This just went out today to the UK for the wedding in Capri-a quick little teaser image….more to come, stay tuned! See here for the earlier post on the matching website.

Just shipped out one of my new favorite sets, a TreeSpace Studio twist on the traditional hand-delivered invitation….I can’t reveal too much yet but do stay tuned for the unveiling!

A print and paper swatch kit has been in the works for ages in the studio. This is something I’ve always wanted to be able to offer my brides (and grooms). Our custom invitation suites and designs are normally so complex and meticulously hand-crafted/printed that it was impossible to send out samples to everyone interested.

I designed this sample packet earlier this year and it’s been on my projects-on-deck list since. I recently whipped the concept sketches out (in anticipation of the other new thing I am eager to share) to work on and I’m now finally happy with it and it will be available soon in the shop!

So what is this seed packet sample kit? It is essentially archival-quality print swatches of some of our custom invitations and creations on a few of our favorite papers-handmade seeded papers, handmade and artisan washi papers, nepalese paper and others. They will inevitably vary from time to time of course. They are by no means EVERYTHING we can possibly create but just a little snapshot of what we can do.

The seed packet part of it is what the swatches come in, complete with instructions to turn it into something that will hold the seeds of that juicy tomato variety you want to plant next spring!

My first ‘dream BIG’ holiday collection went through a little morphing as I finally found the best way to present them! The new gorgeous handmade seeded papers I ordered arrived recently and I made a few cards to see how much I like them on it. Be sure to click on the images to enlarge it so you can see the textures.

The papers are beautifully rustic yet refined, with tiny wildflower seeds, in a creamy milky color. They are just hefty enough for the single panel frame-able ‘dream BIG’ holiday cards. I have included planting instructions on the back of the card.

Currently they are available in singles, 5, 10, 25 and 50 packs. Envelope colors may vary but are carbon neutral, wind-powered with at least 50% post-consumer waste recycled.

The box sets come wrapped in the ‘dream BIG’ inspiration ribbon and thrifted fabric.

The artwork will change annually. A collection of them would make wonderful framed montages!

c4s

Here’s an early atelier post since I will be very busy for the next two days-I was approached by deLab to produce graphics for their April 8th LA Downtown Artwalk  booth featuring cool stuff architects, designers, artists, illustrators are doing during this recession.

Lots of talented, talented people, can’t wait to see the actual booths, so swing by if you are in town. LA Downtown Artwalk is a TON of fun. I might be there handing out cards too

So I was wondering recently, does anybody even write letters anymore? We do in our household because we have a few loving family members from another generation that still enjoy putting a cursive scrawl to paper and thus we would occasionally receive them in the mail.

Illustrated Envelope Letters

This would always prompt me to reach for some copy paper lying around (ugh) and scramble for some plain envelopes. The finished hasty packet is usually pretty uninspiring but we drop it off in the mail anyway.  This is one of the reasons I’ve been wanting to experiment with envelope-less letters for awhile now. It is not a new idea but one that I find most fitting for my current letter-writing needs. Not only does it save on paper/materials, it provides me with the old-fashioned,  romantic ritual of folding my letter, sealing it and dropping it off  for the mailman just like folks used to do for hundreds of years.

Envelope letters with Tree Spaces theme, click image to zoom in.

This (arcane) letter-writing set is deliberately simple a-faded Tree Spaces themed illustration printed on beautiful Japanese mulberry/kozo paper-a plant-fiber paper that is both tough and durable and just the perfect thickness for an envelope letterfold.

Slip in some photos, glue the tab and it's done! Click image to zoom in.

It would come with a folding template, in a set of perhaps 2o, conveniently sized-8.5″ x 8.5″ sheets and when folded, easily accommodates a stack of photographs (another arcane practice we still follow) that Gramma is always delighted to see. Stick a stamp,  address it and it’s good to go! No fumbling around for papers or envelopes. I am excited to develop a complete matching set of Tree Spaces illustrations for it (California is ridden with myriad gorgeous sculptural trees!) and perhaps expand the idea for a wedding invitation, thank-you note or be part of a marketing set.

I know this is something that would really improve the chances of my elders receiving a letter from me, but what do you think, would this be something you would use?

What wedding favors would be suitable when the Swiss bridegroom has a large entourage from Switzerland attending a local semi-traditional wedding in tropical Penang Island?

Swiss chocolates, an imported local luxury, would not do! -says the bride, with a chuckle.  Ittybitty ‘wedding cake’ squares in disposable cardboard boxes, typical of many local weddings is the comfortable fallback option, albeit boring and bland.

The design challenge was for wedding favors that would leave her Swiss guests charmed-a memento to treasure of a truly special Penang/Malaysian destination wedding experience.

Traditional local pastries/sweets wrapped in lovely batik handkerchiefs-click image to zoom in.

