Hi, I’m Kat!

I’m the woman behind this business and blog. I started this letterpress business back in 2011 as a creative outlet during a time in my life when my 9 to 5 job was crushing my soul.  I never expected it to snowball into what it is today, but I’m so grateful to be here creating beautiful stationery for weddings and events. I’m a self-taught designer (been at it for over 15 years!), letterpress printer, and I’ve recently added calligraphy to my skillset. I still have a lot to learn, but calligraphy has become a natural part of the business and a nice little escape from computer screens.

One of my favorite things about this business is meeting with couples and finding out the unique details of their relationship. It always inspires the design for their wedding stationery. That’s really the heart of what I do; I create stationery that tells a story. Each and every piece is handmade and my hope is for couples to cherish them as a keepsake for years to come. Perhaps, I don’t know… every anniversary they could, like, take it out of their wedding box and get giddy opening the envelope like it was the first time? Maybe they run their fingers across the luxurious cotton paper and feel the texture of the impression stamped deep within? Maybe they close their eyes and say a silent “thanks” to Paper Mint Press for transporting them back to the good ole’ days of wedding planning (it wasn’t fun back then, but it sure is fun to look back now isn’t it)? Ah, I digress..

But who am I really? I’m a wife to Emil, the other half of this business. We have been together for 10 years, married for 3, and have a perfect 1 year old boy named Eames. We’ve got 2 dogs, Roscoe and Marty, so our household is a bit nuts  to say the least. Orange County is our home and we are homebodies, so much so that we converted our garage into our printing studio. Right now, our lives are pretty centered around our son, watching him absorb his world and trying to soak up each and every bit of him because babies change way too fast! Other things I love: food, home remodeling projects, boba, gatherings, mindfulness.

What you can expect from this blog

During our yearlong rebrand, I took the time to process what our mission and values are as a business. I think I’ve finally come up with a content strategy that makes sense for our audience. I imagine it will take time to fine tune, but I hope to share:

• More behind the scenes content – There’s a lot that goes into the design of stationery, but there’s also tons that goes on during print and assembly. I think many people have sticker shock when it comes to letterpress/foil and assembly pricing, but I hope that by sharing the process, it will educate people about the handmade craftsmanship that goes into it all.
• Portfolio work – I’ve created a semi-custom Wedding Collection of some our favorite work, but this business really thrives on creating custom wedding stationery. I hardly ever feature these suites online, but the couples that I meet with in person seem to be very impressed by what’s possible outside of the standard flat invitation pieces. I’m talking custom shapes, hand watercolored details, custom pockets, etc. You’ll definitely see a wider range of our capabilities here.
• Etiquette – Invitations can have a lot of rules. Does that mean you have to follow them? Heck no. It’s your wedding! If you want to break out of the traditional mold, we’re all for that! I’m here to discuss and show you ways to do it.
• Tips and tricks – How to’s from “How to make the most of your invitation budget” to “How to apply wax seals”
• Business resources – I, myself have scoured the web looking for the best resources for how to run a small business. While I don’t intend to position myself as an expert by any means, I will share some helpful tips and resources that I’ve come across.
• Personal tidbits – I’ve debated whether I should start a lifestyle or personal blog. I feel that besides it being too hard to maintain two separate blogs, it really does make sense to share tidbits of our life on here. We are a mom and pop business (literally) and there’s lots of life happening between printing.. so read and follow us to keep up!