Adirondack Fishing

There is a little shop up near Lake Placid that has all sorts of type-cuts and whats-its and gizmos. On an outing earlier this year, someone found this little fisherman.

I didn't get a chance to print it on Bertha, because things were always inked up in the wrong color, or I didn't want to deal with inking it up when the cut was so small. However...

Now there is Sig! And with a little baby press, a small cut is ideal! So the fisherman was finally printed--and I think he's wonderful. Maybe it will become part of a set of cards for the summer?

This past week brought the start of mock-ups for wedding invitations, the start of Valentine's Day cards (which should get finished this weekend) and thinking about goals for the upcoming year. January is more than half over! It's time to get going!

Sigwalt Chicago

Last night was filled with lots of experimentation and printing on the new baby press, Sig. New and interesting things learned: how to adjust the bed of the press so that it prints properly. Not sure that it's totally right yet, but it's getting closer.

So. Baby Sig has had it's first ink up, and also it's first cleaning. It's a sweet little press. Now... to start printing! Valentines are first on the list.

And the iPod in that photo? Totally there so that you know how big (or little) this baby press is.

Hallowe'en

Not, as a rule, my favorite holiday, but I did think something seasonal was appropriate.

Been printing this weekend, finally have time to print! So I'm finishing up Wedding Programs that I've been working on, and designing some Save-the-Dates for a wedding next year. All very exciting.

Printing Christmas and Holiday cards soon, I'll be selling some of them, just haven't figured out how/where yet. Maybe Etsy?

Playing with Vandercooks

So over the past weekend, I went to visit Singletree Press, and the book arts center in Rochester.

We had fun using lots of different cuts to make cards!

(.918, for you non-type-geek sorts, is type high--the height your type must be to print from it.)

Map-Fold Wedding Invitations

107 map-folds, 250 pages, and 5 press runs later...

...they're done! The invitations have been delivered!

I'm really happy with how they turned out.

Postcard Exchange

So if you follow BCP on facebook, you'll know that I've been working on that page, trying to figure out what the BCP "look" is. (To date, I still haven't come up with the "look," but it's getting there.)

In Ladies of Letterpress news, I've finished my postcards for the swap, and will be mailing those out soon. I'm excited to see what I get back!

And in Wedding Invitation news, I've completed two press runs, and all the maps are folded into their envelope form. The maps are now resting under weight, so that the folds are nice and crisp (but not too) and the invitations are nearing completion. Very exciting!

Proofs Pulled

Hooray! The first proof has been pulled, and it looks swell. I'm quite excited.

Wish List

Should anyone care to buy me this darling little press, you may feel free.

Right after you hit the lottery, that is, since this particular press is going for more than what I got my press for. (Paint it, and apparently it's worth a lot more.)

But it is cute, and someday I want one similar. Add that to the list of type faces I want, the board shear, the vandercook, and the other ink colors.

Wish lists are so much fun!

In other news, I've been folding, pulling proofs, and printing up new business cards, (for myself) so it's been a pretty productive time in the print shop.

Postcards!

It's wonderful to be printing again. This is the first press run for the Ladies of Letterpress postcard swap; I still have to do the back to make it an official postcard. Yay!

Hummingbird Proof

Hummingbird proof! I actually was pretty lazy and just inked it up like a stamp and then printed it that way, but it is a proof. I can see the spots I'll need to work on a little more. Overall though, I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out.

New Cards!

Boxcar Plates came today, which means that I've been printing for quite some time non-stop. Wonderful! Here's a sample of what I've done today. Enjoy.

Linoleum

Yesterday was the first installment of things I printed on a Vandercook. Today is part two; a different technique than rainbow rolls, but still just as exciting.

Linoleum cuts! This one is formally called a "Reduction Cut," because by the time you finish printing, you have nothing left of the block you started out with. The image was inspired by the family of foxes that I have living across the road from me. Adorable!

Four color run; there's a white background that didn't show up so well on the white paper, but turned out nicely on the brown paper.

Rainbow Rolls

Rainbow rolls are so much fun to do! I haven't yet figured out how to do them on a platen rather than a cylinder press, but playing with the vandercook presses proved to be a lot of fun, as was digging through the WBAC metal image collections.

The basic idea is that you load each end of the cylinder with a different color, and then you let them distribute together. It makes a new color in the middle, so ideally you don't pick colors that make mud. And you can either print your image with it (which I did not do) or print a background with it.

Stationary Cards

Since these cards have now reached their owner, I can show these without spoiling the surprise!

These were printed with polymer plates, printed in two colors, on ivory paper; the envelopes were a mix of matching tones.

Got the cellophane baggies today; I've been wrapping things since then. And I was out in the shop printing my own silly cards, so that I have things to send people too!

April

And so April draws to a close.

As the first month where I've really been up and running, I think it's been a good month. Successfully printed a set of business cards, two sets of blank cards, sending out stationary cards tomorrow, and printed a mother's day gift. (The last one you won't see until... guess when? mother's day!)

Overall I'm pleased. I've finally gotten to the point where I can fairly accurately gauge how long a project will take me to complete; and I've learned a lot about printing on a platen.

Oh! The photo for today was actually taken on Earth Day; it's a trillium that was in bloom near my house, that I happened to walk by when the sun was illuminating it.

First Job--Done!

Snazzy. Today I delivered the business cards for TJ's Cakes; what fun! I'm really happy with the way that they turned out.

Next in the printing line-up are the stationary cards! Unfortunately it's snowing outside, so the print shop is cold. Enforced study time for the student. But those will be this week, for sure.

Still on the hunt for cellophane bags to put cards in. I found some 3x4 inch ones, but those don't quite cut it.

Dusty Peachy Pink

A success and a semi success.

Success was in the business card realm, I got the background peachy pink color printed, I love love love the way it looks.

Semi success was in the cards; I'm still in love with the color, but not so much with the way it printed. Hmmm. I'll be thinking that one over while printing the second color on the business cards tomorrow.

Good stuff, overall. I really need to find a better way to register the paper though. Blue tape and cardboard just isn't cutting it.

Cards!

These were the trial run through the press; there are a few important things that I learned:

1. don't leave the paper catchers in the way when you're printing on a boxcar base. it will a. try to hurt the base, and b. not allow you to print. my base now has a small dent, fortunately in an area that will never be printed on.

2. those metal clips for registration are not worth it. I definitely have a dent in the base from that, and after i realized it I threw the little clip thing across the room and yelled at it for denting the boxcar base. Have since come up with a newer and better system, in my opinion.

3. printing is exceptionally gratifying. I knew that, but it reinforces the fact.

Happy Earth Day!

Proofs!

I'm still waiting for my boxcar base, but today I did pull the first proofs off the press. (Red is the only color I have at the moment.) How exciting! My rollers are a little low, but that's easy to fix. And then cleaned everything with Crisco + Denatured Alcohol, which worked wonders. I used to scoff at Crisco, but it makes things so easy!

A successful day in the print shop.