Fourth Year Studio

Happy New Year to you!!  We are having a hard time believing it is already 2013.  It was disappointing that we were unable to produce a calendar this year but our eyes are on 2014 to have a fresh one by then.  Here in Tennessee, we have had a bit of a warm streak.  I can hear the spring peepers (tiny frogs) starting to sing in the little pond near my home.  I am afraid they will be in for a rude awakening when winter decides to come back but today its warm and I am ready to think about spring.

Margaret and Matt wanted a traditional wedding set that was both modern and clean.  Sometimes this is hard to achieve a fresh look with traditional elements.   We paired an abstraction of their wedding flower, the hydrangea, on a grid of dots for a silhouetted outline.  The result was delicate with just the right balance of negative space.  The light blue balanced out the feminine floral design.  I love how the blue looks on the kraft vs the white.  It appears as though two shades of blue were used.

Their set included event cards for additional events happening that weekend.  It was all bound together with a kraft band printed M & M.  Labels were added for the RSVP and the exterior envelope.  This couple was on a tight budget and they were thrilled at what we were able to produce for them.  In order to save money we did not use our standard cotton paper and we left all the final assembly up to M & M.   It just goes to show that nice design and quality printing doesn’t have to break the bank but you do have to get creative.

Photos by Jessie at 5 Rings

It’s the most wonderful time of the year and we have been busy getting ready for the holidays with custom letterpress cards for all!!  Maxi and Seth asked us to create a Christmas card to send to their family in Germany and in English to send to all their local pals.   The two versions were printed front and back on 220lb cotton stock with the Christmas message on the back and a simple red pinecone on the front.  To add a little festive flair the edges were painted gold.  Red & Gold are the perfect classic Christmas combo!  The end of every year leaves us reflecting on all the beautiful things we have had the opportunity to create and the great clients we have been able to work with.  From our family to yours, Emily & I wish you all the best this holiday season.  Thank you for supporting us in 2012, we can’t wait to see what is in store for the coming year.

Photos by Fourth Year Studio

Synde and Tim contacted us as med school students living in Minneapolis who were celebrating their recent Italian engagement!  Sydne grew up on a cattle farm in Wyoming and found herself looking back to her roots when wedding planning.

She describes the beauty of the Big Sky at the ranch.  ”I love the idea of having wooden invitations to echo the gorgeous pine and oak forests around our ranch.  The ranch is in a very rural area that is full of rolling hills, grazing deer, and lots of sky.  There is nothing as beautiful as the night sky in Wyoming.  Tim and I love to lay out in the grass in the summer and ooh and aah at the seemingly endless display.”

The reception was held at Devil’s Tower, a huge natural landform several miles from her family’s ranch where the ceremony took place.  Since the area was rural it was very important to provide way-finding for the guests in the invitation.  We illustrated the map with icons for Devil’s Tower, the Clark Ranch, and the airport.  The wishbone graphic for the Clark Ranch is actually the family brand, how cool is that?!  Down the center of the map was the South Dakota – Wyoming state line.

We incorporated the brides hand-drawn sketch of the antlers throughout the set. She used antlers at the reception as decor.  The main invitation was printed on wood and the rsvp was a letterpress postcard.  A piece of black and white bakers twine tied the wrapped vellum map around the invitation to create a sophisticated, yet rustic wedding invitation for this creative, amazing couple!

Photos by Jessie at 5 Rings

As the last few weeks of pregnancy inch toward the due date (or beyond in my case) family and friends are dying to know how you’re feeling and if today is the day. So when designing Anna’s birth announcement I knew exactly what it would say (YES!) She’s Here. Ha!  The card is letterpress printed in 2 colors with a vellum envelope holding Anna’s photo.  The color scheme is one of my most favorites and what we also used for her bedroom. Hope you love them like I do.

We had her newborn photo’s taken with Misty of Fresh Peas Portraits and we couldn’t be happier.  A ribbon and tag with Anna’s name is the top most layer to tie it all together.

We are also very happy to announce that we have this Photo Birth Announcement in our Etsy shop. You can customize this design to send family and friends, showing off your little one.

And so is John Shim!  He is a fantastic local photographer and a good friend of Fourth Year Studio.  He photographed Emily’s wedding and her most adorable proposal.  Her husband proposed while mountain biking and asked John to hide out and capture Emily’s very surprised and extremely happy reaction.  It really doesn’t get any better than that.

John came to us in need of a memorable, simple business card that spoke true to his brand.  The cards are printed onto either side of Crane’s 220lb cotton stock. We felt we needed to spice things up a little bit and the double thick paper gave us the perfect medium to use for edge painting.

