We've been looking through the Sesame Letterpress archives lately, searching for examples of pretty, whimsical hand drawn designs. We found a trio of gorgeous examples that we wanted to share on the blog today. We love how the colors of all three invitations create a perfect trio of Spring hues!

We adore the wreath illustration and the interplay of handwritten text and printed text. Also, that aqua color is just so fresh and modern!

This design just makes us smile: those two patient little pets at the bottom of the card! Any design - like this - with fine, line drawn detail prints perfectly in letterpress.

What is so clever about this design is the way that the layout of the text mirrors the criss-cross of the branches in the illustration. This example also shows how sometimes a single color ink can add a really elegant cohesive feel to the design.

Remember that we are always happy to incorporate your own hand drawn illustration into the design of your choice!

Even though all of the couples we work with have their own vision and ideas when it comes to their wedding stationery, there are a few requests that come up quite frequently. We are often asked for images and illustrations of hydrangeas. We love these flowers. Whether in white, pale green or purple-y blue they are always so pretty.Here's a suite we printed a couple of years ago for a very sweet couple:

We love the subtle ink colors and the illustration of the bunch of hydrangea is beautifully detailed:

And did we mention that our set of blue hydrangea coasters would be the perfect guest favor or part of a bridesmaid gift:

And finally, if you need a little more inspiration, how about this rustic bouquet, featuring hydrangea and rosemary:

We designed this invitation set to represent a bouquet of flowers. Each card has a slightly different floral element which is subtly printed, using the palest of pale tinted ink.

The combination of fonts also adds an element of embellishment to the layout. And we adore how each card has a slightly different alignment for the florals.

Here's one more detail of the main invitation card which highlights the fine detail in the letterpress impression. This design can be printed in your choice of colored ink and we recommend opting for the pale silver-gray tint on the floral printing.

It's such a pleasure to spend out days working on beautiful old machines to create gorgeous, tactile stationery. Here are a few photos of our studio to give you a sense of what we do:

Another view of the presses all lined up:

A close up of our hardworking Golding Jobber:

We are working with a delightful couple at the moment to design their wedding invitations. A few months ago, they approached us to work on Save the Date cards and so it's lovely to be following the progress of their wedding plans.The bride had a nice clear idea about the design she was looking for: something informal yet elegant.

The colors pop and we like how the champagne bottle motif anticipates a really fun wedding! We also customized the design a little more by adding Sabrina and Nick's initials and wedding date to the champagne bottle label!

We are massive fans of the website, Food52. It's our go-to for delicious, healthy recipes. So we were happy to work on printing some lovely stationery for the founders to use. As the site became more and more popular, they expanded into a great online shop called provisions and - guess what - a few of our printed items are featured on there!Each month, the very creative team behind Food 52 come up with a different theme and then they style gorgeous photos that illustrate the theme, using some of the products they sell.

This month, our Woodsman journal is featured and we think these photos are just stunning:

We feel really lucky to have the chance to regularly print tags and other printed materials for the family-owned business, Saipua. Based in New York, they are another great, local business that focuses on quality materials and pitch perfect execution. They've been making olive oil based soaps for well over a decade and all of their products look and smell simply divine!Here's a photo of the cedarwood candle with a tag that we printed:

That design is so pretty; the flowers intertwined with a snake. It perfectly captures the haunting beauty of all of Saipua's flower arrangements. Seriously, we can't get enough of the stunning photographs from their blog.

Towards the end of last year, we also worked on another item, this time for a sampler of soaps. Once again, the illustration was gorgeous and this time we printed in a luxuriant matte gold ink:

Alongside our collection of in-house-designed business cards, we are always happy to print cards that are designed by other businesses and graphic artists. Lately, we have printed a variety of really lovely cards, each of which has it's own, unique charm.Brooklyn Herborium is a new store that sells holistic beauty products. We love how their card design references nature, plants and greenery:

Our Millstone is another new business; a bakery specializing in growing, milling and baking everything. Again, the card perfectly reflects the business through the use of illustration and color:

Finally, we love the simplicity of this last card that just features a name in a beautiful, cursive script. Sometimes the most uncluttered design can speak volumes when printed in letterpress:

We're looking forward to the launch of Najla; an online purveyor of lingerie that combines classic, elegant silhouettes and luxurious materials with expert artisanship.