Dec 1 - 6: "24 Days of Savings" Brands

Hooray! Tomorrow marks the first day of our "24 Days of Savings" event! At the beginning of each week, we'll post a blog about that week's brands. We'll also list them in a side-bar on the blog that will be visible all week (check it out on the right!).

Then, each morning we'll post a quick blog about that day's specific brand and maybe post a photo or two about some of the products we have in store. We're so excited and hope you are too! This week, the following brands will be 15% off:

Tuesday - Pantone Mugs

Wednesday - Dutch Door Press

Thursday - Pop Ink by French Paper

Friday - Kate Spade

Saturday - SusyJack Contemporary Paper

Sunday - Egg Press

It's been a busy holiday season so far and we have a limited amount of many products, so be sure to visit us ASAP if you have your heart set on something! See you soon!

24 Days of Savings!

We've been cooking-up a fabulous Holiday sale here at Gus & Ruby Letterpress and it's about to begin! Every day, for the first 24 days in December, a different brand that we sell in the store will be 15% off! Read our blog, facebook or twitter page at the beginning of each week to see which brands will be on sale. Check-in daily for details about that day's brand. From Snow & Graham and Kolo to SusyJack and MomAgenda, this is your chance to save on your favorite items for holiday gifts or as a special treat for yourself!

All month long we'll have hot cocoa, coffee and various treats and sweets to keep spirits high. Pop in for some cheer, fabulous savings and the best selection around of gifts and paper goodies.

We're fully stocked with a wonderful selection of:

- Stocking stuffers and fabulous gifts for everyone your list
- Boxed holiday cards
- Wrapping Paper and ribbon
- Custom photo cards
- Festive party invitations
- Hilarious greeting cards
- Yummy hand-poured soy candles (with scents like Monteray Pine, Candy Cane and Pfeffernuse)
- Gift bags and tissue paper
- Hostess favors
- Place cards
- 2010 calendars and agendas

And, so much more! What are you looking for today?

Giving Thanks.

{photo courtesy of the lovely Emilie Sommer}

Happy day-before-Thanksgiving, friends! We've been busy gearing up for a festive holiday season (kicking things off with our cheery Black Friday event!), but it's time now to take a moment to reflect on the past year and all the blessings we have in our lives. Boy, it sure has been a big year, hasn't it?

We send our most sincere "thank yous" to all the amazing people in our community, friends old and new, who have helped us, inspired us, supported us, and made us laugh this past year. We couldn't have made it without you! You make our days merry and bright.

Thank you to our amazing, incredible families! To say that they have been our rocks, our cheering squad, and the best worker-bees just barely scratches the surface of all that they mean to us and all that they have helped us achieve. Thank you, family. We love you.

Warm and cozy Thanksgiving wishes to you all!

With love,

Samantha & Whitney

ps: Gus & Ruby are thankful for all of the FedEx, UPS and USPS men and women who make their days merry and bright... and delicious!

Black Friday!!

(Photo courtesy of Emilie Inc. Photography)

Everyone knows that Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) is miserable at the malls. Long lines, grumpy people and little cheer. Blech. That's no way to ring-in the holiday season.

Well, fear not! Black Friday at Gus & Ruby Letterpress is quite the opposite. Join us for a day of glad tidings, sweet treats, festive tunes and super savings.

This Friday, we will be opening early (9AM) and will have coffee and donuts to start the day off nicely. Early bird shoppers will be rewarded with a 15% off discount store-wide (excluding custom orders)!

Learn more about the festive event on our Facebook page.

We ho-ho-hope you can make it!

The perfect gift.

What do you buy for the person who has everything? And I mean everything. You know the one. He or she says "Oh I don't need need anything. Really. Don't buy me anything." SO annoying, right? Because of course you're going to get them something. They just want you to come up with something unique and meaningful. Ugh. It gives me a headache. Not this year though. Gus & Ruby to the rescue!

Handcrafted personal stationery that is letterpress printed on 100% cotton paper and set with vintage type makes the perfect holiday gift! We hand-set antique wood type (that was once used by my grandfather, Pop) with the name of your choice and print it on our our antique Chandler & Price Letterpress (circa 1890). Deep impressions and stunning ink coverage make every piece luxurious! Each set contains 20 cards printed in an ink color of your choice (see below) and is paired with white or kraft envelopes. At $42.00 a set (not including shipping), personal stationery makes a thoughtful and affordable gift.

The Process:

1. Choose a font: playful or sophisticated (photos below)

2. Choose the name or word you would like printed (6-7 characters max for playful and 10-12 for sophisticated).

3. Choose from 15 different ink colors (photos below): Cotton Candy, Ruby Red, Rain, Sun, Pine, Gus Gray, Juice, Guacamole, Glacier, Chocolate, Onion, River, Ebony, Nautical and Lipstick.

