double sided letterpress business cards
behind the scenes, etsy, funky print studio story, letterpress, letterpress business cards, pantone

[Behind the scenes] Custom letterpress business cards for BURNISH + BONE

The custom letterpress business cards we made for Ali of BURNISH + BONE Osteological Taphonomy were a bit of a challenge for us. Well, for me alone actually, as my husband (and crafter at the same time) was just as confident as ever. For me, though, it was quite an emotional journey…

“Emotional journey? Are we still talking about the letterpress business cards or…?” Yes, i hear ya and yes, we’re still talking about the business cards. It was emotional to the point of me bursting into tears at some point! Oh, those dreaded dog bones enjoyed toying with my obsessive compulsive perfectionism! However, the final result exceeded my expectations and it turned out great!

Short technical details of the custom letterpress business cards of BURNISH + BONE:

– 600gsm Snow White card stock, double sided printing, Cool Grey 10 U

letterpress business cards film
Letterpress business cards film
polymer plates
Polymer plates

Since we create our own polymer plates when letterpress printing, the first step is having the film made and then, based on them, the plates themselves. In order to get from the images above to the following ones, we’ve had a lot of work to go through, but ultimately the end result was well worth it.

double sided letterpress business cards
Double sided letterpress business cards for BURNISH + BONE
double sided letterpress business cards
Double sided letterpress business cards for BURNISH + BONE
double sided letterpress business cards
Double sided letterpress business cards for BURNISH + BONE
double sided letterpress business cards
Double sided letterpress business cards for BURNISH + BONE
double sided letterpress business cards
The letterpress business cards packed and ready to go!

I was really anxious to find out Ali’s opinion on her letterpress business cards, so i must admit i checked that tracking number practically every day. When they finally did arrive and i read Ali’s mail, i was really the happiest i had been since leaving the package at the post office! And i’m saying this just to not sound too corny even though i could easily go there. Ali was kind enough to send me a photo and i can’t thank her enough for this!

letterpress business cards
Ali of BURNISH + BONE and her letterpress business cards

Seeing the photos of Ali’s business cards, you might have wondered what it is she does. It is indeed a not so common activity which is why it is that much more interesting. BURNISH + BONE is all about cleaning and preserving animal bones, skulls, claws, tusks, teeth and horns for hunters, pet owners, collectors and enthusiasts. For more details please visit BURNISH + BONE. Also, soon enough we might get some more inside info from Ali herself during a future interview.

The Funky Studio team wishes you, as always, a colorful day!

an2

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etsy, funky box studio, funky print studio story

Funky Box Studio turns 2! Roundup.

Our boxes and packaging supplies shop, Funky Box Studio has just turned 2 years old. Woohoo!

anniversary(photo)

I’ve read the post on the old blog where we celebrated FBS‘s first anniversary and as i finished, i kept wondering: where did the time go? It’s like i was just writing that article yesterday!

So here’s the introduction i wrote then that is still ok today: Funky Box Studio is a little paper goodies supplier and we have high hopes for it. The beginning wasn’t actually as filled with hopes as the present is, to be completely honest. We started off by simply providing die cutting services and soon after, we opened our Etsy shop where we sell boxes of various shapes and sizes, envelopes, tags, coasters, various die cuts, table numbers etc.

Now, two years after opening FBS, things have picked up quite a bit. The most significant moments for this second year of activity are:

– moving into a new studio – by far, the most important step for us was moving into our own studio. It’s really not much if you think about the small room we first got, but it was ours and we were thrilled.

– expanding the studio and the activity – quite soon after moving into the new studio, we decided to finally officially give letterpress printing a try, so because of the new machines coming in, we added a larger room to our initial tiny one. It’s been a real struggle and we were faced with many hardships – and we still are! -, but it still is an incredible feeling walking inside that studio and knowing it’s ours. :)

– finally setting up an official website for both FBS and FPS. I kept wanting to do this ever since we first started, but a free platform blog seemed like the best idea at the time. Now, however, as we’re already 2 years old and we can already walk on our own two feet, i say this website was more than appropriate.

