More Etsy Items...

I am being a very bad blogger and only posting photos of recent work lately...Here are some more notecard sets available at the Sunlit Letterpress Etsy store...

Cherry Blossoms...

Just a quick post today – Recently posted the above notecard set on Etsy. If you haven't noticed, I have a thing for cherry blossoms, and Japanese motifs in general...

Here are some greeting cards with more blossoms, in khaki:



I've also posted two framed letterpress prints for sale featuring red and orange blossoms:



Happy letterpressing!

New Birthday Cards at Etsy...

For those who were interested in birthday cards, I finally have gotten around to posting this set of 4 greeting cards at Etsy...

Back to work...and happy letterpressing!

Brown Birds...

I recently posted the above notecards in my Etsy store, and they sold within hours. I'm learning that birds are a very popular motif. At the craft fair I showed at last month, the bird cards were the first to go. Hmmm... I have some more notecard sets (non bird-related) to post on Etsy tonight so we'll see how they do.

Things have been very busy around the studio this week, and it's been fun trying keep everything in order. Wedding invitations, business cards, a provincial newsletter, and a national magazine that I do the design and layout for just went off to the printers. In terms of my design work, I can smell Fall in the air as my regular clients and new ones get prepared for September and the "back to work" rush.

The cleaning of the C&P is almost complete, and I managed to find an online "parts manual" for putting everything back together. It seems the manual was last printed in the 1950s, so it will be fun to use. We've recruited our friend Harold (a firefighter) to help us put the platen section (see below left) of the press back on the base. It weighs about 200 lbs, so my husband and I need an extra set of hands.



If everything goes as planned, I could possibly be printing within a week or two (crossing fingers). I then need to get my rump in gear and get working on the new stationery for the holidays and upcoming craft/art sales I plan to attend. I will also likely participate in Portobello West sometime this Fall.


In other news, I recently received this email from Jane asking for advice:

Hello, I have a few questions regarding the C & P letterpress that you recently acquired. I also recently bought the same size C & P letterpress from a listing on briarpress.org. When I got to the person's place to see it was in good condition, everything seemed to be fine except that it wouldn't turn on. The seller is willing to knock the price down, but do you know how and where I would start so that I could find out what is wrong? I don't want to take a broken machine if it's unfixable. Also, I have to take the machine apart to bring it home. Which parts should I leave on the press and which parts are the easiest to take off and put back together? I do have to clean it once I bring it home so I would like the best possible recommendation, if any.

Jane

Jane - I'm guessing by "turn on" you mean that the motor wouldn't run? I have to assume that's what you meant, because the press itself doesn't turn on, it only works by rotation of the flywheel or pumping of the foot treadle. The motor the person might have the C&P on could just be worn out or dead, and really doesn't affect the overall functioning of press itself (the motor just does the physical work for you).

In my humble opinion, I would be more worried about whether the C&P works without motor power. Did you see it function at all? Did the seller show you the press in action, maybe by printing a sample to show you? Does the press have any cracks, welds, or obvious damage? The motor can always be replaced, but a press in bad shape is not a good thing.

As far as the price goes, again in my opinion, the value of the press totally depends on what the buyer is willing to pay. I really see the sale of letterpress equipment as a buyers market in the sense that the cost (physical and financial) to move equipment is so high, that it strongly affects what a buyer is willing to pay for the press itself. I have heard of many people who have gotten their floor model presses for free or for a few hundred dollars, because the people selling wanted to get rid of them, and the people buying knew what a pain it would be to extract the press from the seller's place and get it home. In my case, I paid more to move my C&P than I did to buy it.

As for removing parts, many can be removed - flywheel, platen, treadle, etc., but this isn't to say that everyone should undertake this task. I had the parts of my press removed because if I hadn't, it wouldn't have fit in my house. And, the seller knew what he was doing and had taken the press apart before - so he did it for me. For advice on removing parts, I would post in the Briarpress.org forum or search the archives for instructions.

As for cleaning your press - it depends on the condition. Some people buy presses from sellers that loved them and babied them. Some presses are bought after they've been sitting in a garage for decades. Unless your press needs the cleaning, why bother? I'm doing a light cleaning on my C&P just to get rid of some of the dust and surface grease on non-moving parts. It doesn't even really need that - it's just my preference.

Best of luck to you Jane, and happy letterpressing!

Featured on Poppytalk...

Sunlit Media Letterpress stationery is featured today on Poppytalk, a canadian design blog that "collects inspiration and promotes emerging design talent". I am thrilled to bits! If you don't already read this blog, you should, because Jan is always posting information about very cool items. It has crossed my mind to use her blog to do all my Christmas shopping this year - so many great ideas!

The cleaning of the C&P is going well, I'm just going slowly and surely. I don't want to remove too much grease from the joints and moving parts, because that grease is needed. I'm more focused on getting rid of some of the dust. But, the press is in good shape, so I don't need to work too hard at the cleaning.

