Mint

I’ve had so much fun working with Nina on her wedding invitations! If you don’t know Nina’s blog, Naturally Nina, you’ve got to check it out. Didn’t she do a great job picking out those vintage stamps?

Design by Hello Tenfold (me!), calligraphy by Ashley Osgood, photos by Nina.

To encourage more designers to visit and use the Fedrigoni London Showroom ( a speciality paper company) designer Joe Stephenson helped Fedrigoni organize various events, from talks and exhibitions to games nights and awards. Fedrigoni’s Gelateria will be an Italian gelato ice cream evening featuring a vintage street vending gelato cart. The idea came from Fedrigoni’s Italian heritage, and guests will collect paper samples and learn more about the showroom.

via the best part

Well guys, I’m going to take next week off to recoup. I’ll still be around & working on my design projects, but I could use some time to brainstorm Minty things and just have a lighter load. Happy 4th of July and be back soon!

A collection of recent favorites from other blogs…

Top left: I never, ever would have thought I’d love a room painted black. Lauren Bradshaw was brave enough to go there (in several rooms, I might add) with Benjamin Moore Black Iron and Witching Hour. If I ever own a light-filled house, I might have to give this a shot. via design*sponge

Top right: I’m gonna have to try this delicious summer cocktail recipe from Bless Her Heart. via wit and delight

Second row, left: Chen Karlsson’s pendant lamp lets you display your favorite collections! via madame hervé.

Second row, right: I love everything about Les Morceaux’s jewelry. Everything. An early Christmas present? via unruly things.

Third row: Beautiful typography in these Halloween wedding invitations designed by Kristan Butler. via head vs. heart.

Last row, left: Moths photographed by Joseph Scheer. via bliss.

Last row, right: Another image for my “house inspiration” folder. nikole’s herriott’s house via design*sponge.

This is a peek of some paper goods I just finished for a Hindu/Christian wedding! You can see more photos from this project on Oh So Beautiful Paper right now.

Thanks for featuring my work, Nole!

Yes… remember Howdy Do It? Margot’s not here, but she’s been doing a few sporadic Howdy Do It posts of her own on Pitch. I was inspired to write this post today because I’ve been struggling a lot with my own product photography. I think I do an OK job with my West and Plum photos, but when it comes to photographing invitations for Hello Tenfold, I have a hard time getting an end product I’m proud of. I’d like to hire a photographer/stylist at some point, but right now it’s just not in the budget.

I started out with wood backgrounds, mostly because… well, we had just gotten married and there were a few fresh cutting boards lying around. The wood flattered some pieces, but not all of them, and I want consistency in my photos. After looking through a lot of invitation photography that I admired, I realized that many people photograph their work on top of fabric backgrounds. I’d tried this but I always had two big problems: (1) I don’t like ironing, and (2) I don’t have any great upholstered furniture, or even the right fabric scraps to make it work.

So, last week I went to a cheap fabric store and picked up half yards of five neutral linen fabrics. I ironed them and attached them to cardboard in the same way you’d stretch a canvas. I used 13×19″ cardboard cake boards for the base because I had them lying around, but you could also do this with wood and a staple gun. In case you haven’t stretched a canvas before, here are a few steps:

• stretch fabric across the longest side first
• put a staple in one side, then pull fabric taut and put another staple on the exact opposite end
• pull fabric taut and staple the third side
• pull tight (really tight!) and staple the fourth side
• once you have the first four staples, you just start going around and adding more staples. each time you add a staple, move across to the other side, pull taut, and add another staple. In other words, you should have an even number of staples. The more the better, I say! For the purposes of this project, nice and neat corners don’t matter so much. But if you have to have them and aren’t sure how to get them, I’d recommend watching this video.

Now I’ve got five neutrals to photograph with! I think I’ve finally figured out the best spot in the house and time of day to photograph with natural light, and my plan is to get some simple flowers to make the operation look more styled. Wish me luck! Here are some photos from the first attempt:

I think they look much better…

Laura Trimmell is a graphic designer and crafter living in Portland, Oregon. She makes beautiful, tactile eco-friendly paper goods and has three new lines now available in her shop. Laura screen prints her paper goods with water based, solvent-free inks at The Pull, an independent screen printing shop.

Thanks Laura!

Yes, it’s a little late. But I for one haven’t gotten a Father’s Day gift yet, and I bet some of you haven’t either. Thank goodness for rush shipping, right? (P.S. it’s this Sunday!)

Reversible faux leather belt, $32 // Olive Field Watch, $55 // SeaVees shoes, $100 // Seersucker tie, $130 // Stieg Larsson trilogy, $48 // WPA See America screenprint, $100 // Verona vintage pocketknife, $30 // Instant collection pocketknife set of 6, $45 // Chambray handkerchief, $39

Don’t forget the card… Numero Uno Dad from Hammerpress, Tattoo Dad from Crooked Sister