Is this thing on?: SFIGF Snail Mailers

So, we're plugging our little hands and minds away getting ready for our first show at the San Francisco International Gift Fair in a few weeks. You'll remember when we first got bitten by the trade show bug in May, only then we weren't showing, just ogling. Well, the time is almost here for us to become official trade show exhibitionists—just me and Lis, wearing nothing but our hearts on our sleeves and a pretty paper line to cover our vulnerable designer bits. Hope they like what they see!

In the midst of printing samples and catalogs and making crucial decisions on our booth decor that will clearly make or break our little company's future, we're getting ready to send out some mailers that will surely bring the crowds flocking to our little booth #1929 at the Moscone Center.
We wanted something that would stand out from other mailers, so of course we went balls-to-the-wall with our letterpressed Farewell pattern in our signature orange. This design will be the same cover to our catalog (more on those soon), an idea that stems from both a strong integrated marketing strategy and a skimptastic mailer budget. We flat-printed the show details and invited people to stop by and say hi, then stitched the printouts to our letterpressed orange backings. Sure, we would have liked to have letterpressed the whole thing, but you gotta know your limits, right?
It's a little scary and a lot exciting to put ourselves out there like this. Hopefully, lots of people will check the "yes" box and come over to check out our new work. Speaking of, there will be lots of that to show you guys soon, too. Stay tuned!

} jp-c

Our talented friends

We love great design and we love it even more when our friends are the ones to do it. We've known Susanne and Robert for a few years and were super excited when we heard they were getting hitched. Susanne is a baker extraordinaire (she happened to bake the cupcakes for my wedding - you can find her delicious baked goods here) and her soon-to-be hubby, Robert, actually helped us revamp Farewell's website. (A huge thank you to Robert - if you need an awesome developer go to this guy).

Susanne took her first stab at letterpressing a few weeks ago. After a few back and forth emails, a phone call or two and a pep talk from yours truly, Susanne tackled the letterpress like a pro. I had seen some of her initial designs on screen, but it was really fun to see them come to life when they arrived in the mail the other day. We think she did a great job and the color combinations of the deep purple and bright yellow are just so cute.

We have yet to hear how the actual printing experience was. We feel in love with it as soon as we touched a press, so we wonder if she had the same experience. Perhaps we may have a new intern on our hands soon?...

Our daily texts

Jen and I like to think we run a tight ship. It's definitely something born out of necessity since we live on two opposite ends of the country. With 3,000 miles between us and 3 hour time difference we have to be on top of each other to make sure things get done. We do this through various emails, texts, gchat and skype sessions throughout the day. We probably talk to each other more than our husbands and they are both sweet enough to understand that's how we have to roll sometimes.

Someone recently asked us what we talk about all the time. On a day to day basis it's mostly paper samples, new designs, clients that we need to contact, etc. But being friends first and then becoming business partners, we do talk about other things that are going on in our lives - family, friends, what's going on in our neck of the woods, and of course our favorite reality tv shows...
So for those of you interested, here is a behind the scenes look from the offices of FP.

A text between business partners:

Lisa to Jen: If you were a character on Flipping Out who would you be?

Jen: Uh, derr, I'm totally Jeff Lewis.

Lisa: Ha. Ha. Totes. I think I'm either Zoila or that blonde girl.

Jen: You mean Sarah? You're not clueless like her.

Lisa: Maybe I'm like Jenny, though I like to think I have Zoila's sass.

Jen: Maybe you're a little like all of them. OCD like Jeff, snarky like Zoila, laughy like Jenny, WTF like Trace and occasionally dyslexic like Sarah.

Lisa: .... good call.


End scene

The trade show blues (and oranges)

As our San Fran gift show rapidly approaches, Jen and I have been working furiously to get our booth finished for the big day. Obviously residing on two opposite ends of the country has posed its fair share of challenges, but we've been taking them in stride (for the most part) and have been maintaining our nightly skype sessions of ironing out all the details. One such detail has been the flooring. We had grand ideas to put down hand-painted tile, instead of using the standard blah-gray tradeshow carpeting, but the time, money and effort it would take for us to actually install it, just wasn't worth it. So now we've been on a massive hunt for a fun orange, patterned rug that will make our booth bright and cheery, but we keep coming up empty handed.

So while I was goggling orange and blue carpeting this morning (our standard FP colors) I happened upon this lovely photographer and I couldn't tear myself away from his site. His name is Grant Hamilton and I want every single one of his pictures hanging in my house. They are a combination of bright, graphic and abstract shapes and they make me go to my happy place when scrolling through his portfolio. Here are a few samples - showing off his orange and blue color combos:











The last picture is more or less our mantra for today. Maybe we will find that perfect rug today and maybe it will be the perfect price and will match perfectly with the picture we have in our heads of our booth...

Anyone have any good websites for rugs?

Only in the Golden State

Photo credits: TMZ

Yes, the big day is finally here! Roll out the red carpet and get your camera ready because the royal couple will be flying to California today. The world has officially stopped in la la land and nothing is more importante than William and Kate making their debut in the states. (At least according to E! News, People magazine and TMZ - all very credible news sources). And thanks to their up-to-date reporting, Jen and I know exactly what they will be doing in LA and who will be their celebrity companions.

