finished fridays: off to boston!

Today I was so busy I didn't even get to take pictures!  But two (big!) boxes went out the door, lots + lots more paper was cut, and the car was loaded up for a big weekend!  Join me tomorrow at...

Paper & Chocolate!  Chez Albertine Press, with special guests both papery + chocolatey.

And then on Sunday, come on down to...

Bazaar Bizarre!  It'll be my first year at the BBB, so stop by to say hi and check out the new stuff!

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.

holiday time!

The Paper & Chocolate Crew!

It's here again...Holiday Fair time!  And so I hope you'll excuse the light posting, because I've been working like a busy bee behind the scenes.

Paper & Chocolate!  Design Hive!  Touch of Vermont!  BCA Holiday Market!  Hope to see you four times over! 

P.S. Only two more days for the online sale...get your holiday gifts early!

come one, come all

It's that time again! Join me and a whole raft of folks who celebrate big, heavy machines and the pretty things they make. New this year: the steamroller-as-printing-press. You won't want to miss it.

a month of threes

Hello, dear neglected blog readers! I haven't forgotten about you...

Things have been a bit crazy at the studio--and in this topsy-turvy economy, I'm glad to be kept busy day-in and -out.

And so, why a month of threes, you ask? Just that! Since my last post, I've taught three workshops:



I've also printed wedding invitations for three outstanding couples, business cards for three local businesses, and have been accepted at three pretty rockin' indie craft fairs:

Saturday May 9, join me in Burlington, VT at the Queen City Craft Bazaar!

Saturday + Sunday, June 6 +7, meet me (and Shelley of Albertine Press) in Brooklyn!

Sunday, June 21--bring your dad to the Printer's Fair in North Andover, MA!

For which I'm working on over 300 new journals. And sometimes sleeping!

a quick announcement

Space is still available in this Saturday's workshop at Albertine Press in Somerville, MA. Click here for more information!

paper + chocolate

Not only two of my most favorite things, but also the name of this weekend's extravaganza.
For those of you that have come for the last two years, you know what a good time it is. Tell your friends, bring someone new, or whatever you have to do to get over to Somerville this Saturday and say "hey"!

the details:
Paper & Chocolate: Albertine Press + Taza Chocolate
featuring May Day Studio, Carta Inc., Beck Wasilewski, Pressbound and more.
Saturday, December 6th, from 10 am until 6 pm<---note extended hours! 561 Windsor Street, Somerville, MA
(between Inman and Union Squares)

and just because I know you're curious...a sneak peek at some new cards:
See you there!

a little of this...and a little of that

press in motion! so cool, and so scary at the same time.

The week(s) in review:

Friday, June 20: They are still blasting the water mains on the next block, so every ten minutes or so I hear a loud horn, and then a huge *BOOM* and my building shakes. Not so good for filling out loan and zoning permit applications for my new studio!

Sunday, June 15: The Printing Arts Fair. The Good: several new vendors were there, thanks in part to the outreach of Angela Liguori--welcome Hannah of Paper Breakfast, Jenn of JennSki, and Shannon of Rifferaff! (View more pictures here.) Also good: more fun hang-out and chatty time with Angela, Ezra and Terri of Rainy Planet Press, Jesse of Firefly Press, Melissa of PressBound and Albertine Press, and Robin of Robin Bledsoe Books, Greg of Bull Thistle Press, Ed of Swamp Press, and the ever-industrious students from the North Bennett Street School.
The Bad: it rained all day, and we were stuck in a room on the second floor of the Museum.
The Ugly: It was a smallish room, and only one window opened. Yikes!

Saturday, May 31: Met with Shelley at Albertine Press to discuss a join venture: an intensive, intermediate-level letterpress workshop. It'll be held at Shelley's Somerville, MA studio, and will be just amazing (we hope)! Here's the proposal:
So you've learned basics of letterpress but still crave more? Albertine Press and May Day Studio are teaming up for a four-day intensive in which we'll explore a wider range of letterpress experiences. Students will work together to plan and execute an edition of broadsides using handset lead and wood type, borders and ornaments, photo-polymer plates, linoleum carving and more. The workshops will take place on two consecutive weekends, July 26-7 and August 2-3, and costs $500, all materials included. Please indicate previous experience when registering. Feel free to email me with questions, and go here to sign up!

Friday, May 23: Moving the press! My *new* Vandercook was duly picked up, put down, picked up, put down, and finally strapped onto a moving truck, only to head to it's temporary home in Chicopee. It'll be in Montpelier soon! Check out more moving pictures here.

summer storms

Whew! We just got hit with an intense thunderstorm...and more on the way, supposedly.

