Clockwise from upper left: Pancake & Franks, Albertine Press, Mr. Boddington's Studio, Fugu Fugu
This is my biggest haul of great sources yet! As we struggle at the office to find really nice holiday cards that we'd be PROUD to send to friends, colleagues and business contacts, I'm on the lookout for great new letterpress designs.
Most letterpress cards are made by small companies and the designs change quickly, so things you saw last year are often impossible to find. Letterpress cards can also be much more expensive, so it's good to have a few options for when you are sending to your ten best friends or your 100 favorite clients.
THE CREATIVES
• Elum Designs
• Brookfield Stationary
• Mr. Boddington's Studio
• Albertine Press
• Fugu Fugu Press
• Blue Barnhouse
• Smudge Ink
• Pancake & Franks
• Dee and Lala
• egg press
• Turquoise Creative
• Snow & Graham
• Binth
• Delphine
• Hammerpress
• 12Fifteen
• Yee-Haw! Letterpress
• Hello! Lucky
• Rock Scissors Paper
• Good on Paper
• Night Owl Paper Goods
• Michelle Brusegaard
• Carrot and Stick Press
THE RETAILERS
• Smock
• French Paper
• Luxe Paperie
• Greer Chicago
PAST LISTS
>> Best Holiday Letterpress Card Sources 2008
>> Top 10 Holiday Letterpress Cards 2007
What is letterpress? It's the term used to refer to real, old fashioned printing, where a zinc plate, linoleum block, or movable type is inked and pressed into paper, leaving a strong image, often with an indentation from the pressure. A low fi, DIY technique, it has become very popular among independent artists since the '90's who print far more than just cards, and is often referred to as the 'Small Press Movement'.
100 DIY Ideas for the 3-Day Weekend
Danielle's Charming, Classic Walk-Up
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
White Enamel Flatwa...
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
Perfect Summer Cocktail Recipe: Honey Bourbon Lemonade
My struggle is to find good non-denominational holiday cards for my friends and family who celebrate a few different holidays in the midwinter. This list has already been quite helpful. Thank you.
My usual solution is to use blank cards instead of holiday themed cards - why is "Let it snow" so darn popular anyway?
I'm currently obsessed with Loaded Blanks cards--drawn by awesome comic artists with the bubbles left blank to fill in:
http://loadedblankshq.com/cards/
I really like these cute car cards:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/inkywinke?section_id=6229980
I'm not that original or classy to get hard-to-find letterpress from obscure printers.... I prefer the pop-up cards from MoMA :-)
I love so many of these designers. Letterpress is so much fun!
I'm going to be PROUD to send my holiday specific cards to friends and family that I bought for 75% off at the after holiday sales last year.
Excellent post, Maxwell! (And pretty darn timely as I consider on whether or not to sell my own press... Ugh.)
Anyhoo, I hope people understand that when they buy letterpress cards, they're supporting small, independent artists as opposed to mega-giant Hallmark.
Yes, they're more expensive but if they're beautiful, they're a gift in and of themselves.
Thanks again and happy printing!
non-cheesy hanukkah cards are even harder to find, though i found them on this site - links to an etsy shop when you click shop. got the "8 nights>1 day"
whoops forgot the link for the cute hanukkah cards...it is at paper pastries...
http://www.paperpastries.com/
This post reminded me of a wonderful letterpress company in Maine called Saturn Press. They don't have a website, though. But here's a site that has info about them. Occasionally I've seen their cards in NYC stores & they are stunning.
http://www.heskonsult.se/Swans_Island/Saturn_Press.html
And this tells a little bit about the company's owners.
http://www.americanstyle.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=C17928F2F18840C994F3669D5C41373C
They missed a source here FitzGerald Coleman has a ton.
http://www.fitzgeraldcoleman.com