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TWO WEEKS. That's the (extremely short) amount of time Clayton took to imagine and impeccably craft together his sister's wedding invitations. About nine in ten of his questions were met by incredulous looks from us. You want to do what? You need these finished by when? But in his ever upbeat and determined way, he turned his sister's love of Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree into one of the most extraordinary invitation suites. From Clayton's rustic hand lettering, fold-out map, custom invitation pocket right down to the calligraphy and coordinating stamps, you could not be more excited to celebrate with everyone at his family's almond farm! We're especially thrilled you can read about and see more details of Clayton's labor of love on one of our favorite blogs, Oh So Beautiful Paper. 

When I asked Clayton if he had anything to add, he was quick to say he could never have possibly done this alone. While he left sweet gifts for all of us here at Smudge, he also wanted to leave a special thanks for his family. 

Thanks for contributing your two cents every step of the way in the design process. As much as I get annoyed, thanks for the constant reminders in the importance of food and sleep in the mania of procrastinated projects. Thanks for your love and support! Thanks Mom, Andrea, and Henry for the suite assembly line that ensured the invite's timely delivery. Thanks Ramsey and Liz for exchanging vows two weeks ago allowing this familial assembly line to successfully convene. Thank you Aunt Marilyn for the beautiful calligraphy on the envelopes! You and your uni-ball sign um-153 broad point white pen left a beautiful mark on the wedding suite! Thank you again Aunt Marilyn for inspiring me to create these invites as a gift to my sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law ... much as you do in offering your calligraphy services to the newlyweds you encounter in your life. Finally, thank you California Sunshine for reinvigorating me with the well-needed dose of vitamin D that I received from you while on my short visit to the West Coast.

Now hurry up and get married Andrea! I’m sure I’m not the only one who wants to hit the open bar and dance. Love you, Drea!

- Clayton

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A few months ago, I said my bittersweet goodbyes to the Smudge Ink crew and left Boston to start a new job in Tokyo (narrowly escaping the Snowpocalypse!). While I miss gluten-free Treat Days, DJ Clayton’s sweet playlists, and the sound of the presses cranking away, it is pretty great to be back in the city where I grew up.

I’ve been a stationery aficionado my whole life and Itoya is my go-to store for beautiful stationery. Itoya has branches throughout Tokyo and sells art, office and school supplies from all over the world. There is always something adorable, colorful and unique to covet and I never walk out empty-handed. Over the weekend, I visited Itoya’s five-story flagship store in Ginza, one of Tokyo’s most popular shopping districts. Not surprisingly, the store was jam-packed with people looking for spring-themed greeting cards, stickers, and notebooks. Here are my Top Five Favorite Finds:

Animal-shaped paper clips. Every time I see these, I’m tempted to start an entire zoo of paper clips. Who wouldn’t want to jazz up their essays or reports with a whimsical crocodile or elephant paper clip?

Erasers shaped like macarons. They look delicious and they’re tiny, which makes them even more delightful.

Washi tape. So many colors, patterns and sizes. I use my collection of washi tape for decorating plain notebooks and pens, creating borders and adding accents to collages, and marking my umbrellas so I know which clear, plastic, and otherwise nondescript umbrella is mine.

Mini envelopes. These little guys are about the length of my thumb and just big enough to write a succinct salutation.

Stationery sets made to look like tea bags. As a dedicated tea drinker and letter writer, I was thrilled to find these letter sets that combine two of my favorite hobbies. I immediately bought a couple sets and wrote messages to my fellow tea-loving friends.

I’m excited to explore more cool stationery shops and write about stationery culture and history in Japan for the blog. Stay tuned!

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Not all of us are lucky to have a green thumb (myself—that's Molly—included). We try and try to keep indoor plants to bring life into our homes, but even the hardiest of specimens wither and die. With spring springing, we’re all eager to see those little green shoots in the dirt. And since luck favors the prepared, I asked our resident gardener, Kate, to get her tips on how to start the season off right.

Get in the mood. Kate’s first tip is to take some time this month to visit your local nursery or plant store. Kate’s favorites are Mahoney’s in Brighton and Ricky’s Flower Market in Somerville. Not only is walking in greenhouses just an uplifting activity this time of year but it will get you thinking about possibilities for your own garden. While you’re there, buy yourself one or two plants for the indoors to you hold you over until the snow piles have melted and you can actually get outside. Kate just bought a variegated jade which are quite easy to care for (hint, hint). She also took on the challenge of an asparagus fern (see photo below). Beware that ferns are fussy and high maintenance! Even Kate hasn’t mastered caring for them but she loves their delicate texture and is determined to master them.

