nat & dan wedding stationery part 2

Images from the studio today of Nat & Dans wedding stationery which we featured here the other day. Today we printed table numbers, menus and the second colour for the invitations. We really have loved printing this wedding set, it looks and feels gorgeous (we never tire of running our fingers over the impressions!) and it is inspired by our all time favourite designer Florence Broadhurst. But the best bit? It is so well suited to this super sweet couple!

Have a most lovely weekend! We have a few days off for a little weekend adventure. Hope you get to do something fun as well!

xox

house stalking

Do you think its wrong to stalk houses? to be driving down the street and see a house that you love, slam on the brakes, pull over, whip out your camera and do your darnest to take some photos without looking like your either a pervert or private investigator? Is this normal behaviour? Do I need help?

Once a week we hit the road and travel around meeting our wedding clients. Yesterday was such a day. Its so very lovely to get to meet the super cute wedding couples, so much love and excitement and beautiful ideas which we get to create for them. Such great meetings and always such a joy.

For me, its also a great day to get out of the studio, rest my sore printing muscles and wear a dress (far more prettier then my work shorts, shirt and boots). Another part that I love about getting out and about is discovering new areas of Brisbane, finding beautiful old Queenslanders and streets lined with Morteon Bay Figs. Hence the house stalking. It seems I just cant help myself!

Yesterday I was specifically looking at front verandas and fences. Originally we were going to have a picket fence, but as our home is quite close to the road im now thinking a taller more private screening like the first image. What do you think, this was a beautiful house!

And if these are photos of your home, please do take it as a compliment, I don't just stalk any old house you know :)

nat & dan wedding stationery

Here is a sneak peak into a gorgeous wedding set we have been printing the last few days. Inspired by Nat & Dans amazing reception venue and gorgeous Florence Broadhurst prints we have gone for a very art deco illustration and gorgeous playful typography. In the most lovliest pink, the second colour is still to come but we think it is looking quite gorgeous!

In the studio with turquoise

Today we printed our second new limited edition print. Its a gorgeous turquioise, and oh I am smitten with this colour!

Just last week my husband asked me whats your favourite colour? After 8 years of being together it was a bit of a funny question and really made me think. I simply adore black and white for its simplicity and elegance, but as for a colourful colour, its not actually something I can ever choose. Working with colour, designing with colour and handmixing colour each and every day I do indeed love them all. But I must admit right now I really am feeling a super soft spot for this turquioise. Maybe its my next big thing.

So as it turns out it wasn't all that bad, my husband doesn't have a favourite colourful colour either, we must be a colourless colourful match made in heaven.

in the studio today

We had a lovely time mixing this gorgeous purple colour and then printing a new limited edition to be released in our shop later this week.

Its been messy business and I now sport purple spots to my collection of bodily ink marks. Lucky its such a pretty colour, although I do have to wonder what people think when they see the rainbow of colours running up the underneath of my arms. Surely that is not normal is it?

Things a lady should know...

Due to popular demand Monday is now officially Things A Lady Would Like To Know Concerning Domestic Management day.

Todays insightful tip:

A woman has a duty to ensure she has the right knowledge to manage a house and be responsible for her husbands worldly go0ds. A woman who has not this knowledge has no more right to marry then a man would have to accept a post for duties of which he was quite ignorant.

Get to it ladies, go polish your mans frypan, hurry up, quickly now, dont keep him waiting.

an australian sunset

How amazing is this sunset I almost missed!

I was baking in the kitchen and glimpsed out the window and caught the end of the most gorgeous purples and pinks setting in the distance.

Now being the long weekend I cant quite remember if it was yesterday or the day before, but really it doesn't matter, long weekends will do that to you.

I don't think it gets much more Australian then the palm trees and the power lines, the neighbours having a barbecue and the sound of a lawn mower in the distance do you?

In the studio (with chocolate cake!)

Today we have a production line going, guillotining, cutting, and assembling wedding stationery packages ready to send off to our gorgeous wedding clients. We have Oprah playing in the background and oh, the best bit, the super gooey chocolate cake. I do have to wonder if you can really call this working? it just seems too lovely!

Have a beautiful weekend, and for all the Australians, a wonderful long weekend! You can tell Australia day is on its way when you look out the window and see a beaten up old ute, with a dog in the back, flying an Australian flag (which was as big as the ute itself) cruising down the street! Hope you get to celebrate in an Australian way too!

xox

Aw shucks

Aw shucks, so many lovely people have written about us on their blogs lately, and were are blushing - you guys are the sweetest!

