Bella Figura’s letterpress invitation designs for 2012 have arrived!  We’ve added 6 brand new designers and 83 new letterpress wedding invitation designs – which means you’ve now got over 300+ incredible designs to choose from! We’ve added new embellishment options, too — think metallics (foil stamping and foil edging now available in 12 dazzling colors – choose traditional metallics like gold, silver or copper, or go for something a little more daring, like fuchsia, indigo, forest or teal!). Metallics and shine will be a huge wedding trend for 2012, so mix foil stamping with letterpress for a hint of glamour, create a show-stopping look with a powerful pair of foil stamped colors (think two tone gold or gold with silver), or add foil edging for a splash of sophisticated flair.

Counter clock-wise from upper left: Aria by Maybelle; Canto by Kelle Anne McCarter; Fugue by Kamal; Traditional Script by Beth Barr; Moroccan Romantic by Lindsy Aragona; Unique Minimes by Gina Dean and Lauren Richel Kelly. 

New designs and metallics aren’t the only thing we’ve got that’s new for 2012! We’ve got new calligraphy styles, new options for pocketfolds, envelopes + envelope liners, and more. There’s a wide variety of artwork, cartouches, and monograms in our motif library.  Let Chris – one of our knowledgeable invitation experts – walk you through all of the amazing new offerings (just check out the video below!)

We asked, and you voted: our latest Design of the Month is Ikaty by Kamal! As our Design of the Month, all custom letterpress orders placed between now and December 31 will receive 20% off.  This 20% off applies to Ikaty save the dates, invitations, thank you cards, menus, coasters, place cards, programs, and any other piece that uses the Ikaty design. To get you inspired, our design team put together these stunning customizations — take a look!

(Please note, the Design of the Month promotion may not be used on purchases of other designs or in combination with any other promotion.)

We can’t wait to show you our new offerings for next year — we’re introducing over 80 new trend-setting designs that are must-haves for the 2012 wedding season. Our new collection won’t be available until later this month, but we thought we’d give you a little sneak peek to let you know what’s in store for the new year. Think foil stamping (gold! silver! colored metallics!). 7 incredibly talented new designers and calligraphers. Colored envelopes. Letterpress on pocketfolds. Foil edging. New custom calligraphy styles (7 of them!). New inks. New fonts. 2 and 3 color liners. Take a look — it’s true love.

We’re pretty excited about Election Day 2011 around here (it’s today! Tuesday, November 8), so we’ve decided to hold a vote of our own! From now through November 30, four of our letterpress invitation designs will be in the running to become the next Bella Figura Design of the Month. The winning design will go on sale for 20% off during the month of December, so be sure to vote! (And tell your friends to vote, too!) The 20% off applies to save the dates, thank you cards, coasters, place cards, menus, programs, invitations, and any other piece that uses the winning design.

Voting is easy: simply visit this page to view the nominated designs, then ‘like’ your favorite (you must be logged in to Facebook to do this). Already dreaming up ways to customize your favorite design? Check out these gorgeous customizations our in-house graphic design team dreamed up to get some extra inspiration.

Alice by Tara Hogan

Carte de Visite by Ben Whitla

Collection by Ellie Snow

Ikaty by Kamal

Which of these amazing designs will go on sale during the month of December?? It’s up to you – be sure to vote today!

(The small print: the Design of the Month promotion may not be used on purchases of other designs or in combination with any other promotion.)

We know, we know, this is supposed to be a blog about letterpress, but we thought you’d like these beautiful photos from one of our favorite places, Grindstone Farm. Not only does Grindstone provide delicious, nutritious, organic fruits and veggies to the Bella Figura staff through our CSA partnership, they are also a prime example of why farms make great wedding locations!

Of course, planning a wedding on a working farm can be tricky. You need to plan ahead so you are not stuck without power or lights (or bathrooms!), you’ll need to make sure grandma and grandpa do not have to walk a mile in dress shoes, and if you want the ultimate local experience of using food and flowers grown onsite, you’ll need to get the details to the farmer a year in advance.

When the details come together, it’ll be worth the trouble. Your guests will be able to share in an incredible one-of-a-kind experience, creating memories that will last a lifetime.

Interested in finding a farm like this near you for your wedding or big event? Or do you want to use locally grown produce or flowers for your special event?  Check out localharvest.org to find CSAs, U Pick Farms, Farmers Markets, Grocery Co-ops in your area!

Here at Bella Figura, we think voting is one of the most direct ways to impact this country and the world. So to encourage everybody to get out and vote this year, we’re offering a special promotion just for voters during the month of November, 2011: orders with 75 invitation sets or more will receive 25 free sets!

To take advantage of this promotion, all you need to do is supply a photo of yourself voting! Simply send in the photo with your order to receive the special by emailing order@bellafigura.com – if you plan to work with one of our retailers, just include their store name in your email. We’ll be featuring the photos on our blog and Facebook page in the upcoming weeks, so please let us know when submitting the photo if you don’t want your photograph shared!

