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!

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!

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!

finished fridays: nothing wasted + the two whites + a new country

Nothing wasted No. 1: I think this is officially the first full can of ink that I've devoured.  Transparent White, of course, is in just about every PMS color...and I guess I use a lot of those really really light colors.

Nothing wasted No. 2: I'm part of a group of printers, doing a collective promo for the Stationery Show.  The theme is recipe cards, and I've been stumped...until today!  Inspiration finally hit, and I pulled out my Valentines hearts and the almost-empty can of transparent white, for the first color/background layer of the print.  I'm super excited about my card, now that it's in progress.  And I can't imagine why I don't print with just trans white more often--I love it!

The two whites: today the Vandercook was inked up with the other white--Opaque White.  It doesn't get much use in my shop (and I had heard that it was a pain-in-the-behind to clean!), but this project called for it...albeit with a little dash of yellow.  Truth be told, I impressed myself with how clean my rollers were--the white was very true first time out!

All that ink, for just a few prints...these are the proofs for a one-of-a-kind, custom personalized guest book.

And...I shipped to a new country today!  It's always exciting to send little packages of pretty things out into the world, and today this Grass is Greener print started it's journey to Sweden!

mixed-tape monday: taking measurements

I wasn't able to post this photo on Friday--the recipient hadn't yet seen them...but here they are!

Jodi from Paisley Tree Press drove out to Letterpress Things on Saturday to meet me and pick up her new custom binders--she squealed a bit, I won't lie.  They'll be making their debut to the public at Paisley Tree's booth (No. 1665) at the National Stationery Show in May--do stop by and ogle them for yourself!

Today was a lot of catching up--and then a lot of cutting.  This is a stack of 1200+ 135gsm sheets, if you can believe it.  They started out as 25 x 38" parent sheets, and are now 4-1/2 x 6-1/2".  Whew!

on the bench: hooray!

Just over six months ago, this beauty was delivered to the studio.

And today I finished tightening up the last bolts, and was finally(!) able to put the counterweight on.

And then immediately got down to the business of cutting thick, thick boards for a custom order.

These are .120" thick, and by this time next week will be very big and very fancy three-ring binders!

on the press: tiny hearts

After two weeks (!) of only bookbinding, I finally got back on the press today.

These tiny hearts are just about 3/4" tall, and are the first color of a business postcard.

Hooray!  And oh goodness, am I out of practice on the treadle!

mixed-tape mondays: coming or going?

Today was a not-quite-sure kind of day.  I packaged up a few custom orders, but couldn't get started on the next round.  I got some good news, and then some bad news.  The world might be falling apart at the seams, but then people get together and do lovely things.  New England is having a snowstorm on the first day of spring|, but that means the sap will run for a bit longer and my family might get another sugaring weekend. 

It's about time for me to be getting ready for the big event this May, but I just can't seem to find the balance and motivation to move forward.  If you've got any get-out-of-a-funk cures, please share!

finished fridays: rockstar gold

What a way to end the week--printing cd sleeves for rockstars.

Local rockstars, that is.  And the gold ink looks totally awesome over the black, don't you think?

workbench wednesdays: one year later + new and exciting

Yup. I was looking at my 2010 calendar earlier, and I've had this project on the calendar since last January. One year! It hasn't been worked on continuously, but it's been on the top of my projects list for the last twelve months.  And today, I packed the last four boxes and sent them on their way.

And then I had to open up one of the boxes--I forgot to take photos of the finished books!

In other (super fun) news, I'm offering a make-your-own valentines workshop--as featured in the February issue of Country Living:

And now, just one more picture:

I love piles + rows of things...and this is one of my favorites.  Ropey, delicate linoleum shavings (and a brand new pattern is born!).

finished fridays: making progress

I made a little bit of progress this week--I finished up the Hadestown programs this afternoon..and they're off to New York!

And I got another tiny bit ahead on the big book project--I finished half of the scores on the covers (just the ones for the turn-ins).

And now it's time for a Friday night off!

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!

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!

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.

on the press: september 27

It's a rainy, rainy Monday, after a long weekend...but no rest for me!  Today, my intern Yim came in, and I immediately had her on the press--she's so enthusiastic about printing (even cleaning the press!).

Project 1: Proofing a birth announcement--printed from handset type and a vintage cut.

Project 2: a two-color, four-fold wedding program.

finished friday: late night

Why yes, it is 10:30 on a Friday night.  I'm actually home early (for once this week)!

I've spent a lot of time on the Vandercook this week--first, three runs x 200+ sheets for Anais's Hadestown programs.

And tonight, three hours on the press for the last batch (for a little while) of charcoal grey for decorative sheets. 

P.S. I saw the October issue of Martha Stewart Living at the grocery checkout, and squealed like a little girl.  Go out and get one!

on the bench: multitasking

One of the greatest joys curses challenges of being a small business owner is having each day be completely new, and completely unplannable.  Yesterday I had to step away from May Day Studio for a few hours, to train for a few additional responsibilities at the Savoy (for when my dear friends Eric and Megan are on maternity leave!), and didn't get to all the bookbinding that I needed to finish up.

But some of it did get done--the Bingo Books, at least, are ready for next week's shipment.

And I had to squeeze in a last-minute reprint of Hadestown programs for my friend Anais Mitchell. 

Here's the first color down--two more press runs to go!

finished fridays: the big reveal!

I've had to keep this under wraps for so long! And I'm really a very good secret keeper, but this has been bursting out of me, especially since my copy came in the mail Saturday.

I'm in the newest Martha Stewart Living!

The section called "Great Finds" is all reds & purples for October.

And my little journals and decorative sheets made the cut!

Hooray!!  The issue should be in subscribers' hands any day now, and on newsstands shortly.  In the meantime, all of the featured items (and more) are available in my etsy shop!