4. Choose your envelope color: white or kraft

5. Sit back and relax: gorgeous stationery is being hand-printed just for you!

A few things to note:

1. Our vintage type lends a charming and classic look to each card, however, as with all vintage type projects, please expect imperfections in some of the letters.

2. There are a limited number of letters in each font and because of the age of the type, many letters are damaged. If we find, while type-setting your name, that a letter is too damaged to print, we will pick a comparable font without contacting you. Don't worry. We have good taste. If you choose the playful font, we will pick another fun font! Promise.

3. Not sure personal stationery is the route to go? Try something different. Other fun words to print: cheers! hooray! thank you, thanks, xoxo, or come up with your own!

4. Custom Orders are shipped within 2-3 weeks of your order date.

5. Adorable return address labels are also available at an additional cost, please contact us for more info!

Looking for something custom? We do that too.

READY TO ORDER? Give us a shout: 603-319-1717 or hello@gusandruby.com. We'll accept payment over the phone and ship to you directly! How easy is that? Order SOON to guarantee delivery for the holidays!!!

{all photos courtesy of Gus & Ruby Letterpress}

Holiday Must-Have!

Dear beloved readers,

We just received our first shipment of what is perhaps now my favorite item in the store: Sea Bags! Holy hamsters are these bags awesome. Made in Portland, ME (woot! woot! keepin' it local!), the Sea Bags company was started by two inspirational ladies, Hannah and Beth, seen above, who have a penchant for fabulous fashion and taking care of the earth (duh!).

These durable, hip and high-quality bags are made form recycled sail-cloth. The company writes "Every bag we make has sailed around the world before it even leaves our shop, and we like that." Well, Sea Bags, I like that, too. I like it a whole heck of a lot!

I like that each of the bags is cut, sewn and assembled by hand. I like that they have that no-fuss-no-muss look and feel of durable nautical gear. I like how much they can hold and how well they hold up. And I just love how they look.

They've been heralded by everyone from Martha Stewart to Oprah and have been written up in loads of magazines like Vogue, Real Simple, Vanity Fair, Shape and Allure - to name a few. These totes are hot, hot, HOT!


We're so super excited to be the exclusive retailer of Sea Bags in Portsmouth, NH. The bags are already being scooped up quickly - they are perfect holiday gifts for a special friend or as a treat for yourself. Come see for yourself!

(All photos courtesy of Sea Bags)

Party Time Tomorrow!

Whit and I are so super excited to be hosting our first Ladies' Shopping Night tomorrow with our great friend (and super talented event planner and floral designer) Kate Martin of Beautiful Days Events. We're looking forward to an evening of wine, cheese, conversation and a bit of early-holiday shopping.

Sounds like fun, right?

We love hosting private events and are always happy to collaborate for parties, boutique shopping experiences and craft projects. A charming store space + fabulous friends and talented people + some nibbles and sips + laughter = a lovely evening for all of us. Can't wait!!

On E-sessions.

(Photo by William Tangorra)

As I've mentioned before, one of the best best best parts of my job is getting to meet so many fun, fabulous people every day. From moms-to-be in to look at birth announcements, to uber-talented wedding vendors to blushing brides, my day is filled with the most wonderful women and men I could hope to work with and for.

Whitney and I so relish the relationships we are forming with our customers and vendors. Many of the people we work with now have become true friends and we're so grateful for that. We stay in touch with so many of them and get to hear all about the updates on their lives as wedding planning continues, babies are born and businesses grow. It's truly wonderful.

One of our lovely brides-to-be, Olivia, was kind enough to send Whit and I the proofs from her recent engagement photo session. She knows we live for this stuff. Thanks, Liv! Her wonderfully-talented photographer, William Tangorra, took some pretty amazing photos. Isn't she gorgeous? Her invitations are going to be pretty nice, too :)


(Three photos above all by William Tangorra)

Looking through Olivia's photos got me thinking about engagement photo sessions. I love the idea of documenting not only the wedding, but all the love and romance of being engaged. I really believe in relishing all the wonderful parts of deciding to spend your life with someone. It's a pretty amazing thing to find a partner in this world that you want to spend life with so why not enjoy each and every part of declaring that love? Love it up, I say!

Some of my favorite e-session shots from my favorite photographers:

(Photo courtesy of Brea McDonald)

Loving this candid snap above from Brea McDonald.

(Photo above and below courtesy of Emilie Inc. Photography)

As always, spectacular, personal and emotion-filled photos above by Emilie Sommer of Emilie Inc. Photography.

(Photo above by Ned Jackson)
A sweet, quiet moment above by Ned Jackson. That couple totally looks like they are thinking about what to do for their invitations. Great news, cute couple, I can help!


(Photo above and below by Shyla)

The amazing Shyla goes incognito to capture an actual engagement! Shyla goes above and beyond (and in camo!) for her art. I'm totally in love with this hot-and-steamy barn engagement session from her. Ohmygosh don't these two just look like characters out of a movie? A really awesome, love-filled movie.

