Please meet Liz!

(Photo by the always incredible, emilie sommer of emilie inc. photography)

Amidst all the hustle and bustle and crazy organizing/cleaning/packing of moving, I thought I'd also take a moment to introduce the newest (and most rock-star-ish) member of the Gus & Ruby team: Liz!

Elizabeth Liz Lizzy Lapan has joined the G&R team as a part-time paper hound. She brings with her an impressive and varied amount of life experience including retail expertise (she managed Attrezzi, a fabulous kitchen supply, home gift, gourmet store on Market Street), an education in business and a serious passion for customer service. We are absolutely thrilled to have her and we can't wait for you all to meet her over the next few months.

So, with no further ado, meet Liz (in her own words):

I was raised in the beautiful town of Londonderry, NH... member of a family of 5, including two younger brothers and two AMAZING parents. I attended the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH and graduated in 2009 with a B.A. in Art History and a B.S. in International Business & Economics. During college I worked in downtown Portsmouth and absolutely fell in love with the lively and creative community there. When I graduated, it only felt natural to move to Portsmouth permanently in hopes of gaining a better sense of what I wanted to do with my future... and I can say with great certainty that the move was one of the smartest things I have ever done! If I had never moved to Portsmouth I would never have met Samantha and Whitney, or Gus and Ruby for that matter. The ladies (and pups) have literally been my across-the-street neighbors for the past year. From the get-go I visited them regularly as a customer, always looking for laugh-out-loud greeting cards and little gifties for my loved ones. But now... I'm so thrilled to say... I am a member of their amazing team! Three cheers for Gus and Ruby Letterpress! Hip, Hip - HOORAY! There is really something to be said for honest, hard-working, creative business owners in communities like Portsmouth, NH, and I feel so lucky to now have the opportunity to help Whitney and Samantha grow their already incredible business. My goal for the upcoming year is to take over some of the retail work here at the shop so that Samantha and Whitney can keep designing and working with you on custom projects. From in-store merchandising to our store-front windows I am hoping to present bright and beautiful displays that catch your eye and spark you imagination. I also plan on keeping my finger on the pulse of all things paper in hopes that I can convey to each of you the incredible art of letterpress printing and the positive effects of supporting your local artisans and American based companies. What else... hmm... CUPCAKE SATURDAYS! Yes I said it... outside of my regular duties as a Gus & Ruby shopkeep I plan on bringing you delicious, homemade, all-from-scratch cupcakes with soft buttercream frosting on Saturdays (prepare yourself, I'll update you on the start of our cupcake schedule :)). There's lots more about me that you'll get to know - my love of frozen junior mints, for example - but for now, just know that I'm super excited about this opportunity at Gus & Ruby Letterpress and I cannot wait to see you in our shop! Take good care, stay cool, and HAPPY SUMMER!!

Lots of Love,
Lizzy

Glad to meet

Slowly but surely, we're transforming the new space into OUR new space. While we're absolutely so excited to be moving, Whitney, Liz and I

We're MOVING!!

Movin' on up! Movin' on up! Check out our new storefront above!

Big news on the Gus & Ruby Letterpress front: we're moving to Market Square!!

As of July 8th, Gus & Ruby Letterpress will be located at:

29 Congress Street
Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Yep, you read correctly - that's smack dab in the middle of town. We'll be across from Popover's, RiverRun Bookstore and Helene M. and next to The Works, The Denim Rack and Second Time Around (to name just a few of our fabulous new neighbors).

We are so super excited and can't wait to see all your smiling faces in our new digs. With that said, we'll miss our lower Market Street/Deer Street friends. It's been SO wonderful being here with all these talented, friendly people and we'll certainly miss seeing them every day.

Between the holiday and the move, we'll be closed for a few days this coming weekend/next week. Our hours will be:

Sunday, July 4th: CLOSED for the holiday (enjoy the fireworks!)
Monday, July 5th: CLOSED for moving
Tuesday, July 6th: CLOSED for moving
Wednesday, July 7th: CLOSED for moving
Thursday, July 8th: OPEN!! (at the new space: 29 Congress Street)

Thank you, a million times over, for all of your support. We so look forward to seeing you at the new space!!

Cheers,
Samantha & Whitney,
Gus & Ruby

Shop Portsmouth Friday Nights!

(Images courtesy of the Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce)

Hello lovelies! Happy Friday. It's a beautiful day and it's going to be a beautiful evening - perfect for strolling, sipping and sightseeing in Portsmouth. So, I wanted to tell you all about this fabulous retail initiative that we, Gus & Ruby Letterpress, are taking part in this summer called Shop Portsmouth Friday Nights (SPFN for short).

