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!

on the bench: the perfect photo

It's not everyday that I hustle to get to the studio early...I'm really not a morning person.  At all. 

But I'm trying to take pictures of everything I make (and then send far, far away to stores across the country), and I know from experience that the light--the best light--for product photos is on the early side.  So I got in to the studio this morning, and almost immediately started taking pics of the brag books I finished up last night.  Coming soon to a few select stores, and my etsy shop.

See the difference?  The top one was before 11am....the bottom one was later in the afternoon, when I remembered that I should take a group shot as well!

interlude: my online inspirations

I missed my "on the press" post yesterday because I've been suffering though allergies for the last three days--my afternoons and evenings are mostly lost to killer headaches.

In the meantime, I've been catching up on my blogroll, and have found some really lovely (and inspiring) posts:

Brooklyn Bookbinder aka Maggie's writeup of the Fine Press Book Association's journal Parenthesis (be sure to click on her links--they're beautiful!).

 

Image (c) Ampersand Duck

Ampersand Duck's chronicle of being a printer-in-residence, and having seven (!!) multi-color poetry broadsides (plus the folio) to print on handpress (!!) and on a deadline!

Shelley at Albertine Press did a lovely writeup of our time at NYIGF (I'm really terrible at remembering to take pictures!): look at part one here, a little bit of our daily walk here, and the ever-adorable Sadie's adventures through the Javits.

Image (c) Albertine Press

Did I mention that May Day Studio has a little feature in a new book about letterpress?  Shelley took some lovely photos here.  Reinventing Letterpress (released in the US as Little Book of Letterpress) is filled with studios small and large, many of whom I'm totally crushing on right now.  Many thanks to Charlotte Rivers for inviting me to participate!  Charlotte writes the incredibly stylish blog Lottie Loves...which should be added to your blogroll asap!

finished: saturday morning edition

I took a little break Friday afternoon, after shipping out orders to four new stores (Paul Smith! Perch! Jacqueline Bed & Bath! and Just Paper & Tea!), and stopped by the Drawing Board to check out my display.  Liz put this together a week ago, and I just haven't been able to make it downtown during business hours.  So here it is!

Thanks to Liz, and all the amazing ladies & gents at the Drawing Board for the awesome display!