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Hi there! My name is Meaghan Cahill; I’m a junior Illustration major at Lesley University College of Art and Design and Smudge Ink’s fall intern. When I’m not illustrating or working, I’m usually either watching The X-Files or making zines…or both.

This year Thanksgiving falls on the 27th, which happens to be my grandmother’s birthday, who, along with my other grandmother, passed earlier this year. This holiday seems to always be centered around Black Friday shopping, but I think most people forget what Thanksgiving is truly about: it’s about being thankful for what you have, and telling people what you are thankful for. It’s in the name, people!

Here’s a small list of what I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving, in no order:

• My family, friends, and my cats, without them I wouldn't be who I am today.
• My Nana, for teaching my dad how to cook (and how to not burn the house down)
• My Mimi, for teaching my mom how to make the best pie you’ll ever have

As an homage to my 9-year-old self who used to make place cards out of construction paper, I thought I would create something that anyone could use to spruce up their Thanksgiving table. These are perfect for place cards for your dinner guests or as food labels. To print these place cards, I've provided a couple options:

1) This Word document allows you to type out your text in a template that can be printed on Avery Tent Cards. The cards simply pop out of the paper.
2) If you’re planning on using regular card stock paper, use the PDF document which includes guides to help you cut out the cards. 

-Here’s a tip: if you’re using these as name cards, have each one of your guests write what they’re thankful for somewhere on the card.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Some of our all-time favorite projects come around this time of year when we design and print custom holiday greetings. We decided to help one lucky person celebrate the season with a custom letterpress holiday card giveaway!

To enter to win 50 letterpress holiday cards and envelopes:

1) COMMENT on our Facebook giveaway post by telling us your favorite holiday tradition and 2) FOLLOW @smudgeinkboston on Instagram (if you don’t already)

We'll choose one winner on November 14, who will then work with us to design their letterpress holiday card with the option to hold their favorite personal photo!

Official Rules: Prize includes 50 flat notes sized 5 x 7 inches on 600 gsm paper, 2-color printing, and coordinating envelopes. Photo mounting not included. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, D.C. & CANADA who are 18 years of age and older as of date of entry. Contestants may only enter one time. A winner will be selected in a random drawing and contacted via the comment stream of the Facebook post on Friday, November 14. We reserve the right to disqualify contestants for any fraudulent activities.

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Hurray! We’re kicking off the holiday season with a Holiday Sip & Shop hosted by yours truly on November 5. All of us at Smudge Ink are looking forward to an evening of sipping, snacking, and shopping for great holiday gifts from local businesses. We’ll also be bopping along to live bluegrass tunes and showing off our presses with a fun demo. Join us for an awesome night with our friends at: Elizabeth Benotti Ceramics, Salt Cellar Shop, Wild Folk Studio, 2 Fresh Threads, EHChocolatier, Northlight Baking Co, Idle Hands Craft Ales, Whole Foods Charlestown, Boston Organics, and the Goodtime Stringband. And we're especially excited to donate part of the proceeds to the Boys and Girls Club of Charlestown. We hope to see you there!

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Back in June, we ran a fun giveaway contest for a chance to win personalized stationery and a thank you note log. Our winner was Doug Lane, who we learned is a fellow pen and paper enthusiast behind the blog Modern Stationer. Doug requested that we design note cards for his two young sons and budding letter writers, Spencer and Milo.

The design was inspired by South Korea from where both boys were adopted. When Doug mentioned that Spencer had put a “love lock” on the N Seoul tower for him and Milo on their last trip, we immediately knew we had to include this iconic landmark. With the help of the boys’ mother who had already drawn the tower, we finished the rest of the city skyline and chose a blue and orange palette, blue being Spencer’s favorite color.

The day Doug brought Spencer to Smudge Ink is one we won’t forget. Before we even saw him, we could hear Spencer’s spirited voice from the hallway.  Spencer entered the shop full of energy and curiosity. He introduced himself to every member of the Smudge Ink staff with a bright smile and a warm hug. Sabrina and Emily gave our two visitors a tour of print room and explained the process of creating letterpress cards. Spencer was eager to touch and see everything. He fired question after question and quickly took on the role of Emily’s little helper, watching carefully as she worked the Heidelberg Windmill press to print out his custom cards and envelopes.  When Emily presented the first print run of his note cards, Spencer kissed them and proudly posed for a few photos.

After the tour, Spencer was ready for his dad to take him to Shake Shack but before he left, he professed his love for Sabrina, grabbed a couple printouts of his card to show to his little brother Milo and waved goodbye to our staff.  It was a great day at the Smudge Ink studio and we loved having Doug and Spencer visit us.

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