a soft palette.

I love a good white.  They’re surprisingly hard to find (especially in paint!), but crisp white, soft white, antique white, etcetera all have a perfect place and can produce that “ah…” calm and relaxing sensation when used appropriately.  A bit like sinking into a deep and comfy chair.

However, in stationery, we see a lot of white.  Our house cotton paper comes in pure white, pearl white and ecru (ivory).  Our house 100% recycled stock is a nice white also (French Construction).  But day in, day out white can get a bit tedious, and a break in the monotony to use a colored paper on a print job is a nice little change.

And if we’re going to talk about color, can I tell you how much I love Crane’s Palette?

It’s yummy, it’s soft and luxurious, it’s 100% cotton in elegant, muted, to-die-for colors.  Oh, and it’s a bit expensive.   But this makes it perfect for jobs that use very little paper – like, say, a business card job:

This is Crane’s Palette in Wasabi.  A soft, happy pale green with a mere hint of yellow in it.  (Address on the cards has been removed, excuse the messy photoshop work)

…how cute and fun is the vintage style pumpkin drawing with brown and squash inks? And if you want a shot of CRAZY texture and impression in the early morning light:

It doesn’t get more tactile than that, does it?  Sigh.  I love letterpress.

…packaged and out the door on a Monday morning.  Always a good way to start the week.

We’ve been mostly doing personal stationery and weddings this month here at Wild Ink Press, so a sweet little business card job is a nice way to have a change of pace.

Happy workweek – do enjoy the beginning of spring.