Despite that, I hope you will all join me tomorrow at the... I'll have a table full o' goods, along with Angela from Carta, Inc., Ezra from Rainy Planet Press, Melissa (standing in for Shelley) from Albertine Press, Leslie from Sea Dog Press, and so many more!

Making their debut tomorrow...these sweet little wood type notes. Great for gift-giving, lunchtime lovenotes, sassy sentiments or anytime epistles.

ready, set, go: totally off topic

Not that I have a topic, per se, but I generally try to stick to work stuff. But lately I've been doing too much "work" {here's the short list: printing wedding invitations, co-managing a venue for the Green Mountain Film Festival, making amazing lattes, waiting on your table, making bingo journals, teaching workshops here and there, driving to and from here and there, putting bids on more print jobs, losing my mind in the projection booth at the savoy, designing business cards and cd cases for him, designing baby shower invites for her, and definitely not doing my laundry} and not enough fun stuff.

Fun times chez moi:

all refrigerator photos c/o noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com

Reading No one belongs here more than you. {Two words: brilliant and devastating. If you don't know about Miranda July, where the heck have you been? Go here now!}

Listening to my favorite song three times in two days. It's that good, really. And I just found the r.e.m. + David Letterman video on youtube, and it's here for your viewing pleasure. Also, r.e.m.'s new single is totally stuck in my head: supernatural superserious is my theme song for the week. And it can be stuck in yours, too.

{As a side note, I've been crushing out on r.e.m. and michael stipe for eighteen years now. That's longer than I've known almost anyone else in my entire life. And it makes me feel really, really old, instead of just thirty-ish.}

approaching the dam

(crossing the winooski river 2.17.08)

I cross this river almost every day. Today, as things and thoughts were slowly swirling around in my mind, I looked down and saw the thaw. It's still *mostly* frozen, and nothing's going over the dam, but there's a little bit of river peeking through.

I have so much to tell you about the last two weeks, but it will all have to wait for the dam to thaw. Until then, I've been getting my fill of other folks' blogs (eva's icons, the short livingroom, hot off the press) and you should too.

À bientôt.

paper + snow

It's been a dreary few days here in Vermont. Good for staying in and drinking lots of sweet coffee...but not so good for working. After digging my car out (eight inches of snow + ice = an hour + a half of early morning exercise), my morning task was to take pictures of recent work--I don't have a light tent, so I work au natural--but the serious grayness outside was not proving very conducive to product shots.

Here they are anyway...two new quirky love cards:

I Spy Valentine Card, available soon in my etsy shop

Head Over Heels Valentine Card, available now in my etsy shop

and a treatise on the consequences of impatience (and improper makeready):

Hold Yer Horses Broadside, available soon in my etsy shop

In truth, the broadside was a teaching exercise for my Broadsides for Beginners students this past Saturday. It's meant to be imperfect, so that I can show them how to make it right (amongst other things they'll learn that day). I printed off 5 or 6 of these, and 5 will be up for sale in my etsy shop shortly.

And now for one last look:

spectacular icicles, aka the view from my kitchen window 2/3/08
(that one on the right is over three feet long!)

P.S. Come visit me this weekend at the second annual V-day spectacular Paper + Chocolate, hosted by Albertine Press and Taza Chocolate. It's an open studio, chocolate-tasting, paper-hoarding (and selling!), meet and greet all wrapped up in a sweet v-day surprise. It all happens this Saturday, February 9, from 1-6pm in Somerville, MA. See you there!

weekend wrap-up: sunday

On Sunday morning I was a tired bunny. I woke up rather early to head down to Somerville, MA, for the Albertine Press Paper & Chocolate Trunk Show. Shelley had mentioned that she expected a fair number of attendees, given the numbers from previous events. What she didn't expect was over 600 (600!) folks clambering for magical hot chocolate from Taza Chocolate and press demonstrations by Shelley herself on the Vandercook. The folks were prompted a bit (I'm sure) by sweet mentions on Daily Candy Boston, decor8, and the Boston Globe online. Here's Shelley taking a rare break from her press duties to pose for the camera.

My table...before the crowds hit.
Shelley's beautiful and decadent 2008 was in high demand...but I received one as a thank you. (Thank you, Shelley!) Below is a closeup of my favorite marble pattern. (Buy the calendar here before they're sold out!)
Angela and I traded: one Bingo Book for one artist's book. I don't know who made out better! My treasure is an accordion book called The Owner of the Bow, illustrated by Guido Scarabottolo. Emily's lovely deer print was behind me on the wall for the greater part of the afternoon...and by the end of the day I knew I needed to take it home with me! Take a peek at her sweet business card, too.

It was such a busy afternoon that I didn't get to take pictures of Angela of Carta, Inc., or Becca's prints and artist books, or Melissa's pocket journals and book-structure-explorations. Everyone was so nice to talk to, and it was a pleasure to be among such talented artists! Read more about paper & chocolate at edizioni and hot off the press.