(Photo courtesy of Shyla)

Oooh and Aaah

(All photos courtesy of Linda & Harriett)

I know we've chatted about calendars before, but I just have to reiterate how much I love these Linda & Harriett letterpress wall calendars. They are so super cute, beautifully printed, and the fact that the bottom of each month is a postcard just seals the deal for me.

Our second shipment of calendars arrived today (our first set flew off the shelves!) and this will likely be our last order for the year as they are a limited edition item. So - no pressure - but if you want one of these gorgeous calendars for yourself or to give as a totally fabulous holiday gift, you best get in here!

Also we'd just love to see you! :)

xoxo,

Ham and the Whiz

PS - We're on repeat here at the store today. Two songs I can't stop listening to right now:

1. Need You Now - Lady Antebellum

2. Happy - Leona Lewis

They're heeeeeere!

Perfect timing since we're on the topic of coffee and mugs. For those of you non-designers, Pantone® isthe world-renowned authority on color and is known worldwide as the standard language for accurate color communication, from designer to manufacturer to retailer to customer, across a variety of industries. The PANTONE® MATCHING SYSTEM® was developed in 1963 by Lawrence Herbert in an effort to identify, communicate and match colors in the graphic arts industry. Since that time, the PMS system has reached into fashion, retail, paint and plastics and is like a second language to us designers.

Sam and I are so excited (jumping up and down excited) to have these mugs in-store and are already fighting over which color we get to claim as our own. There are a huge number of PMS colors to choose from, but we had to narrow it down and thus, landed on: 5757, 520, 3272, 130, 179 and 3025 for our first order. I know you're all reaching for your swatch books right now and since I imagine that a good portion of our readers are not design nerds, I have included photos below to showcase our color scheme. Quite lovely, don't you think? We have 6 of each style and they are priced at $12.00 each so get in here and buy one for your boss, co-worker, or in my case, Dad. And how cute would they be as a full set in your kitchen? Sigh. I'm in love!

My very own Pantone tower! This was some pretty extreme merchandizing and I took every precaution necessary. Don't try this at home.

Coffee Hound

Coffee is one of my guilty pleasures. I love a good cup of coffee in the morning and I look forward to my special Friday afternoon latte all week. I like reading my email and easing into the day. I'm a regular at the local coffee shop, Breaking New Grounds. In the summer it's a large coconut iced coffee with extra ice and room for milk and in the winter it's a french vanilla with room for cream.

I do, however, have serious beef with the huge amounts of waste we coffee drinkers produce by throwing away our cardboard, Styrofoam and plastic disposable coffee cups. It's pretty horrific. A few staggering stats (found via Sustainability is Sexy):

- The average large university throws goes through 5,000+ disposable coffee cups a day

- In 2006, disposable coffee cups created 253 million pounds of solid waste

- In a year, the amount of energy used to produce disposable coffee cups used by Starbucks could is equivalent to the amount of energy needed to power 7.7 thousand homes

So, I can't tell you how pumped I was to start selling these totally rad not-a-plastic-cup ceramic coffee mugs! Aren't they amazing?

For $12 you can proudly sip your brew from a fab double-walled ceramic coffee cup with a silicone lid (all dishwasher safe) and save the planet. $12 to save the planet?! I'm thinking these are going to make pretty wonderful holiday gifts for some people.

Hooray!

(Video can be found here)

Remember how I said that Whitney and I have a lot to be thankful for? Well - our giving thanks and celebrating Thanksgiving apparently resonated with a few other people, too! Yesterday we filmed our 3rd TV interview in 3 months! Hooray!

Check it out HERE. Hint: the video is in the right side of the page!!

PS - Have I mentioned recently just how much we love our community? We are just the luckiest girls to live and work in a community so kind, active, supportive, and talented. Thank you! We heart you.

Gobble, gobble!

(Greeting card photo courtesy of Dee & Lala)

I love Thanksgiving. It's maybe my favorite holiday. It's a holiday centered solely around being thankful for what you have and eating a huge amount of food. I can totally get behind those concepts.

Whitney and I have dressed our little windows in Thanksgiving style (come see!) and have been feeling very thankful recently for all our blessings. A few of my most favorite Thanksgiving-y items at the store right now:

These fabulous imprintable flats by Snow & Graham would make lovely invitations for a Thanksgiving dinner party.

One of my favorite parts about the chilly weather is being cozy with a warm blanket, good book, and hot apple cider. These cuddle cider sachets by Chewing the Cud make over 3 gallons of spiced cider!

There is something so special about setting a holiday table complete with hand-written place cards. We've got quite the assortment of fabulous designs to choose from right now!

Oh man, I love Uncooked cards. They are so freakin' funny.

Well, well, well...

This is the best costume I've ever seen. An iPup! Wowza! Thanks CuteOverload; you've done it again!