Doubles as placecard, click image to zoom in.

This idea for wedding favors with a local twist, can be adjusted for different budgets. It is a simple idea-to mine the treasure trove of delicious locally-crafted pastries and sweets (Penang is THE local food heaven) and present it in a lovely little Batik (local hand-painted/printed fabric) bundle.

Once the goodies are eaten, the batik wrap would be a wonderful piece of keepsake from the wedding.

Depending on how much the wedding couple would like to spend, it can be heart-warmingly rustic and Do-It-Yourself or luxuriously decadent.

Local pastries and sweets available in Penang are a distinct cottage industry, an age-old art, available only in this rich historical city. The trick for the bride is whether she wants her local guests to receive them as well. Alternatively, home-baked pineapple tarts and cookies (local favorites!) can be substituted for local guests.

They will then be placed in simple hand-folded origami boxes (recycled pretty magazine papers, anything laying around will work!), of course the bigger the budget, the fancier the papers (sustainable sources, hopefully)

There are several alternatives for batik fabrics depending on the budget-lovely sheer, silk hand-printed ones in finished sizes and gorgeous classy colors from local Indian stores for a truly beautiful wrap; a large hand-printed batik fabric sheet from the local Batik factory cut into smaller sizes and serged/hemmed ; or for the DIY bride with a small budget-lovely commercially printed ‘batik-look’ fabrics can be had at affordable prices at local fabric stores. They only need to be serged, inexpensively, by a crafty mom, friend or tailor.

These favors can double as placecards of course, with the addition of a card with a handwritten name or number.

Bumper edition of Atelier Thursday, getting ready to distribute these, been working on a TreeSpace Studio seeding kit for awhile.  I wanted them to reflect my philosophy for the studio, the style and of course be sustainable or precious.

Handmade-seeded-paper biz/calling cards, click on image to zoom in.

The business cards are sort of tongue in cheek, seeded handmade-paper cards for seeds of a relationship. They really need to be held and touched, the papers are absolutely lovely. The best thing is, once you are done with it, moisten it and bury it and wildflowers would (hopefully) grow! Here the concept was to make them look like each card was individually hand-drawn/lettered. (which of course they weren’t!) but they were hand-crafted.

'Polaroid flyers'-click image to zoom in.

I have two versions of these, one for my wedding studio, and one for the everyday design studio. The wedding flyers were hand-lettered with a dip pen. All printed on 100% Post-Consumer-Waste-Recycled cardstock in beautiful off-white shades.  Will you pick these up if you see them?

{ keep } Flyers, click on image to zoom in.

A little sneak preview of my soon-to-be-introduced line of sustainable, custom-illustrated  handmade packaging for artisans. The mission is to make handmade packaging for handmade goods that are worth treasuring as much as the creations within it.  Multi-purpose is a big concept behind the line, and this is a flyer that doubles as a business card and doubles as an artwork that you can actually frame and hang up. The reverse side of the flyer features a hand-drawn illustration of various ideas for upcycled and hand-crafted packaging that you can even implement yourself!

Archival-quality printing on beautiful soft and thick cotton rag paper with natural and hand-deckled edges.

Email me if you would like me to create a seeding kit for your emerging little business!

{ keep } boxes for Beerings!

This is a little preview of what I have been working on with Janine, the inspired founder of the non-profit organization Greenwave.  (Incidently, she wrote a lovely post yesterday about TreeSpace Studio here, still so thrilled to be featured, thanks so much Janine-she really managed to capture a lot of what the studio aspires to be!). Janine, who is quite the sustainable queen/activist, is working on a line of hand-crafted beerings (beer bottle cap earrings) for a good cause,  and commissioned matching African-themed art for the beerings and boxes.

hanging out in the tree

a pair

These {keep} boxes have been an ongoing experiment for me, and I am excited to be able to refine them for this project. They will be part of a line of sustainable handmade packaging that I will talk about more later in future posts!

What do you throw away the most?

Do you make cards, cakes, candies,  jewelry, accessories? Here is a design challenge: can durable, cool and awesome packaging be made from items from our trashcans at home at work?  It needs to be 1. durable, 2. upcycled/recycled 3. handmade, 4. quick to reproduce, 5.  affordable, 6. can be custom-illustrated. For the first part of this ongoing design challenge, I am presenting the most common raw materials in my studio, some early sketches and some inspirational ideas from around the web. In future posts, I will share what I have come up with!

Top row: what's in my trash; second: some early ideas; bottom: inspirations around the web

What is in my trash: I get lots of material from shipping, packaging from bought stuff,  plastic wraps, corrugated cardboard from boxes,  and lots and lots of junkmail.  What do I need? Packaging, cool customizable art packaging for the items that I offer for sale.

Would you like to send me your trash?