on the bench: busy is as busy does

I finally got to take a day off on Sunday (it'd been at least seven weeks!), but as of Monday morning, I had to be full steam ahead on the last of this year's projects.

Starting with the final 150 (of 500!) books of poetry--holes hand-punched, then sewn to the endsheets, and then cased in.  I'm just about done with the hole punching bit.   

Merry merry holidays to all--see you next Monday!

finished fridays: off to new york!

Meet me in New York tomorrow, and I'll have a little something for you! 

on the bench: pretty packaging (and lovely words!)

Thirty-one hours. Really. That's how much time I've spent (since 8:30 Monday morning) on the press and at the guillotine to print this lovely pile:

400, 4-color cards, plus 100 envelopes and 300 belly bands.  Designed by the awesome duo of Mark and Lisa at Interrobang Design, and printed right here!

Also, many thanks to Rachael at Pistachio Press for pointing me in the direction of this:

And thanks to Apartment Therapy for featuring my calendar!

press mondays: silver, silver, silver

It was a dark & snowy night, and I printed as fast as could.

300 belly bands and 600+ cards later, I looked up at the clock: 10:15!  Not the latest I've been at the studio (by a long shot), but the ink had been on the press for six hours.  And silver, being oil-based, loves to stick to rollers and not come off!

After a quick and thorough scrub, I peeked at the piles of prints.

Only three more colors to go!

finished fridays: off to boston!

Today I was so busy I didn't even get to take pictures!  But two (big!) boxes went out the door, lots + lots more paper was cut, and the car was loaded up for a big weekend!  Join me tomorrow at...

Paper & Chocolate!  Chez Albertine Press, with special guests both papery + chocolatey.

And then on Sunday, come on down to...

Bazaar Bizarre!  It'll be my first year at the BBB, so stop by to say hi and check out the new stuff!

on the bench: making a mess

One of the (good? bad?) things about being awesomely busy is that there's never a chance to clean.  The recycling piles up, and stacks just keep getting shifted around until I find the project I need to work on.

Today I had four projects sharing space on the bench, along with bits of paper, the laptop, three or four rulers--and that's just the beginning.

But the exciting bit is what I actually finished.  Ten new check-holder-books for Kismet, one of my favorite restaurants in Montpelier.  Probably in the world, actually. 

Hand-marbled covers, and lokta endpapers, with coordinating marbled straps for holding your end-of-brunch bill.  Yum.

finished fridays: well, hello there!

They're here!  I finished folding and sorting last night, and this morning printed the bands and hangers:

My first-ever calendar...in a very limited edition, and available this weekend at:

I'm sure I'll get around to putting it up on etsy next week...if they're not all gone!

on the press: eleventh-hour inspiration

So, at five o'clock yesterday, inspiration hit.  Hard.

It's not mind-blowing, or earth-shattering even, but I finally came up with a design for (drum roll, please):

May Day Studio's first ever calendar!  I am really excited about this, folks, and I hope you are, too.

But why eleventh-hour, you may ask.  Because we're already into the swing of the holiday season, and gosh darn it if holiday fairs and custom orders haven't started rolling in, leaving me little (if any) free time. 

Speaking of which, here's a peek at my table from Saturday's Queen City Craft Bazaar.

And my goodness! The fairs!  The full list is a sight to behold:

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, November 26-28
Women's Festival of Crafts
Burlington, VT

Saturday, December 4
Paper & Chocolate
Somerville, MA

Sunday, December 5
Bazaar Bizarre Boston
Boston, MA

Saturday, December 11
Touch of Vermont Holiday Market
Montpelier, VT

Sunday, December 12
Bust Holiday Craftacular
New York City

Friday and Saturday, December 17 and 18
Burlington City Arts Holiday Artist Market
Burlington, VT

Recently added to that list are this weekend's Women's Festival of Crafts, in Burlington, as well as the Bust Holiday Craftacular in New York City!

And my personal favorite, the Paper & Chocolate open house at Albertine Press.

finished fridays: in twelve hours...

...meet me here:

It's really, really hard to believe that it's already November, and that the craft show season is already upon me.  Where did the summer go?

on the bench: ready-set-go

My first craft fair for the holiday season is this weekend--the Queen City Craft Bazaar in Burlington.

This week I've been putting together pocket journals, and spiffing up my table banner---which today got a big patch to cover up the stains from summer rainstorms, and pretty fabric edging to finish it off!

Come by and scoop up your holiday gifts early: this Saturday from 10-5 at Union Station, Burlington, VT.

finished fridays: one small step

Well, I did accomplish a few other things this week, but this is the only one that I got to keep.

It's still just a prototype, but it's got a really nice size and weight in the hand.  More to come soon!

P.S. It's almost craft fair time! Get out your shopping lists, and meet me at the Queen City Craft Bazaar next Saturday!

on the bench: fooling around

It's been a dry week. I've finished up a lot of big stuff, and need to amp up my stock for those holiday fairs...but in the meantime, I'm feeling creatively blah.

