Magpie Press

Talented Walter Hansen (he of the Chirp limited edition print) submitted a second print recently, entitled Magpie Maulers. Very cheeky indeed, and I have to confess that it did momentarily floor me..  however, we parked our ego and got on with the tricky business of printing this tight registration print.  It’s on Saunders Waterford 600gsm fine art paper, and a must for anyone with a bird thing going on.  You can check it out at Walter’s website >>

Thought I’d like to share this wonderful limited edition print with you.  It just fills my heart, and certainly reminds me that there is plenty to be thankful for.  Designed by Miss Ellie May, you can head over to her fabulous esty store here if you would like this gorgeous piece of letterpress love for yourself!  Frame it and hang it where you’ll see it every day.  It’ll make you smile..

Well the big news this week at Magpie Press is the long-awaited arrival of a fantastic new paper stock.  The Crane Lettra in bright white has a smooth finish, and is just perfect for double-sided work, or when you want a brighter white than the lovely warm whites we usually work with in the Somerset range.  The first project off the press in the 600gsm is this awesome card for Urban Logic.  Crane is an American company with a great eco ethic (’green since 1801′) and the Lettra range is made from tree-free 100% cotton fibre, in a mill which uses steam from a nearby waste-to-energy plant.  You can read more about this here> We also have the matching 100% cotton envelopes available in a variety of sizes in stock now.

Vintage Vegas glamour is the order of the day for this stunning wedding invitation.  The emblematic sunburst and retro typeface were printed in antique gold and black on luscious Somerset 500gsm.  On the reverse we offset printed a great black&white image from the brat-pack days (can you hear Sinatra crooning?).   You’d just have to pack your bags and go if this invitation arrived in your mailbox, wouldn’t you?

We’ve been keeping busy at Magpie Press recently, rustling up some designs for our about-to-be-released ‘off-the-peg’ range of wedding invitations and baby announcement cards.  Here is a taste of the first few.  If you’re interested in having any of these printed up for your wedding or baby, please drop me line here>

Baby Bird

Trellis

Zinnea

Invitations of a new and exciting kind here – to the launch of the keenly anticipated Framingham Wines F-Series.  As far as I can tell, the ‘F’ stands for all good things in wine – fun, fruity and freaking delicious.  The printed work was designed by the wonderful folk at Ocean Design in Wellington (check out their website – it revolves around a place I’d like to be!).  The invitation and matching Mini-LP sleeve were perfect for letterpress, and have even convinced us of the merits of punk pink.  Yes, really!   In case you’re wondering, the invitation is double-sided, printed on Somerset 500gsm, while the Mini-LP sleeve is on Somerset 330gsm.

Hihi, Kea, Whio and friends – they’re all here on this knock-out print by Walter Hansen.  We letterpress printed this wonderful limited edition piece on luscious Somerset 500gsm paper stock this week.  The finished work is 220mm x 220mm and I believe will be available shortly from Walter via his website here.  If you’re a bird fan, and love quality prints, I’d advise you to get in quick.

We had such a great time this week on the press.  This project was a highlight – designed in New Zealand for a London-based client.  The only direction was to include the colour coral – so we went for a warm, rich coral which positively pops off the invitation.  The Japanese-inspired set includes a DL size invitation (210mm x 105mm) along with a gorgeous RSVP featuring a blind deboss top and bottom, then wrapped with a letterpress printed band.

We recently made our first (of I hope many) foray into the wonderful world of fine art printing.  This lovely piece is the work of Auckland Artist Robert Sly.  He supplied the original hand-drawn work, which we turned into a photopolymer nyloplate, and printed.  This print is from Robert’s ‘Clouds & Mountains’ collection, which enjoyed a rockin’ good opening at the High Seas Gallery in Beresford Street at the end of April.  I’ve included some pictures of the process for your entertainment!  Please feel free to contact Robert here if you would like any further information on the collection, including the letterpress print (finished size 420mm x 594mm).

Being magpies, we just adore the perfect simplicity of black and white.  This wonderful wedding invitation was accompanied by a second card detailing accommodation options, complete with a map on the reverse – then the two were bound together with black grosgrain ribbon and finished with a name tag.  Many thanks to our wonderful clients who took the time to send us these pics of the finished suite.