The Latest Workshop

Yup, these hardworking ladies know all about letterpress. Or at least what one could learn in 6 hours. That's me on the left, with Milly, Michelle, and Erica, and our sweet chapbooks. Want to peek insidethe chapbook? Take a look here.

This was the third in what will hopefully be a long line of letterpress workshops at the Letterpress Things print shop. John B. wrote this amazing copy to advertise the workshop:

The cool touch of decades-old metal type. A firm two-handed
impression roll for a copy proof. A deft transfer from composing stick to
imposing stone. A gentle tap of the planer. Two quick twists of the locking
key and the chase with form is secure. The press is inked, the guides
aligned, the chase slips into position, paper is correctly placed and your
very first impression is ready to print.

Seductive, no? I have been totally amazed with the ingenuity and creativity of all of my students thus far. With this workshop, I set the challenge of printing all 4 sides of the page. Michelle set her quote, and then hunted through John's stock of image plates to put on all four sides. Milly set type. And then more type. And then added images, too. Erica whirled through the print ship, printing on all of the available presses (3 Kelsey Excelsiors, a Nolan Standard, and a C&P Pilot) and forgot to eat lunch. Luckily, I set the type for our covers the night before, so only had a little bit of printing to do while they worked madly. What fun!

For those curious folks, my next workshop is scheduled for March 17. Email me now, because there are only 4 spots available!