PRAISE & PRESS

Stationery Trends Magazine - Spring 2010

Upscale, On A Budget - The look of luxury printing, if not the method, is available at significant savings

By Sarah Schwartz - Editor

You know it's time to speak to the budget-conscious when clever terms for them, like frugalista and recessionista, enter the mainstream.  To cater to these consumers, pricey brands are unveiling lower-priced offerings that still retain the luxury feel.  Witness Coach for example: about half its handbags are now priced under $300, compared to 30 percent a year ago.

In the stationery world, vendors who use high-end printing methods, such as letterpress, are doing the same by offering the same outstanding designs, but printed in a lower-cost method, or with more inexpensive materials.  Perhaps the most interesting about these types of offerings is that since designers are by nature out-of-the-box types, designers are devising all sorts of creative ways to lower costs without sacrificing great style.

Stationery Trends interviewed three vendors - Lilywillow Paper & Press, Wiley Valentine and Two Trick Pony - to get a sense of how vendors are approaching this.  Bear in mind that their efforts only scratch the surface of the clever solutions to the "champagne taste, beer budget" quandary.

Three Vendors, Three Approaches - Lilywillow Press offers digital, offset lithography and letterpress printing options for any design available in its wedding collection or with any custom design project, explained Blake Hanick, its founder.  "We work with our clients on an individual basis to find the best method for their project.  We've found that mixing printing methods works to keep clients within their budgets; we may go digital with the save-the-date and/or wedding day paper items, but offset or letterpress with the actual invitation suite."

"We definitely like to offer a wide range of pricing so our products can reach a wider audience," agreed Rachelle Schwartz, co-owner of Wiley Valentine. "Eight out of our nine custom albums offer products in flat printing as well as letterpress.  We also introduced flat printing on letterpress paper, that is 100 percent cotton textured paper, for those that still want textural quality but can't necessarily afford letterpress.  It's a great middle option and is very popular." 

Laurie Mee and Carrie Siegel, co-owners of Two Trick Pony, launched a strictly screen-printed invitation line, but within a few months expanded to include digital printing as well.  "Screen printing is a labor intensive hand printing process that delivers beautiful results, but can get quite expensive as you include more colors and additional pieces," Mee noted.  By adding a digitally printed option, clients can either opt for all digital for the most economical choice or purchase a mix of hand-printed and digital pieces."

Remarkable Results - Vendors reported favorable reactions from both their retail and consumer clients.  "We've been a great alternative for our retail partners," offered Hanick, "some of whom carry a great deal of letterpress were missing a higher level of design for their flat printing options."

About 70 percent of Lilywillow's local clients select digital or offset printing versus letterpress printing, and it's an even 50 percent for projects secured through their retail wedding partners.

Best of all, inexpensive prices have not harmed the business, Hanick added. "Offering the lower-priced printing methods hasn't hurt our bottom line, because by covering three distinct price points, there is an option for each client and we're securing more customers overall," she pointed out.  "Sometimes the misconception with digital printing has been their invitations will look like a color copy they can find just about anywhere, but most of our clients can't tell the difference between our digital and offset work."

Positive response to Wiley Valentine's textured paper as well as the flexibility of choosing papers and printing types has caused them to expand their offerings, Schwartz remarked.  "Subsequently we have launched a Luxe II album with all new designs to follow Luxe I, our original flat printing on textured paper album. We also launched a Soiree album this past year, which gives clients full flexibility to choose our smooth, 100% recycled paper, textured paper or even letterpress paper."

"Customers have responded quite positively to the 'a la carte' idea of mixing and matching print options," Siegel said.  "Our sales still lean heavily towards screen printing, but probably about a third of our clients print some portion of their invitation suite digitally.  We haven't noticed any decrease in our profits; it's so much less labor intensive that anything we lose in dollars is made up with man hours."

Expanding printing methods has affected how some designers approach the design process. "To save time and for ease of printing we do have to think in all three printing methods from the very first sketch," Hanick described.  "In some ways this is a good thing: It has forced us to focus on the collection as a whole and think about the Lilywillow customer and their preferences, industry trends and our own sense of design holistically."

