one final friday!

Here it is--the last Friday of the year!

Wishing you blue skies and good cheer in 2012!

P.S. This is the last weekend of my store-wide sale. Enter code "Poppytalk" at checkout for a 25% discount off everything in my etsy shop.

welcome to my weekend

Not only do I have one of my favorite craft fairs this weekend, I also have this pile to contend with:

100 pieces of bookboard, 6.5x 9.5, for 50 folding bar menus
4 pieces of bookboard, 8.5 x 5.75, for two custom albums
Eight boxes of A2 envelopes (1600 total), return address printed
Two reams (that's 200 sheets) of 23x35--to be made into 1500 holiday cards

And it'll definitely take me longer than the weekend to finish all of that--so I'll be back next Friday for a recap!

on the bench: working from home

It's such a rare luxury--to work from my own kitchen table. Of course, I can't print at home, but today's been a working-on-sketches and ordering-supplies kind of day. And it's not over yet! So back to micron pens + tracing paper + hot tea + audio book I go!

on the press: the bluest blue

Reflex blue: it's such a nice color on the Vandercook's steel rollers, it's almost a shame to use it up.

But then I wouldn't have these beauties, would I?

holiday happenings

Holy moly! It's that time again!

I've been very busy behind the scenes (more on that, I hope, soon)--not the least of which is scheduling five awesome shows to participate in this holiday season:

Craft Vermont: Fine Art and Craft Show
presented by Vermont Hand Crafters
Friday-Sunday, November 18-20
Burlington, VT

Women's Festival of Crafts
Saturday and Sunday, November 26-27
Burlington, VT

Handmade Holiday Festival
presented by Alchemy Initiative
Friday and Saturday, December 2-3
Pittsfield, MA

Touch of Vermont
Saturday, December 10
Montpelier, VT

Holiday Artist Market
sponsored by Burlington City Arts
Friday and Saturday, December 16-17
Burlington, VT

Hope to see you there!

Psst: if you can't make it, be sure to check out the fine selection of holiday cards and 2012 calendars now available online!

three cheers for pistachio press!

So excited for my friends Rachael and Jake at Pistachio Press! Tonight and tomorrow are the great big grand opening of their brand-new stationery shop (and I'm so pleased to have been able to supply them with may day studio notebooks, notepads, and greeting cartds!).

If you're in the Rochester area, hop on over and give them a big hello from me!

back on track

October was a bit hectic in my world--lots to do, but not much to report. Today I was sooooooo glad to finally get back on the press, printing something lovely!

This is just the first color (one more to come!) on some super save-the-dates. The bride-to-be designed them...but I get to put them on paper!

Oh, yeah.

So, there's been a whole lot of this:

in the studio lately.  And not much to write about.

But the end is in sight! And my sparkling commentary should return soon, too!

on the press: my favorite color

It's no secret, really--this red is my all-time favorite color!  And the linoleum holds the color so well, I just had to take a picture.

I just don't know what to say

I spent most of Sunday in my little apartment bubble; it was raining too hard to bike to the studio, so I did a little internet upkeep and brought my plants inside.

I was checking-in on the weather periodically. Most sites were reporting less-than-expected rainfall, and no wind. Hurricane disaster averted.

And then: Entire towns flooded. Or marooned, because all the bridges, highways, backroads and footpaths have been washed out. Dams might be released, flooding entire towns for a second time in twenty-four hours.

Montpelier weathered the storm, for the second time in three months.  Downtown basements flooded, again.  Restaurants and theaters closed temporarily. The studio escaped, once again. I still don't know what to say, and am feeling even less like I can do anything to make a difference.

And then this post from Emily at Clementine reminded me: I can do something.  And so:

Purchase any one of my prints, and I'll donate 25% to the Vermont FoodBank.  Purchase all three, and I'll donate 50%. 

There are a few other places taking donations right now, the Red Cross being one.  I'm sure there'll be more as the days come.  For more info on the scope of the devastation, read the Burlington Free Press article here.

what-the-wednesday

Today was sooooo not an ordinary Wednesday.

How often am I taking pictures of myself while printing? (The answer: soooo rarely.) But a lovely blogger wants to interview me, and I need some pics.  

Oh, and four hundred of these, while I'm at it.

And this was from this weekend, but is so lovely that I've been looking at it all week: the first harvest from my container-garden this year.  A small bowl full of spinach, and some tender basil that needed culling (I planted the whole seed packet, and so a few have to sacrificed so the rest can get sun). We ate them tossed with fresh local tomatoes, and olive-oily pasta.  Yum.

saturday edition: hard at work

So, here I am again: New York City. I had an "is this really my life?" flash this morning, as I was eating brunch in Central Park with the Pistachio Press crew.  The answer: yup.

Shelley from Albertine Press and I finished almost all of the setup for this summer's NYIGF yesterday, but I went back in today to finish a little labeling.

I'm trying out a new setup, color-coordinated this time, and highlighting my 2012 calendars, which I think are super-cool.

recap: to asheville and back (and a little bit of pretty)

The conference was awesome! Exhausting, but awesome.

Here's a little bit of me, setting up for my demo...getting all the tools lined up for show (and a little use).

And look at that crowd! There were sooooo many folks there, asking lots of good questions...I'm sorry if I didn't get to talk to you, but I'm sending out my biggest thanks to all of you for making my day!