We matched the letterpress ink tone and used an airbrush to paint the edges.  It was thrilling to see how well it turned out and it was truly the perfect pop!

Thank you John for allowing us to experiment on you!

edge detail

Photos by John Shim

How exciting…our first international client!!  Aimee and Timothy just got married in her backyard in Western Australia.  We incorporated a variety of techniques to achieve an invitation rich in texture.  The earthy hues were reflected in the outback wedding and reception with native vegetation.  The invitation is a sassafras veneer with a laser etched design.  We letter-pressed the rsvp card on 110lb cotton stock and address onto a kraft envelope.  It was all tucked inside a green recycled envelope with a kraft address label to tie it all together.  Although we were working long distance the process was as smooth as can be.  The most challenging aspect was scheduling a Skype video chat due to the 12 hour time difference!   Happy wedding Aimee & Timothy – thanks for trusting us Knoxville girls to get the job done well!

“We received our invitations!!  They are BEAUTIFUL!  I cannot tell you how much I love them!  I have showed a few people and they are so surprised when they find out that the invitation is made of wood!  Thank you so much for all the hard work and effort you put into these invitations.  I can’t wait to send them out!” -Aimee Vander Schaaf

*photos by 5 Rings Photo

David and Lorie came to us in search of a wedding invitation that matched their eclectic style.  They are getting married at the beautiful Bijou Theatre in Knoxville during their church’s Sunday service.  The rich colors and textures of the theatre lead to a steampunk theme that carried its way through their wedding and reception.  It was important that the invitation be rich and intriguing without being overly fussy.  A brown paper bag was used as the outer envelope and sealed with gold striped washi tape.  Each address was typed, by yours truly,  on my Mom’s vintage typewriter and placed on the front.  When opened, a vellum inner envelope was sealed with red wax to introduce another layer of texture and depth.  A subtle lace pattern was pressed into the creamy cotton stock framing the gold letterpress text.  It was so much fun to work with unique techniques on this job for such a fabulous couple – best wishes to you both!!

And a BIG thank you to Jessi at 5 Rings Photos for the amazing photographs. Typing out each address took longer than anticipated but it was worth it to have the typewriter included in these images – totally frame worthy!!

It was such fun to work with two extremely talented local photographers on their business cards.  Jessi of 5 Rings Photography is absolutely a blast and always we love Tara at Dixie Pixel!!  Each logo lent itself well to black ink on thick white cotton stock.  The 220lb paper is perfect for double side printing and the slight graininess of the solid fill adds character while maintaining a modern aesthetic.  We hope you LOVE them and thank you for the beautiful photos!

First off we want to say how very thankful we are for our success and growth in the past year.  A BIG thank you goes out to our great friends, family, clients and community for your support in 2011. Now lets get this new year off to a great start with a fundraiser for a truly remarkable baby boy!

Meg Wohlford is a fellow UT School of Architecute graduate and a good friend. Emily & I followed her blog throughout her pregnancy and were so happy when it was time for her and her husband to welcome their new son into the world.  Baby Tyson was born in August with a congenital heart defect called Shone’s Complex that affects his heart, the valves, chambers and ultimately the way his entire body functions.  His parents have been by his side at Vanderbilt for the past 4 months. It has been rocky but he’s proved to be strong through numerous surgeries and he actually got to go home for the first time at Christmas!!

Baby Tyson will be in and out of the hospital for many procedures to help him develop into a happy and healthy child.  This will be a challenge emotionally and financially for the Wohlford family. We are hoping 2012 will be a great year for Tyson, Meg, & Justin and to offer our support we are kicking off a fundraiser through the sale of our Letterpress Calendars.  When you purchase a letterpress calendar through etsy 50% of the sale will go directly to the Wohlford family!!  

To learn more about Tyson’s story visit his site & follow him on facebook. Find out more about Meg & Justin prior to Tyson’s big debut here.

Making the decision to print our first calendar was a big project. After we started printing each page we became a little overwhelmed at the complexity of our design. Luckily it all turned out beautifully and we are so happy other folks like them too! Click on the banners above to see our quilt pattern letterpress calendar featured by some of our most favorite bloggers. We were also quite thrilled to receive a shout out on facebook by Design*Sponge.

If it turns out that you like our calendars too but have been waiting for a good reason to purchase one then you are in luck! We are offering 15% off all our etsy shop sales on Black Friday. Sale starts at midnight. After you add items to your cart just apply this coupon code BLACKFRIDAY2011. We will be spending time with our families and hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend – safe travels!