Card: "Emem" [Hello]

Who: For my cousin M.M. in the Philippines

What: Two oversized M.M.'s fill the cover of the 4x6 card.

Why: Well her nickname is M.M. so it is quite fitting. Before when we were younger, my cousins here and my cousins in the Philippines would send each other letters and it was always exciting to receive a large envelope with letters inside. Because of the digital age, much of that has been lost due to email. While it does make things easier and instant, nothing beats the old fashioned letter/greeting card.

Card: "Remember the Doors?" [Birthday]

Front

Inside

Full Spread [Front/Back]

Who: For my high school friend Maxine.

What: Illustration made and colored in Photoshop with Wacom Intuos 3 tablet. Card depicts double doors when the card is fully spread out. First card by the way that I printed full color on the front and back of card.

Why: In high school, I believe in our Junior or Senior year, Maxine and I were trying to go through the double doors in the 2nd floor. Surprisingly, we couldn't open the door and I exclaimed it was locked. She too tried opening it and couldn't. We figured this was odd enough so we remained stubborn and leaned our weight onto the doors and finally it opened. I'd agree that we probably looked like weaklings. Doors too signify new opportunities so however she'd like to interpret this, by all means do so. Nevertheless, Happy [Belated] Birthday! [April 30th].

Signed, Sealed, Delivered.

I recieved my custom wax stamp today from Old School Seals. It took me awhile to find a custom wax stamp company [online] but glad to come across this company based in Washington. Their service was great for the fact that they sent me a rendering of my seal in which I approved about 3 days after they received my custom order. About a week after, the final product came arrived at my doorstep.

Detailed shot of the custom seal's stamp imprint on the box containing the seal.

I'm sure you've seen unboxing pictures of hi-tech products. For something lo-tech, the product packaging is simple, elegent, and I'm pretty sure used with recycled materials. The seal itself has an aluminum handle which I've chosen over the wooden one. You can also unscrew the head and use different seals in the future [another reason why I chose the aluminum one].

The stamp's diameter is 0.75" round and they do offer larger diameters and even an orthodox rectangle/square custom seals.

Bringing it back to the old school days thanks to Old School Seals.

Wouldn't be complete without the wax and had to complete the look with the colors of jjasef. This here is Grass Green faux sealing wax to be used with an ordinary craft glue gun.

With the purple envelopes and now the green official stamp of jjasef, I think my packaging is sealed.

Stay tuned for my next update on how I will brand jjasef with a little creative marketing to include recipients on this blog. =)

P.S.
If you've stumbled across this and feel that you're not on my birthday/holiday address book, feel free to email me your address and I'll send you a card! Email: jjasef[at]gmail[dot]com

SFgate.com Horoscope Reading [Libra] 04/29

Good thing my girlfriend pointed this to me since I actually willingly passed today's reading on Google Reader. It reads:

"Little things--like thank-you cards and notes--matter. Others may [make] fun of your Miss Manners approach, but little touches forge lasting alliances."

=)

Card: "Dance Like Me" [Birthday]

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

Who: For my friend Lauren who's part of the girl group opposite of the SI6 [the guys in high school in which we're known as. Yea, the group whom I've hung out with has a name. Ok, get over it].

What: Lauren does this very unique dance and this illustration shows only the upper half. I forgot to add actually that it requires you to stick out your ass and walk forward while doing the mentioned illustration/instructions. This illustration by the way is really me. I bought new suspenders today and they're navy blue with orange/red dots. This card is printed by the way horizontally. So the second picture posted is when it's unfolded and there in its space is where my message will be.

Why: Because it's funny. And I'm not there to show her this dance live and say happy birthday!

Card: "Initial Edit" [Birthday]

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

Who: For my friend AJ who's home page is here, but you can watch his videos on vimeo right here, as well as his video reel here, and if you've watched the movie Lumpia, he's affiliated with my other friend Pat.

What: Using my Wacom tablet, I hand wrote his card and made the graph paper as the background in Photoshop. I probably came across his name in non-initial form and if I did, I forgot.

Why: AJ is a film editor. Here's my initial edit. Get it? ... ok..ok bye.

Card: "Matt Lai" [Birthday]

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

Who: Read the card.

What: Simplicity: First name on front, Last name inside. Letters set to 50% opacity with colors overlapping to create more color than expected.

Why: Everyone knows Matt Lai. He's one of the boys from my "SI6" group [as Eli and Darryl are] in high school. Plus, everyone who does know him usually [almost all the time] refer to him with his full name at least once in the day. We never knew why.