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Archives for February 2014

Modern Calligraphy by Molly Suber Thorpe: Book Review

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Modern Calligraphy by Molly Suber Thorpe | The Postman's Knock

Last weekend, we went to Kansas to check out the cool new things our five month-old niece is doing; they include intent staring and an emphatic, continuous nodding of the head when Lady Gaga’s “Applause” comes on. When little baby Brixlyn wasn’t around, I decided to snoop in my mom’s basement. Mom has been getting in to calligraphy, and I stumbled upon a trove of goodies in her basement workspace … including a book that caught my eye: Modern Calligraphy {subtitled “Everything you need to know to get started in script calligraphy plus 20 DIY projects for weddings, parties, blogs, and more”} by Molly Suber Thorpe.
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DIY Washi Tape Tutorial

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DIY Washi Tape | The Postman's Knock

I’m going to begin with the disclaimer that this isn’t one of those blog posts where I say, “HEY! You’ve been getting cheated out of your money. You should DIY washi tape!” While DIY washi tape is fun, easy, and cheap to make, it does take more time and steps than simply buying some washi tape and using it to decorate your invitations, correspondence, notebooks, and whatever else. DIY washi tape is for those of you who have amazing paper or fabric that you’ve looked at and thought, “Huh. I’d love to have some washi tape that looks like that.” It’s for you all who need washi tape at this very moment and either don’t have access to it, don’t have the time to go get some, or are trapped in a zombie apocalypse and can’t leave the house.
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Vintage Stamp Collages on Envelopes

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Stamp Collages on Envelopes | The Postman's Knock

Lately, I have been collaborating with a woman on her daughter’s wedding invitation suite. We have been having so much fun going over details and adding last-minute elements like washi tape and sashes. Then, the topic of stamps came up. When I suggested vintage stamp collages on the outer envelopes, she was both intrigued and confused. I found myself trying to explain to her why I love vintage stamp collages, and why they are “in” right now, both for wedding invitations and regular correspondence. I couldn’t quite come up with an answer as to why I like vintage stamp collages {it’s sort of like asking me why I like chocolate — I just do!}, but after some thought, I did form some hypotheses as to why everyone is jumping on the vintage stamp collage bandwagon.
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Handmade Valentine’s Day Card Tutorial

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Handmade Valentine's Day Card | The Postman's Knock

It’s already February 12th, which means Valentine’s Day is already creeping up on us. Again. Though it was a year ago, it seems like only yesterday that Hernán and I decided to go to the Mexican place in a strip mall to avoid the Valentine’s Day crowds. We run into the same dilemma every year: we don’t make a reservation, so we end up trying to guess where the other Valentine’s love birds won’t be going, and we go there. This generally leads us to a place with a less than ideal atmosphere and/or subpar food, but nevertheless we’re satisfied because we’ve made an attempt to celebrate the occasion.
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Valentine’s Gift Ideas from Etsy

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Saturday Activities | The Postman's Knock

Happy Saturday, everyone! I hope you’re enjoying your weekend as much as we are. We were lucky enough to spend the past couple of days with Etkie founder Sydney, who came to Colorado to brainstorm about business and enjoy Boulder while she was at it. This morning was her last day here, so we went to Whole Foods to enjoy some coffee this morning.  Nevertheless, I’m afraid I was a bit of a bad host and was dabbling in TPK business during Sydney’s visit — I put together a wedding sample goodie packet for Taylor and Katie of Ever Something Event Styling {top right} and worked on fulfilling a few small orders. In the meantime, Valentine’s Day was on my mind. Hernán not-so-subtly sent me a link to Buzzfeed: “How to Cook the Perfect Steak for Your Valentine.” I stopped reading as soon as I got to the part about putting a plastic sack over your fire alarm {call me crazy}.
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Using Colored Calligraphy Ink

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Using Color Calligraphy Ink | The Postman's Knock

Every week, I call my mom, and we have a long conversation on varied topics such as Desperate Housewives and midcentury modern couches from West Elm. {Superficial? Us? No way.} In the midst of our conversation today, Mom wanted to know the lowdown on using colored calligraphy ink. I think she’s graduating from the school of black and white inks, and she’s ready to take the plunge.
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Creating White Calligraphy

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White Calligraphy | The Postman's Knock

We woke up to Boulder being blanketed in white, and it’s still snowing. Considering all the opaque white of the outside world, today is a wonderful day to discuss how to create opaque white calligraphy. Let me invite you into this warm little apartment, where we’re wearing flannel jammies with wool sweaters, enjoying chamomile tea, and eating sweet and salty Bin-Bin rice crackers {say what? — no, but really, they’re delicious}.
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