Hello fall!

Well hello there, strangers! This long, dramatic pause in posting has been due to this little bundle:

who arrived in April after a challenging nine months! Beatrice has been (as you can imagine) a wonder and delight--and also a great distraction from getting any work done! Now that she's five months old, I'm attempting to work longer days, but as my instagram feed will attest, sometimes naps do not go my way and Bea and I are forced to ditch the studio for walks in the sunshine.

But let's talk about today--Hello fall! To celebrate this gorgeous fall day, I'm having a sale in my shop! Free tote bag with any $25 order! Mention the code "fallshopping" in the notes to seller box at checkout!

P.S. These days, it can be a bit challenging to update the blog, but we're updating our instagram, facebook, and twitter feeds almost every day! 

new york, new york

Please join Albertine Press, Carta Inc, and little ol' me at this season's New York International Gift Fair! We've got a new look, and lots of new pretty things made of paper and cotton. We'd love to see you!

Shop sale starts today!

Because handmade books are just right for holiday gift-giving!

The holidays are here!

So excited for Queen City Craft tomorrow! If you're up in Burlington, come down to 1 Main Street and start your holiday shopping early!

Long time, no see: the National Stationery Show edition

So...I've had this dream, for almost as long as I've been printing, of doing this:

Linoleum block-printed gift wrap! Two patterns, 18x24", available in five colors, and the only place you can get it (for now):

my super-duper new booth at the National Stationery Show! The show opens tomorrow, and I'm so excited about all of the new products I've been added to my collection. If you're walking the show, stop in to booth #2144 and say hello!

hello new york!

Please join Albertine Press, Carta Inc, and little ol' me at this season's New York International Gift Fair! We've got a new look, and lots of new pretty things made of paper and cotton. We'd love to see you!

lovely words from blogger friends...

...are just what I need to cheer me up!

This little award comes to me courtesy of the lovely Maudie at Maudie Made, whose blog about bookbinding and conservator training in London has me almost constantly drooling. Traveling and paper-spying in southeast Asia--check!  Handling rare books at the Victoria and Albert Museum--check! Meeting awesome crafters at local shows--check! Maudie is really inspiring from start to finish.

As I am now the (smiley) recipient of a Liebster, I have to follow the rules and give the award to five other blogs with less than 200 readers. By the way, Liebster is German for ”dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome’”.

The full list of rules are:
Rule #1. You must acknowledge the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
Rule # 2. Give this award to 5 other bloggers. Please let them know through a comment on their blog.
Rule #3. Post this wonderful award on your blog.
Rule #4. Bask in the glory bestowed upon you and appreciate all the amazing bloggers out there.
Rule# 5. Enjoy and spread the good vibes around.

So here goes. My list of five blogs with 200 or less readers that I find “liebster” goes to:

1. Anagram Press
2. Campbell Raw Press
3. Clementine
4. Tiger Food Press
5. New Duds

I don’t want to give summaries of these blogs – I want you to visit each and every one of them to see what they’re all about. I can however tell you that they are all creative, informative, interesting, personal and just a downright pleasure to read. Definitely deserving of a Liebster.

And now it's time to enjoy rules no. 4 and 5.

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!).