And oh, the pretty things!  Asheville Bookworks was a lovely host, and they have so much cast iron I'd love to get my hands in.

And then home for a quick 48 hours, six of which was spent working on this:

A benefit print for my local bike co-op, Freeride Montpelier, to keep them open and keep newbie bicyclists like me on the road! They're hosting a fundraiser on Saturday, August 20--check it out (and buy a print!).

on the press: at the last minute

or very nearly! I'm leaving for the Ladies of Letterpress conference in just two days, and today was packing up a few supplies for the demo I'm giving, and oh! Guess who has almost no business cards!

So I quickly cut 300 cards down, and inked up the press.

First color down, one to go!

Usually I print my cards in just one color, but I've been loving blue lately, and so put that on the press for my logo.

I didn't get a better shot of the finished cards--so you'll just have to come to Asheville and get one for yourself!

on the bench: organizing

I do dearly love to organize...though in the studio, sometimes the piles just stay piles for months!  Wednesday was an in-between day, so I thought I'd tackle the huge stack of printed papers (printed in April!). First sorting by color and pattern, and then taking inventory.  All in preparation for this big event:

friday: oh, what a week

Yes, it's been a doozy.  It feels like this heat wave has been going on for weeks and weeks.  Years even.  The studio is thankfully cool, but just getting there is a chore in this heat...and then I'm not in much of a mood to work.

But today I really had to get things done:

Paper folding and scoring...

turns a (single-sheet) folio into a signature of its own.

Carving out an inset for a cover label

Lining up the pieces, in preparation for gluing

Sneaking a peek at my cover, making sure I've left enough room at the spine for my signatures.  I'm sewing up the book tomorrow, and will try to get some good pics to post--this should be a really interesting project!

Also this week--updating my sadly faded sandwich board with a fresh coat of paint, and prepping the stencil for painting next week!

on the press: start to finish

The thing about custom work is that you never really get leisure time--there's always a deadline, and by the time you get the plates and paper and envelopes back, I've got 24 hours until the client expects to pick up their job.  Yikes.  So the above is my work table at about 2pm, less than two hours after my UPS guy Randy dropped off the package from Boxcar.  That's paper diagrams, figuring the best yield, and piles of paper cut to press sheet size.

Then on over to the ink table, to mix a particularly picky pale green ink.  Usually I'm right on, but today--three tries to get to 7490.  That's three of this:

And this:

And this:

And three press inkings, and press cleanings.  And ten wasted sheets proofing colors.  And so finally, at 7:45:

Oh, and a run of black ink for the second color, too!

on the press: the perfect green

I'm really more of a red person.  That is to say, I print more often with reds and pinks--and design cards and prints for reds.  And then I designed this print, and had to find a good ink for it.

A color bright and springy, but not "new growth" spring.  Not too rich, like deep moss on bark.

The perfect green? Pantone 355U. (In my humble opinion, anyway.)

finished fridays: sunshine on a cloudy day

Friday I spent printing and packing -- a new edition of the Sunshine prints (we're up in the 100s now!), each one hand-signed and numbered, and then packaged pretty for the stores!  I'm so excited about the shops across the country that stock May Day Studio goodies--here are the most recent:

The UPS Store, Burlington, Vermont

Vermont Folklife Center, Middlebury, Vermont (they picked up some new cards and prints this time!)

Clementine, Middlebury, Vermont (Emily took nearly my whole catalog!)

Terrain at Styer's, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania

Rock Paper Scissors, Wiscasset, Maine

Twosided and Foursided, Chicago, Illinois

Cursive New York, Amagansett, New York

mixed-tape monday: a little of this and that

I've hit a bit of a lull, studio-wise. Not a lot of work on the calendar (though there is a lot of prep to do, the deadlines aren't soon enough to make me panic!), so I'm spending my days leisurely...

...and Monday was no exception. With a sky like that, who wants to be inside?

I did work on the press for a few minutes, proofing vintage copper cuts for a client.  Then back to staring at the sky!

two ways of looking at a wednesday

(one) It was a beautiful day out.  I propped open the studio door to let in the sunlight and heat (and the cottonwood fluff tagged along).  I got to ride the my brand-new-to-me bike today, as the trusty Jetta has needed to retire for too long now. 

(making a home on my apartment porch last night!)

(two) Forty minutes of biking plus the heat has left me wiped.  And then three flights of stairs, after the biking and three hours on the treadle press--my quads are singing their complaints.  Fluffy Sasha insists on standing over me and the laptop, and probably will for the next hour or so until my emails are done.  It's still light out, and I would love to be doing anything other than working.  Oh, and dinner.  Goodness, it's almost nine pm...what in the world to have for dinner? 

press mondays: the perfect eggplant

And photos just don't do it justice!  But just try a little PMS 275U for yourself...

These lovely invites were designed by the bride's brother--so lovely, crisp, and with a few feminine details to balance it all out!

finished fridays: heatwave edition

Yup, it's summer already.

Wednesday was so hot and humid, I actually passed out from a heat migraine early in the evening--not sure if that was a blessing or a curse.  Today, the weather is much more manageable, and the iced coffee is staying cold for longer than a few minutes.

I'm almost done with these business cards for Montpelier design firm Ravenmark...I've never worked with crop marks before, but it's really satisfying when they line up perfectly!