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?

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.

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.

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.)

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: 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!

on the press: first day back

Look!  It's a booth!  After spending a week sitting in this 8 x 10 trade show booth with Shelley, I finally got back on the press today.

 First up was a small reprint of my quirky love notes (heading out to two local shops this week!).

And then...the big grey print run (printing the first color for zigzag papers) took up most of my afternoon.  Here are the pretty bloops that transparent white ink makes when you dab it on the rollers haphazardly.  Really, I do mix very precisely (well, most of the time anyway).

on the press: red

Here's a sneak peek at one of my new cards!  A little addition to the lunchbox notes family: awesome!  I had red ink on the press all day (printing lots of cards for two new stores)--and it just so happens to be winter colors week over on Poppytalk...and guess what today's color is? 

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 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.