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!

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!

mixed-tape monday: stationery show!

So much to show you, but it will all have to wait! New York, here I come!

finished fridays: moments of stillness

The time: 6 pm, Friday night

The place: the studio

Last night, as I surveyed the madness that is my studio, I thought about all the other tiny little shops out there, trying to finish up whatever for the Stationery Show, plus, you know, real work.  From my corner, it's hard to find the moments of stillness, where there's nothing to check off the to-do list, no emails to answer, no telephone ringing, and no ink on the press!

So I turned off the stereo and took just a few minutes to BE--and to find something interesting (and not stressful to think about!).

When the studio is clean, it's so easy to see what might be.

And piles of paper are both overwhelming and inspiring.

Empty frames are just beginnings.

And patterns are everywhere!

press mondays: countdown

It's here, for real.  I've been (mostly) avoiding Stationery Show madness, but now with less than two weeks....

...it seems like there'll never be enough time.  But we still must print!

And paint. Oh goodness, the paint.  It will all come together, I'm sure.  Right?

on the press (almost)

Monday mornings are always a challenge--and today I had two post-its, written in very tiny print, full of stuff to get done.  Most of which was emails and phone calls...which doesn't make for very dynamic blogging.

So it wasn't until after 3 that I started working on the main body of my NSS recipe cards...which, after a lot of complicated design ideas, turned into this:

Which is way less complicated than it looks!

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!

mixed-tape monday: taking measurements

I wasn't able to post this photo on Friday--the recipient hadn't yet seen them...but here they are!

Jodi from Paisley Tree Press drove out to Letterpress Things on Saturday to meet me and pick up her new custom binders--she squealed a bit, I won't lie.  They'll be making their debut to the public at Paisley Tree's booth (No. 1665) at the National Stationery Show in May--do stop by and ogle them for yourself!

Today was a lot of catching up--and then a lot of cutting.  This is a stack of 1200+ 135gsm sheets, if you can believe it.  They started out as 25 x 38" parent sheets, and are now 4-1/2 x 6-1/2".  Whew!

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!

pictures of the day: april 5

It was a beautiful, beautiful weekend. I know because I spent five minutes sitting on a chair (and eating a peanut butter + jam sandwich) in the bright sunshine in front of the studio. And then I went back to work. It's pretty rare that I get a weekend off from workshops, and rather than spend too much time relaxing, I spent it catching up on printing samples to bring to the Stationery Show next month.

This morning I cleaned up a bit, and started mixing more ink--and took some photos for a sneak peek!

mmm...pomegranate green tea.

more quirky love notes

 

new styles and colors of last word notes

 

mixing up big batches of ink

and tying up the forms when I'm done!

So posting might be a bit light for the next six weeks or so, but I hope you're all enjoying the sunshine!