February 14, 2013 · 8:16 am

sprinkles

Happy Valentine’s Day! Here’s something sweet for you…

Alison Thurstans’ envelope idea was to recreate her daughter’s favorite “fairy biscuits.” These are apparently an Australian thing, so she sent us a photo of the actual cookies she makes all the way down in Tasmania:

fairy biscuits

Looks divine!
photo courtesy of Ally Thurstans, Everyday Miracles

And the resulting envelope:

fairy biscuit envelope

That koala stamp is just so beyond perfect, isn’t it?

I would really love to make these, Ally… do you have a recipe you can share in the comments?!

In case Ally’s envelope is too soft and ethereal for you today, here’s a wacky one which also incorporates sprinkles:

sprinkles envelope

And by “incorporates sprinkles,” I mean no fewer than 1,000 sprinkles have been somehow and hilariously shellacked to the front and back of this thing…

This masterpiece was created by Courtney Kaminski, and it arrived all in one piece all the way from Ontario, Canada. The back flap still even opens and everything. And I have lost surprisingly few sprinkles, even though it came almost a year ago. That’s good quality workmanship. Courtney – how did you do it??

So which is more your style?  s p r i n k l e s   or   SPRINKLES ?

:)
Tara

PS. Don’t forget to check out and maybe enter my give-away over on Catsparella!

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Filed under crazy!, markers, watercolor

February 13, 2013 · 1:32 pm

this one takes the cake

I felt like Thalia Troianou’s cupcake envelope deserved its very own post… Thalia and I have actually become pen pals, and I owe her a letter (and I have for some time). But how can I respond in a timely manner when she sends me things like this???

cupcake envelope

This is a tiny little plastic envelope with a cupcake hovering inside,
behind a frosting cloud of an address label.

cupcake envelope

The back.

cupcake envelope

The insides, outside.

cupcake envelope

And – it’s a freaking BOOKLET! With a recipe and a note.

So, Thalia, you have given me envelope anxiety as well as envelope envy. I am thinking of how to respond in kind, but for now, THANK YOU!

–Tara

PS. Don’t forget to check out and maybe enter my give-away over on Catsparella!

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Filed under binding, colored pencil, crazy!, drawing, markers

· 9:05 am

come ‘ere, cupcake

I have a whole bunch of “sweet” envelopes to post (from the “sweet” theme last year and beyond), and I though now would be a good time to do so since tomorrow is Valentine’s day. Aww.  Today’s theme is cupcake envelopes, and we’ve got LOTS.

First up is this truly awesome collaged cupcake envelope by Cassandra Barrowclough up in Canada. I wish you could see this in person. She’s painted the envelope with a good coating of vibrant purple, and the cupcake is actually collaged from bits of paper scrap, and pasted over with some kind of glittery coating.

collaged cupcake envelope

Next is a black & white zentangle cupcake from Nan Ran-Santos in California:

zentangle cupcake

And look what she put inside for me!

zentangle letter

(I’m sorry the picture is extra mucky…)

And last (but not least) for today is one more take on the cupcake by Chrissy McGale (also from Canada).  This one is so clever… Check out the front:

cupcake envelope

And then the back!  It’s a little bakery box with the see-through plastic top and everything.

bakery box envelope

Which one would you try to eat?
–Tara

PS. Don’t forget to check out and maybe enter my give-away over on Catsparella!

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Filed under collage, doodling, markers, painting, pen & ink

February 12, 2013 · 2:57 pm

Do you like cats like I like cats?

This will be fast… We’re actually about to have our first ever CAT WEEK next week here on the Ephemera blog, so I’ll yak (or meow?) more about this then, BUT ANYWAYZ:

Do you like cats?

Do you like cats like I like cats?

letterpress cats

Probably not THIS much. This is maybe too much.
(That’s yours truly letting fluffball Henry B. use her as a chair last week.
Or a surfboard.  Or something ??)

But if you do like cats, and stationery, and elevated envelopes, you should enter the awesome giveaway Ephemera has going on over on Catsparella this week. Then like Catsparella on Facebook like I do so you can keep up on the latest in cat news. I mean mews! Heh.

Many will enter… only one will win!
-Tara

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Filed under crazy!, i love my cat and i don't care who knows it, letterpress

February 7, 2013 · 8:05 am

Free wedding envelope calligraphy???

YES! Free wedding envelope calligraphy. And it’s pretty nice too…

seattle calligraphy

Order or pre-order your wedding stationery from Ephemera
by February 14, 2013, and I will hand-address
your first 35 envelopes at no charge.
(a $105 value)

seattle calligrapher

I love calligraphy, and was obsessed with it for a long time before taking the plunge to learn the basics a few years ago. Over time I’ve developed my own spin on “pointed pen.” I can easily say sticking with it and getting better has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. So yeah, I love it! Your 35 envelopes will probably take me 3 hours to do, yet it doesn’t even sound like work – sounds like fun. (Partly because I’ll probably watch The Bachelor while I do it.)

ANYWAY, this offer applies to save-the-date or invitation orders placed on or before February 14, 2013. Pre-ordering is possible for those clients not quite ready to start their projects, but who want to take advantage of an offer and/or secure their place on our press calendar. Click here to get started!

–Tara

PS. Can I get a show of hands in the comments about who might be interested in some virtual calligraphy lessons from me? Not teaching official Copperplate (there are better teachers for that out there), but more of a primer for those who just want to try it and see if they like it. Think: “How to Calligra-fy Your Own Writing.” This would be kind of an intro to my favorite tools, tricks, and resources. Maybe templates. What do you think?)

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February 6, 2013 · 7:44 am

we’re all mad… about this envelope

This is another one of those too-freakin-cool envelopes…  Leslieanne Barclay made a tea party series of envelopes, inspired by Alice in Wonderland.

alice in wonderland mail art

The back of each envelope featured one character at the tea table.  I got the Mad Hatter! (Appropriate.)

alice in wonderland mail art

And here’s everybody being insane together. (Click on the picture to see it large and in charge.)
alice in wonderland mail art

So, so good. 

Did you get one of these? I love the Cheshire cat one too… Thanks, Leslieanne!

-Tara

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Filed under drawing, markers

February 5, 2013 · 9:49 am

CHOCOLATE! How it’s made.

Today’s envelope is amazing, and not just because it’s all about chocolate… Marissa Biven from Texas documented how chocolate is made with her envelopes:

chocolate envelope

This envelope is actually part of a series… Each of her 9 creations documents just one part of the chocolate-making process. Isn’t this so cool???

chocolate

The little candy bar wrapper drawn around the stamp is genius. GENIUS!

chocolate envelope

So, how impressed are you on a scale of 1-10, and what is your favorite chocolate to eat? I must know…

-Tara

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