Red Monkey Press

New springtime cards on Etsy!

redmonkeypress — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:27:03 +0000

What does the beginning of spring mean to you? To me it means getting to ride my bike after all the snow melts and the start of the baseball season! To celebrate, I’ve made two new card designs for spring and put them up on the Etsy site. The cards are comprised of original drawings and photographs scanned into the computer, and then designed and colored in Photoshop. They are inkjet printed onto luxurious bright white cotton cards that are scored with a unique landscape fold. I’ve paired both designs with an A6-sized red envelope.

New postcards added to the Etsy site

redmonkeypress — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 01:37:11 +0000

I’ve spent the last week developing a series of greeting postcards to sell on the Etsy site. All four postcards in the series are hand-drawn, scanned into the computer, and colored in Photoshop. I then inkjet printed them onto quartz-colored Stardream cardstock, which is A2 size and has rounded corners. They all represent scenic landscapes and convey commonly used greetings. Since Stardream cardstock doesn’t like to absorb a lot of ink, I played around with different textures on each print to eliminate any large expanses of solid color. I’m very happy with the way the textures work together in each design. They are listed for sale individually and in a four-pack.

I love sending and receiving postcards, and at 28¢ for postage, it’s almost as cheap as an email!

The business cards are (almost) done!

redmonkeypress — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:27:11 +0000

I worked on the business card design yesterday and am very happy with the result. I want to print on bright white paper, but I still need to select which one. I’m in love with Stardream in the Crystal color, but the ink was smudging pretty badly an hour after I printed it. It might be a matter of letting it dry for longer, so I printed one yesterday and will be testing it later today. If not Stardream, a nice thick cotton paper would be very lovely.

The name.

redmonkeypress — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:11:54 +0000

Our older cat’s name is Monkey. When she is being playful and about to attack something, she makes this awesomely cute face where her pupils get really big and her ears flatten to the sides. Manny and I have always referred to this as her “Red Monkey Face”. At nine years old, she still makes the Red Monkey Face when she’s thinking really hard about attacking stuff. So, yes, I named my business after my cat, and, yes, that’s her in the logo. I would have named my business for both my cats if the younger one wasn’t named after a copyrighted cartoon character. There you have it. Mystery revealed.

Castro 2010 Valentine

redmonkeypress — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:38:45 +0000

This was the Valentine I sent out to friends and family. I drew a vaguely robotic heart, scanned it into my computer, and inkjet printed the Valentines onto rounded-corner silver Stardream cardstock and sent them as postcards.

Marcelino Baptism Invitations

redmonkeypress — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:55:09 +0000

These invitations were inkjet printed onto light green cardstock. I created a design that reflected the religious nature of the event and coordinated with the client’s holiday photo that was being sent in the same envelope.

Castro 2009 Holiday Cards

redmonkeypress — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:50:48 +0000

I was the client for these holiday cards. I love birch trees, so I drew some birch trees into a quiet snow scene. I used a retro font because of its hand-drawn aesthetic, which complemented the hand-drawn nature of the design. They were inkjet printed onto white Stardream cardstock.

Felix’s First Birthday Party Invitations

redmonkeypress — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:37:01 +0000

The client had provided the wording and the smooth, bright white cardstock. I otherwise had free reign for this design. The parents have a great sense of humor, so I knew I could take a few liberties with the aesthetic and make it a little extra quirky. They are inkjet printed and a low res file was also sent for emailing.

McIntyre/Silliman Wedding Reception Suite

redmonkeypress — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:29:15 +0000

This invitation suite was created for the Minneapolis reception of a couple who had eloped to Italy. The client had wanted to create an old-world Tuscan feel, but loved the dark gray cardstock for a modern twist.

McIntyre/Silliman Wedding Reception Invitations

redmonkeypress — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:25:32 +0000

The bride was in love with a scripty font she had seen on a website, so I tracked it down for her and used it as their signature font. The invitations are inkjet printed on dark gray cardstock.