I did write there at the end of the 1st year anniversary post that the goal for the second year was to turn FBS into a full time job. We’re still not quite there, yet, but this dream still stands and hopefully we’ll be able to make it come true this time around. The third time is the charm, right? Also, as for the first year the sales’ goal was to reach 100, for the second one we figured we should double that and reach 300 in total. Well now, 340 official sales later, 6000 Twitter followers and 1300 facebook likes later, i can say we definitely reached that goal entirely. Moving forward with that doubling sales thing seems kind of a stretch, but hey? Let’s see how many we can have out of the final goal of 700 at the end of our third year!

It’s been a roller-coaster, but still a fun ride altogether. There were countless nights spent working in the studio, frustrations because of so many reasons, but also wonderful people who helped us wake up the next day and do it all again, small successes that made us feel like we’d just saved the planet and all of this makes it all worth it.

Thank you for your support!

The Funky Studio team wishes you, as always, a colorful day!

an2

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pantone rainbow
etsy, wednesday wishes

Wednesday wishes. Kiwi tarts and sleep and workload…

Looking back at the first “Wednesday Wishes” article i posted here, i realize it’s going to take quite a while to get those wishes accomplished. Still, i’m almost there with the Twitter goal and i really do smile a lot more lately. Even though i feel like the workload increases exponentially. Even up to this point i haven’t been able to buy a few tulips and it’s driving me crazy! I think soon enough we’ll have an entire blog post dedicated to tulips…

Well let’s get started with the new round of wishes for this week:

wednesday

* Make kiwi tarts again. I initially saw them on this blog i read regularly and i thought to myself: “Whoa! That sounds easy! I have to try this!” And i did. And i completely messed up the pudding. “Not so easy now, huh?” However, i quickly fixed the problem with a Dr Oetker lemon & vanilla pudding mix and my tarts turned out to be absolutely delicious! Have to do this again. Soon. Done and done again! Will definitely keep making these tarts as they are absolutely delicious!

* Get some sleep! Seriously, i am in serious need of some serious sleep. I actually did catch up on my sleep and i’m starting to feel better again!

* Took on another project a couple of days ago and i’ve set next Monday as my deadline. Actually i kind of doubt i’ll be able to meet that deadline considering the workload of this project (is “workload” my new favorite word?), but i must do this in order to motivate myself. Finally finished this project… a lot later than i wished, but i’m glad it’s finally done!

* We’re finally (re-)decorating our studio, so we must go out and find a large number of things… I kept talking about this in the past, but only now we’re actually starting. This studio is seriously in serious need of serious repairs and decorating. We’re actually done for the most part; i mean we now have better walls, floors, even a large map of Europe on a wall, shelves, got all the ink cans sorted and arranged properly, most of the machines are properly placed… Still need things, but it’s now actually … a work space.

* Create more Etsy treasuries. Help others, help yourself! Actually did and keep doing it as often as i can. Yay!

* Get more “tips and tricks” blog articles up. It seems like they’d actually be helpful as some questions have been asked on Coffee Talk team forum discussions.

* Interact with fellow bloggers! I’ve been trying to do this for quite a while, but there was never the right time to do it… Or i was always carrying heavy workloads (again???) that prevented me from doing so…. Oh yeah, i’m just making excuses. Just interact, for crying out loud! Started to! And it’s going ok. I’m finally getting back (sorta) to the blogging mode.

No more wishes for today. The need of sleep is preventing me from thinking straight, so i think that’s basically the ultimate wish for today. And the tarts.

The Funky Studio team wishes you, as always, a colorful day!

an2

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save the date film for letterpress polymer plate
etsy, letterpress, letterpress save the dates cards

FPS is currently working on: custom letterpress save the date cards

If you pay us a visit, you’ll find the FPS team working on a bunch of custom letterpress save the date cards. I actually had a lot of fun coming up with several custom designs for our lovely client and here’s what she chose for herself:

save the date film for letterpress polymer platecustom save the date letterpress cards

I took the first photo early in the morning (great lighting, fresh eyes, good photo) and the second, late at night (poor lighting, tired eyes, poor quality photo). Well, it’s still a work in progress, but these custom letterpress save the date cards are coming together quite nicely. They will have a proper introductory post once they’re finished!

The Funky Studio team wishes you, as always, a colorful day!

an2

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