Washington, D.C. - July 31, 2006

Love Letter

Letterpress Lab

Most people’s mail piles are mini Bermuda Triangles of printed material, where innocent letters get lost in the pages of coupon books, Spiegel catalogs, and heaps of credit card offers.

So how do you ensure that your correspondence stands out? Send cards by Letterpress Lab. The Arlington-based printing company offers limited-edition letterpress, linocut and silk-screened note cards, and custom stationery. All work is done by hand; even the old-fashioned cylinder press is hand-operated.

The current line of ready-made greeting cards features pop-style images from vintage glamour magazines. Send someone the Hair-do Bingo card, with a little bingo board; the Pandora’s Hair, with images of old tools; or the Big Beehive, with some big hair, and, yes, a beehive. Custom items can be designed with just about any image you want.

The only hard part? Sending such a pretty thing off. But don’t worry — you may just see it again.

Mail being mail, it’s likely to be returned to sender.

Available online at letterpresslab.com.