So my current task list includes listing some more items on Etsy, finishing the cleaning of the C&P, putting the press back together, getting ready for a few more art/craft shows this fall, preparing my holiday line of stationery, getting started on some letterpress Christmas gifts, and so on...

In other news, I've made a few more Etsy sales, so things are moving along well...

Happy Letterpressing!

The C&P Has Arrived...

This has been an eventful week for the studio...and a very long week! Although I'm kind of glad it's all over with, lots of good things happened. First, I made my first Etsy sale to a buyer in California. I was excited about that, but even more excited about the bouquet of red roses my hubby bought me to celebrate :) (awwwww! I'm so lucky!). Second, I received an inquiry about selling my cards at a wonderful little boutique in Pennsylvania. The owner found my work through Etsy and wants to carry my line of cards. Yay! I will post more details once my shipment is sent off on its journey to the US of A.

The third good thing? My new C&P 8x12 made its way from Dave's house in Coquitlam to my basement, and it did so without any drops, breaks, or other unfortunate mishaps. The press is still in separate pieces (the flywheel, motor, etc. were removed by Dave so that the press could even fit into the basement), but she will be put back together as soon as I finish giving her a light cleaning.

If you ever need movers in the Vancouver area for a press, I highly recommend Salmon's Transfer. I had spoken to a few other movers in the area, and everyone wanted to charge me over $1,000 to move the C&P. Not to mention, they all groaned and moaned about the job. Why wouldn't anyone want to haul over 1,000 lbs of metal down a flight of stairs? Hunh? Oh well, their loss. Salmon's commercial move department was more than happy to help me out (for around $600), and sent 4 wonderful movers to lift, and shove, and shimmy my press to its new home.

Here is a photo of the truck, backed up into my backyard. The press is still inside and the Salmon's men were developing their strategy to get her out and down the back stairs of my house.

Here are the four men are moving the press on to the ground from the lift. Did I mention we have been doing some landscaping? Hence the pile of dirt...


The ten stairs down a narrow stairway that they had to get down. When they first arrived, one of the movers asked me "We have to take it down THERE?" with wide-eyes. I think he was kidding though, because they knew about the stairs in advance. But...maybe he truly was disgusted by the stairs...who knows. All I know is that the man was tall, a heavy lifter, and sounded just like John Goodman - and I wouldn't have wanted to argue with him too much...


This is a photo of the pre-removed parts of the press that the men had moved in to the basement first. Here they are awaiting the rest of the press.


The removed flywheel. John Goodman (a.k.a. the heavy lifter) told me it weighs about 100 lbs. I haven't tried lifting it myself yet.



Here she goes down there stairs (a "press in a blanket"). Two men up top holding the dolly, John Goodman and friend steadying the bottom. It only took them about 4-5 minutes to get down the stairs. Slowly but surely. You can see the window on the right near Mr. Goodman's elbow - yep, I was worried about that window!


Getting closer to the bottom...We had to remove the screen door to my basement and the railing on the stairs in order to fit the press down. The press was about 30-31 inches wide (without the flywheel), so it was tight.



My view of the movers reaching the bottom of the stairs. They then had to turn the press to fit it through the door.


Here the movers are getting the press off of the dolly.


And on the ground.


Whew! Boy am I glad that's over with. Now we have to tidy the press up, and then put it back together (I may need to ask for Dave's help if we can't figure it out). Then, I should be able to start printing. As I've learned so far with letterpress, it may take some time to get going. But, I'm very excited to get started.

On a scary note, the movers told me that to get the press out of the basement, I will need to hire a Hiab truck with a crane to pull the press from the base of the basement stairs and up. I guess even with four men, the Salmon's team probably couldn't get it out very easily because of the lack of space in the staircase. Going down seems to be easier than going up. So yeah, that really stinks...but, whattayagonnado?

This week I will be making friends with WD40 and doing a bit of cleaning. My husband reminded me to open the windows and ventilate so I don't kill myself. Oops, I forgot about that! Oxygen-smoxagen. But getting high on WD40 is probably not good for one's health...

Happy letterpressing...

7...6...5...

Let the countdown begin - 7 days until the moving of the C & P into the basement. We've cleared out a bunch of stuff down there beside my Kelsey and worktable, so that the press will have a nice home in the corner under a window. Right now, the space is occupied by some weight lifting stuff that we are selling on Craigslist (want to buy? wink, wink, nudge nudge).


Anyways, I've noticed a lot of people seem to mount their presses on wood and then screw the whole thing into the floor or concrete to stabilize the press (I imagine that is what the purpose is). I'm not totally sure what our plan is yet, but we'll need to figure it out before next Saturday. If I can avoid drilling holes in my basement floor, then that would be ideal.

In other news, I recently listed my wedding card on Etsy, so there are now three cards for sale. I'm not totally sold on Etsy though - there are SO MANY people selling paper goods on there. Not that that is a bad thing, but I just don't know if it's the best way to showcase product. It's almost like there is too much going on. If you watch the "recently added" widget, you might get a bit overwhelmed watching all the new things being listed.


Anyways, have a lovely long weekend fellow Canadians! Happy letterpressing!