Election day is November 8, 2011, so get out and vote! If you want to help spread the word on election day, let everyone know that you voted by uploading your photo to our Facebook page. Just click the ‘Share Photo’ option, and in the caption, tell us the state you’re voting in!

Excited about the vote? Keep the voting momentum going and click here to vote on the next design of the month! The design of the month will go on sale for 20% off during the month of December & 4 designs are in the running — be sure to check it out!

We can hardly believe that Bella Figura’s first Design Contest came and went so quickly. Congrats again to all of the winners! Now that the contest has ended, we thought you’d like to see the gorgeous contest winner plaques we sent to the stores that had the top ten designs! Our internal designer Lindsy Aragona created a stunning customization of our Maile design. These beauties are letterpressed in an exciting color combination of sherbet and spring green inks on our 2-ply white paper. Corner rounding adds an extra touch, highlighting the natural curves of the leaves in the design. The wonderful Sarah Hanna is responsible for the stunning calligraphy. The photography in this post features our winners (first place Gus & Ruby Letterpress, second place Social Graces, and third place Union Street Papery).

We just love when magazines and blogs decide to showcase the beautiful letterpress printing we get to do every day, so today we’re sharing some of the amazing features Bella Figura has been spotted in over the past few months. One of the most recent spotlights was found in the fall 2011 issue of Inside Weddings, where Kamal‘s majestic Bejeweled design sparkled.

A few months back, Brides magazine highlighted our Nouvina design by Heidi, which features modern, whimsical flowers and fun, bold colors.

Stationery Trends also decided to feature one of our invitations this fall — the ever popular Irving invitation (designed by Ben Whitla).

We were also thrilled to see one of our calligraphers, Patricia Mumau of Primele, featured in Martha Stewart Weddings a few months back!

We’d also like to thank Oh So Beautiful Paper, Once Wed, Modernly Wed, Chic Vintage Brides, Wed Haute, If I Must Say So, and I Love You Too for highlighting our work — thank you, thank you!

Just as our printers enjoy telling stories of how they came to love letterpress, every bride knows the importance of a good engagement story… you want to tell the whole world how he presented that little box with the sparkly ring.

And let’s be serious — we love gold. It’s shiny, it’s pretty, and when placed on the left ring finger, a gold ring symbolizes never-ending love and commitment to our one-and-only.

When I started ring shopping with my fiance, I was torn. I knew I wanted a ring, but I was concerned about the environmental and social impacts of this particular “symbol of love”. From the beginning, I was adamant that I wanted a conflict-free diamond, but it wasn’t until I started digging into the facts that I began to understand the effects of gold mining on communities, mining workers, and our environment.

You may have noticed that proceeds from our Labor Day Sample Sale (a huge success by the way… thanks!!!!) went to support Earthwork’s No Dirty Gold Campaign. Earthworks is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting communities and the environment from the impacts of irresponsible mining (Earthworks is also one of the eco causes we support as a member of 1% for the Planet!). I wanted to share with you some of what I have learned from Earthworks, and give you resources that will allow you to make informed purchases in the future.

Did you know that:

- One ring (if using traditional mining practices) produces an average of 20 TONS of waste!?!
- Gold mining is one of the world’s dirtiest industries. It wreaks havoc on local economies, causes illnesses, destroys streams, contaminates soil, and contributes to human rights abuses.
- Mined waste includes all sorts of toxins such as cadmium, mercury, arsenic, and lead. These metals enter local watersheds, contaminating drinking water for local residents.

Yeah. That’s pretty heavy stuff. Still, there are things you can do to help!

- Recycle old jewelry. You can have old rings melted down to make new ones. Support jewelers that offer products made with recycled gold.
- Buy vintage or antique jewelry.
- Love your ring. Take care of it and eventually pass it on to a child or friend.

To learn about more ways you can have an impact, or to learn more about the “No Dirty Gold Pledge”, visit the No Dirty Gold Campaign website today.

It’s that time of year again — our sample sale is back! Now through September 8, all of our letterpress invitation samples will be on sale for just $1! All proceeds from the sale will benefit Earthworks and will help aid their efforts to end dirty gold mining practices around the world. Sign the pledge today and make sure you know where your gold is coming from! The inventory for a few of our designs is limited, so you may receive samples in colors that are different from what’s shown on our website (but don’t worry — they’ll still be pretty!!).  Samples may be ordered on our website – just click on your favorite designs, then select “order a sample” and proceed to checkout after you’ve selected all of the designs you’d like to see! The sale ends at 11:59pm on Thursday, September 8, so don’t wait — buy your samples today & help the environment in the process — it’s a win-win!

**The fine print: availability for select designs may be limited. If our inventory runs out for a sample that you’ve ordered, we’ll contact you to determine a suitable replacement option or to arrange a refund if necessary. We appreciate your understanding on this!**