In our never-ending quest to fill our card wall with the best of the best greeting cards, we’ve added three new letterpress-printed lines to the Lunalux shop. We’re perhaps most excited about the cards from Dude and Chick, both because we love their products and because the Dude and the Chick in question have close ties to the studio (John Gurtin has been manning the presses at Lunalux for forever, and Katie Wilson was an intern here last year). The cards boast exceptional printing and witty, sometimes irreverent style. Katie’s illustrations are light-hearted and joyful, and John’s dude perspective means that many of their creations appeal to the oft-overlooked male card buyers.  All Dude and Chick cards feature very original two-color designs, rounded corners, and colorful A2 envelopes. Shown here are two of our faves; you can view the complete collection on their website at dudeandchick.com.

Looking at the snacks-come-to-life on cards from Maginating Letterpress & Design, it’s no surprise that the man behind these cards is a former animation designer. Maginating’s compositions range from the super-simple good egg, to the gleeful parade of smiling sushi printed in FIVE COLORS (for those of you who have never run a letterpress – trust me, that’s a LOT of colors). This batch of newbies is rounded out by Dee & Lala. These cards are printed on 100% cotton card stock, with a very deep impression. We’re particularly fond of the retro owls and the sea of umbrellas.  To see more of these line, visit deeandlala.com and maginating.com. All the cards shown here are available in the Lunalux retail store – you’ll find hours and directions on our store page.

We’ve been working with Suzy Swanson for seven years – it started with an elaborate woodtype-inspired wedding invitation for one of her daughters back in 2002, and since then we’ve helped her and her family with a half dozen other projects, ranging from Valentine’s Day cards to invitations for a fundraiser. Most recently, Suzy has participated in our Stationery Saturday events and also donated baked goods to a charity bake sale we hosted this past May. So we were honored that she nominated Lunalux in the Shine A Light contest, a national promotion sponsored by American Express and NBC to highlight inspiring small businesses across the U.S. We are so flattered by her thoughts on our work (you can read her essay at http://shinealight.ivillage.com/sbo-profile/?ProfileID=7663), we hope you will visit the Shine A Light website and endorse her nomination. Only businesses with 50 endorsements by September 13 will be considered for the next stage of the competition, so we need your vote TODAY. If you click the blue ENDORSE NOW button on the left side of the Shine A Light webpage, you will be prompted to register – and only endorsements cast by registered users will be counted. Please cast your vote today, and share this story with anyone else you know who appreciates Lunalux. (And thanks also goes to Suzy for the above photo, which shows potential customers appreciating the samples on display in the front window at our studio)

After creating a couple of wedding invitations featuring this squirrelly image, we decided to use it on birthday and thank-you cards (printed on our favorite paper: 88# natural white Strathmore bristol cover). And so our line expands again, a little at a time. More importantly, we’re thrilled to release a refreshed catalog for our wholesale line! This 16-pager includes photographs of all greeting cards, call-me cards and stationery sets that we’re currently offering (including over 2 dozen new greeting cards released in 2009). Wholesalers old and new are encouraged to visit the catalog page to download the the catalog (split into three big PDF files) and the wholesale price list and take a look at our current lineup; we think you’ll be impressed! Though sales have been sluggish for us (and, uh, everyone else in the world?), we’ve noticed that stores who are ordering from us are also re-ordering, on a pretty regular basis! If you’re just a fan of our products (rather than a buyer for a store), you are also welcome to download our catalog. As always, we encourage shoppers to check with their local card and gift shops, we love to send business to the stores who have been supporting us for years. But if you can’t find Lunalux cards in a store near you, we’re happy to sell you some paper goodies. Just use this contact form to e-mail us a request for our retail order form.

Our state is abuzz with state fair talk. This time of year, it’s all we Minnesotans can think about! If you’re headed to the Great Minnesota Get-together on Thursday September 2, be sure to visit the Newspaper Museum in Heritage Square, where you’ll find Yours Truly operating the Chandler and Price platen press, 2:30-7:30p.m. (I also worked at the museum yesterday, when I recruited a visitor/letterpress enthusiast to snap a few pics of me printing souvenir bookmarks) The museum is heavy-metal time warp, full of antique printing equipment from the now-defunct Maynard News: the C&P, a linotype machine, a cutter, and big machines for printing and folding the newspaper. The museum is always looking for volunteers, too, so if you know a thing or two about letterpress and are interested in helping out at the Fair next year, they have a volunteer card you can fill out during your visit.