network and donates 1% of sales to environmental causes as a member of 1% For the Planet. Smock offers free bus passes to employees to help encourage use of public transit and subsidizes 20-week Community Supported Agriculture memberships with a local organic farm. Smock regularly partners with organizations such as the Amazon Conservation Association, the Pesticide Action Network, and American Forests to help promote environmental causes that affect the globe.

You can see more of this fabulous line of letterpressed wedding invitations by visiting Salutations in Chapel Hill and Charlotte, North Carolina.

{© 2011 Blog Boutique | Smock | Photos © Smock}

Dauphine Press August Wedding Promotion

You can see the Dauphine Press line of letterpressed wedding invitations, event invitations and stationery by visiting Salutations in Chapel Hill and Charlotte, North Carolina.

{© 2011 Blog Boutique | Dauphine Press | Image © Dauphine Press}

Bella Figura is Here!

Did you hear the collective intake of air, inhaled in awe, as we opened up our beautifully packaged new line of custom letterpressed invitations? Or maybe you heard the harmony of oohs and aahs as we ran our fingers over the thick, pillowy card stock with gorgeous, deep impressions? Perhaps you heard the thunder of jaws simultaneously hitting the floor as we got our first peek at the work of some really talented designers. What you’ll most certainly be hearing next is the buzz of inspired brides who have fallen in love with some of the most distinctive invitations ever to land in a mailbox.

{We’ve had the albums for one week and we’ve already placed three orders ~ each one its own unique treasure.}

Just wait until you see all of the amazing goodness that is Bella Figura. This is what we saw when we first opened up the box! {Talk about capturing the essence of the moment!}

The albums themselves are a work of art. . . .

And, customizations? To your heart’s content ~ with no additional fees!

And, with respect to Salutations’ new mission, this gem doesn’t just meet the criteria ~ it knocks them out of the park! The luxurious paper is all tree-free cotton, the inks are vegetable-oil based and low VOC, the printing facility is 100% wind-powered, the company donates 1% of sales to environmental causes, and they’ve partnered with American Forests to help slow global warming by planting trees.

Bella Figura is a sister company to one of our all-time favorite lines ~ Smock. So, it’s no surprise that the line is simply amazing, but even we were blown away by a line that is even better than we’d imagined. We are simply giddy at the opportunity to offer more fabulous designs from a team of really stellar people who we already know, respect, trust, and love!

We can’t wait to show you the new Bella Figura collection.

Salutations Wedding Slideshow

Click to play this Smilebox slideshow

Here’s a sneak peek of the wedding slideshow I just made for the Carolina Inn Bridal Fair in Chapel Hill this weekend, featuring loads of luscious letterpress.

Enjoy the drop-dead gorgeous photography by superstars Richard Israel, Smock, Nancy Ray, and Kristin Vining.

What’s your favorite?


Uptown Glam Wedding on Style Me Pretty

One of our all-time favorite brides Marisa, and her August wedding to Neal Deaton, are featured on the Style Me Pretty blog today! The uber-talented Kristin Vining shot these amazing photographs of the event, which was pulled together beautifully by Dina Blazek of Dina Berg Blazek Events. Todd Crawford of Crawford & Company Fine Flowers outdid himself with the wonderland of white. So much sparkly elegance!

The wedding programs were gorgeous ~ covers letterpressed by Smock, inserts printed and ribbons tied by Salutations. As amazing as the programs are, they only hint at the incredible beauty of the wedding invitations, letterpressed and encased in a pocket folio printed by Smock with the pattern reversed to show mostly that gorgeous peacock blue. ::swoon::.

The great duogram and medallion from the invitations were carried through to the elegant menu cards. . .

. . . and the welcome letter that was dropped into the fun and eco-friendly welcome bags by Neela.

Marisa and her mother Debbie were one of the most delightful mother-daughter teams that we’ve had the pleasure to work with. And, of course, we are always thrilled to be working with Dina and Amy at Dina Berg Blazek Events and this A-list group of Charlotte wedding professionals.

All photos courtesy of Kristin Vining Photography.

{Martha Stewart Weddings invitations}

Have you seen the new issue of Martha Stewart Weddingsâ„¢ yet?  Salutations is listed as a featured retailer in two ads in the Summer 2009 issue!  The first is by Dauphine Press, showing off their popular Peony design letterpressed in shades of purple {this season’s hot color}.  The second is by Envelopments, featuring a custom layered invitation that will make you want to hop on a plane bound for Fiji!  Let us know what you think!

Salutations welcomes Ceci New York

We are thrilled to introduce our brides to the luxurious White Label Collection from Ceci New York.  High fashion and exquisite craftsmanship are now available at a ready-to-order price.  Ceci New York is a design studio with an eye for detail and exceptional quality, expertly integrating trendsetting style, luxury, and innovation within every piece.

As the only North Carolina stationer to carry this collection, we invite you to call or email us today for a preview that includes: Save-The-Dates, Invitations, Thank you Notes, Menus, Programs and so much more!  Take a sneak peek at some of the designs on our Ceci New York Photo Gallery.

Each invitation suite is fully customizable by changing elements such as ink colors, typestyles and layout. The options are endless, with the line organized into four collections: Ornate, Destination, Botanical, and Classic.  Items are available in both letterpress and offset printing.

Lisa Hoffman, the founder and creative director of Ceci New York, is a world-renowned graphic designer whose work is synonymous with style and luxury among celebrities and design-savvy couples. The highly respected, custom stationer has received many awards for her trendsetting work and was most recently named one of the Top 25 Trendsetters by Modern Bride Magazine and Expert Stationer by New York Magazine.

Salutations Invitation Featured

We are thrilled to have one of our custom-designed wedding invitations featured on Smock Paper’s blog.  We had so much fun with bride Liz Francis helping her put together this really amazing wedding invitation set!  Smock is one of our very favorite vendors.  They offer the most exquisitely designed wedding invitations, all letterpress printed on eco-friendly bamboo paper. 

It was a like-minded love of Smock that led Drea Cunningham of Casey Cunningham Photography to discover Salutations and are we ever glad she did!  Drea and husband Casey are two of the most talented wedding photographers we’ve come across.  Their blog In the Swim is wonderfully inspiring and showcases  beautifully their gifted talents, and their zest for a fun-filled life!

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