Yes, we admit, we've been tracking their every move through Canada (those cowboy hats were a hit!) and can't wait to read the gossip blogs once they arrive in the US

Photo credits: TMZ

but one thing seems to keep popping up in our heads as we were reading the deets about their trip is, "Only in California" You'll see where we are going with this, so stick with us:

Only in California would Will and Kate attend a star-studded Gala in honor of the British film industry and be accompanied by Jennifer Lopez and Hubby Marc Anthony. We can't even begin to connect those dots, let alone fathom their conversation during dinner.

Only in California will William participate in a charity polo match, where players have to pony up $100,000 just to play with him. Sounds like an episode of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, or NYC or was it Orange County?

Only in SoCal are neighbors of the British consul's residence turning down offers from the paps to sit on their lawn. We wonder how much they were offering and would we turn down that kind of money?

Only in the golden state were celebs interviewed by E! asking where they would take the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Kim K said Disneyland and a few others suggested the Hollywood walk of fame. Disneyland, Kim, really?

Only in the great state of Cali (well perhaps it's more of the celebrity gossip world, which is centered in LA) would there be an online poll to vote for William and Kate's new celeb name. This is no joke. Seriously check out the link.

Photo credits: E! online

So as a little "Thanks for visiting the U.S. We hope you enjoyed the lovely golden state of California" here is a little token of love from Farewell.






We thought our state cards would be uber- appropriate for the royal couple when they write home about their trip. And as a wee-little side note, we've added the lovely state of Texas into the mix and are taking suggestions for new states. Which states do you think we should roll out next?

~LGT

Charles Town

Just got back from a lovely weekend in Charleston, SC and I totally forgot what an amazing city it is! The last time I was in Charleston was way back in college, so it was fun to see the city through different (and less hazy) eyes this time around. My husband and I stayed in the city, proper, but had a few days at the beach as well. We absolutely love Savannah, so we knew we would really enjoy it's sister city, but had no clue how much Charleston had to offer. The history, the beaches, the beautiful architecture, the amazing restaurants, the old mixing with the new... it a definitely a place we could see ourselves retiring. (Even though that's about 30 years down the road. Still, it's nice to dream).

Traveling through the streets of the city, I couldn't help but be enamored by all of the beautiful design, lovely typography and fun hand-painted signage. As you know, Jen and I are pretty big type nerds, so I thought it would be fun to snap some photos for you guys to enjoy.

I definitely couldn't get enough of the house numbers. Each one was totally different from the next and felt like it was part of the house or business.

Hand painted signs were all over the cute little shops along King Street.

Everyday store signs seemed much more interesting when created by an artist.

Here are just more examples of the art around Charleston and Folly Beach

If you ever get a chance to explore the city, I would highly recommend it. The city is gorgeous and there are tons of tours, day trips to the beach, restaurants to eat in and museums to visit. If you do go there, keep your eye out for more than just historical markers and the cobblestones on the road (so you don't trip, like I did every other step I took). Look up at the hand-painted signs, look at the small details on the sides of the houses and keep your eyes peeled for all the glorious typography that surrounds the city.

~LGT

See it to believe it

It's pretty rare when we actually get to attend the events that we create our custom cards for. Usually, we lovingly pack up the invitations and send them on their way, never getting the chance to see people's reaction to our work. Jen and I were so excited to create the wedding suite for my good friends, Kelly and Patrick, not only because they are the sweetest couple around (and they are Steeler fans to boot) but I was going to get the chance to see our wedding pieces during the event!

Kelly and Patrick decided to get married in St. Augustine, Florida for much the same reason Justin and I got hitched in Savannah. They wanted a pseudo-destination wedding that wasn't too far for family and friends, and they just loved the charm and beauty of the old city. Their ceremony took place at the White Room, which is right on King Street as soon as you cross the long bridge to the city. The view is gorgeous!

Pictures courtesy of http://www.ocwhiteroom.com/photo_gallery.php

They were to be wed on the rooftop at 7pm, but like most Floridian summer afternoons, the humidity gave way to thunderstorms and it rained most of the evening. Unfortunately, they had to move the ceremony inside, but it was still just as beautiful and sweet!

The reception was in the same location, just one floor up, so it was very convenient to just run upstairs for the party. Right at the top of the steps was a table to your right that had all of the escort cards lined up. I guess I was in shock to see our cards sitting so neatly in a row, that I didn't even realize they were ours! So, of course, I grabbed my iphone and starting snapping pictures (my real camera's battery had died!) and I basically blocked the whole table trying to get a decent shot to tweet. Justin was literally trying to tear me away from the cards to go sit down at our table. Cue the table numbers and my excitement started all over again.


Here are pictures of our work during the wedding. They even had the baker put our design on their cake!(Anddd b/c my camera died I only have iphone pics... sorry)

Eventually the idea of seeing our work in action wore off. Though I kept cursing myself for not having an extra battery for my camera like the lady at the store warned me to purchase. "You never know when you'll need another battery in a pinch". Plus it was really nice to hear everyone's reaction to our work, even though most people had no clue Farewell Paperie was responsible for their existence (though maybe my melee at the escort card table gave me away just a teensy bit.)

So, here are all the Shea/Graffius wedding pieces together in one place for you to gush over as much as I did during their special day. Enjoy!

The whole wedding suite

The invite all put together

Hotel Welcomer



Escort card and table numbers

~LGT