So in my last twenty minutes at the studio this afternoon, I pulled out bookcloth and marbled paper from my stash, and sewed together a little prototype.

No gluing--just machine-stitched the covers together.  (I love my sewing machine!)

It's going to be a 5x7 journal, with a foldover and a vintage/salvaged button and ribbon closure.  What do you think?

on the bench: pro bono

On the bench today:

I was asked to put in a bid to print thank-you notes for the Montpelier Senior Activity Center.  They had a fire in their facilities last year, and are raising the money to repair the damage and get the place re-opened.  It's not often that organizations are willing to splurge for letterpress--or that printers are able to donate their time & effort for a good cause.  I'm glad to be a part of the community, and able to contribute in some small way.  Thanks to Rachael for thinking of me!

on the press: a blue day

It's been a blue day, for sure.

one: deep french blue ink on the Vandercook, for printing holiday cards.

two and three: a very wintery blue-gray sky outside, and digging out my teal blue wool coat...it's that time already.

interlude: feverish

Hello folks.  It seems I've come down with a nasty viral something-or-other, and am going to be sleeping away much of this week.  So, to keep you entertained:

I'm loving Emily's posts over at Sophie & Eleanor.  I met Emily earlier this year, when she came to take one of my workshops in Montpelier.  She writes a very, very pretty blog, and I'm so excited to see the changes as she leaves the corporate world to follow her dreams.

Fellow Montpelierite and bookbinder Elissa at Blue Roof Designs recently tackled the wild world of bookbinding in Japanese.  Read parts one, two, and three here.  It's a lot about miniature books, which is one avenue I've never traveled.  Perhaps soon...

If you're not a fan of Linzie Hunter, you should be.  Take a peek inside her studio, and then read the rest of her blog for handlettered and quirky character goodness.

For more inspiration, check out Sarah Ahearn's new book, Painted Pages.  And then get creating!

I'll hopefully be back healthy and with regular posts next week--there's a lot of work waiting for me!

on the press: one week is all it takes!

So, one week ago, I started designing my holiday card line.  And this week, here they are:

Visit my table at Poppytalk Handmade--and buy your holiday cards now!  As a special for my blog readers, get free shipping on everything at my Poppytalk table.  Just enter "blogfreeship" in the notes to seller!  Valid through November 15, 2010 only.

finished fridays: the longest week

Perhaps it's the cool weather--it snowed today!--or maybe it's the not-quite-firm deadlines on all the projects I'm working on, but this week seemed like the longest week ever.

Here it is, Friday evening, and I'm so excited to be able to share with you:

Open publication in new window

My 2010 Holiday Collection.  Order now via email, or wait until next week, when all items will be available on etsy!

on the bench: getting dirty

The bench today:

No journals or albums, just mockups of holiday cards waiting to be proofed!  And as a bonus:

Mmm...a lovely olivey green ink!

press mondays: thinking ahead, sort of

The big delivery was yesterday! John Barrett (of Letterpress Things) graciously offered to bring up my new stuff--they certainly wouldn't have fit into my car!

It was touch and go for awhile, as there's a slope down to the front door...and balancing heavy equipment, on a pallet jack, heading downhill?  Yikes. 

And then we had trouble getting the bed back in the guillotine...thankfully John's hydraulic cart was very useful in balancing one end, while the two of us wiggled the other.

And at the end of the day...ta-da!  A very, very big paper guillotine--with a 30" blade, so I can cut parent sheets--which is just exactly as tall as I am, and my very own board shear.  It makes me smile just to look at it!

And here's where the thinking ahead bit comes in--I've been brainstorming my seriously neglected holiday card line, and will be printing samples of ten (10!) card designs this week.  Really, I should have been doing this months ago, so I could try to get them into stores, but that just means that you'll have to get them from me in person (or online, if that's your fancy)!

This is a design from last year, reprinted today in a lovely french blue that I can't get enough of....

finished fridays: making room

Every day this week has felt like Friday, and now that it's here, I really want to veg.

But I spent the day moving the studio around, sweeping underneath everything, and making room for my special delivery--arriving this weekend!

on the press & on the bench: three days, one post

So....I missed my Monday post for no good reason--except that I couldn't find my camera. And then I found it, but not the batteries. 

I promise that I've been on the press for very long hours for each of the last three days--six ink colors, six different pieces, printed on two presses.  And one piece had be scored in three places, which means three more times through the press.  It's not the most I've ever done, but it did make for some very long days.

This is late last night--the last of the print runs on Butch, my 100-year-old C&P.  

These are gifts for the bridal party, so no closeups yet!

And today, on the bench, after doing all the final trims and scores, I got to sit and fold.  What a relief!

finished fridays: quality time with the guillotine

Some weeks it seems that I spend all day, every day, slaving over the guillotine.  This was one of those weeks. 

In reality, it was just one day, but cutting down parent sheets of text paper into 3x5 rectangles is a lot of cutting!

And then they're stacked neatly, and clamped into the padding press for gluing.

It helps me to able to look at stacks of finished work...it's a small reminder that I've accomplished something!