Seagulls

Summer is almost here in New England. Or, at least, I hope so. I reprinted these cards a little while ago...flat notecards that bring some New England to wherever you are. :) If you want some, you can find them at my shop.

Crane's Sympathy

Several months ago, I did some freelance design work for Crane & Co, the classic stationery company. It was such an amazing experience! It was literally a dream come true for me. I must admit, though, that my design style is a little more "wild" for the Crane brand so I found it at first to be a challenge to "dial it back" and make the design ideas more classic and simple. It took some getting used to, as any new design project does. I have found in the past that once I get used to working in a new aesthetic, I can shine. It just takes a little getting used to. I hope that in the future I get to do more work with them now that I have a better understanding of the brand. Here is a design I put together for a personalized sympathy acknowledgement. You can find the design on the Crane & Co website here.

new stuff

Hi everyone! I hope you're all having a great week so far. I finished 5 new card designs yesterday after a week of printing and doing lots of other things. Here is a new flat notecard available in my shop.
"Printed in a light blue and brown ink, the stump flat notes are stylish without too much pattern and frill. Comes in a set of 5 flat cards. Printed in ultra-thick and pillowy soft cotton Crane's Lettra letterpress paper. Ultra luxurious." I will debut my other cards through the next few days; I'm excited about all of these ones because they are a little different from the other work I'd been doing but are still cheerful, whimsical and fun. Plus I did all the illustrations myself (quick and simple ones to keep the child-like quality to the design). I hope you enjoy them! Have a great day!

An apple a day...

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Mine was fine, thanks! I relaxed...I was going to do a little work and decided "enough is enough...I deserve weekends too." It is so hard when you work for yourself...your mind is always going and you feel like you always "just can do this one thing..." and the next thing you know, you've worked the whole weekend through. It's a bad habit. So, I decided to stop and give myself my weekends back no matter what. It's important to unplug and I always forget that. I spent my free time watching tv movies and playing with the pup since it has been so snowy outside. It was nice to peruse magazines that I haven't been able to give much attention to...and nice to just lounge on the couch with hot chocolate. Now, it's back to the grind. I've got a lot of printing to do this week for weddings and for some custom stationery projects...and design for some other things I won't mention yet. The pictures shown here are of another design I did a while back and have flat printed...up for sale on my shop. This is a more modern card design/pattern using apples as the motif. It's very colorful and different.Have a great Monday everyone...I know Monday is never all that fun, but let's try to make this next hour the best it can be...or this next five minutes...whatever it takes to make the day a better one! My thought today is to smile, even if an obstacle faces me...and it will put me in a better mood even if I don't feel like it.

Illustrated birth suite

Hello everyone! After meeting some major design and print deadlines, I took yesterday off to recoup (after working through 2 weekends in a row). Today I will do a small bit of work...but I will also be sure to have some relaxing time too! The other day I mentioned some freehand illustration work I did from memory to create some child-like drawings with a sea theme. After drawing several sea creatures, my client chose a starfish and a seahorse to star in her projects. Her friend threw her a baby shower and wanted the invitation to relate to the birth announcement (which was already being designed). But she didn't want to TOTALLY make it the same, so we changed up the colors. Overall, they related together but still felt different enough. I took the seahorse and put him on the baby's stationery...with a rope-pull tugging the baby's name...much like an airplane pulling a sign across the sky. In the end, we were all pleased. These were not letterpressed...they were traditionally flat printed and ended up being quite affordable which is always a good thing! I hope you all have a great weekend! I'll be back Monday with a new notecard design!

Chained up

Hi everyone! Happy Wednesday! It's still pouring rain and I'm still busy with design and wedding printing. In my spare time (a few months ago) I designed a new card...I have finally printed it: this time it's flat printed but still on the Crane's Lettra cotton letterpress paper. I love how soft, thick, and luxurious it is. These cards are in a popular color scheme and I was able to print on the envelope (front and back) to add more interest. They are for sale here...
If you'd like a set of your own if there aren't any left in the shop, please email me at megan [at] megancreates.com. I will be sure to get them made and post them in the shop for your purchase. I can even change the colors for you if you want.
Thanks for looking!! I'll be back tomorrow with another inspiration bit...

Here's the write-up on them from the shop:

Set of 6 stylish folded thank you notes. Flat printed in a golden yellow and a robin's egg blue on ultra soft and thick Crane's Lettra 100% cotton paper (110#). Blank on the inside. Designed and printed by me, this chain link pattern makes for a stylish and simple statement. They feel luxurious!
No boring envelopes with these cards! Comes with a set of 6 matching cotton envelopes with a blue chain pattern printed on the back flap, as well as the message "Kindly deliver to:" printed on the front.

Card dimensions: 3.5" high x 4.874" wide (4-bar size)

These are packaged in a stylish envelope and shipped in a stiff cardboard mailer to protect them.

Anchors Aweigh!