Apartment therapy voted our bedroom one of Australia's Best Bloggers Bedrooms.

La La Lovely had some super sweet lovely things to say.

The gorgeous Louise over at the fabulous Skout has us smitten with her wonderful business and super sweet personality!

Bloomstudio featured us on one of their new favourite blogs, and we love them too!

Way over from the other side of the world we have been loved by O Modernário

Paisley St Claire and Apartment #34 featured our new office renovations and DIY table.

Desire to Inspire and Emmaroseart featured us with a wonderful collection of amazing Brisbane bloggers (there are so many beautiful talented people close by, its wonderful!)

Polkadotbrides included us in their great Australian crafters round up.

La maison su la colline did a gorgeous post about our limited edition prints.

The gorgeous Steph at Bondville did a super sweet post about Bespoke, she is so lovely and it does turn out we are kindred florence sprirts!

Thankyou so much for all this wonderful blog love, it makes our days here at Bespoke so beautiful and sunny to know that their are so many people who love and support us - it truly is a beautiful blog world.

In the studio today

Its been another busy busy day here in the studio, but most excitingly our studio walls have started to go up and every three minutes we would get a yell to put on our ear muffs as bam another nail goes into the wall. Its going to be so exciting to have a fully renovated studio to work in. I cannot wait until we get to paint it all white and have flooring underneath. Currently its just concrete and ugh, im not particularly keen on it!

In the meantime we have been adding small touches to make it feel more homely. Our frangipanis we picked last friday are looking beautiful. Slowly they are fading away, but I think they look just gorgeous scattered over our antique print table. What do you think? I cant bring myself to clean them up!

Things a lady should know...

I just had to share this with you.

Over the weekend we headed into town for the Brisbane Lifeline Bookfest. 2 million books, spread over 4 kilometers, 3 hours later, $129 poorer we ended up with 5 big fat bags full of gorgeous books. Some to read, some just look at, and some to just make me chuckle.

Take for example Things A Lady Would Like To Know Concerning Domestic Management, written of course by a male this 1970s book has had me rolling around on the floor laughing.

With rules for Adulterations, Hints for Home Comforts, rules for managing your Mistresses and Servants and best of all your Duty of Cheerfulness, its all part of the recipe for making a dutiful wife for her husband.

After all a woman's role is treasure her husbands worldly goods and the "utmost of a woman's character is contained in domestic life, and it is that there she us the most blameworthy or praiseworthy".

And her children? "Well allowing children to talk incessantly is a mistake. We do not mean that they should be restricted from talking in proper seasons, but they should know when it is proper for them to cease".

And for home decorating " thick curtains closely drawn around the bed are very injurious because they not only contain the effluvia thrown off our bodies whilst in bed, but interrupt the current of pure air".

And when it comes to laundry " A bonnet and trimmings may be worn a much longer time, if the dust be brushed well after walking" .

So get to it ladies, go dust off that bonnet, stop injuring yourself with your curtains and go tape your kids mouths shut. Go on, your not a really good housewife unless you do so.

Happy Weekend!

Have a beautiful weekend my friends!

We are planning on finally taking down our chrismtas tree, we might do a trip into town for the brisbane bookfest, and we are going to start working on our new garden design (most excited!). If we can fit it in we might head out to the farmers markets for some fresh produce. I hope you have a most lovely weekend as well!

Oh and the frangapanis and the ink I hear you ask? I thought it was about time we added some girlishness to the studio today and raided the garden. It now smells glorious, which on the plus side masks the ever present smell of ink and kerosene we all have become accustomed to!!

xox

700 kilos later

Its been a big day today in the studio, totally exhausting, but so productive all at the same time!

We finished printing the second colour (a gorgeous botanical green) on the lovely Amy-Jane & Christophers wedding invitations. Now all the artwork sits within a heavy metal frame called a chase. Loaded up with a metal base, printing furniture and quoins the chase weights about 7 kilos or so. The photopolymer plates (with the artwork) are attached to this whole contraption. Now usually we probably unlock and lift this chase up and out of the press with your right arm maybe a dozen or so times a day, which is quite managable for a little daily workout.

But as we were printing personalised invitations, with each guest name requiring its own plate its a whole different story! 100 invitations later, 100 lifts, carrys, reinserts, resetting and relocking of the 7+ kilo chase, I figure my right arm has lifted 700 kilos today. No wonder I feel so buggered. Luckily they look beautiful, it makes all the hard work worth it!

sea grass green

Today we are designing a wedding set based upon the colour sea grass green. My pantone book has been sitting next to me all day fanned out with these colours we chose. I think its quite lovely don't you think?

