2010 Gift Guide: Grab these Bags!

Dear husbands, boyfriends, girlfriends, grandparents, friends, parents, neighbors, bosses and loved ones,

If there is one thing that is sure to put a smile on your leading lady's face this holiday season, it's one of these absolutely gorgeous bags. From functional totes to delicate clutches, we have the hottest accessories around from SeaBags and EmersonMade.

Let's start with SeaBags, shall we? As you all know, Whitney, Liz and I can't get enough of this Portland, Maine-based company. Their commitment to eco-friendly product, production and practice makes us swoon. Their beautiful, durable, long-lasting, seacoast-chic bags make us melt. We're the only store in Portsmouth who carries these fabulous bags made of recycled sails and we couldn't be more proud to have them. Each bag is hand assembled and lovingly crafted right in Maine and will last for years and years (hooray for machine-washable sailcloth!). They go fast this time of year (they are on a whole lot of wish lists this year!), so be sure to come by soon for the largest selection of styles.

Read even more about these holiday FAVORITES in an older post HERE.

If you're looking for something for her to wear out on the town - to a fabulous holiday party or a New Year's Bash - then the EmersonMade clutches are just the perfect thing! These beautiful fabric clutches, with their detachable flower pin details, add pop and style to every outfit. When she's not using the clutch, she can detach the flower and wear that as a stylish accoutrement all on its own. The fabric is all hand-dyed and bags/pins are hand assembled. Best yet, EmersonMade is based out of Somersworth, NH. Holler for supporting local businesses! Hooray!

Read more about this fab line in an older post HERE.

Check out pretty Whit rocking her doggie clutch. LOVE!

(All SeaBag photos courtesy of SeaBags, all EmersonMade product photos courtesy of EmersonMade, all Whitney photos courtesy of ME!)

2010 Gift Guide: Custom Stationery + one fabulous pen!

Happy Friday, peeps! I hope you all had a fabulous and delicious Thanksgiving. Gus ate his weight in turkey. Great job, Gus!

Up next on the Gift Guide? Custom vintage-type stationery, of course! I know you've all read about how fabulous a gift our custom letterpress stationery is; if you haven't - you should read all about it HERE. The deep and luxurious impression of letterpress printing your loved ones' names on 100% cotton paper couldn't be a more thoughtful and personal!

Add a Retro 1951 pen to complete the perfect gift set. These amazing ballpoint pens come in a variety of fabulous colors and are refillable so they last forever. Truly, these pens are the nicest writing pens I've ever tried! The ink flow is smooth, the weight of the pen is just right and the design is functional and easy to care for. Plus - with a totally reasonable price point and refills, they make fabulous gifts for all your letter-writing, student, card-fiending and hard-to-shop-for friends and family.

Custom stationery + a super fab pen = super thoughtful gift for everyone on your list. Order your stationery soon, though, if you want to be able to pick up your orders before the big day.

2010 Gift Guide: Dabney Lee at Home

To kick-off our 2010 Holiday Gift Guide, I'm going to focus on items that are super fabulous, but that should be ordered early in order to receive the goodies by gift-giving time. Let's start with Dabney Lee at Home, shall we?

This amazing, uber-chic album of customizable home and office delights is one of the most fun gift lines I've ever seen. The amazing patterns, fabulous monograms and nameplates and extensive list of products really takes the cake when it comes to custom gifts.

From salt and pepper shakers and recipe cards to wall decals and personalized ice buckets - there is something for everyone of your stylish, design-savvy friends and loved ones. Best of all? They are totally affordable!

We've written about this fabulous line before, but it's worth reiterating some of the love. I love everything about this line of home accessories. I love that you can pick a color palate, background pattern and type treatment that reflects exactly your style.

Fab Facts about this amazing line:

1. Everything in the album of goodies is SUPER customizable. Once you pick the item that you like, you can then choose from a huge array of colors, patterns, and monogram type from the huge Dabney Lee library of designs. The end result is a personalized, chic piece that truly speaks to your style.

2. Personalized gifts are the best gifts. Seriously. The best.

3. These fun, functional pieces are totally affordable!!

4. Turnaround time is super quick! I mean "I-could-order-cute-gifts-for-friends-for-the-holidays-and-they-would-actually-arrive-in-time-for-the-holidays" kind of quick. That said, we recommend you place your orders by December 6th in order ensure delivery by the 17th or so so you can be wrapped-and-ready in time.

Take a look at a few of the oodles of preppy, chic items you can find in the Dabney Lee @ Home album below and stop by the store for a peek through the album and to place your orders.

(all photos courtesy of Dabney Lee at Home)

Black Friday Event & the start of the holiday season!

(Boxed holiday cards from Rifle Paper Co.)

Well, folks, it's that time of year again. And we couldn't be happier about it. Things are getting sparkly, shiny, cheery, merry and bright at Gus & Ruby Letterpress!

Next Friday, November 26th, join us for our 2nd annual BLACK FRIDAY EVENT to kick off the season. We'll be open 9AM - 9PM and when you mention this blog, our email, tweet or Facebook post, you'll receive 15% OFF* your entire order!!

