Subtle Glances Letterpress Blog

WEtv Casting Call

WE tv is casting married couples for a brand new series. Many of us dream about the perfect wedding day since we were young. But what happens when things don't go as planned? Did nature, unforeseen circumstances, or financial hardships prevent you from having your dream wedding? 

If you live in the LA area and have your original wedding captured on tape or photos, you could get a second chance to have your dream wedding planned by acclaimed wedding designer, Diann Valentine! The new wedding will be at no cost to the chosen couples. 

For more information or submissions, email your story to: [email protected].

Good Luck!

 

Bridesmaid Dresses

We had the opportunity to talk to Elizabeth Yin and Jennifer Hsieh, co-founders of shinyorb.com, who share some great tips when searching for the perfect outfit for your bridesmaids.

1. What are the top trends you're seeing with bridesmaids dresses?

It's difficult to say what the top trend in bridesmaid dresses is. We see mostly simple A-line silhouettes, cocktail or tea length dresses, with just a little bit of "fancy." For example, maybe ruching around the waist or origami folds at the bust but nothing with over-the-top beading or bows. Colors vary from bold and bright to soft pastels. Many online shoppers are searching for bridesmaid dresses under $100, and there are plenty of good deals to find. Be sure to order early!

While traditional bridesmaid dresses still remain popular, we're starting to see that many brides are going with "wear-again" bridesmaid dresses. These dresses can look a little more casual and usually avoid satin or any shiny material. Macy's is a great place to find dresses like this. 

 

Brides are also embracing the LBBD (little black bridesmaid dress), which in the past, would have seemed very no-no!

 

 

2. What's the most important thing to think about when choosing a dress for your bridesmaids?

Being a bridesmaid is certainly an honor, but the bride should keep in mind that having bridesmaids is also a privilege. We recommend the bride collaborate with her bridesmaids to come up with the best bridesmaid dresses. Together, they can find dresses that everyone will be comfortable wearing (and comfortable paying for). To that end, we worked hard to build a "dressing room" feature on Shiny Orb to help people work together. Don't be afraid to stray from tradition. The girls don't all have to be wearing the same style or even the same color. "Mismatched" bridesmaid dresses can really show off the personality of the wedding party.

3. What inspired you to start Shiny Orb? 

We were inspired to start Shiny Orb when we realized just how hard it was to shop for bridesmaid dresses together when the bridal party was scattered across the globe. It was really hard to collaborate! After surviving the experience with Elizabeth's wedding, we built Shiny Orb to be a one-stop online site for all wedding apparel and to be a central meeting place for the wedding party to collaborate on choosing dresses for the big day. Jennifer used the site for her own wedding and had a much easier time than Elizabeth. We want every online bride to have a great social browsing and shopping experience, so don't hesitate to let us know what you think!

Shinyorb.com has a great collection of bridesmaid dresses for the pocketbook-conscious fashionable modern bride. 

Antique Shopping!

On this last trip out to Kansas City, the River Market Antique Mall was top on my to-see list. This place definitely did not disappoint. I could spend HOURS here, but unfortunately I only had a few. Check out a few of my favorite finds at this amazing store which was a surprise around every corner.  

 
 

1185 Thank You Cards Part II

Robot Love! 

Classic Elegance

These are two of our favorite designs from 1185. 

1185 Letterpress Thank You Cards Part I

In December, we had the opportunity to pair up with a very talented bunch of designers at 1185 Design to print 10 custom Thank You cards. 1185 packaged these cards up for their clients as a holiday gift. We had the opportunity to check out the studio in Palo Alto and even meet with the owner and designers. Here's your first peek at their amazing designs. 

Park Life

The other night while waiting to get our grub on at Burma Superstar (our favorite restaurant!), we stumbled upon a great new shop Park Life -  with all things art, graphic design, funky, cool, and San Francisco. Below are some items we particularly enjoyed.

pantone mugs - how dorky and fun!

house industries blocks by Alexander Girard

love the colors on this etching

Anyways, we promise we've been busy, but just haven't had the chance to photograph anything. Photo posts of the last month's slew of jobs coming this weekend!

Off to some more happy printing!

National Stationery Show 2009 | NYC

Subtle Glances is heading to the Big Apple for the 63rd Annual National Stationery Show. The show is probably the largest platform worldwide for companies to showcase their products to manufacturers, retailers, distributors, etc. We're excited to meet our fellow designers and printers out there whose work we definitely admire! Stay tuned for some post show entries about our experience at the show.

Quince - Sweet 15

A fun project we get to work on this month is Mario's niece's Quinceañera invitations. This is SG's first Quince! Hopefully plenty more to come. Maybe some of those kids on MTV's Sweet 16 will hire us :) Anyways, it's been really fun getting together an inspiration board for this one. It really is about the young elegance of a teen coming into womanhood. We really wanted the invitations to be something that showed a blossoming maturity, yet still had a the sense of a young girl's childhood.

Garden Inspiration (letterpress invitation)

The second project for this coming week is one inspired by an italian print from Crane. The great thing about this paper and invitation is that it reminds me of an old garden. I can just imagine a little girl playing in a secret garden and stumbling upon an enchanted and old garden - full of stories and love.

We'll be posting photos of the invitation prints shortly.

Travel Inspired Wedding

We're working on a wedding inspired by the concept of travel. The couple met while traveling overseas, so naturally, they wanted their wedding to be a melting pot of the many places they've been, seen, and all of the great company that they've had along the way (not to mention that they met at culinary school!). These images really helped inspire us in this theme of traveling a la vintage inspirations.

We'll be posting photos of the invitation prints shortly.