In the studio today

Today we have been printing a gorgeous wedding set for Amy-Jane & Chris, a local Brisbane couple who are just adorable. We have been printing ivory ink on white stocks for a gorgeous result. We love the delicate illustration, mixed with the subtle colour, but beautiful deep impression. What do you think? Here in the studio we are all smitten!!

im a brown owl, are you?

The famed Melbourne Brown Owls craft group run by the super clever folk at Meet Me At Mikes is forming a brisbane crafting group. Are you excited? I jumped up and down with joy! Memberships are just $10 for us interstate folk. Happy happy days, see you all there!

a day out and about

This year my husband and I have decided that we should try and be like normal people and we really should have a day off work once in a while.

With myself working 24/7 running Bespoke Press, and soon about to resume Graphic Design lecturing a few nights a week im pretty darn busy. Hayden flys around the country most days of the week, coming home several days later and then running his own business as well as helping out in our printing studio. So it can be a pretty crazy lifestyle (although we do love it) but we don't often get time off to explore our new surrounds here in Queensland.

Today we headed down south to Mt Tambourine in the Gold Coast Hinterland and spent a beautiful day exploring this incredible region. Its simply so beautiful, I think I could give up our seaside coastal living for a hinterland lifestyle without too much hesitation!

We did a 3km baby hike through the beautiful cedar creek area, ate a divine lunch of potato pancakes with bacon and sour cream & salad (oh so yum and so worth it after our hike), went on the gallery trail and explored the galleries, tickled ourselves pink in second hand book shops (we could spend ALL day looking at books) and then stumbled across some gorgeous antique shops. Just so perfect, it was our ideal way to spend a day. Although next time I must learn though... go somewhere where there is no iphone Internet connection, I simply just couldn't help myself checking in constantly!

Brisbane ladies, what is your favourite day trip? Im starting to think about our next date already...

In the studio today

Today we have printed the second colour for the gorgeous Joe& Jen wedding package as seen here. A divine steel blue/grey compliments the dusty vintage pink. I loved mixing the ink for this blue, its such an amazing colour!!

Its time to choose colours...

2008 saw the year of the mass house internal renovation (you can read all about it here, here and here) and 2009 is going to be the year of the outside renovation. A new veranda, new awnings, an additional carport, fencing, painting and gardens all to be done!


For the last 18 months every week or so I change my mind about exactly what colour scheme we should do the outside of the house. Obviousally I have quite a love affair with white, so that goes without question, but exactly what to put with the white? Some days I think a dark charcoal blue/black, other days I think a more neutral grey, other days I think, bugger it, lets do it all white!

But after seeing this image on one of my favourite new blogs Brown Button ( my mum will be so chuffed to see her gorgeous gift wrap on Kimberlee's blog!) of this gorgeous house with small touches of black im thinking we go all classic and go black and white, and then mix it with sandstone for the garden beds and driveway and then an abundance of green tropical plants to set it all off??

What do you all think?

Image from Australian Country Style Magazine January 2008 photography by Prue Ruscoe styling by Lara Hutton

In the studio today

Today saw us start the process of printing wedding stationery for one of our clients, the gorgeous Joe & Jen who are having an elegant garden wedding in the beautiful senate courtyard of Old Parliament House in Canberra. With colours of vintage pinks, dusty steel blue and ivory, their wedding sounds just beautiful!!

We illustrated and designed their stationery package featuring elegant peonies and vintage David Austen roses for a very delicate vintage, but simple design. Today we printed the first colour, a lovely dusty vintage pink, and the illustration looks just gorgeous with its lovely deep letterpress impression.

Although, not all beautiful things are produced without a drama and we did manage to have a wee incident. We dropped the chase on the ground (followed by an awfully loud swear word). The chase holds a very expensive metal base that we attach our printing plates to and without a base, or a chase you are severally stuffed. Thankfully only the chase broke (the base was saved!) and after a quick rush to a metal fabricator our chase is now back together and we are printing again. Phew, it almost nearly was a disaster.

Out with the old

We have a huge amount of left over renovation goods which im slowly finding new homes for with the help of our friend ebay. Yesterday we pulled out a massive pile of old queenslander timber windows to sell. I got a bit carried away with the photos, such lovely textures, im sure it will go unoticed on ebay so I thought today I would share it with you instead!