In an age of text messages and mass e-mails, unfortunately there seems to be a lack of pretty correspondence circulating the regular mail. Don't get me wrong. I embrace electronic communication whole-heartedly but there is something about opening the mailbox and seeing something handwritten or pretty among the boring bills and the grocery ads. I thought a moving announcement would be the perfect excuse to create something people would be excited to see in their mailbox. I developed the wording and the basic layout but I was having trouble with the illustration. Enter graphic designer Karisa Winkel* of Pretty Handsome Paper. She helped me execute my vision perfectly and was also a pleasure to work with! After I sent her some (very) rough drawings of what I had in mind, she created a PDF file with four announcements per page which I then printed onto card stock from my desktop printer. I glued a olive-y/lime green, textured card stock to the back of the announcement to give it a little more weight, cut them apart with my paper cutter and mailed them as postcards to save money on postage. Of course I spent too much time and money, but I say it was worth it. I also say two thumbs up for pretty correspondence!*P.S. I don't know Karisa personally but several years ago I was fortunate to receive a beautiful wedding invitation she had designed. It was my first introduction to letterpress printing and I have loved her work (and letterpress) ever since. Although she specializes in wedding correspondence, she also gladly accepts smaller design jobs (like my moving announcement) and will also work within your budget. If you need a creative solution, I highly recommend!
