It’s the weekend! I will be at Eastern Market tomorrow and the weather forecast looks like 80 and sunny. Perfect. I may not even put up my tent.

I also want to see this film and make this dish for the weekend. Yum!

And… in one week, we’ll be heading down to the Outer Banks, NC for the week! It’ll be a family get together (including the dogs) for relaxation, good eatin’ and…just being at the ocean.

Have a delicious weekend campers!

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Ready for business! Finally printed new Bears Eat Berries business cards. I had run out but wanted a slightly different design. And I kept it even more minimal. I dunno, I think I just find beauty in simplicity. Not that I don’t gush over ornate/bold designs…believe me, I do. As Bears Eat Berries evolves, maybe I’ll go in that direction. But right now I’m just feelin’ black. And blind impression. Love me some blind impression.

I’ll be passing them out on Saturday at Eastern Market (finally have a day that I’ll be around!) and they’re always included in every Etsy order.

What do you think? :)

Paper. It’s everywhere. And we feel bad about cutting down trees for it. But guess what. Letterpress loves cotton. That’s right. But what’s so great about cotton?

First of all… it’s reclaimed cotton. What does that mean? It means it’s the leftover stuff. You know when there’s leftover scraps when making a cotton shirt? It’s taken for paper. Or the leftover fibers on the cotton seeds…we take that too. So it is essentially, material that would have been taken to the landfill.

Second, it’s not from trees. Hooray! Don’t you feel good that you’re not chopping down trees? Which take forever to grow and then get chopped to stumps? Cotton fields are already in place and we just take the leftovers from it. Thank your cotton undies for that.

Third, the cotton paper I use is acid free. That means you can archive it and keep it forever and ever and it won’t fade or deteriorate.

Well, here’s the scoop on the different types of paper that I use personally for letterpress products.

Crane Lettra
Many of us of have heard of this paper. It’s many a favorite with letterpress printers. Comes in three colors: white, less white, even lesser white. Sorry folks. BUT, here’s the great thing about Lettra. It’s super soft. Like bunny soft. Because it’s so soft, it gives such a beautiful bite when letterpress printed. I usually pet each letterpress printed product on this paper for awhile before packaging. Ok, maybe only once or twice.

However, because it is so soft, it’s not the most durable. It can easily get bent and/or dirt just gets attracted to it. It also doesn’t fold that great. So I think it’s the best for invitations. It just has that super luxurious feel to it and with that great bite of an impression…gorgeous. It also comes in two weights — 110lb and 220lb.

Reich Savoy
This paper is also 100% cotton and comes in white, more white and even more white. I love this paper because it’s so versatile. At a weight of 118lb or 236lb, it actually does fold well. It’s a bit more sturdy and can hold its own. It may be a little less soft to the touch, it feels more like regular (tree) paper but still has the texture and softness to give a great bite as well. So I love using this paper for greeting cards.

So what other types of paper are there? You’re certainly not limited to just these two for letterpress. Other cotton papers include Arturo and Somerset. Both extremely soft with deckle edges. And *shock*, Arturo comes in a few pastel colors.

What do I want to try though? I really want to try Legion Bamboo paper. 90% bamboo / 10% cotton. Bamboo is like the fastest growing thing ever (up to four feet a day!) and is a highly renewable source that needs little water or pesticides. And it’s got great texture to it when it’s in the paper form. But…. it also ain’t the cheapest. So I’m trying to figure a way out to incorporate it without raising the costs too much.

There are many other papers out there that work beautifully for letterpress. It depends on the look that you’re going for and your pocketbook (except colors…sorry again. We like white apparently). You can also use tree paper too. Heavy cardstock paper can work…depending on the paper. You get different results though. Other papers that can work are chipboard and seed paper to name a few.

Oh! By the way… the envelopes I use are either 100% cotton (usually Crane Lettra as well) or are at least 50% recycled.

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Have a happy weekend everyone! And a Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there and to especially my mother. :)

Who I’m off to see this weekend up in PA!

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Oh hello there animals.

New woodland animal hello letterpress cards are now in the shop! I just kept drawing these little guys…and turned them into a pack. I can’t decide which one is my favorite…Ah, who am I kidding, it’s the bear.

As many of you already know, I’ve been pluggin’ away on a new website and it’s coming along! I’m getting near the end which is very exciting. This has been a long project especially since I’m also developing the site as well. But I can’t wait to debut it…soon!

I love ombre. It’s like the modern tie dye, don’t you think?  More than just “ombre-ing” your hair, wouldn’t it be cool to ombre your home? Kind of boho and unexpected.

I absolutely want those curtains.

There are  a lot of DIY how to’s on youtube and such but many of them look pretty intimidating. But this one seems pretty straightforward. Maybe I’ll get some inexpensive white curtains and give it a go!

{image sources from the top: colorful radiator, dresser, pendant, curtains}

Whew! The weekend is here. It’s been a long week, don’t you think?

I feel the need to just run. I’m not a runner, actually, not an exerciser at all. But I just feel like I need that burst of running to just let everything shake off. I’ve been cooped up in the apartment all week. Focused on the computer all day.  I wasn’t even able to walk Bandit since she’s decided that walking outside isn’t “her thing” anymore. Bandit needs to run; shake it off too.

Good news is that my sister is coming in from Michigan this weekend and so there’ll certainly be lots of relaxation, good food and good talks.

Happy weekend campers!

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What I’ve been up to lately…done in the medium of: Instagram. {Oh you can follow me btw @bearseatberries.} I’ve added a little Instagram widget on the sidebar too which shows my latest photo. Cool, huh? (I’ve also added a Pinterest button at the end of each post)

1. I’ve been working away at my website because it’s time to get a robust site with actual information that may be helpful to people. I can’t wait to show you guys. I am building it myself so I keep fussing over it. Hope you guys like it! I may be able to reveal it by next week (but…don’t hold me to it).

2. I also recently finished two custom wedding invitations which I’m dying to show you but I’m waiting until after their wedding. (I dunno… don’t you feel weird about showing them before? What if some creeper sees it and goes to their wedding? I’m probably just being paranoid.) So you’ll have to wait until June and July…but they’re beauts.

3. Lawrence Panda was a custom design and printing project that has sparked interest. Do you want the panda on cards? Lawrence has graciously allowed it to be used! What do you want? Just notecards with the panda? Sans glasses or with glasses?

4. My mother’s day cards have been selling like hotcakes which is exciting… and there’s still time to get one (you’ve got just over a week!) so be a good offspring and make sure you’re set for Mother’s Day.

5. I’ve also been working away on some new designs…haven’t received the plates yet (which is why you don’t see photos of them). But…it does include a fill-in-the-blank baby shower invites and also some fun woodland animals. Printing them next week…!

I’ve been feeling these big bright bold colors lately. It’s like those primary colors from elementary school. They’re just so cheery and playful.

{images: Pantone toothbrushes, blanket chairs, merit badge necklace, temporary tattoos }