Welcome.

Brown Parcel Press is a mother and daughter team that makes letterpress paper goods inspired by the natural world and the simplicities of home. We print each piece with love and patience in our rural Georgia studio. 

 
 
 
 
 
JUST RELEASED!  Inside Outside: a new print collection on handmade paper

JUST RELEASED! Inside Outside: a new print collection on handmade paper

 
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sale
Satsumas in a Row
Garden themed stationery... now on SALE!

Garden themed stationery... now on SALE!

 
Want a behind the scenes look at our newest collaboration, Rainbow Soup? Explore here .

Want a behind the scenes look at our newest collaboration, Rainbow Soup? Explore here.

 
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- INSTAGRAM -

We got a new press, which means its time to rearrange the studio. Changing physical spaces makes me feel like this 🤗 and also like this 😱 and also like this 😭 because I’m not always the best when it comes to interior design decisions (seriously that part of my brain just isn’t wired correctly), but on the upside it’s a good opportunity to clean house and reevaluate things. I found this print from a series of small prints we did a while back but all of them are sold out now. I’m thinking it might be time to do some new designs for small prints... or it’s time to get back to cleaning up. Either one, right?! #letterpress
Play. It’s a word adults rarely, if ever, use to describe what they’re doing. When was the last time someone asked you what you were doing and you responded, “I’m playing”! As we grow older I think we still ‘play’ we just do it in different ways. I think we’re playing when we’re involved in an activity and we lose ourselves during that activity. Those thoughts of worry, or fear, or comparison don’t exist. Some find it in reading, in running, in coloring, in watching a movie, in gardening. This ink wash portrait of me and my mother reading to me when I was a little girl was my version of ‘playing’. I had no goals for it, or myself, other than to sit down with a piece of paper and a brush and take 5 minutes to have some fun. Just 5 minutes- but that 5 minutes has continued to benefit me long after. Some people don’t need an invitation to relax, have fun, and laugh, but that’s not me (even though I’m working on loosening up those reigns!) If you’re like me, consider this an invitation to you to approach some task in your day and call it ‘playing’ instead of it’s more practical title. If it brings you even one more ounce of happiness than usual than know that you always have the power to approach something you’re doing with a playful heart instead of or in addition to a productive one. #play
I’m always hoping our calendars are like crystal balls 🔮 for all the things I’m going to be eating from month to month, but I let May go by without eating a single 🍑. I’m off my produce game... here’s to getting right back on that saddle in June. Anyone enjoyed their first peach of Summer yet? #eatallthepeaches #letterpress #bppstudio #2019sunnyside
Orange with a side of white 🧡 #letterpress #bppstudio
95 degrees in GA today... Summer has arrived! 🍉🍦🍅 • Because all of our colors get registered and printed by hand we inevitably end up with some mistakes in the process. My favorite use for our mess-ups is using them for ink tests (it also helps me make sure that all of the colors in the collection actually work together 🎨🤪). Also, BIG thanks to everyone who gave suggestions yesterday... there were some amazing ones in there! #letterpress #picnic #bppstudio
This will be our 10th year making our epic 13 print calendar baby 😱, but I’ve never reached out to take requests. Whaaaaaa?! I’m realizing that this oversight is full on silly on my part because we make this calendar to connect with all of YOU and hopefully translate some of the beauty we see outside (and on our plate) into something we can remember year round in our home at a moment’s glance. Is there anything from the garden that you would love to see us illustrate and print for next year? Edible and non-edible suggestions are welcome, and if your suggestion ends up in the calendar we’ll send you something EXTRA special in the mail once the printing begins! ✨📬 I’m thinking garlic will definitely be in there because the whimsy of their stems & blooms just makes me so happy! If you haven’t ever seen garlic growing, they can grow in the most wonky, curvy, fun dr. Seussy ways, and we all need more Seuss in our lives, n’est çe pas?
Sometimes growing feels effortless. Other mornings it feels anything but. This morning I went through the girls clothes to get ready for the new season and Emolyn’s hand me downs will become Gillian’s Summer wardrobe. They’re three and a half years apart and so these clothes have sat patiently in the guest closet waiting for Gillian to be ready for them for several years now, but wasn’t Emolyn wearing these cotton dresses just yesterday? • How can we be a part of everyday and still feel like sometimes the days are marching forward without us? Another realization this morning was being acutely aware that I’m still growing up and growing into myself at the same time that my daughters are, and for that matter so is the rest of humanity 😬. It’s hard not to get swept away in the worry that I’m missing so much of what’s in front of me already. This is a reminder for me to stay grounded in the moment of appreciating them for who they are now and not longing for who they were or imagining who they will grow into. #momthoughts #letterpress #newgrowth
Each night I roll into bed wondering how I can be so tired- feeling like I should always have a little more gas in the tank, a little more to give. But then I remember that I wake up each day and give that day my very best- I give it my all because it is a gift that is not to be wasted, and I will never get to do it over again. • The press is in a season of growing, of trying new things, and seeing how far we can push what we make, and I’m so happy that we stepped outside of our comfort zone to print our first print with text. It’s probably an odd thing to make stationery and prints that NEVER have words on them, but I don’t have greeting card humor and brevity is not my strong suit. No promises, but I’m hoping this print becomes part of a little series. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for those who reached out last week about their own stories of motherhood. I cried more than once (and one of those times was definitely in public 😭). #letterpress
I hope that when I’m 92 I’m still wearing jumpsuits that match my stationery✉️. These cards are from a collaboration we did with @aceandjig awhile back (and there’s not too many left) in case you needed a present for a textile loving mom or mom friend 💙❤️. They’re on sale in our online shop. #letterpress #paperandpattern #aceandjig
I watercolored these little cards to go with our Spring orders and laid them on the floor by my desk to snap a little picture of their citrus sweetness in natural light, and then I walked away for an hour to pick up my kid from school. When I came back home I saw that Roomba ran all over these cards and did his very robot best to sweep them into oblivion. Back to square 1 🤦‍♀️. Also showed up to my dentist appointment a full week early today so I’m 2/2 💪😂☀️.
You guys spoke loud and clear... this Make Marmalade card has been your favorite design from the new collection. Bright and cheery with a pop of pink- it’s my favorite too. Last week in our stories I showed what the card looks like as we build up the card one color at a time (it’s archived in Studio Life in case you missed it). - The design may look simple but it gets run through our press 5 times... that’s a whole lot of letterpress. It’s back in stock on our website if anyone’s looking for a little more citrus in their life! - #letterpress #bppstudio #marmalade #citrus
In this picture I’m wearing an apron I bought 11 years ago, shortly after Brown Parcel Press began. Our studio was in a different town, the press we were using was leased for $50 a year (😱 that’s a story in and of itself), and we had no start up capital to speak of, but I started squirreling money away for a nice printing apron because it felt like just the badge of courage I needed to take the business (and it’s growing pains) one day at a time. - From the very beginning I approached running BPP like the Little Engine that Could: ‘I may not know how to run a business yet, but I think I can. I may not know how to communicate with clients yet (or even find them), but I think I can.’ Life is a series of leaps of faith... some little and some big. Now I almost never wear an apron to print (unless I’m wearing a white shirt), and my mom is the one who usually wears it in the studio having adopted this printing apron as her own badge of courage. She has willingly rolled up her sleeves and learned every technique I’ve asked her to, without any printing background— her own leap of faith after her children grew up and left the nest. - Consider this a little vote of encouragement if you’re feeling hesitant about making your own leap of faith and know that the right apron just might make the difference in your confidence 😉.