Our Story
Wild Ink Press is a little letterpress studio in Chico, up in northern California. We design and manufacture (made in our space from start to finish): witty and pretty greeting cards, stationery and other paper goods in our downtown shop renovated from an old soda bottling plant. We keep old printing machines and techniques alive, but liven them up with fresh artwork and zingy prose! Our paper goods are eco-produced from recycled stock and also 100% made in the USA (by us) for you.
Owner and designer Rebekah Tennis started Wild Ink Press in 2009, springing out of a desire to create a cherished, finished product. Rebekah has a BFA in Graphic Design, and after working both in a corporate design firm and as a freelance designer, while she loved her job, she found the nature of branding design to be a frustrating factor - Websites getting tweaked over and over, logos stretched out of proportion, with no finality to the work. She longed to create art that was both finished (forever!) and cherished. Hence, Wild Ink Press was born, to create beautiful paper goods that others would value and enjoy. Her husband Matt listened to her wild-haired ideas and they both took a series of letterpress classes at the San Francisco Center for the Book, then made the plunge and purchased a 1908 Chandler and Price Platen Press on Ebay. That was what started it all!
When not designing and printing greeting cards, Rebekah and Matt can be found wrangling their three young boys, running a tractor on the family rice farm, or attempting to travel the world.
The company has grown and expanded over the years, and we now are a staff of seven, have a retail and printing space in downtown Chico where we still do just what we started at the beginning: design cards, print them on old presses, one ink at a time, and package them with care for you to give and receive.
Our Studio
Our Staff
Charlene, fulfillment coordinator
virtue/vice
Double check / Triple check
job haiku
Fulfill the order.
A handwritten thank you note,
It's in the details.
Daily Zen
Packaging calendars
favorite wild ink press card
Carrol, stationery finisher
virtue/vice
Cookie Baker/Used Books
job haiku
Check cards for print flaws
Recycled Paper has blobs
OK? Pack them up.
Daily Zen
Lots of cards to package
favorite wild ink press card
Rik Pape (Pape®), head pressman
virtue/vice
Wanting Perfection / Wanting Perfection
job haiku
Blend the ink just so
Music of the Heidelberg
Pull the Devil’s Tail
Daily Zen
Parking Bicycle in the the Pressroom or using the 100 year old cutter
favorite wild ink press card
Charity, packaging
virtue/vice
Productive/Particular
job haiku
Hands work in time with
The kuh-shwee-shwooo of the press.
The old song of ink.
Daily Zen
When visitors ask about the presses, I get to explain the process, and their faces light up when they realize what they are holding.
favorite wild ink press card
Rebekah Tennis, boss lady
virtue/vice
Renaissance Woman/Compulsive Straightener
job haiku
Hm. Good Idea?
Sketch it out. Pretty it up.
Making cards is art.
Daily Zen
Pantone Picking
favorite wild ink press card
Natalie, photography
virtue/vice
Appreciating the little things / Noticing the little mistakes
job haiku
You may not see me
But my styled shots greet you
On our cute website!
Daily Zen
Camera in hand and Photoshop open
favorite wild ink press card
Matt Tennis, cook & bottle washer
virtue/vice
Funny Guy/Joker
job haiku
Drop in to say "hi"
Mess up Rik's nice area
Print on tympan sheet
Daily Zen
Using Geometry on a daily basis
favorite wild ink press card
Charlotte, shop baby
virtue/vice
Full of joy/Sticky-fingered
job haiku
My mom works here so
I tag along sometimes too.
Mostly to play ball.
Daily Zen
Playing twine ball soccer with Rik Pape