PRAISE & PRESS

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!