Journal. Kate recommends keeping a journal to record your gardening endeavors. Write down when you plant things, what seems to grow and what doesn’t, and your favorite finds. Kate is already reading journal entries from last fall to understand how the season went and letting that steer some of her decisions. “Those dahlias? They didn’t fare so well without full sun. Won't be buying more of those. The window boxes for the shade flowers? Huge success! Definitely recreating those with the plants tags I’ve saved.” (For the newbies, plant tags are those plastic tags that are inserted into the base of many plants at the nursery. They outline the sunlight needed for the plant and its growth habit, so don’t throw them away!). 

Thanks, Kate! These are great ideas, and something we can start doing right away. Next in this new series, Kate will pass along more of her gardening tips. Maybe we’ll be able to get our hands dirty by then!

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We like to joke that Smudge Ink has a satellite in Mexico City. We were (and still are) in major denial when Sanya moved there for the adventure of a lifetime. Even more than three years later, we meet and talk about Sanya as if she’s cranking the presses right alongside Emily and Margaret. 

So you can imagine our excitement when Sanya emailed saying she had found and moved her first Heidelberg press into her studio space. It was official —Heidi here at Smudge Ink had a sister! The photos of the move are pretty incredible (and so is that graffiti). Here’s what Sanya had to say about it:

I found the Heidelberg in good condition through old-school printing connections here in my neighborhood. It’s been great meeting these old guys, who although they are seeing their craft dying, are really passionate about sharing knowledge and keeping it alive. I'm on the look-out for a Vandy look-a-like as well. Vandercooks are few and far between down here, but there are other "rol de pruebas" that do the same thing, so hopefully one comes my way. (Another crane? I hope not!)

Sending warm sun-rays y abrazos grandes,
Sanya

We'll keep you posted as Sanya sets up Santa Rosa Letterpress (website and more to come!). For now, welcome to the family, Haidee!

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WE CAN is the perfect name for a small nonprofit dedicated to empowering women in Cape Cod. As a firm believer in its mission, we have been partnering with WE CAN over the past few years to design cards from which a portion of the sales is donated to their organization. The partnership is small way for us to give back to the community that helped and supported Kate and Deb in the early days of Smudge Ink. I recently had the chance to speak with Andi Genser, the current director of WE CAN and learn more about what they do and how they’ve made a difference.

How did WE CAN begin? What was the vision behind its creation?

WE CAN stands for Women's Empowerment through Cape Area Networking. The organization was formed in 2001 to build on the work that was initially started by the Women in Transition program at Cape Cod Community College. Our programs and services assist women on the Cape dealing with difficult transitions in their lives. These types of transitions can include a divorce, job loss, illness, bankruptcy, or any personal or isolating setbacks. WE CAN’s offerings have greatly expanded since its modest beginnings but remain focused on bringing increased opportunity, self-sufficiency, and stability to these women and their families so that they can achieve lasting positive change.

Can you talk about some of WE CAN’s program offerings?

WE CAN services usually begin with a phone conversation or a scheduled face-to-face meeting with one of WE CAN’s program staff. This helps a woman to sort out her needs, understand her options, prioritize next steps, and begin to stabilize her situation. The help we provide comes in the form of information and referrals to other resources on the Cape in addition to mentoring, free legal services, training and workshops. All of our programs are tailored to the unmet needs of the women who reach out to us and cover a wide range of issues. Some of our current offerings include:

• our signature PathMakers program in which women are paired with a mentor over the course of 11 months with a focus on setting and achieving life goals;
• a half-day Divorce Boot Camp facilitated by a family law attorney, providing specialized guidance about legal rights, preparation and steps to take for those considering or approaching divorce;
• one-on-one Financial Empowerment sessions with a professional financial volunteer to address anything from creating a budget to taking steps to solve a difficult financial situation

What do you see as WE CAN’s biggest accomplishment?

We are serving more women than ever before—over 2,000 women and their families last year alone. The women who leave these programs tell us that they feel empowered to overcome the problems they face, move through challenging transitions and create the changes that they want, for themselves and their families. None of these changes are trivial to the woman involved; however some transformations are enormous and enormously successful.

Last summer Senator Elizabeth Warren and Congressman Keating stopped at WE CAN for a visit with our local Senator and State Rep—we were only one of two stops made on the Cape—it was an incredibly special day to see their support for our work.

How can others get involved?

Volunteer; become a business partner; share info with others; attend one of our events and of course, support our work! We are deeply grateful to Smudge Ink and so many others in our community who have stepped up to partner with us to raise funds and awareness for our work. It is so meaningful that the community cares and shows that in very concrete and dramatic ways.These relationships mean so much to all of us at WE CAN!

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