After Paper & Chocolate, I ran off to Wellesley for a private trunk show at my friend Katie's house. There were only a few other artists there: Carrie and Laurie of Two Trick Pony (my new limited edition two trick print is below), whose prints will be available as part of Design Nearby at the pink comma gallery.Other artists I met at Katie's shinding: photographer Leah Cornwell makes the world look quieter and crisper than it really is. She has several striking collections--check them all out! And designer & goldsmith Ilah Cibis brought a small selection of her artisan jewelry...if I had the money, I would have taken this piece home with me. I also loved these earrings, but there were so many appealing pieces there I couldn't have decided if I tried.

Thanks to all the wonderful folks I met this weekend, and those who bought (or bartered) may day goodess, and to the weather for holding off the snow until Monday. And now I'm back to work!

handmade holidays

First, a little bit of sad news: last night I received an email from Sara at Made Boutique in Burlington, letting all of her consignors know that Made will be closing as of December 16. And with the very recent closing of Studio STK, where are the masses going to buy their handmade goodies and gifties?
Well, start in Burlington, VT, this Saturday at the Queen City Craft Bazaar. It's a juried show, so you know everyone there is pro. (I'm not rhyming on purpose, I promise.) Don't forget to stop by my table and say hi!Or if you're down in the Boston area, take a trip to Somerville on Sunday for the Paper & Chocolate open house and trunk show. Shelley at Albertine Press (and her neighbors across the hall, Taza Chocolate) have thrown one or two of these now, and in the spirit of the holidays, they've invited a few friends along for the ride. You won't regret it, I promise.

And if you haven't yet stopped by buyhandmade.org, do so now! Make the declaration, and tell the world why you will only buy handmade gifties this year.


Thanks to Sage and Amanda and Will at STK, and Sara at Made for great conversations and rockstar support. I'm sad to see your cool places vanish, but I wish you all the best of luck in the future!

week(s) in pictures

I'm finding it hard to keep up with the blogging lately. This is my first "busy season," and while I'm not totally unprepared, I am a bit underprepared. And very nearly out of time.

Here are a few shots from the past few weeks:
That's new friend Emma and old friend Meagan having a private bookbinding class in my studio. Here're the finished products:For Meagan's book, she brought fabric that she'd silkscreened, and Emma chose from my voluminous stash of pretty papers.

Last weekend's "Experience" workshop was a lot of fun! Sina, Jinkyung, Jenn, and Sarah were very laid back, and ready to experience whatever the day had to offer.
Sarah getting up close and personal with the Nolan proof press.Sina experimenting with layout on her prints.
Jinkyung, Sina, and Jenn locking up chase after chase after chase...

I stayed late after class to try to get the Vandercook #4 ready to print for this weekend's workshop: success!!
And while all that was going on, I got my first custom order on etsy--and it was shipping to Australia!
Two Bingo Albums, to hold 100 photos each...they're quite fat little books!

Coming up this week: Holiday Card workshop, printing my line of holiday cards, more prep for the Queen City Craft Bazaar and Paper & Chocolate trunk show, and hopefully not flubbing my first day as film projectionist at the Savoy!

procrastination station

(view from my living room window)

So there you have it. I've been stuck at procrastination station for a few weeks now. It could be the weather, as it's been gray and yucky here in Vermont--welcome to fall!

Or that it's just starting to dawn on me: the enormity of the preparations that I need to be making for the holiday season. I've been accepted as a vendor at the Queen City Craft Bazaar's holiday event (December 1) and Shelley at Albertine Press is having another Paper & Chocolate event on December 2, and has invited Angela at Carta, Inc., and me to participate in a little trunk show. It's going to be a busy weekend! Not to mention that I have workshops to teach between now and then, holiday cards to design for myself and few friends, and lots and lots of books to make!

Back here at procrastination station, I've been, well, procrastinating. And finally getting around to:
(a) making pretty things to hang on the wall (from purl soho's the purl bee, via little ida)(b) posting pictures of my most recent workshops, and two amazing groups of new letterpress junkies (click here to see the September class, and here for the October class)and (c) finding new blogs to get hooked on. Read the new letterpress blog of Chrysanthemum Press (by my student Sarah) and the blog by veteran bookbinders Rag and Bone. And don't forget to get yourself some patches! I saw these on the Green Chair Press blog, and was delighted to find that Ms. Jennie Hinchcliff (a super cool, creative chiquita, who I met at the San Francisco Center for the Book) has launched a project called PodPost--and is making grown-up Merit Badges for the Girl/Boy Scout in all of us. As a 12-year scout, and former GS leader, it's about time to update the sash. And now you know what to get me for Christmas!