End of the Year special.

Bloom is running and end of the year special! Get 20% off until December 31st, 2011.
Here's How:

If you have placed an order with Bloom this year you automatically receive 20% off your next order placed before Dec.31st, 2011

If you are a new customer, you can receive the same discount by placing two orders before the deadline. Your second order will receive the 20% off discount.

So, if you plan on sending holiday cards and hosting a new years party, Bloom can help! Kill two birds with one stone and let us design your stationery for the holidays (or even for an event next year!).

Facebook Giveaway!

Bloom will be giving away a signed copy of "Santa's North Pole After Christmas Elves" if we can reach 135 "likes" on our Facebook Page. Thats just 10 more people! Recruit your friends and family. If we can reach 135 by Monday morning (November 21st) I'll randomly choose from all of the "LIKERs."

Order your copy today on Amazon.com

Bloom Favorite: Grey

Grey is everywhere! And I am not complaining. I love grey as a neutral to really highlight and make a bright color pop. I can't look through a blog without seeing a grey inspired wedding somewhere in the mix. Just think about all the colors that Grey goes with. Its a grey-t (haha, I make myself laugh!) compliment to any event's color scheme. Today I found myself fawning over the grey and orange, and grey and yellow combinations while making these inspiration boards on StyleMePretty.

Sneak Peek: Pink and Blue Airplane Party

My daughter is OBSESSED with airplanes. So much so that we are going to do our best to give her an airplane party for her upcoming second birthday. In order to make it a little more girly, I've added some fluffy clouds and pink into the mix. Stay tuned for more as we plan and create for this upcoming event.

Need kids party invitations? We can work with you to design invitations that encompass all your want your party to be!

How well can you Kern?

My Husband sent me this little game online today. I thought it appropriate to share after the letterpress post below. Kerning on the computer is a modern convenience, when typesetting with lead type its much more involved.

Have a go at it.

Kern Me

Type. Set. Press.

   

On Saturday I was fortunate to drive to Houston for a Letterpress class at the Museum of Printing History. My friend Tania joined me both for the drive and the class. We had a blast. It was so fun! Not only did I get to spend that time with Tania, and meet the fellow Letterpress enthusiasts, but we actually went through the motions of designing, typesetting, proofing and printing.

(photos above borrowed from & property of weekendprojectgirl)

Tania and I left bright and early at 6:30am to make the 3 hour drive into Houston. We arrived about 2 and half hours later after a coffee stop and some pretty interesting sleepy-eyed conversation. Its always hard to form words, let alone complete sentences, when its still dark outside and my IV coffee drip hasn't been started. We arrived to an open but empty museum, it was a little erie. As other students and the instructor arrived Tania and I felt more at ease, knowing our 3 hour trip was not in vain. I have to admit that for a few minutes I wondered if the class was really going to happen.

(photos above borrowed from & property of weekendprojectgirl) 

Amanda, our wonderful instructor (also the curator of the museum), introduced the class with a selection of business cards that previous students of the class had created and that she had collected through the years. We each introduced ourselves and our purpose. There was an interior designer (thanks to Kelly for her pictures from weekendprojectgirl.blogspot.com), a marketing/advertising guy turned graphic designer -- due to accidentally falling more in love with typography in the ads than the ads themselves, and a married couple -- one a photographer the other an intern-architect who had fallen in love with letterpress during wedding planning (as many people do), Tania -- an intern-architect, and myself -- designer and artist.  The size of the class was a big plus, with only 6 students there was plenty of room in the workshop to move around and each have a chance to participate.

Amanda gave us a typesetting demo, using physical lead type and a composing stick. She taught us the lingo, most of which I have a cheat sheet for because I have forgotten. When she was done with her demo she let us loose to create our own "business card" design. The collection of type was incredible and I quickly just picked the first drawer I opened for my design. I didn't want to get caught up in choosing a font when I just wanted to practice the art form of typesetting. I created a card for my 22 month old daughter who loves to dance, hence the "dancer extraordinaire."

Because none of us had ever done this before it took us a little over an hour to actually compose the type for a standard business card size. Its a beautiful but labor intensive process. When we had all completed our composition, we lined them up together and locked them on the platen of the table-top press that we would use to proof. My Showcard press that I have at home is similar to this, but a smaller table-top size. We each had the opportunity to run the press once for a proof set. A few of us made some minor changes after proofing.

Amanda helped us to split them into two groups of three and lock them up together to move the set to the platen of our Kelsey table-top, and the other group's floor model Kelsey. We had the opportunity to "ink-up" the plates and rollers, set the paper guides and run a series of prints. Amanda showed us how to adjust the "packing" and adjust the pressure to achieve the perfect print every time. Of course every press is and will be different. Our group; Tania, Kelly and I, figured out how to do a double run on each sheet for the intensity of color. You should have seen our excitement after the first pull. WOW, it was incredible!

We ran out of time to cut apart the cards, so Amanda will be sending each of us our cards -- I will post pictures of those when I receive them.

Its been a dream of mine to learn this incredibly hands on art form and in turn be able to offer it to my clients. We are half way there! There is still so much to learn, but I really feel like I'm on my way to falling in love with the process. I returned from Houston gushing to my family and friends about the experience.

image: weekendprojectgirl

If you are in the Houston Area, please check out and support the museum and here is the class description if you are interested in the future:

Letterpress Business Cards

Learn the basics of setting type by hand and letterpress printing using the table-top platen press, still widely available on the market. Learn the california job case, set type, use a pica ruler and composing stick, mix ink, ink the press and print. Each student will set and print his or her own business card. We'll pull proofs, make corrections and print multiple copies; then we'll distribute type and spacing, and clean up.

Instructor: Amanda Stevenson
Level: all levels
Tuition: $90 plus $15 materials fee

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Essence of the Holidays

The Holidays are approaching quickly, contact us today for your custom holiday cards, party invitations, baby announcements, or thank you notes!

Bloom recently collaborated with Essence Photography from Redding, California on a new endeavor. We created a custom template set for holiday cards. These templates will be used by Essence Photography to offer beautiful custom photo holiday cards to her clients. Each template can be color, texture and photo customized. If you don't live in Northern California and Essence Photography isn't available to you, we hope to adjust these designs for sale on Etsy soon! Let your family photographer know that you're interested in these designs and have them contact us. Each card is designed according to Miller's Lab Professional Imaging specs. Millers Lab is only available to professional Photography businesses, but each template can be adjusted for your personal card orders as well.

Want one of these designs adjusted for you this holiday season? Just Ask! We will do what we can to help you out!

WeddingInviteLove Lookbook

We are so excited not only to be a part of the WeddingInviteLove online directory, I've gushed on here before about the greatness of the website, but we are also now included in the first ever WeddingInviteLove Lookbook (Fall 2011). You can view it online or order a copy in all of its physical paper glory! We at Bloom love the feel of real paper, but if you want to see it online here it is.

Open publication - Free publishing

Thank you to Tracy for all her hard work both with the website and the new Lookbook. We LOVE it!

Black, white and red all over, programs revisited.

LemonLime photography posted their photos of this wedding on their blog the other day, including a beautiful picture of the programs that Bloom produced. Visit their blog to see the rest.