little peanut: milo

original letterpress birth announcement design & photo by delphine

Congratulations Allison and Aaron on your sweet addition to the family! Next to my own son (of course) he's the cutest little peanut I've ever met.

in the press: Charleston Weddings Magazine

It's hard to explain what this press clipping in Charleston Weddings magazine means to me. Charleston is my "hometown" (in quotes since technically I'm a Yankee: I was born in NYC).

My first great work experience was as an editorial intern at Charleston magazine. Though I was an editorial intern and most of my duties included writing and editing, I found my real passion in the art director's office. Melinda Smith-Monk was so kind to me. She let me watch her work, she let me help out at photo shoots, she let me ask a zillion questions, she let me make mistakes, she let me pick the ink color for a cover, she let me model. And she made me think about a career in design.

All the editors I worked with at Charleston are long gone, and while Mel is still art director, I'm not sure she would even remember who I am (it was many years ago!). I am eternally grateful for the experience of working with such great talent, and it is a supreme thrill to have my work grace the pages of a magazine so near and dear to my heart.

Oh, and the invitations in the clipping were inspired by Charleston, too.

baby shower invitation

Nesting Baby Shower invitation by delphine

I must admit I am not big on showers. All the stupid games, lack of real alcohol (mimosas do NOT count, people), baby chit chat, and oohing/ahhing over burp cloths make me kinda feel bleeech-ick. The only way to make it worse would be to add in singing or charades. But, I DO love my friends, and actually sorta love designing baby shower invites since they're outside my norm and I get to be a little on the saccharine side for a change. This is the invite for my friend Carrie's upcoming shower. (And don't worry, Carrie, I'll be there with bells on).

happy weekend

delphine at the national stationery show

delphine will be exhibiting at the National Stationery Show! Mark your calendars: May 17 - 20, 2009. We'll be in booth number 3327. See you there! Meanwhile, if you'd like to get a reminder postcard with our booth number, please contact us at the studio by emailing info [at] delphinepress [dot] com. Thanks! (this show is open only to the trade).

public art and press room visit

photo by delphine photo of the macarthur muni station

Last week John and I had a chance to visit with the super fabulous Cardstore.com peeps in Emeryville, California, and get a tour of their facilities. We loved seeing their press rooms, their fulfillment/shipping center, and their fun loft-like workspace. The press rooms were pretty quiet (we visited in late afternoon), but we were told that all the presses run nearly 24 hours a day around the holidays in order to keep up with all their orders! We were also beyond thrilled to find out that one of our holiday photo cards was one of their top sellers this holiday season.

One of the greatest moments of the tour was seeing their Heidelberg press, which they have converted into a die-cutting machine. It was completely surrounded by bright yellow safety bars. Our tour guide seemed wary of the machine and gasped when we told him that delphine uses the same type of machine to letterpress (only without all the safety modifications)! Many thanks to Matt and all the peeps at Cardstore for the fun tour!

inspiration: factory orange and yellow

A recent visit to my dad's factory (top images) inspired the factory orange and steel grey color scheme for a project I'm working on now for Strathmore (bottom images). When I was a kid I loved visiting my dad at his factories and walking the floor with him. I inherited an appreciation for mechanical equipment, which, I think, is the reason I was drawn to the craft of letterpress.

custom "swirly" bar mitzvah invitation

Just shipped ... a custom "swirly" Bar Mitzvah invitation for sweet Sacha! We letterpressed this postcard on double thick 100 percent cotton paper in grey and marine blue inks. Can't wait to start on the invitation!

kitchen: scallion buttermilk biscuits

With Delphine in the house, a woman who lived in occupied France as a teenager and remembers Nazis marching down her street, nothing is wasted, especially food. A few days after Thanksgiving (or "Thanks Given," as Delphine calls it), when we could not eat one more turkey sandwich, I made this turkey pot pie. I don't normally post about the kitchen, since the most I usually make there in a week is 15 pots of coffee, but last week I made these yummy buttermilk and scallion biscuits. I used them as a topper instead of a crust for the turkey pot pie.

in the press: Stationery Trends magazine

delphine, as seen in Stationery Trends magazine

I tore open my new issue of Stationery Trends magazine last month and was thrilled to find my designs featured twice. Many thanks to the editors for their support!

new delphine ad

delphine ad in Fall issue of Inside Weddings

Our new ad campaign has hit the newsstands. Check out the gorgeous Fall issue of Inside Weddings! Thanks to all the stores who helped make the ad possible:
Burns & Associates (San Francisco, CA) ••• Union Street Papery (San Francisco, CA) ••• The Envelope Please (Boulder, CO) ••• DK Schulman Design (New Preston, Ct) ••• Just Paper (Washington, DC) ••• Cheryl Clisby Events (Boca Raton, FL) ••• Sam Flax (Atlanta, GA) ••• I Do I Do (Chicago, IL) ••• The Village Invites (New York, NY) ••• Settings (Charleston, SC) ••• Ménage (Memphis, TN) ••• Swee Swee Paperie (Seattle, WA)
The new design shown in the ad, Ava, is available only at select stores (those listed above), or directly through us here at the studio.

recent letterpress work

photos: delphine

One of my favorite recent projects is the letterpress business cards we designed and printed for Mike at Bahia de los Sueños (translation: Bay of Dreams! How lovely!). We didn't design this cool logo--they had it already--but it was perfect for letterpressing. We used offwhite 100 percent cotton paper and two shades of hand-mixed brown ink to convey the rustic luxe charm of the logo (and the properties).

new holiday designs

holiday photo card by delphine for cardstore.com

I finally finished up the last of the new delphine holiday designs for Cardstore.com. It will be a few weeks before the designs are online and ready to order. These cards are digitally printed by Cardstore, but if you prefer a letterpress version just give us a shout at the studio.

who is delphine?

photos: delphine

One of the questions we get asked here at the studio almost every day is, "Who is Delphine?"
Well ...

Delphine is Erika’s mémé (grandmother). She is a source of inspiration and strength, and thus, our company's namesake.

From the occupied South of France during WWII, to the jazz nightclub scene of 1950’s Paris, to starting a new life in America, nursing school and raising two daughters, Delphine has just about seen and done it all—all while looking fabulous.

When she is not tending her rose garden or playing with her great-grandson, Delphine can often be found in the studio reviewing new designs, or in the kitchen, preparing “un petit snack” and café for everyone. In these photos she is whipping up a tarte au pomme (apple tart); I'd give you the recipe, but in typical mémé fashion, when I asked her for it she said "you know, you make the crust, then add the applesauce and the apples, et voila. Simple."

sweet strawberries

cards and photo: delphine

When I was a little girl, my Mémé Delphine gave me a set of sweet strawberry note paper. I remember opening and closing the box, counting each sheet, and carefully writing a thank you note to her, but not wanting to use the rest of the note paper. It went into my "museum" of special objects: a green box that went in a special drawer of my desk. Those strawberry note sheets started my love of stationery, and the memory was the inspiration for these strawberry notes that I printed for my bff's five-year-old daughter, Leah.

delphine online

www.delphinepress.com

Phase One of our new website is up! Whoo hoo. Many thanks to the talented guys at Saxony for their insane programming skills! We're working out a few "issues" with the boutique shopping cart, so if you want to order something it's best to shoot us an email to confirm that we have received the order. But we've added tons of new photos and galleries ... more coming soon, too!