press mondays: oh, my.

I had the best intentions of blogging while in New York...

And then the days just kept getting away from me (and the nights were too short!).

I can't believe that I put this together in twenty-four hours...and that it looked pretty okay!

The Stationery Show is like a big sleep-away camp, where you get to catch up with all of your old friends (and meet new ones!) and gossip.

Or make pretty things--do you know how hard it is to keep my hands still all week?  

My pictures aren't the best, but the lovely and fantastic Nole at Oh So Beautiful Paper brought a professional photographer with her, and they got some really pretty shots of my booth.

And then today...

it was time to get back to work!

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: 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!

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!

finished: one week at a time

It's been such a busy week.  I haven't stopped since getting back from New York (and tonight, I'm really feeling the drag).

This week I finished three wholesale orders--to three stores that I'm so excited to be a part of: Urban Mercantile, in San Francisco, Papel New York in Brooklyn, and The Drawing Board right here in Montpelier.  I did a little photo shoot with the Drawing Board's goodies before I dropped off the box with Jodi, Liz, and Jen. 

Don't you just love the way pages drape and curve?  They're so sturdy and practical, and yet are so light.

Also this week: I've been thinking about this packaging for six months--no, seriously.  My decorative papers, stitched on the sewing machine into pretty little packages for card sets.

it's time!

It's been a whirlwind month, and now I'm here!

Three days + eight fine ladies + two fine gents = a pretty spectacular booth (in my humble opinion!).

Come visit the Ladies of Letterpress at the National Stationery Show (booth nos. 2256-2258): Thomas-Printers, Ink & Iron, Hazel & Violet Ink, Pistachio Press, May Day Studio, Paper Mill Designs, Dandy Lion Press and Flywheel Press would be glad to see you!

internet convolutions

Woo hoo!  One of my BINGO Books is on the etsy front page right now.  How did I find out, you might wonder?  An email notification of a comment posted on my facebook wall, in response to an automatic "My Etsy" posting.  Sometimes the internet really astounds me!  

it's been awhile

and I've been chugging along behind the scenes, and trying not to feel guilty about ignoring my blog.  There'll be some real posting soon, but in the meantime, I'm loving:

Ampersand Duck's post about the Common Press reconstructed in Australia.

The interview with Penguin designer Coralie Bickford-Smith on Design Sponge.

The 100 amazing prints in the Vandercook centenary bundle --which just arrived in my mailbox.  That's my contribution above!

makin' art

Every time I walk into the printshop, I'm confronted by art. It's inspiring to see the two artists I share studio space with making and doing and experimenting and starting over when it goes bad.

It's a constant challenge: am I an artist? a crafter? a designer? a business owner?

All of the above?

Last week I got the chance to really create something out of nothing, and not think about pricing, or product shots, or checking the ink color with a client--be an artist, as it were. It's the one-hundredth anniversary of the Vandercook printing press, and I lucked into a spot on the poster exchange. I put it off until almost the last minute...this artist is a real procrastinator.

My idea was to tell my Vandercook story--make it mine. Here's the first color setup, on the press.

Pulling proofs: I have a soft soft for palimpsests.

And now a question for you: how do you balance the not-for-profit creative process with the need to make rent every month? Any suggestions?

front page

It's so rare that I'm actually on the internet when anything exciting happens!

Thanks to Stacia and Carmen for being lookouts!

paper pops!

Happy Monday! Be sure to check out the latest Poppytalk Market:Paper Pops! which opens today!

seventy degrees + one for the memories

It's a beautiful day in Vermont--the sun is shining, and I'm printing 900 coasters for the new pub in town: Three Penny Taproom.
And when I came home for lunch, I saw this on etsy:
Yay!

so nice!

Yesterday the fantastic Jeb Wallace-Brodeur at the Times Argus came by the printshop to take photos and learn a bit more about what I do.   I'm thrilled with the results!

(a sneak peek on the front page!)

(and a very nice spread at the front of the local section.)

Thanks, Jeb!

spring has sprung!

