finished fridays: a clean table

It may not look like much...

...but it takes several hours to make the studio look this good.  All in readiness for tomorrow's workshop!

workbench wednesdays: one year later + new and exciting

Yup. I was looking at my 2010 calendar earlier, and I've had this project on the calendar since last January. One year! It hasn't been worked on continuously, but it's been on the top of my projects list for the last twelve months.  And today, I packed the last four boxes and sent them on their way.

And then I had to open up one of the boxes--I forgot to take photos of the finished books!

In other (super fun) news, I'm offering a make-your-own valentines workshop--as featured in the February issue of Country Living:

And now, just one more picture:

I love piles + rows of things...and this is one of my favorites.  Ropey, delicate linoleum shavings (and a brand new pattern is born!).

on the press: this weekend

So, I didn't actually print anything today.  But this weekend was chock-full, so here you go!

Saturday brought seven enthusiastic ladies into my printshop for a bridal shower weekend extravaganza. 

It's a lot of fun to see things start to click--Meredith was all set to do a second color with stars, and on the very short walk to the press, turned to me and said, "What if I use a star here?" And it was perfect; the teeny tiny star is just the right little touch.

And trying out blind impression....

Mixing up wood type (and loving the "salty" effect of printing it on the Pilot) and using silly little cuts for casual notes.

Playing with border pieces!

And Lydia used the unicorn!  I've been trying to find a good reason to print to for almost two years.

Two ink colors!  And excellent use of my skull & crossbones.

And finally, a little "woot woot" and they were on their way.  Thanks to Kate, Kelsey, Maggie, Lydia, Maggie, Meredith, and Becky (who made the cutest cards that I didn't get a photo of!) for an inspiring day!

workshop mania!

It's your lucky day!
Introduction to Letterpress--at May Day Studio, Montpelier, VT

The cool touch of decades-old metal type. A firm two-handed impression roll for a copy proof. A deft transfer from composing stick to imposing stone. A gentle tap of the planer. Two quick twists of the locking key and the chase with form is secure. The press is inked, the guides aligned, the chase slips into position, paper is correctly placed and your very first impression is ready to print.

Participants set type, lockup and print on a Chandler and Price Pilot and a Vandercook SP-15--we'll be printing limited edition notesets, as well as posters! Each participant will leave with 15 cards and envelopes, and 5 8-1/2 x 11" posters as lifetime keepsake of their first letterpress experience.

Choose Saturday, August 8 or Sunday, August 9: 10am-4:30 pm. Cost is $100, includes materials and a sandwich lunch. Advanced registration is requested; payments can be made by cash, check, or credit card (in person and by phone).

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!

choosing the right paper

...just a quick note to say hi, and remind you about the seminar I'm offering tomorrow at Letterpress Things: Choosing the Right Paper. I have samples from several different papermakers and paper mills, lots of swatchbooks, and a pretty concise guide to the best (and friendliest!) paper peeps in the US.
There'll be a sign-up sheet at the front counter--just choose the session you want (9:30-11, 11:30-1, and 1:30-3) and meet me there! Cost is only $10, which covers the paper samples. Bring your questions!

a quiet day

Last Saturday's workshop was definitely quiet!  I had two cancellations late Friday night--and so only one student!

Samantha was a very good sport, and put up with me talking all day long!  

She made notecards with an old saying of her father's: "Why is a mouse when it spins?" and inside "The higher, the fewer."  Has anyone else heard this before?

intro workshop blur

Last night I taught the first (of what I hope will be many!) session of Intro to Letterpress in my studio. Thanks to Maria, Emily, and Megan for having the faith in me to sign up in the first place!

Unfortunately, all the pictures I took last night were blurry. I was feeling a bit blurry, too--it's been a long few weeks, kids, and this is just the beginning.
(above) Emily (below) Megan and Maria, all checking out my crazy collection of magnesium and copper images
Right now: running out the door to prep for tomorrow's Experience the Letterpress Thing in Chicopee. Next week's intro workshop: setting type!

P.S. I have one more spot left in my 10/18 Wood Type Fun workshop--email me now if youre interested!

meet me here:

From Letterpress Things Printshop

Tomorrow, Saturday October 4, from 11-3. Check out the full flyer; get directions here; see you soon!

And, because I'm so excited about them, a sneak peek at some new work:

open studio: recap

The open studio was great! Thanks to everyone who came, and talked my ear off, and tried the presses, and bought journals, and...

...everything. You kept me so busy, I didn't even get any pictures of the studio-in-action. For more pictures (well, more exciting than my gloves), check out photographer Curtis Savard, who stopped by (and stayed for awhile!) and Tara Jensen, fellow Fort Can-ite.

open studio

I hope you'll all (yes, all!) join me tomorrow at my open studio.It's been a very long day...and I'm still not ready! Back to work!

