the earth ink

It took an extra month, but the 2013 Christmas card production is over for Andrea (and The Earth Ink). Here are some fun statistics about this year's distribution: 228 total cards were mailed. 20 cards were sent internationally to 12 countries. Cards were sent to 29  of the United States + Washington DC. Each card took about 6 minutes to hand make ( 22.8 hours total) which does not include design time. There are 152  cut out images in this year's card. Yikes! All but 1 card was sent out before the postage increase. The card was cut from one 11x17 sheet of recycled paper using sustainable inks. The card makes use of a verse from Philippians in the Bible about looking forward to achieve our life's goal (see below). The card measures 50 inches long - and still folds up to fit in a first class envelope. And now that the major Christmas card effort is complete, a design idea is already in the works for the 2014 card.  Not that I have already obtained a...

The Earth Ink has recently moved from Honolulu, Hawaii to Denver, Colorado. In the course of the moving I uncovered one of the first postcards that I designed. In the midst of saying so many goodbyes and leaving those people who became an influential and special part of my life in Hawaii, I read the quote I referenced on the card: Though miles may be between us, we're never far apart, for friendship doesn't count the miles, it's measured by the heart.   -Rozina Hosham-  Letter writing is one of the most beautiful ways to communicate with someone (hence the postcard design), but it has become much more easy to keep in touch with friends with social media and text messages as well.  So, here is looking forward to all the new friends (and The Earth Ink clients) and remembering the heartwarming generosity and hospitality from those who I said "aloha" to in Hawaii!

My annual personal project is a Christmas card. Every year my address list seems to get a little longer and every year the card is something a little bit different from the last - and from any other greeting anyone gets in the mail. I avoid writing long paragraphs to sum up the year. Instead, I use photography and graphic design to illustrate some of the highlights. This year, I chose to develop a 'passport of 2012.' I carefully blended the photos and places I had been together for each page and integrated a verse (James 1:16-18) into the design. I personalized the front of the passport with some Hawaiian holiday greetings and colorful splashy cutout photos. Inside, I placed scans of the country stamps I obtained in 2012 over photo collages of special memories. True to a passport, I rounded the corners of each little booklet and twisted a ply of yellow and red thread before tying it around the crease giving it an stitched effect along the binding. I also made envelopes...