Letterpress for Grubby Fingers

I don't know when, exactly, it happened, but I've become such a paper adulterer. As in, I cheat on my paper goods on a regular basis. I write notes to friends on my hummingbird note cards one week, on my vintage flower post cards another, and on nautical themed cards on another week. I keep boxes of stationary and I could–quite literally–spend hours in any paper goods store. I get it from my mother.

I've probably mentioned before I was home-schooled. And I was poor. This presented an issue because my parents couldn't afford to buy their children text books. For a while, my mother borrowed books from the local library and pieced together our education on the State's dime, renewing the book loan the entire semester. Thanks, Uncle Sam! One summer day, however, my mother saw the local elementary school janitor throwing away stacks of books. She came home giddy with excitement and informed us we were going diving. Dumpster diving. It's a weird thing seeing your mother's tush float in mid air. Her legs dangled over the side of the black dumpster as she scanned for literary goods. I imagined only derelicts and the destitutes did this type of thing. In 1988, my mother proved me wrong.

Most books missed pages, so my mother procured three of the same kind. When I got to missing page 167 in my English text book, mom would simply wave her hand in the air, without looking up from her teacher's manual, and tell me, You'll find it in one of the other two. Thanks, mom.

One of my mother's first earthly treasures was reams of fancy paper she found in the dumpster. We're not talking about college-ruled, yellow paper. We're talking about pages of thick paper, rounded-edges, and the name of the school district printed in the upper right-hand corner. My mother kept this paper in her desk, hidden from my grubby fingers. It was then when I realized certain paper was worth keeping for special occasions.

Special occasions. I seem to encounter a lot of those these days. And I want to make sure special occasions are complimented with special paper. Paper goods, that is. Today I received my newest batch of stationary and letterpress…holllllla! I've been waiting to make the investment, but after meeting with Nichelle Luc of Details A La Carte, I was smitten with idea of revamping my packaging and paper goods.

Here are a few photos of my stationary…and it feels good knowing I can get my grubby fingers all over it!