Category Archives: Uncategorized

letters through time

Posted on May 30th, 2010
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So, I am going to go out on a limb and admit that I love girly romantic movies. I will also admit that I was excited to see “Letters to Juliet” this weekend with a couple of 10 year old girls. Let’s call it “research”, right?

I have to say that the movie was very predictable, even for my young friends, and more than anything I enjoyed the main prop, the letter to Juliet, that was aged and weathered as it had been trapped in a brick wall for 50 years, as the story goes.

I instantly remembered this envelope that a friend of mine sent to me recently. He reused an envelope that had been addressed to his mother by erasing the pencil and removing the stamp. The envelope is lined, thankfully, since the liner is the only thing holding it together, yellow and vibrant as ever.

The best part about this old re-used envelope is the texture. It’s ragged and almost soft yet crispy. It reminds me of cockle onion skin (my very very favorite of the old school writing papers).

Needless to say, when I got this envelope in the mail, it was obvious to me that THIS is the best form of recycling. No chemical processing, no electricity used to re-make this envelope.

Makes me think that I should start using pencil for my correspondence…. so in the future, someone can do the same thing with my envelopes….

Tiny Pines + Hipstamatic = The new old fashioned

Posted on May 25th, 2010
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Whenever I hang out with Gia Canali, I get bitten by the photography bug. She was showing me her iphone photos using the Hipstamatic App, and I took a notion to download that myself. I was hoping that all I needed was a program to make my photos look like hers…

Well, turns out that taking good iphone photos not as easy as just paying $1.99. BUT I was able to start learning how to use my new took as I stitched this weekend.

These photos are of an invitation I am working on right now. My client wanted to have a similar look to this invitation which i designed almost 6 years ago. (I used a black and white “film” to convey the idea that this is the OLD invitation, just so you know )

This new bride is getting married near a pine forest and really loved having that visual element stitched on.

For her, we brightened up the paper a little bit, freshened up the typeface with an added script element, printed letterpress on handmade cotton paper with a slight shimmer – using a cool grey ink color and stitched in a subtle green since her wedding isn’t in the fall… (though you can’t actually tell from my old fashioned photo…… hmmm….)

Every invitation was stitched with the sewing machine but guided by my hand which definitely requires complete concentration, and lots

of tunes in the background.

Since I am quite fond of pines so the hours of stitching breezed by as I concentrated on each one and their limbs.

Obviously, some are taller than other, wider than others, etc. but together they make an elegant stitched tiny pine forest.

lovely on the day of

Posted on April 24th, 2010
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Jessica and Greg are one of my favorite wedding couple clients of the year. Their taste is super elegant and modern… We were really working with a white on white, monochromatic feel for the wedding stationery. I think they were really consistent all the way to the reception…

Their wedding invitations featured a my rendering of Jessica’s wedding dress lace (which was kept quiet from Greg, btw) printed letterpress on handmade paper with white ink.

and these images from Jesssica and Greg’s reception are from wedding planner Mindy Weiss’s blog which also features florals by one of Tiny Pine’s FAVORITES – Gilly’s in Silverlake. I LOVE the way the set up the escort cards… and also a little shot of a table that has Maple wood table numbers…

Tiny Pine ventures into fair trade fashion

Posted on March 21st, 2010
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A couple of years ago, I discovered that two of my college friends from Northwestern University, Maureen Dunn and Michelle King, owned a Fair Trade Clothing Line called Mata Traders. Soon we figured out that the Tiny Pine style could have a place within Mata… I helped out with some design for the tags, catalogs and logo redux. Then Maureen asked me if I wanted to try my hand at actually designing some of the clothes.

The cooperatives in India that Mata Traders works with do a lot of applique work and hand stitching. This made me really smiley because I knew that anything I would come up with would be treated with love the way all handmade products are.

I was super proud to do some applique design sketches for Mata, and then they translated within their block printed clothes. This shirt, which they so sweetly named the “Jennifer Blouse”, was one of the pieces I worked on. The collection will be available sometime in late April… keep your eyes opened at your nearest fair trade clothing shop!

Photo day – A tour of cedar

Posted on March 17th, 2010
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I am going to try to get Gia Canali to take pictures of invitations for me every day!! I know she is too busy for that… but I could just park myself at her studio and see what happens….  not only is she super FUN to  work with, she is just so talented… Thanks Gia!!

Here are just a few from our most recent afternoon of picture clicking.

There is even a THEME! All of these incorporate the wonderfully naturally scented cedar wood veneer.

The top one is a little program that has stitched wood front and back cover – with white pages in the middle… so sweet!

To the right here is a lovely invitation that has a cedar border – you can sort of see it on the edges. The drawn tree is actually based on a pepper tree, but cedar is such a lovely shade for a backyard wedding…. it’s all about the trees!

And to the bottom here is a save the date printed on cedar with a little photo of Big Sur printed on recycled paper and attached to the side for a little peak into that wonderful landscape.

Thanks for coming on the tour… any questions?

The Bachelor: Jason and Molly’s Wedding!

Posted on March 9th, 2010
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Hi! It’s been an exciting evening, watching the Bachelor wedding on the west coast with some good friends … My favorite part was hearing about my appearance on the show via my east coast family… I knew I made the cut 3 hours before the show aired here!