Others, however, modify the production details to their brand, not the other way around.  "We still use our aesthetic we are known for and use complete creative freedom," Schwartz commented.

In many ways, offering these choices is just an extension of the trend toward complete customization, which most consumers tend to expect with higher-priced product.  "We very rarely have a customer stay with the 'as shown' version of our designs," Hanick finished, "given they have complete control over ink color, typestyle, paper, size, shape, orientation and even specific artwork details, like exchanging one flower for another, not to mention the printing method too."

Brides Colorado - Spring/Summer 2010

"My Favorite Invite of the Year"

The best invitation designers truly enjoy bringing every wedding invite to life, but there are always a few projects each year that hold a special place in their hearts.  Here, three local experts share the creations they loved the most. Lauren Matthews, editor, Brides Colorado

Blake Elizabeth Hanick - Owner, Lilywillow Paper & Press, Eaton

"I always love the chance to work with unexpected wedding invitation colors.  This is the Deco design from our 2009 collection, but we customized it with bold hues inspired by the colors of the wedding's table linens - peacock blue and lime green.  For the ink, we decided to use slightly darker tones of the same shades to really make the text pop." From $750 for 100 (invitations, printed envelope, and reply-card set), lilywillow.com.

Brides.com - Wedded Bits Blog

For their wedding at the Ski Tip Lodge in Keystone, Lisa and Will named their tables after rivers in Colorado (a nod to their love of white-water rafting). The fabulous table "number" cards were designed by one of my favorite Colorado stationers, Lilywillow Paper & Press.

I like the idea of naming tables—that is, as long as they're named after something that's actually relevant to you as a couple, and the names aren't too cutesy. If nothing comes to mind immediately, I say just go with good, old-fashioned numbers. What do you think? Did you name your tables, or use numbers? —Lauren Matthews, editor, Brides Colorado

Stationery Trends - Winter Issue 2010

Hot off the presses, Lilywillow made Stationery Trends magazine's Color Wheel.  Our Deco Design was included in the Fuschia-Inspired article. The perfect design for bright colors, we also love it in Teal & Granny Apple Green.

The Knot - Spring/Summer 2010

Check out Lilywillow's Mod Square design in the latest issue of The Knot!  This was a great assignment and we definitely wanted to share how this all came about...The Knot called us earlier in the year and asked us to prepare a fresh design using a specific pink ink - Pantone 705 U.  We could do whatever we wanted, use whatever typefaces we wanted, shapes or sizes, etc. and we got right to work.  Mod Square also looks great in other pastels - sage green, robins egg blue, or lavendar as well as in gem tones - sapphire blue, merlot, or garden green.  You can view the full Mod Square design by clicking HERE!

Premier Bride of Colorado Magazine - Summer/Fall 2009

Lilywillow's Nature Design was featured in the Stationery Style Section of the Summer/Fall issue including our invitation as well as a table number and menu example. Thank You Premier Bride! 

Entrepreneur Got Hooked on Art in Italy - The Denver Post - Sunday September 13, 2009

Q: What led you to give up your job at an architectural firm and become an entrepreneur?

A: I wanted to get out of corporate America and move back out toward my family.

I worked in publishing and marketing for close to 10 years and did a lot of freelance wedding stuff on the side for friends from college. I didn't launch my business until May 2008, but this year really kicked up with the wedding stationery. It's sort of a recession-proof industry. People's budgets may change, but for the most part, people are always going to be getting married. My parents had owned their own business in Kansas City for 23 years, so entrepreneurship is not new to the family.

Q: What makes your wedding stationery different from others?

A: We offer whatever printing method the bride prefers, with their design.

It's a hand-done process for the most part. There are some companies that have automated that to a high degree, but most of mine are still hand- or foot-pedal presses. Most of mine is either hand-done or photographic illustration, or we'll start with a photo and then break it down into layers or into an actual illustration. I'll source old artwork for people too.

Q: What sparked your interest in fine art, paper and typography — and where do you draw inspiration from?

A: I started at the University of Tulsa with the idea of going into English literature, and took a photo class, which got me into the art building.

Once I was in there it just exploded. Then I studied abroad in Montone, Italy, my sophomore year in college. I lived in a town of 500 people in the hills of central Umbria. It was an amazing experience. I studied drawing, painting and photography where I developed film in the bathtub of my apartment. That cemented my path as far as art was concerned.

