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.

baby rhino

baby rhino letterpress card by delphine ... coming soon!

i heart paper

design by delphine; photographs by Vallentyne Photography

I'm so pleased to announce that we were chosen as this quarter's featured letterpress studio by Strathmore! I was honored to design their call for entries for the Strathmore Show graphic design contest, and was really happy to have a chance to work with their beautiful new thistle logo, which was designed by the uber talented Marian Bantjes.

wish list: e's poster

letterpress e's poster by French Press

I don't care if it's slightly narcissistic ... j'adore (and I'd love to own) this "E" letterpress poster in my studio! French Press makes lots of other letter posters (hand-set wood type letterpressed on their Vandercook, no less), but I humbly submit that the "E" is the best letter in the alphabet. Check out their sweet ETSY shop.

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!

sweet hearts: valentine's day cards

letterpress valentine cards by delphine

We've just listed some limited edition letterpress valentines to our Etsy shoppe!

get organized: personal calling cards

letterpress calling cards by delphine

Calling cards are chic. Much better to give someone one of these personalized letterpress calling cards than one of these. Right?

color worship: pastels

espresso cups from anthropologie; wedding invitations by delphine

I'm always on the lookout for fun photo props. One of my favorite props to use is a cute cup. I usually pull them from my collection of vintage teacups, but I also love these pastel espresso cups from Anthropologie and couldn't resist buying the pale green one to use in the promo shots of our Ava invitation. The invite on the left is a sneak peek at our new Pacific Beach Blooms design.

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!

letterpress: dutch door press

"california," by dutch door press

Last May at the National Stationery Show I met the ladies of Dutch Door Press and was smitten with their work. I was browsing Etsy last night and came across their shop. I love their "California" limited edition letterpress print, which is one of a series, "birds and blooms of the 50 states." This print features the state bird which is the California valley quail and the state flower which is the California poppy. (Both of which can be seen in our neighborhood, and both of which inspired some of our collection last year, too!) Available in the Dutch Door Press Etsy shop.

delphine on ETSY

delphine is now on Etsy! That's right ... we finally got a few free hours to get our act together and post some items in an Etsy shop. Our delphinepress.com shop will always be the best place for our standard letterpress items, but check out www.delphinestudio.etsy.com for more limited edition and one-of-a-kind items.

Why an Etsy shop? Sometimes when we print a job for a client and there is a little room left on the press sheet, we'll sneak a fun project on there for ourselves. It's a great way to test out new inks, new fonts, run experiments, and, well, just play a little. We'll post our best results on Etsy so you can take home a little piece of joy from the studio! Take a look and let us know what you think!

new from charleston collection: sullivan

sullivan design, new from delphine's charleston collection

"Sullivan," one of the new designs from our upcoming Charleston Collection, is named after Sullivan's Island, the "next door island" to where I grew up (Isle of Palms, South Carolina). I chose the deep marine blue ink because it reminds me of summer nights on the island, and the bright crocus ink is a nod to my mom's favorite color circa 1983!

new from charleston collection: acorns

photos and designs © delphine

Here's a sneak peek at one of our newest designs: Acorns. Of course you can substitute the acorn motif for any one of our little critters or icons, or even a monogram. But I think the acorns are perfect for a sweet & simple woodland affair!

inspiration: trees

cards & journals by old school stationers

My friend L sent me a pic she took earlier in the month of fall Aspen trees in Colorado. They remind me of Brian's gorgeous work over at Old School Stationers. Here in Southern California the trees don't really change colors much ... it's still in the 80's at our house. While I love the "perfect" weather here, sometimes I do miss a good rainstorm and a crisp October afternoon!

santa anas + screech owl = no sleep

owlivia, by delphine

Before we moved to Southern California I never had allergies. But now, once per year, when the Santa Ana winds blow in from the desert, my head feels like it has been put in a vice. Combine that with the screeching owl that sat outside our window last night and, well, lets just say I'm a little tired and cranky today.

just added: letterpress paper weights

1-of-a-kind letterpress paper weights: delphine

Just added to our website: one-of-a-kind paper weights made from our make-ready letterpress prints. You can check them out here.

politic

politic greeting card: delphine

In honor of the VP debate tonight I though I'd post my two cents.

We've nearly sold out of our Politic greeting card (letterpressed in patriotic blue & red on white, 100 percent cotton paper, with recycled kraft envelopes) but we do still have a few dozen left. Made in U.S.A. (of course!) You can pick one up here.

delphine is For the People, and we approved this message.

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).

letterpress: up close

photos: delphine

We just discovered had a macro lens in the closet ... yippee! Stay tuned for more shots of our eco-friendly 2009 letterpress calendar...

wedding day

photo & letterpress invitations: delphine

It's The Big Day today for Karen and Zac. Best wishes to the darling couple!

Their invitation is our signature "Amelie" design, letterpressed in two ink colors (chocolate and linden) on white 100 percent cotton 300 gram stock. We loved how it looked so much that you'll see this image in our upcoming fall ad campaign in Inside Weddings magazine.