Anyways, here is the OFFICIAL Tiny Pine Press Press Release (it’s fun to have two “presses” in a row!)  AND a couple of photos from OK Magazine’s feature of the wedding… with the escort cards that we provided and the custom pattern Tiny Pine Press designed that was on both the envelope liners and the wedding cake (cake designed and created by Vanilla Bake Shop)!

Oh! and check out the Tiny Pine Press website for LOTS of samples of other invitations and printing!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 TINY PINE PRESS is chosen as the invitation designer for The Bachelor: Jason and Molly’s Wedding

Los Angeles, CA (March 8, 2010) – When it came time for former Bachelor stars Jason Mesnick and Molly Malaney to choose the wedding invitations that would set the tone for their nuptials, they found a perfect match with stationery designer Tiny Pine Press.

Early on in the preparations for their special day, the couple met with lead designer Jennifer Parsons to create a quintessential stationery suite and help craft the themes of the upcoming wedding. Molly and Jason requested a design blending rustic and modern styles, within their color scheme of green, white and black. Tiny Pine Press produced a white handmade cotton card secured to a genuine wood veneer backing, with bright green silk thread wrapping each invitation. The wording of the invitation was set in a classic and yet modern all caps typeface featuring their names in an elegant handwritten script. The invitations, completely handmade, featured Tiny Pine Press’ specialty of letterpress printing, in charcoal ink. At the reception, menus and escort cards echoed the same look and feel.

A custom pattern printed in green, lined each envelope, with the initials M + J subtly incorporated for the recipient to detect. The chic motif, designed specifically for Molly and Jason, was repeated throughout the invitation set, as the backing of the wedding dinner menus, escort cards, and even on their wedding cake.

“The invitation looks GORGEOUS! Thank you for ALL of your help.  You were amazing, and I haven’t stopped raving about your work” summed up how Molly Malaney felt about her experience with the design process. All in all, Tiny Pine Press fashioned the ultimate wedding stationery suite for this Bachelor couple’s televised nuptial celebration on ABC, Monday, March 8, at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

About Tiny Pine Press:
Tiny Pine Press is a Los Angeles-based design studio dedicated to producing distinctive, artful stationery incorporating couture paper, luxurious letterpress and an inventive array of unique materials. Their signature craftsmanship and distinct art direction springs from a steadfast commitment to both beauty and timelessness. Lead designer and letterpress printer, Jennifer Parsons’ art is rooted in her upbringing in the mountains of rural Appalachia. She’s the daughter of a factory seamstress and has enjoyed a lifelong love of sewing and paper-based artistic creations. For more information visit www.tinypinepress.com and www.tinypine.wordpress.com .

Joyful Heart Tee-Party at Michael Stars via The Buzz Girls

Posted on February 21st, 2010
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Isn’t that a lot of great names in one sentence!

Tiny Pine Press has been ramping up involvement with the Joyful Heart Foundation for a few years now… When the Michael Stars company saw the cards I did for the another Joyful event, they requested I make some up for The Buzz Girls party at their Montana Avenue store in Santa Monica.

Michael Stars has created a T shirt and for every Joyful Heart Tshirt sold, they give one to a woman in need at a shelter. And I have to tell you, these T shirts are AMAZING! For the launch party with the Buzz Girls, Tiny Pine Press provided the “gratitude” cards and the party guests were to write a note of hope and  inspiration for the recipients of the t shirts. It was a big honor, truthfully. What an amazing cause! And what a fun to be included with this amazing group of women.

Since I provided the cards, Tiny Pine was included in the very exceptional Buzz Girls gift bag. FANCY!!!

Sooooo make sure to go buy lots of the Joyful Heart T shirts… cause every time you make you or your friends feel lovely in one of those shirts, you make another woman feel lovely at what is likely to be a really tough time in her life.

Here are some pictures of the event.. including one of me with the Joyful Heart crew! xoxo

photos by  lisarosephoto.com

My Joyful Heart

Posted on January 30th, 2010
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Tiny Pine Press has been working with the Joyful Heart Foundation for a few years now, designing and printing invitations for some of their events in New York and recently in Los Angeles. The Joyful Heart Foundation’s mission is to heal, educate and empower survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse, and to shed light into the darkness that surrounds these issues.

Since I have really gotten to know the organization over the years, I realize that what they do is truly focus on spreading JOY in the present and for the future and not focus too much on the negativity of experiences.

I designed and created these cards with the same intentions. I wanted to create something that represented the Joyful Heart mission from a pure place…. something that someone would be so grateful to send and grateful to receive.

cheryl's scoring hands

The result was that I was grateful to create them. I haven’t done a line of cards before like this. I cut all the paper (with my new cutter!!), printed two runs on 650 cards, watched Cheryl score them….. (my hand was hurting from the 1300 previous pressings) had some extremely helpful hands with the rhinestone gluing (thanks CHERYL and JILL!), packaged them for gift bags on a Friday night (thanks Joanna), AND I loved every minute of it. I felt joy and love in this work.

What’s amazing about gratitude is that if you truly feel it, your heart opens up and love comes flowing right. Sometimes it lands on the ink disk in the form of soy ink and gets printed on luxurious cotton.

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