Also, I live in a 1930s farmhouse with four acres, two horses and five dogs. I have a really good view of the mountain range, and behind me is about 1,200 acres of uninhabited land. A lot of my designs are nature-inspired or animal-inspired.

Edited for length and clarity by Sara Castellanos.

Eaton Resident Starts A Stationery Shop - The Tribune - Sunday August 9, 2009

By Sharon Dunn

Blake Hanick of rural Eaton has combined her 10-plus years of professional experience in graphic design, marketing, advertising and publishing with a personal interest in fine art, paper, typography, illustration, and printing to start Lilywillow Paper & Press

Lilywillow offers personalized wedding stationery, plus several card lines, letterpress and holiday designs.  Lilywillow's debut was at the National Stationery Show in New York.

For more information, call (970) 454-5564 or go to www.lilywillow.com,

On the Move - The Coloradoan - Sunday August 2, 2009

By Pat Ferrier

Blake Hanick has combined her 10-plus years of professional experience in graphic design, marketing, advertising, and publishing with a personal interest in fine art, paper, typography, illustration and printing to start Lilywillow Paper & Press near Eaton. 

Wedding stationery is Lilywillow's biggest market.  In addition to wedding stationery, Lilywillow has created several card lines, the most popular being the nature cards, farm cards, western cards and wild animal cards.  Also available are several letterpress designs and holiday designs.

Lilywillow's debut was at the National Stationery Show in New York.  For more information, call (970) 454-5564.

Lilywillow Paper & Press Profile in Brides Colorado - Fall/Winter Issue - Page 138

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Lilywillow Paper & Press - Reader's Choice for Custom Invitations on Colorado Home & Lifestyles Magazines Best List - August 2008

Life Inspired Personal Correspondence - 5/14/08 Eaton, Colorado

New Company Lilywillow Allows Customers the Opportunity to Make a Personal Statement Through Their Stationery

We are proud to announce the public launch of Lilywillow Paper & Press, a company whose primary purpose is to facilitate communication and self-expression through inspired personal correspondence.  Founded by owner and creative director Blake Elizabeth Hanick, Lilywillow Paper & Press is a premier stationer and custom design studio specializing in invitations, announcements, and  everyday correspondence.  Comprised of five divisions - Weddings, Baby, Stationery, Embellishments, and Gifts - Lilywillow provides a charming collection enabling our clients to communicate, connect, inform, and express themselves in an aesthetically pleasing way.

With modern communication methods taking a fast track to the impersonal, Lilywillow was built on the understanding that great design has the power to reflect personality, enhance life experience, set a mood or tone, and leave a lasting impression.  This is an understanding that comes from first-hand life experience.  After working for seven years in professional service, Founder and Owner Blake Hanick found her true passion while working on a wedding stationery suite for her best friend.  She made the decision to leave the fast-paced corporate world a year later to start her own business, one that was founded on the belief that life is too short  to not notice and appreciate the inspiration around us everyday.  In late 2007, she moved the business from Pittsburgh, PA to Eaton, CO, a quiet farming community about 25 miles east of Fort Collins.  It is here she finds her designs; from the nature, the animals and the calm of the mountains now abundantly surrounding her.     

We strive to graphically enable our clients, through distinct and expressive fine paper goods, to reflect a desired sentiment and personal vision for each and every life moment, celebration, occasion, or event. At Lilywillow we accomplish this aim by providing unique stationery items in a retail capacity through the web site, by offering the personalization of any design available to include customer preferences, or through custom design services, culminating in a one-of-a-kind stationery suite prepared exclusively for the client. We truly believe: Life is the product of purpose and event.  Design is the product of life. Lilywillow Paper  & Press - Life Inspired Fine Paper Goods.

Available designs can be viewed at www.lilywillow.com, with custom design consultations available by appointment.  We hope to be a part of the next special event in your life.

We're Online! - 4/11/08

Lilywillow Paper & Press launched the official website April 11, 2008.  We will be adding additional wedding, baby and stationery designs daily over the next few weeks so please come back often and check out our new lines!