Handpainted Paper from Natty Michelle

Photos courtesy of Natty Michelle

A big woo-hoo! to my cousin Jake and his bride to be Melissa on their engagement. Melissa has always been good about sharing her paper finds. And now that she has the big day to plan for, she has more reasons to shop for paper goodies, which means more tips for Post.

So thank you, M, for sharing Natalie (Natty) Michelle's lovely line of watercolor stationery and invitations with us. Natty's work reminds me a lot of Cid Pear, whose fabulously talented owner, Tina Givens, also creates beautifully rendered watercolor images for stationery and invitations, (many of which have a bridal theme).

More on her work and her inspiration from Natty herself:

My love for spreading the joy of snail mail led to opening a hand-painted stationery shop that features everything from pink elephants to cupcakes. I also paint snazzy wedding maps for brides-to-be getting married all across the country.

I live in the Inman Park neighborhood of Atlanta with my darling husband, James, and our sweet tabby cat, Bianca.... I love tomatoes, never miss an episode of Mad Men, and spend my days daydreaming about how to decorate our cozy cottage we just moved into this winter. I look forward to fall every year, like a kid waiting for Christmas morning, for tailgating and Georgia football. Everyone calls me Natty.

Something about this made me really want to be friends with Natty. It goes beyond the mutual paper love, I think. There's just something about her style that sticks with me. Like this Rooster. Love the rooster with his bright, well blended colors.

But my top pick from Natty's Esty site are her custom made wedding maps. Over the years I've seen dozens of wedding maps - printed on letterpresses, engraved on the finest Crane paper, shot out of laser printers - Natty's watercolor drawings may be my favorite? They ahve so much charm. I love the outline of the streets, and the soft colors she chooses. These maps are great for save-the-dates, too. Natty hand paints each map and then sends a jpeg file for brides and grooms to use however they please.

Photo courtesy of Raina Dawn Events

Learn more about Natty and her work on her blog. And check out her Etsy site to purchase some of her goodies.

Homemade thank yous from Merriment Design

Photos courtesy of Merriment design

Kathy, at Merriment design, has come up with some great ideas for paper making that don't rely on the old letterpress.


Check out her how-to guide for thank you notes using a retro embossed label maker. All you need are a stack of A4 cards and a label marker (available on Amazon).

Happy at home printing....

Happy Birthday, Post!

Photo courtesy of Real Simple Paper Constructions

Well, it's been a little stop-and-start-y but today is the first birthday of Post! Or is it technically the first anniversary? Hmmmm....I should know this. I don't. So we'll celebrate both.

Photo Courtesy of Smock Press

One year ago today, I sat at our fresh-from-Craigslist dining table in our Alexandria apartment and decided it was time to put what I know about stationery and letter writing to the test.

I'd say it's been a success.

In the last year I've learned more than I ever thought possible about letterpress, spit out I know about envelopes, bemoaned the fall of the US Postal Service, and spent hours pouring over paper byproducts like wallpaper, paper dresses, paper art and other 2 dimensional delights.

Photo courtesy of Neither Snow

Thank you, readers, for sticking with me. I'm looking forward to what year #2 has in store.....

Wait.....did I say "store?" Over the last year, lots of folks have asked whether I'm actually selling any of these paper goodies that I bring to you each week. Not yet, but maybe soon? I'll keep you posted....

Back from holiday and filled with goodies

Photos courtesy of Paper Monkey Press

I did something bad....for you, not for me.

I slipped off on vacation last week without giving Post readers a heads up. Sorry about that. I actually toyed with the idea of posting from the beach, but didn't end up packing a computer.

Anyway, the whole thing has left me energized to start thinking about paper again.

Paper Monkey seems like a great place to get back into it. This letterpress duo recently relocated from California to the biggest brightest hot spot for creative paper types (Pittsburgh!).

What's great about Paper Monkey is that you can send them your own artwork for printing. No one does that! I love it! More from the source:

We are happy to print your already designed project, work with you to develop or refine a design concept you have, OR we are talented designers that can be at your beck and call to work with you one on one to create a unique design from scratch....

All letterpress projects are done onsite on our very capable Chandler and Price press, Bessie- who has been doing excellent work for almost a century now, and we also work with some amazing offset printers around the country so that we can provide you with print services for all sorts of projects big and small, no matter where you are located.

I wonder if they can work from photos? We came back from vacation with some great shots of the Haleakala Volcano - I'll check and report back. Until then, here's a peek at their work:

(L-O-V-E this business card. Must. Have. Them. Maybe not in black?)
One more....