News / gifts from maine

brand-new, limited edition Organic Cotton Gold Rose Moth tees are here!

brand-new, limited edition Organic Cotton Gold Rose Moth tees are here!

Hooray for freshly printed fall tees! Here is a brand-new, limited edition organic cotton tee with a shimmery rose gold moth illustration. This is a design I started sketching at the beginning of the summer...

first moth sketches

I hand-painted the finished design with a fine paintbrush and black India ink on transparent film,

then used that film to create the silkscreen stencil, and hand-printed a limited edition of only twenty-five prints on these super-luxurious organic cotton tees.

Here's a fun time-lapse video of the set-up process, mixing and testing the ink color, marking out the t-shirts to make sure the print will be neatly centered, etc... Silkscreen printing takes a lot of careful set-up work!

And here's a time-lapse of me printing the tees! 

silkscreen printing the new moth tees

 

It's a really flattering scoop-neck style with beautiful, simple details, well-constructed from unbelievably soft Pima cotton. Because it's a different (and fancier) style of tee than I usually print on, I only made twenty-five of these for the Fall 2018 season, and will not be printing more this season, so they'll probably be selling out by the end of Common Ground Fair, if not sooner - if you want to catch one in your size, they are all up on the website now.

 

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Summer 2018 Craft Fair Schedule

Summer 2018 Craft Fair Schedule

I am feeling SO very spring-sunshine-y this week, it's glorious! And that's got me thinking about this coming summer craft fair season... yay! I've cut back on my craft fair commitments now that we've got TWO little running, climbing, wild, mischievous and delightful assistants on our little team. It was always a lot of work to pull off a big craft fair when it was just me, but now that we've got two little kids to look after, it's a HUGE undertaking! Someday the kids will be older and they'll be thrilled to spend the occasional weekend away from us and we'll get back to doing more fairs then, but for now, they're only little once and it's hard to do too many big weekend commitments. So, just a few great events lined up for this summer:

Yarmouth Clam Festival, crafts area: July 20 - 22, Yarmouth, Maine

Ossipee Valley Music Festival: July 26 - 29, Hiram, Maine

Common Ground Country Fair: September 21 - 23, Unity, Maine

Come out and see us - these are all FANTASTIC events filled with amazing handmade goods, and I'm looking forward to each of them!

Also, check out Picnic Craft Fair on August 4th in Portland - we LOVE this one and always participate, but have to miss it this year for a very special wedding in New York. And if you're in Portland, absolutely go check out the Portland Fine Craft Show on August 25th. We'll be out of town for this one too, but it was awesome last year and I'm sure it will be a great showing again this time around!

Common Ground Fair rainbow

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Packaging Design

Packaging Design

Did you know this week was national packaging design day? I know it’s a small detail, but I’ve always been really proud of my product packaging and the design thought I’ve put into it. Simple, minimal and practical (and eco-friendly)! My pattern design style is always pretty elaborate, which means the packaging needs to stay understated - I think it's a nice balance. And nice packaging makes it easier to give them as a gift - wrapping and presentation is always part of the joy of giving and receiving!

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Free Shipping code for email subscribers!

Free Shipping code for email subscribers!

Are you on the Morris & Essex email list? http://eepurl.com/czJaY I'd love to stay in touch by email, and I'm sending out a *FREE SHIPPING* code to my email list subscribers this week, so hop over and get on the list if you aren't there already! http://eepurl.com/czJaY I promise not to bug you too much, I don't send a whole lot of emails and when I do, it's usually good stuff - new product announcements, sneak peaks, sales, and the rare promo codes. Love to have you join us there! 

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ENAMEL MUGS ARE HERE! and you could win one for free!

ENAMEL MUGS ARE HERE! and you could win one for free!

You guys, I am SO EXCITED to announce that the enamel mug design I did this summer is FINALLY here and they are up in the shop! These came all the way from Poland, where they were manufactured by Emalco, a family business and high-quality enamelware maker. They use traditional methods with some modern innovations to create gorgeous, durable enamelware. Designs are fired on to the enamelware with high heat, so they won't scratch off! 

I'm celebrating with a giveaway! Head over to my Facebook page and leave a comment before Thursday, 1/11/18 to be entered to win a free mug! Let me know what you'd like to drink out of this mug and I'll send a spiffy new mug to one lucky winner! Comment on my Facebook page to be entered in the drawing. https://www.facebook.com/Morris.Essex/posts/10157027586214972

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