We've got the store stocked full of boxed holiday cards, gorgeous wrapping paper, stocking stuffers and fabulous gifties for you and yours. In fact, we're so full of present perfection, we're going to start a wonderful Gift Guide right here on the blog to keep you updated.

Starting on Monday (the 22nd) we'll be posting blogs featuring some of the amazing items we have in store to help you cross items off your list. We know you're going to love it.

Happy weekend and can't wait to see you all on Black Friday and throughout the season!

*excludes custom orders

2011 Calendar round-up, part 2

Since I wrote our first 2011 calendar round- up, we've received a few more, super adorable calendars. First up is the wall and desk calendar from SusyJack. Her bold, colorful illustrations are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper and will brighten up any wall or desk. $34 wall/ $20 desk

{photos courtesy of SusyJack}

This graphic desk calendar from Urban Bark Papers is printed on 100% plantable seed paper. You can literally plant the calendar in the ground, cover with soil, water and watch your wildflowers grow! It doesn't get much more earth friendly than that, folks. However, I think
the best part about it is the awesome graphic illustration style that's carried from month to month - perfect for a guy or gal's desk. $24

{photos courtesy of Urban Bark Papers}

We are beyond thrilled to be carrying this stunning letterpress wall calendar from Pistachio Press. Each month features a graphic pattern with a bold, unique color combination and a spot at the bottom to jot down important notes. You can easily upcycle this calendar at the year's end, by trimming off the top halves of each month and either framing them or using them as note cards. This one is a must-see in person! $36

{photos courtesy of Pistachio Press}

And last, but certainly not least, a wall calendar and tea towel calendar by illustrator, Claudia Pearson. We stumbled upon Claudia's work last January after calendar season came to an end and vowed to get these in the shop for the 2010/2011 season. As you can see from the pictures below, Claudia is a super talented illustrator and has created such a fun and different theme for her calendars. The wall calendar features a different seasonal fruit or vegetable for each month to remind folks (especially those of us who live in New Hampshire} that we shouldn't be eating raspberries in the dead of winter, but rather in July, when they are growing naturally. Whether you purchase the wall calendar or adorable tea towel, we promise you will be thrilled. And, as an added bonus, she has also created a children's coloring book featuring assorted fruit and vegetable illustrations and the corresponding months they grow in. I can't think of a better way to teach your kiddos how to eat healthy than by breaking out the crayons and markers! You'll have to stop by the store to see it in person. $26

If the wall calendar isn't unique enough, you can buy t as a tea towel! Printed on 100% cotton in the U.S., it is machine washable and safe in the dryer. $18

{photos courtesy of Claudia Pearson}

Vote.

Please take the time to vote today. These midterm elections are just as important (if not more important) than the presidential elections as its our governors, congressmen and women, senators and state reps who make the biggest changes in our states and local government. For those of you who need a little incentive, stop by the store after voting and receive 10% off* off your purchase!

*excludes custom orders

Wedding Websites

Samantha and I spend a lot of time with our brides and grooms explaining why we think invitation suites these days are getting a bit overloaded with extra pieces containing unnecessary information. Our clients insist that nobody will be able to find the reception location and will have no idea where to stay. We think your guests are quite savvy and you should give them a bit more credit. They will be googling the location, printing their own directions and plugging it into their GPS. They will be emailing you to find out if there are any hotels they must avoid and where the after-party will take place. And if you're thinking of your grandparents, that's awfully sweet of you, but don't you think your parents (or aunts or uncles) will be making sure Grammy and Grandpa are set for transportation and lodging? We do.

A wonderful way to include all of this information for your guests without overloading your mailed piece is to create a wedding website. Sound a bit tacky? We thought so at first too, but quickly realized how amazingly convenient they are for both you and your guests. You can update your lodging page as often as needed if venues sell out or if your group rate discount expires. You can create links so that your guests can jump right over to the hotels' websites. You can list your registry without being scoffed at by family members (no, you shouldn't include it with your invitation or your save the date). You can explain all of the events that will take place over the course of the weekend, from the welcome dinner to the rehearsal dinner to the ceremony, reception and send-off brunch. A wedding website is a wonderful way to explain your love story to family members you may not have met yet on either side of the family so that by the time the wedding rolls around, your guests will feel like they know your fiancé.

We recommend creating a wedding website soon after the engagement so that you can include the URL on your save the date. Our absolute favorite way to create a personal site is a through a company called Wedding JoJo. The reason we love them is because their designs and templates are so beautiful and understated. They aren't tacky or cheesy or overwhelming with too many colors and fonts and they are easy for your guests to navigate. Oh, also, they're super affordable.


Pretty cute, right? A few others to check out:
eWedding
the knot
Wedding Wire

Still feeling like you must include a lodging card for your guests? Send it with the save the date. By the time your invitations go in the mail (usually about 8 weeks before the wedding) it most likely will be too late for your guests to book their accommodations.

{all images courtesy of Wedding JoJo}