guaranteed to raise a smile

It was forty years ago today Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play!!!

I would love it if I could write with some authority about the influence of the Beatles and this album in particular, but I can't. To say my knowledge of music is lacking would be kind. I do know this: I need music playing to really get my creative juices flowing. It helps if either you sing off-key loudly or dance without a shred of rhythm. So put on a CD or your favorite radio station and make something beautiful!!!

contributed by: Cherish Harris

Fountain Pen Fascination

Before I began working for Jenni I had never in my life picked up a fountain pen. Now I am completely fascinated by them. After having many customers wax poetically about the sheer beauty of writing with a fountain pen I took a leap of faith and bought my first fountain pen. I haven't looked back, I love the sound of the nib scratching against the paper and I swear my writing looks better when I use a fountain pen. This is a blessing since in the past my handwriting has been likened to that of a serial killer.

All joking aside I think there is a reason that there are so many faithful fountain pen users out there. Our lives are filled with text messaging via computers, cell phones and blackberry contraptions, perhaps there is something beautifully simple about fountain pens.

So, imagine my glee when I arrived this morning and found Jenni unpacking new fountain pens!!! I think perhaps it might be time for fountain pen number two.

contributed by: Cherish Harris

Invitations add a personal touch

By Pat Waring - March 22, 2007

Pull a favorite dress out of the closet, toss together a plate of chips and salsa, and grab a bouquet from the market. Bargain wine, paper plates, and - presto! - you're ready for a party. But what about your wedding? That special party calls for a spectacular dress, catered delicacies, and custom flowers, all to fit the bride's personality and style. With every other aspect meticulously chosen, why settle for a conventional ready-made invitation when it's possible to have one as distinctive as the day itself?

Vineyard brides are fortunate to have two dedicated artisans available to assist in their search for the perfect invitation. Both Jenni Bick and Sandra Bernat have extensive experience, technical skills, familiarity with resources, and a passion for paper and all its possibilities. While Ms. Bick makes the invitation, but first guides the bride-to-be in choosing elements that will make it personal, Ms. Bernat brings the client into the studio and assists her in making her own. In both cases, the bride can be assured of a unique product, a one-of-a-kind invitation package for her one-of-a-kind celebration. Although their personal styles and the products they create are very different, both women see the art of designing and making invitations as a creative adventure, an attitude infectious and reassuring to the bride-to-be.



Not that many years ago wedding invitations - although formal, elegant, and always exciting to send and receive - were predictable. Heavy, off-white paper, often engraved, a small "RSVP" card enclosed. Today's brides are choosing varied menus, eclectic music, and wedding venues from churches to lighthouses, so invitations too have become one more way to give the day a personal touch.

"The invitation, when it arrives in the mail, sets the tone for the rest of the event," says Jenni Bick, an experienced bookbinder who began doing custom invitations about two years ago.

Ms. Bick meets with, clients at her Main Street, Vineyard Haven store in an alcove stocked with sample albums, a rainbow of blank note cards, spools of ribbon from opulent satin to feather-light organza. Sheets of handmade paper hang on racks, bright as blossoms.



"You won't believe how limitless the choices are - hundreds!" says Ms. Bick, gesturing to the paper.

Along with albums of paper and print samples, Ms. Bick displays a collection of invitations suggesting the range of possibilities. Some are sleek and sophisticated with two-tone borders. Color combinations are extensive, and some are playful with bright graphics. A personal touch may be a monogram, an outline of a shell, leaf, or fern behind the text. One elegant style features shimmery pearlized paper screen-printed with metallic ink. She will gladly create a traditional invitation, flowing black script on heavy, ivory-toned stock as well.

Instead of using an envelope, the invitation may be set into a "pocket" or wrapped with paper, tied with a ribbon, "to create a package and a sense of ceremony."



Ms. Bick guides clients through the maze of additional materials - reply cards, dinner invitations, informative brochures for out-of-towners. She also makes personalized place cards, table accessories, scrapbooks, and guest books.

"No two jobs are alike," says Ms. Bick. "Each is one-of-a-kind and tailored to the client."

Once selections are made, invitations are fabricated at Ms. Bick's workshop on State Road. "It's very much a team effort," she emphasizes, crediting nine other staff members. She also offers "do it yourself" instructions using materials available at her shop.

Ms. Bick advises allowing anywhere between two and eight weeks for production; invitations should be mailed out four to six weeks before the big day. Ms. Bick said she can work with clients to keep the price tag manageable by choosing materials that are affordable without sacrificing style.

Sandy Bernat's two-story wood and glass Seastone Papers studio in the Christiantown woods is chock full of colorful paper, paper objects, paper-making materials and equipment. This is the place for a bride-to-be with an artistic bent who wants to have her invitations be a true personal expression. Here is a chance to indulge those childhood artwork pleasures - playing with colors, cutting, folding, pasting, stamping, getting her hands messy - before she takes on a new role as glamorous, grown-up bride.

