the luxe life

bird of paradise

tina from joie studio just buzzed me with news that LUXE letterpress is finally ready to make its official debut! LUXE is tina's brand new line devoted to announcing your big day in style with a gorgeous mix of designs featuring romantic flourishes, chic asian elements, and vintage island illustrations printed in modern designer colorways that make the details of each impression pop (custom colors are also available).

seville

bonsai

the semi-custom invites are printed on tree-free cardstock and coordinating cards can also be ordered to round out your nuptial arsenal of paper goods. turnaround time is about 4 to 6 weeks once the proofs have been approved.

to celebrate the opening of LUXE letterpress, tina is offering h|h readers 20% off all letterpress invitation orders!

• secret code: goLUXEaloha
• expires: fri, aug 15th

hot off the presses!

love fruits

lucky me, even more paper goodness to share with you this evening! joie studio's new online shop made its official debut earlier today which means you can satisfy your stationery addiction 24/7 and no longer worry about your favorite design being sold out on etsy.

the new shop is freshly stocked with all of tina's sweet letterpress designs including her latest collaboration with toast. the limited special edition love fruits note cards were inspired by the toast treats of the same name and made their world premiere at the bazaar bizarre earlier this month. there are five designs in all and they are available by the card or in a collector's set (the love fruits series will also arrive at the wedding café by month's end).

flamingo

and happy news! tina has a sent along an extra special deal just for h|h readers to celebrate joie studio's grand opening: spend $10 or more and save 20% on your order (including custom letterpress)!

• secret code: aloha20
• expires: sat, may 31st
• fyi: limit one coupon per customer

you're invited (no trees, please)

circles & dots

this week's show and tell of eco-friendly goods has been filled with a few happy coincidences like the news of joie studio's adorable and affordable letterpress invites which just happen to be printed on tree-free paper. it turns out tina from joie has been printing many of her designs on cotton rag paper since the early days of her indie printhouse and was kind enough to send along details.

here's the short story: leftover cotton from the ginning process is used to make the paper diverting what would have been textile waste away from the landfill so that it could be reborn into the foundation for joie's stationery line. yet another paper producer powers its facility with 100% green hydroelectricity sending off any excess energy generated to the local utility.

the new fill-in letterpress invites, which are a small way to add a little ooh la la to your next party without the sticker shock of custom letterpress, are just the beginning since tina plans to introduce even more eco paper goodness this year.

sakura matsuri

swimming otter

until then, click over to joie's etsy shop which is stocked with new designs for any occasion calling for old school correspondence. tina will also be heading up to the bay area for the bazaar bizarre during next month's maker faire so if you plan on attending do stop by and say hello!

click rewind to learn more about joie studio.

sweet nothings - take three

1 - once a year, big island candies bakes up heart shaped versions of their yummy chocolate dipped macadamia nut shortbread cookies. 

2 - flowers are a valentine's standby so mix it up and send your sweetie an organic bouquet this year. upcountry protea specializes in the prehistoric bloom grown the way mother nature intended (fyi - valentine order deadline is mon, feb 11th. pick up the phone to score a 10% kama'aina discount).

3 - island grown chocolate is the secret ingredient of sweet paradise chocolatier. indulge your love with a sweet offering of mango mojito and kona cafe mocha truffles and discover why the big island chocolate maker won a blue ribbon at the 2007 kona chocolate festival.

4 - sometimes a simple message says it best à la joie studio's letterpress love note (fyi - these have been selling out so you may need to convo tina to place an order).

joie to the world

it's always a happy day around h|h when a new discovery of paper goodness is uncovered. it's no secret i heart the old world artform of letterpress, and, after finding this mahalo letterpress note card on etsy, i knew i had to find out just how the designer was connected to the islands.

it turns out, tina pham, the creative mind behind joie studio, did indeed grow up on oahu and followed the path many of us know so well of going to the mainland for college and setting down roots far from hawaii after graduation. a web designer by trade, tina started designing invites as an extension of her work creating wedding websites, and eventually caught the letterpress bug after taking a few classes.

tina now spends countless hours by the side of her early 20th century golding letterpress churning out charming paper ephemera featuring a mix of antique and modern illustrations. the mahalo card is the first in joie studio's old hawaii series (a new design will be released every few months), and tina is now collaborating with the toast team to give their playful graphics a letterpress touch.

peacock

naughty & nice

2008 blooming desk calendar

click over to the joie studio etsy shop to take a peek at the lovely holiday designs, and be sure to scoop up one of the remaining limited edition 2008 blooming desk calendars which has received a lot of online buzz since its debut last month. custom work is available and the joie studio design house also offers web design and event planning services.

go behind the scenes via the joie studio blog.