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.

works in progress

I don't have much to say today...I'm off to Letterpress Things to teach another Broadsides for Beginners workshop, and to deliver these sweet treats to my friend Jen:and to finish these certificates for Yestermorrow in grand style:Happy spring!

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.}

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!

looking ahead...

I know it sounds a little cuckoo, but I can't help but be afraid of March. This year, I'll be projecting films for the Savoy Theater as part of the Green Mountain Film Festival--and as I'm still a novice projectionist, just the thought of messing something up in front of a crowd gives me the shivers.

And then there's the workshops: I've just updated the workshops page on my site to reflect dates that still have openings, as well as to announce a new date for Experience the Letterpress Thing (March 15) and a new workshop: Getting to Know Your Tabletop Press. Only one date (so far), March 8. And here's what it's all about:

A unique, hands-on workshop where participants bring their own tabletop press to work on.

The daylong class begins with a review of the press: its parts, operations, care and maintenance, adjustments, and more. In the afternoon, we make our presses ready to print.

Topics and techniques include setting tympan and packing; ink types, mixing, and inking the press; setting and positioning gauges and grippers; choosing paper; and registering the form. Particular attention will be given to troubleshooting and specific problems previously encountered. If time permits, participants will set type and print.

As always, email me for information, and sign up soon!

why is vacation so much work?

Although I tried to take a work "vacation," I ended up thinking more about printing & binding than I have in awhile. In the xmas rush, my modus operandi was "do-do-do-get it done"...and now it seems that I need to think for an entire day (it's now after 5 pm and I'm just getting to the "do" part) before I can make anything happen.

I'm still finalizing my holiday cards (I know! I'm sooo late this year.) and working on a few new cards for sale. In the meantime, to hold you over:I'm a sucker for vintage ribbons. These all came from the Re-store yesterday (grand total: $3.05)...a small lot of vintage satins in white, blue, mint, pink, yellow, and red. Those of you who've bought from my etsy shop know that I package all of my book and cards in kraft paper, tied with pretty vintage ribbons.

My inspiration board. I don't have a whole lot of wallspace in the studio, so everything gets rotated on and off here in a timely manner. Up there now(clockwise from top):

• two playing cards "lady midget" and "c" (found by my friend brad in the wall of his house)
• quote from willy wonka and the chocolate factory that i've been repeating to myself all day: "Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple." Send me butterscotch ripple, stat!
• barn swallow drawing by my friend missa
• poppy postcard received from an email buddy
• majorette postcard...my first project on my press
• "merry" poster done by rik in my holiday letterpress class
• tiny art invitation (not yet done...)
• "dolly salad" line ideas (my not-yet realized ideas for fantastic homegoods made from vintage materials)

Grrr. Back to work.

riot-grrl crafty style

My housemate Tara just ran out the door, but before she left she titled this photo "riot-grrl crafty style, or sixth-wave feminism makes me cranky." Really, it's just me wanting to show off the gift certificates I made for one lucky lady to receive under the tree this year: a day-long letterpress workshop with me! I used vintage wood type, crane's lettra in ecru (offcuts from another job) and Van Son scarlet red ink. I think it's a little less scarlet and a little more va-va-va-voom lovely. What do you think?

Need a few last-minute gift ideas? Here are a few of my favorite things this year:









(left) Limited Edition (and now on sale!) Hand-marbled, letterpress 2008 Calendar by Albertine Press. Even more beautiful in person. Buy it here.
(right) Prints by Swallowfield. I bought (ahem) a few of these as gifts for the holidays. This is my favorite, but shop for them all here.











(left) Merit Badge sets by Pod Pod Post. For the printers, binders, and zinemakers in your life. (I'm hoping that a set of these will be in my stocking this year...)
(right) Thank You notes--essential for after the holidays. Mara and Anna were, once upon a time, my bosses back in San Francisco. Now they run a little something called Dutch Door Press, where they make many more pretty things than I could list here. Shop here.










(left) One-year subscription to Ker-bloom letterpress zine. It's thoughtful, and funny, and made a few times a year with handset type and offcuts of paper. Totally Brilliant. Check out artnoose's etsy shop here.
(right) Not many of you know this, but I grew up in a little town in San Diego (California) county. A few months ago, several wildfires devastated the area, causing massive evacuations, and resulting in a whole lotta nothing but charred brush for many, many miles. My family's entire town was evacuated. Their home was unharmed, but others weren't so lucky. Many families lost homes, jobs, schools, cars, pets, and hope--all in 72 hours. Click here to choose a charity to donate a few dollars to. Please.