Creating your own at Seastone Papers is much more than turning out a batch of invitations, Ms. Bernat says. It is a special occasion, whether the bride comes to the studio alone, or brings others - her mother, a maid of honor, best girlfriends, or the groom. They work together, and often share lunch or a champagne toast at the picnic table outside.



"It becomes a recordable event," Ms. says, recalling a father-of-the-bride who videotaped the day.

Clients can take part in every aspect of the design, making their own paper and choosing accents - petals, leaves, seaweed, ferns, seeds - then cutting the paper to order. Or skip the paper-making and select from an array of pre-made note cards in subtle and rich colors.

"There are all sort of ways to personalize your own wedding invitation," says Ms. Bernat, flipping through an album of past creations.

Printing can be done by hand, or a professional studio can print directly onto the handmade stock. One may have the message printed on opaque vellum or other paper, to be enclosed or attached with ribbon or simple raffia. Reply cards or invitations to the rehearsal dinner can be crafted from the same or complementary paper. Ms. Bernat will recommend shops or web sites for printing or paper products to coordinate with the handmade materials.

Brides to be may also look to Ms. Bernat for sweet wedding day accessories - delicate paper bags to hold bouquets gracing the reception tables, guest books covered in handmade paper. Her "Fortunate Cookie" features colored paper folded in fortune- cookie shape, holding a joyful affirmation for a happy-ever-after future, enclosed in a delicate paper box.

For more information about Sandy Bernat and Seastone call 508-693-5786; for more information about Jenni Bick call 508-696-7253 or visit www.jennibick.com.

Pat Waring is a staff writer for The Martha's Vineyard Times.

Our Biggest Sale Ever!

Dramatic price reductions!


We're having our biggest leather sale ever! Discounts from 20% to 40% on some of our most popular leather journals and photo albums!

Some of our best selling leather journals and photo albums are overstocked, and we're making way for Spring arrivals. Select a beautiful leather book and allow us to personalize it with custom embossing. At prices like these, you can afford one for a friend and one for yourself, too!

Sale ends March 31st, so don't delay. Take advantage of our sale pricing while you can!

The Envelope Collective

The Envelope Collective is an ongoing collaborative experiment in art that uses the transportation of mail as a medium. The website is an online gallery for those pieces that we receive.

Send us anything you want. Tell us a story. Tell us a secret. Don't tell us anything. Draw a picture, paint a letter. Send us a blank piece of paper. What is your dream? What is your fear? Send a postcard. What is your most favorite thing in the entire world? Who was your first crush? Who do you love? Don't be constrained by the proportions of an envelope. Send a box. Send a box with something in it. Decorate this box, make it into a piece of art.

Browse through the gallery or find out how to submit at The Envelope Collective

The International Edible Book Festival

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention."

Sir Francis Bacon - 1561-1626

The International Edible Book Festival is held annually around April 1st. To date, the following countries have held this festival: Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, United States of America, Russia. Hong Kong has just announced its participation in 2007.

April 1st is the birthday of French gastronome Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), famous for his book Physiologie du goût, a witty meditation on food. April fools' day is also the perfect day to eat your words and play with them as the "books" are consumed on the day of the event. This ephemeral global banquet, in which anyone can participate, is shared by all on the internet and allows everyone to preserve and discover unique bookish nourishments. This festival is a celebration of the ingestion of culture and a way to concretely share a book; it is also a deeper reflexion on our attachment to food and our cultural differences.

The International Edible Book Festival is a creation of Judith A. Hoffberg and Béatrice Coron. Judith got the idea over a Thanksgiving turkey with book artists in 1999, and Béatrice created Books2Eat website where despite the distances everyvody can enjoy worldwide's creations. They contacted friends and colleagues; their first event happened in 2000. Since then the festival continues as an annual sensation.

To find out what events are scheduled near you, click here.

Introducting the Limited Edition Bailey Collection from Kolo!

Meet Bailey. The limited edition Bailey Collection brings new splashes of color for Spring. Sophisticated woven striped patterns specially designed to beautifully accent the existing Kolo collection.

Available in 4 sizes and 2 colors. Archival.

Bailey Noci: sewn-spine album with 12 pocket pages and ribbon accent; holds 24 4”X6” photos

Bailey 2-Up Easy-load: bookbound album with 15 tabbed pocket pages; holds 60 4”X6” photos

Bailey Newport: 11”X14” post-bound scrapbook album with 10 soft white cloth-hinged pages

Bailey Newbury: ribbon-bound scrapbook album with 20 soft white pages


$18 - $49

Coming soon to www.jennibick.com