SPFN is a fun event that we, the retailers of Portsmouth, came up with to help encourage local businesses in Portsmouth to stay open later in the evenings, specifically Friday nights, in the summer months when y'all are out and about enjoying the town. Being open later means more shopping opportunities for you wonderful people - and the program is off to a really great start!!

A large number of downtown businesses are committed to remaining open to at least 8PM on Friday evenings through the summer and into the Fall (and maybe later!).

Check out THIS site for more details on the program and the many participating stores.

We're truly proud to be among some of the most interesting, engaging and supportive group of retailers found anywhere. Portsmouth has a wide variety of locally-owned, locally-run, personal and distinctive stores; you can find everything from one-of-a-kind jewelry, to NH-made products, to incredible, hip fashion and tremendous fine art. For a small-ish town, we really have a variety I've never seen anywhere else. Best of all, I can say with all confidence that you will experience amazing hospitality, personal attention and unparalleled customer service at each and every spot.

I sorta love this town - can you tell?

In any case - we'll be open until 8PM every Friday this summer, so stop by on your way to or from dinner. We'd love to see you!

Things for the kiddos!

(Photo courtesy of Cavallini Paper)

We love kids. And we love kid-friendly, kid-useful, and kid-inspired goodies at the store. Check out a few new things we love and a few of the things we just can't order enough of!

ABCs Wrapping Paper / Print (above): How sweet is this? Sold as a sheet of wrapping paper or framed for a quick and mighty-cute print, you can't beat this vintage design.

(Photos courtesy of Chronicle Books)

My Quotable Kid: I'm pretty sure we've already gone over how much we love this book, but it's worth repeating.

(Photo courtesy of Knock Knock)

Don't Kill the Kids List: Hilarious? Yes. Useful? Also, yes! This quirky, funny list note-pad has just the right mix of tongue-in-cheeky-ness and space for important info for the babysitter.

(Image courtesy of Freya Art)

Freya Art Customizable Prints: I truly can't think of a better new parent gift. The perfect piece to build a nursery around, I do think.

Rocky Mountain Save the Dates

We've had the pleasure of teaming up with Rebecca and Nick, a local couple who will be marrying in Rebecca's parents' home town of Colorado Springs this September, to create their custom wedding invitation suite. The final details of their invitation are being decided before we go to print, but in the meantime we wanted to show off their super cool save the dates.

The location for their September nuptials is The Broadmoor - an historic grand hotel at the foot of the Rockies. The lodge where Rebecca and Nick will celebrate is complete with plaid walls and antlers mounted on the fireplace; we drew inspiration from the antlers for the save the date and are planning on using some of the other details for the invitation suite. We printed antlers in the background of the main card For this piece, we printed using transparent white ink; the result is basically blind printing, but the white adds just a touch of sheen so that the light reflects beautifully off of the paper. All of the type was printed in navy ink and we adhered the monarch sized piece to a navy backing for an added punch of color and some dimension. Finally, we created a simple accommodations card and a put the package into a lovely Arturo envelope (Crane doesn't make a monarch envelope in their Lettra, but the Arturo matched perfectly!) to complete the suite.

So... the greatest part of this whole process (aside from having super happy clients!) was getting to have the piece styled and photographed by Meagan Gilpatrick of Maine Seasons Events and Brea McDonald of Brea McDonald Photography. Megan showed up with her own set of antlers, a horseshoe, a gorgeous sterling silverware box and some textured fabrics. Sam and I stood in the background and let the ladies get to work. Here are the ridiculously gorgeous results:
Check back soon for photos of the rest of this amazing invitation suite and more custom work also photographed by Brea and styled by Meagan.

Love, Jenna. Yes, we do.

(Photo by Anna Rozenblat, found on 100 Layer Cake)

Store-favorite calligrapher, Jenna Hein, of Love, Jenna Calligraphy (who calligraphed Whitney's own invitations!) wed the man of her dreams last year (hooray!) and, because she and all of her friends/vendors/creative muses are total rock-stars, their wedding is featured in the most recent issue of Martha Stewart Weddings. Pretty cool, right?

Even cooler - more fabulous, fun photos and details about their circus-themed on the absolutely amazing, must-read blog, 100 Layer Cake. Check it out. Immediately, people. It's one of the most fun weddings we've seen in quite some time. Congratulations, Jenna!!