As promised, here is the newest notecard in my shop...

Set of 5 plain white flat letterpressed note cards with a navy blue anchor motif on the top center. Set comes with 5 white matching 100% cotton envelopes.
Size of notecards: 4.25" high x 5.5" wide.
Paper is 100% cotton, Crane's Lettra letterpress paper. Ultra thick (110# cover weight), soft, and pillowy soft.

Great for a small gift...
Grab it here...

Wren

Last weekend I finally printed my "wren" notecards. I've had this plate for almost a year just waiting to be printed. I have them for sale in sets of 5 on my Etsy shop. I've only printed 14 sets in this particular custom color...never to be again! I will reprint the plate, but in a new color next time. Right now it's a sort of pale olivey color...I wanted something that looked like it could be used all year round but also had a bit of a fall feeling to it. I'm excited about them. I saw a really fat wren on our front porch at the end of the winter and it looked like a softball with legs. You could barely see its head...it was just so chubby for the winter. And so cute. That inspired me to do the card...this one on the card is a bit more thin than the one I saw (which is really saying something). I hope everyone is well! I've been busy freelancing these past few weeks and will continue to do so for the next few. After that I need to get cracking on my holiday cards and my next limited edition print (which I already have the plate for). See you soon!

Crane's

Just wanted to share this book I got...it's got no photos or drawings inside (so, no eye candy). But, it is filled with information on how to properly address all kinds of things as well as how to properly put together different pieces of stationery. It's sort of an Emily Post-ish etiquette book. It's a must-have and acts as a clear reference for me as a graphic designer of stationery. It even tells you how to properly address folks like the President of the United States and all the other members of the Cabinet. Find out more about it here.

Seagulls

Hello all! Feeling pretty bad and in pain, but have managed to print some new stationery to sell on etsy! Living in New England, the beaches in summer are filled with flocking seagulls who bob and dive through the air. I thought it would make the perfect notecard...preppy and unique and very New England. It's printed on my letterpress in Navy Blue ink onto thick cotton bright white paper...Crane's Lettra letterpress paper. I kept the corners on this square, since rounding them didn't seem to go with the look and feel. I had a lot of fun printing them and it's my favorite card set so far. It's a great way to celebrate summer, but feels like it could be used all year long.
I've been brainstorming lots of ideas and have been making plans for limited edition prints that are affordable. My plan is to come up with 2 designs and see how they do. I've spent a lot of time getting inspired and sketching ideas...that's most of the fun!
I'm thinking they will be 5 x 7 letterpressed works. Stay tuned!

We go on...

Hello! I'm sorry I've been gone for so long. Just healing and being. Since my last entry I've had a second methotrexate shot and I go in every 3 days for blood testing. I feel like a pincushion. My hormones are lowering verrrrrrrrry slowly. I still have all my pregnancy symptoms, so it's a bit torturous. I figure this should all be done in another 2 months total (I hope). I wouldn't wish this on anyone, that's for sure! My next blood test is on Monday; and by the looks of things I'll still be going in for the next 3 weeks at least. There's still danger that I'll need surgery so I'm pretty much nervous every day and have nightmares every night. I feel like I've aged 10 years at once. My eyes always look tired and I sort of have to pull myself around the house to get things done. I can't escape myself so I have to learn to adapt and overcome. It's a true lesson in patience. Thanks so much to everyone for the kind comments and emails. It is so great to know I have such support out there rooting for us. We appreciate it!

In other news, I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things with my work, doing little small projects done. I just finished this birth announcement. It's 2 colors, printed on the cottony soft, ultra thick Crane's Lettra letterpress paper. It's a tea-length card with a photo affixed with a brad at the end. If you swing the photo out of the way, it reveals a kitten underneath! The envelope says "special delivery" on the front and has the return address and a little kitten on the back. It was so fun to design and put together. A real joy for me and a nice distraction.




I also finished up some baby thank you notes for my cousin as a baby shower gift. I had done her shower invitations, so I made the letterpressed cards to match. Another fun project! I made some extras for sale on my etsy shop.





My next projects are some new flat stationery card designs...some neat animals to come to go along with the turtle, frog, hummingbird, and penguin. Look for that next week! I promise I am back to writing more frequently now; thanks for sticking with me through my medical delay!

Turtle Card!

Hello everyone! It's been busy here at the studio lately; and that's a good thing! As for my notecards; I've got 3 new sets. I'm posting my first new set today; and will post the next tomorrow, and the last of the new sets on Thursday. Today's card is the turtle flat notecard; letterpressed green on soft pillowy-soft Crane's Lettra paper. The paper is ultra thick and so luxurious. The envelopes are also Crane's lettra and are equally soft, luxurious and lovely. Find the turtle for sale at my Etsy shop here. I'm happy with the shade of green...very springy/summery. I hope everyone is having a great week! We are enjoying some lovely warm weather here in the Northeast for the first time in so long! Heaven. See you tomorrow!