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!

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!

on the bench: annotated

It was a quiet day in the studio...just finishing up on casebound journals for another wholesale order. Click on the picture to see notes!

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!