on the bench: the perfect photo

It's not everyday that I hustle to get to the studio early...I'm really not a morning person.  At all. 

But I'm trying to take pictures of everything I make (and then send far, far away to stores across the country), and I know from experience that the light--the best light--for product photos is on the early side.  So I got in to the studio this morning, and almost immediately started taking pics of the brag books I finished up last night.  Coming soon to a few select stores, and my etsy shop.

See the difference?  The top one was before 11am....the bottom one was later in the afternoon, when I remembered that I should take a group shot as well!

interlude: my online inspirations

I missed my "on the press" post yesterday because I've been suffering though allergies for the last three days--my afternoons and evenings are mostly lost to killer headaches.

In the meantime, I've been catching up on my blogroll, and have found some really lovely (and inspiring) posts:

Brooklyn Bookbinder aka Maggie's writeup of the Fine Press Book Association's journal Parenthesis (be sure to click on her links--they're beautiful!).

 

Image (c) Ampersand Duck

Ampersand Duck's chronicle of being a printer-in-residence, and having seven (!!) multi-color poetry broadsides (plus the folio) to print on handpress (!!) and on a deadline!

Shelley at Albertine Press did a lovely writeup of our time at NYIGF (I'm really terrible at remembering to take pictures!): look at part one here, a little bit of our daily walk here, and the ever-adorable Sadie's adventures through the Javits.

Image (c) Albertine Press

Did I mention that May Day Studio has a little feature in a new book about letterpress?  Shelley took some lovely photos here.  Reinventing Letterpress (released in the US as Little Book of Letterpress) is filled with studios small and large, many of whom I'm totally crushing on right now.  Many thanks to Charlotte Rivers for inviting me to participate!  Charlotte writes the incredibly stylish blog Lottie Loves...which should be added to your blogroll asap!

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!

on the bench: annotated

It was a quiet day in the studio...just finishing up on casebound journals for another wholesale order. Click on the picture to see notes!

on the press: september 27

It's a rainy, rainy Monday, after a long weekend...but no rest for me!  Today, my intern Yim came in, and I immediately had her on the press--she's so enthusiastic about printing (even cleaning the press!).

Project 1: Proofing a birth announcement--printed from handset type and a vintage cut.

Project 2: a two-color, four-fold wedding program.

finished friday: late night

Why yes, it is 10:30 on a Friday night.  I'm actually home early (for once this week)!

I've spent a lot of time on the Vandercook this week--first, three runs x 200+ sheets for Anais's Hadestown programs.

And tonight, three hours on the press for the last batch (for a little while) of charcoal grey for decorative sheets. 

P.S. I saw the October issue of Martha Stewart Living at the grocery checkout, and squealed like a little girl.  Go out and get one!

on the bench: multitasking

One of the greatest joys curses challenges of being a small business owner is having each day be completely new, and completely unplannable.  Yesterday I had to step away from May Day Studio for a few hours, to train for a few additional responsibilities at the Savoy (for when my dear friends Eric and Megan are on maternity leave!), and didn't get to all the bookbinding that I needed to finish up.

But some of it did get done--the Bingo Books, at least, are ready for next week's shipment.

And I had to squeeze in a last-minute reprint of Hadestown programs for my friend Anais Mitchell. 

Here's the first color down--two more press runs to go!

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!

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!

on the bench: cozy time

It's been a rainy and blustery couple of days--and that, combined with a misplaced camera cord, has made me want to cozy up to a movie with a big mug of hot cocoa and two lap kitties.  Alas, work keeps coming in, so today I brought the movie to me--Katharine Hepburn's 1933 tear-fest Little Women.  And brag books, ready to sew.

finished fridays: september 10

I'm not feeling super accomplished this week (I spent a lot of time on the computer, which doesn't feel like "work" to me), but taking photos and updating the blog does make it seem like things happened.

I cut down piles of paper for notepads--these are trimmed and waiting to be glued.

Yim actually printed these for me--it was her first real crash course on the Vandercook--three colors in under three hours.  She was very patient while I mixed a slightly darker yellow ink, fiddled with the underlays and slipsheets, and reminded her over and over again that precision and perfect prints are way more important than printing quickly.

These postcards were my "fun" time for the week.  They're my submission to the latest Ladies of Letterpress swap, a collection of "Hello from...." postcards.

on the bench: so clean!

Possibly the cleanest you will ever see my table--packing the last of this batch of wholesale orders.  These beauties are my new photo albums, and are on their way to the classy shelves of Bowne & Co Stationers at the South Street Seaport Musuem.

behind schedule: on the press 9/6

It was a long, late night of printing, and at about 10 pm I remembered to take a photo--first, the lovely red ink.

And then (sorry for the dark photo)--reprints of "I Spy" from my quirky love line!

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.

workbench wednesdays: september first

Can you guess what this is?

It's so satisfying to peel back in one big piece--like peeling an orange in one spiraling globe.

And at the end of it, two really big sheets of perfect bookcloth!

Also on the table today: twelve BINGO books in two straight lines. 

on the press: august 30

There's not a whole lot of printing happening in the studio this week--but there's more bookbinding than I can shake a needle at!  Today, my fantastic intern Yim set up the Pilot for printing the backs of notepads.

While Yim was printing busily, I was stitching pretty envelopes for catalog mailings.

finished fridays

Part three of the new blog goals: Finished Fridays!

Every Friday, I'd like to show off a little something that I finished during the week. This week, a lot of stuff is still in progress, but I did complete one wholesale order, and dropped it off at the chocolate factory(!) Friday. Thanks to Nutty Steph's for falling for my Quirky Love cards!

workbench wednesdays

Part two of my awesome new blog regime: workbench Wednesdays!

This is it--my worktable as of 4:00 this afternoon...piles of paper cut down for Bingo Books, casebound journals and notepads to fill my wholesale orders from the Gift Show.  Final count: 32 notepads, 12 Bingo Books, and 4 casebounds, all ready for my intern to fold tomorrow!

on the press mondays

The first of a new series (I hope) of blog posts about the daily life of a letterpress business. And to start us off:

No rest for the press!  I returned (triumphant! I might add) from the Gift Show on Friday, and immediately started working on the custom jobs that had been piling up...these are birthday announcement/cards for the President of Saint Michael's College.  1300 of them, to be precise.  I finished the printing and final trims last night, and today am sorting and shipping.      

And yes, I know it's Tuesday.

keeping busy

I'll be in New York this weekend for the New York International Gift Fair.  I'll be sharing a booth on Pier 92 with good friends Albertine Press and Carta, Inc.  Stop by the piers to say hi!

picture perfect

Oh, it's been much too long since my last post.  More peeks coming soon, but for now: these clouds were just unbelievable.  This is definitely the most picture-perfect sky I've ever seen!