This will be our last Stationery Saturday event for a while, because weekends for the rest of the summer are so full of weddings, travel, visitors and State Fairs. We’ll plan to do it again in September.

You can read all about Stationery Saturday, a semi-regular event at the studio, on the Stationery Saturday page. If you’d like to receive e-mail updates about future events at the store and other studio news, visit the Lunalux blog and sign up for the email newsletter.

A few weeks ago I ran into Rob next door at Nick and Eddie. Filming had just wrapped and he was headed back to L.A. for editing. With one last thank-you for a job well done, Rob gave me a keychain inspired by the goat image we’d created. This marks the first time that anything I’ve made has been translated into a 3D metal object.

Stationery Saturday is an occasional event at the studio. Customers old and new are invited to take a closer look at how letterpress printing works. This week, we’re printing names with weathered wood type and dark brown ink, on folded cards. Your first and last name? First and middle, like your mom calls you when you’re in trouble? A newly hyphenated last name? You decide!

We’ll host the next Stationery Saturday on July 19, when we’ll be printing a different design. Stop by each week to collect them all.

Since the invitations have been mailed out, we’ve continued to work on other wedding-related paper goods for the couple, including this invitation to a morning-after-the-wedding breakfast. The color scheme recalls what we used on the save-the-dates. This time, we printed in kelly green ink on yellow and white duplex cover – the double-thick sheet makes for a very substantial postcard, and gives plenty of room for a nice impression without any show-through.

Along with the breakfast invitations, we also printed very simple social stationery for the couple to use as thankyou notes after the wedding. With just their names letterpress-printed on a flat 130# bright white card, the notes are versatile enough to be used for many occasions after all the toasters and china place setting have been dutifully acknowledged. And the project doesn’t end here. As their wedding date approaches, we’re putting the final touches on programs for the ceremony (traditional black-and-white) and tags to be tied to wedding favors (bright and colorful).

The block party coincides with this weekend’s Pride festivities, including the all-day festival Saturday and Sunday in Loring Park. Depending on how busy we are in the Lunalux store, and how tempting the weather looks, we may lock our doors early and head outside for some summer fun.

We finished the Engine Innovations project just in time for James’ first official event. When he picked up his cards (raves all around, natch), he paid his bill and gave me a crsip $1 bill. Just days into his new venture, he’d received his first check, and was giving 20 one-dollar bits of it to people who helped him with the launch. As tips go, this is the smallest I’ve ever received, but also the most prized. I’m saving this as a reminder that we do good work, and poeple appreciate it. On my worst days, I might feel like a glorified desktop publisher; but on my best days I am really more of a paper therapist.

Many of our clients are navigating serious transitions, such as preparing for their first baby, facing a milestone birthday or diving into a new career. Whether we’re working together on formal invitations, or simple calling cards, or a show-stopping business stationery suite, the process of deciding what goes on the paper makes people think very carefully, and in a new way, about their crossroads and how to articulate it. The subtle implications of color schemes, paper textures and punctuation elicit unexpected visceral responses. The weight of the world suddenly hangs on a hyphen – or is that an en-dash?

It’s not always that heavy, of course. Sometimes people come in, they order something pretty, we make it, they pay for it, and everyone’s happy. Untimately that last part – everyone’s happy – is what we care about the most. But when we have the opportunity to help someone clarify their vision and move forward with confidence, there’s extra gratification in that.

Stationery Saturday runs this Saturday during regular store hours, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Cards will be printed in black ink on natural white card stock, and paired with your choice of matching or contrasting envelopes (click on the image above for a larger view of this week’s design). The price: just $29.00 for a set of 10, and additional cards can be printed for $2.00 each. Prices don’t include sales tax.

We’ve done a couple of test runs with friends and family, and received great feedback from all who participated. It’s a lot of fun, and a great deal to boot! If all goes well, we will host Stationery Saturdays at least once a month, each time with a new design. Watch our blog or updates!

The Commodore is an interesting old hotel in St. Paul that features a beautiful art deco bar (it’s worth a visit just to see this historic bit of architecture). The shopping vendors take up two large rooms on either side of the bar. With Willie Murphy playing on the grand piano, old-fashioned cocktails being concocted by the dapper bartenders, and some complimentary cheese and crackers, it ends up being more of a social event than a shopping expedition.

The gritty details: First Monday at the Commode happens Monday, June 2, 2008, 4:00-8:00 p.m. The Commodore is lated at 79 Western Avenue in St. Paul. You will find photos, some history, and directions at the Commodore website. Free off-street parking is available in the hotel’s lot. We hope to see you there!

Click on the thumbnail image to the right to see the full story. And this is just the tip of the ice berg for us, media attention wise. You can read about more about the press we’ve been getting in our blog archive.