The first step in the excellent exchange of verbiage for storage was swatches. I mailed Zaki a note on my AOK letterhead, in its companion envelope, and she promptly sent me selected swatches: fabric samples for the box exteriors; paper and fabric options for the interiors. Zaki has envelopes (4 Bars, the smallest mailable size, 3-5/8″ x 5-1/8″) with Swatches / Snippets / Chic Scraps letterpress printed on the flap, for this very purpose. But she is currently favoring larger swatches and enveloping them in glassine. Zaki and I had one quick phone consultation to finalize my choices, including instantly agreeing on which AOK font to use for the foil stamping. Chevalier won the day.
My letterhead and second sheets now reside in a pair of drop-spine, drop-dead gorgeous boxes covered and lined in Iris Linen bookcloth. I have not dropped an h at the end of Iris; it is indeed Iris Linen. The three dividers — to separate the Strathmore Script Soft Aqua Pinstripe Laid from the Strathmore Script Soft Aqua Smooth from the Strathmore Writing Soft Gray Laid — are covered in the same linen. An unimaginably wide loop of Midori double-faced ivory satin ribbon makes it très charmant to lift the paper out. Yes, I am loopy with delight.
Zaki also made a pair of lidded boxes covered in Japanese fabric, silk tempered with rayon. She lined the interiors with light blue Hagakure, a Japanese handmade paper. The AOK tip-on, foil stamped on Soft Aqua, sits in its own die-stamped recess. And here’s a close-up of the doubly nubbly fabric.
To kuhnclude: I hope you have enjoyed this week’s in-depth tour of my new new stationery, and I wish you all a bonbon weekend. Next week on Felt & Wire, our toast to engraving!
Photography: Crystal Chou, rhymes with And how!
oh.my.god….. those fabric boxes are unbelievably gorgeous! You take care of your stationery VERY well =)
Dearest Smitten – And my stationery takes care of me! My new boxes drive me delirious with delight. Thank you for your comments this week. We are mailing you an Aly Kuhniversity notepad as a token of our esteem. Toastily, The AOK Gal
The most beautiful boxes I have ever seen. I can’t agree more on the “drop-spine, drop-dead gorgeous boxes” !
Wow. I wish I was talented enough to have someone make me beautiful boxes like these in return for my writing skills!
Gorgeous. Really, really gorgeous!