Sort of. It's mud season here in Vermont...when all the snow starts melting, and uncovers the dirty little things we left out last November.

Also a time for new beginnings, like this:
Visit my table at the latest Poppytalk market, Green Pop! There's a new limited edition letterpress print listed...

a day in the life

On Wednesdays, my day starts at 8am. That may not be early for some of you, but I am most definitely not a morning person. At least until I've had a cup of coffee.
Which means that after I open the studio doors at 8, I sit on my bum and read, or listen to VPR, for an hour or so until the caffeine has kicked in. Today was no exception.





At 9, I put more of that plummy purple ink on the big C&P, and printed the details on the back of save-the-dates for Emily and John.





Then a short break--run home to check email--and back to work.
Sara Grace gave me a stack of posters two weeks ago, and I've been working on them slowly. Since she only needs ten or so for each date--and there were four dates, at four different venues, to be printed in four different colors--I've been doing one set every few days. Today was the last round!

(around the Vandercook's cylinder)

(all finished!)

And then clean up the second press, and run home for a very, very late lunch.

Yay for overprints!

Then Em & John, and Sara Grace stopped by to pick up their goodies, and I...
...get back to work. It's 7:30, and I'm finishing the first side of cards for The Lamb Abbey.

I'm feeling really accomplished today...it's rare that I get a full day in the studio, so it's pretty amazing to see what one person can accomplish. It was also lovely to have visitors (Brian's wife Linda with Baby E., and Ben & Ben & Gordon, and Sara & Lindsay, and Emily & John), and to geek out to two pretty good books on tape--which are a total staple around Fort Can.

100!

It's taken two years and five months, but I've finally made it too 100 posts. And to celebrate--a little video.

That's me, today, working in the studio all by my lonesome, listening to Le Tigre really loudly and printing cards for my friend (& rockstar) Anais Mitchell. You'll get a blurry peek at the cards at the end...if you make it all the way through!

And just because:
Thanks for the photos, Mom! That's me in the middle...four years old, with my two sisters, in 1981.

in the meantime...

...I've been so busy lately, I don't even know where to start!  And I don't have photos of the big projects, but here's the fun stuff I manage to slip in:

 

Fun valentine-themed party invites for my friend Esme and her new venture, Venus Tattoos.
More talented friends!  Band posters for the incredible Sara Grace & the Suits.  Photo by Heather Gray, design & letterpress by me!
And today I'm working on save-the-dates for John & Emily--former housemates, now engaged.  Emily designed the save-the-date after this logo because they're getting married on--you guessed it!--7/11.

what are the odds...

of catching oneself on the etsy front page?


happy smiley friday!

harrumph.

Or, more precisely, *sigh.*

Last year, around this time, I was happily shopping at the ReStore and finishing holiday cards. January is a typically slow month in many ways--folks aren't spending money after the holiday glut, etc.--and I usually get a week or so to knit and hang out with friends.

Not so this year.

I shouldn't complain, really, not with all the seriously depressing financial forecasts, but I'm busy. A little too busy.

In the last week alone:

I'm so thrilled to be a part of this month's Poppytalk Handmade: Love Transforms. The market started last Monday, and I've had a fairly large response--sales, inquiries, compliments--all of which need to be responded to.

...which led to a shout-out on etsy's blog, and two etsy front page spots.

All of which involves the internet, which I don't have at the studio--only at home--so making that four mile round-trip a few times a day (posting new items to the shop, photographing new work, packing orders, printing labels, dropping them off at the post office) has me a little turned around.

Did I mention the crazy snow/twenty-below weather we've been having? The May Day mobile doesn't care for the cold, so I've been walking more than my knee wants to allow.

And that doesn't include the print work I have on schedule:
Inaugural Ball posters for the Lamb Abbey--a collaborative project with the Fort Can geniuses. Totally last minute, of course. (P.S. Brian + Tara were just photographed for the local paper--read more here.)

Party invitations for a local literary press:
(Still in progress--so no more details yet!)

Did I mention that I still work two other "day" jobs? Here's to a crazy 2009!

P.S. The workshop schedule is now posted, too. Whew!