Will you buy handmade for the holidays?

Will you buy handmade this holiday season? Support the Handmade movement!

Holiday Sneak Peek...

Two days ago, I placed my photopolymer plate order with Boxcar Press in NY state, and they are currently on their little way via UPS to my studio. Above is a little sneak peek at a portion of one of the designs I will be printing. The Sunlit Letterpress 2007 holiday line will be available at Etsy between mid-end November - so stay tuned! To promote the holiday line I will be holding a little contest here on the blog - the prize? Some letterpress stationery...so again, stay tuned!

I've been hearing a lot lately about a phenomenon also known as "the sampler". A friend suggested it as a good way to promote new artsy/craftsy-type products. The website for the sampler can be found here. From what I can tell, it looks like you send in so many products, and "the sampler" elves (or non-elves - not too sure who the worker bees are) send out your samples to members of the media all over the world. I'm curious if any AIL readers have tried this promotion tool and if they had any good results...

Back to work...

Happy letterpressing!

Return to the press room...

The last few weeks have been very busy, so I hadn't had much time for printing until this weekend. I received my most recent order of envelopes earlier this week and I wanted to get printing a.s.a.p. I have the Creative Finds craft fair/art show coming up on December 1st, and since I've sold most of my entire inventory since my last show (and online at my Etsy store), I don't have a lot of product hanging around. I've got a lot of ground to cover between now and December 1st, but I'll "git'er done".

The prints above and below are of a berry stem graphic that I used in my studio's New Year's card for 2007. I decided to re-use the graphic for some notecards for my own personal use this year. I love the bright red ink for this design, and there is a nice bite in the paper from this one too.

In case you are not very familiar with letterpress, there is an ongoing and slightly heated debate taking place between those who seek an impression with their prints, and those who think impression is a next-to-cardinal sin. Today, the market demands impression - and in my opinion, the impression, or tactile nature of letterpress is what sets letterpress apart from other forms of printing and differentiates letterpress from plain old offset or the kinds of results you would get from your little desktop laser printer. But, in reality, if you are printing properly, you shouldn't get much of an impression (a.k.a. a "kiss" impression - not a bite). In fact, when using metal type, forcing a deep impression will ruin your type over time.

I see both sides of the argument - I respect the traditions of letterpress printing and realize there is more to this fine printing skill than squeezing paper so hard that you see the print through the backside of the paper. On the other hand, people want to touch and feel the results of your labor - want something different - and as a service provider, one needs to "give the people what they want". Also, for modern letterpress printers using photopolymer - there isn't the same worry about wear and tear from impression as there is for metal type.

So is there a happy medium? Check out the debate online at Briarpress. What do you think?

The notecard below is another reuse of an old favorite - the bird. My bird design was a big hit at my last show, and in my Etsy store, so I'm getting more ready to sell at the upcoming show.

This week I will be ordering my plates for my holiday designs from Boxcar in New York. I should receive the plates within a couple of days. I am very excited to get started on these designs and should have them up in my Etsy store sometime in early November. The envelopes are waiting for their card mates to match up with them!

At the studio we have three website development projects, 5 brochure projects, a PR project, a photo shoot, a logo, and a corporate newsletter project all to start and finish before Christmas - so I'll have to do my printing in the wee hours of the night. Lucky me!

Happy letterpressing!

Fixed!

It looks like the header is finally working...silly Blogger interface! At least it's fixed now, and the blog is finally looking like my own, instead of a template.

I've had a few emails lately from some designers/artists interested in getting started in letterpress printing. If you take a look back to my old postings from last year, you will find some good (and lengthy) advice on getting started, where to find classes, where to find presses, etc. But, I will recap some useful websites here for those who'd rather not read through the old postings:

Briarpress - The best source for letterpress information, classifieds, discussions, and access to many experts...
Beginner's Guide to Buying A Press - The name speaks for itself, also from Briarpress...
Intro to Letterpress - Good advice from David Rose...
First Press Suggestions - Don Black's advice for beginners....
EBay Guide to Buying a Letterpress - I wouldn't always recommend the EBay route for buying your first press, but there is some good advice here.

I hope these links are useful to you. There are plenty more resources available online - just Google "Buying a Letterpress" and you'll find a whack of links to help you.

Happy letterpressing!

I hate Blogger!

In case you are reading this, please ignore the header for the time being...Blogger has such a convoluted way of doing things. I'm trying to put in a custom header, and it's darn near impossible. And yes, I do know HTML, so this really boggles the mind.

Grrr...

We love letterpress...and pets!

Here's a quick breather from letterpress news...I just wanted to post a picture of a dog that Sunlit Letterpress has sponsored through the BC SPCA's Biscuit Fund. Never heard of it? It's a fab program where 100% of donations are spent on emergency veterinary care for hurt, abandoned and homeless animals. No money is used for administration fees.

I've been an SPCA supporter for many years, and when I saw this photo of Tyson, I couldn't help myself. Tyson looks just like my boxer Zane, who passed away from canine lymphoma last June.


If you want to help the animals, please visit the BC SPCA Biscuit Fund website to learn about the animals you can sponsor. I promise you won't be able to resist their precious photos! Once Tyson has his surgery, I'm sure he'll be adopted straight away! If I didn't already have a busy little boxer of my own, I'd adopt him myself!

And now back to letterpress...This week we received the hundreds of envelopes we ordered to go with our holiday cards. I reckon there are close to 600 envelopes in the box in various colors and styles. Now I just need to get my plates ordered and made...I'm having trouble finalizing some of my designs. But, I need to just do it and get things finished this weekend. I have a craft fair on Dec. 1st that I need to be ready for! I also need to get the holiday items up on Etsy.

This week we also finished and shipped a custom card order to a wonderful Etsy customer. She is expecting and she and her husband will be using our "Bun in the Oven" and "Oh Baby" cards to announce the news to friends and family! Yay!

This week I was thrilled to have our new dot notecards featured on the HOW Magazine blog. Thanks for the mention Megan Lane Patrick!

Our work is also now featured on Trunkt - a free digital magazine that celebrates independent photographers, painters, illustrators, graphic designers, jewelry designers, textile designers, handbag designers and other creative entrepreneurs. The "Bun in the Oven" card is featured today in the stationery section.

Lately, I've been giving a lot of thought to the whole consignment situation. I'm not entirely convinced this is the way to go. Most stores will carry your products and keep 30-40% of your sale. When it comes to selling individual cards at 4-5$ each - once the store takes their share, there really isn't much left to cover costs, shipping, and a small profit. So, I guess I'm going to have to think this one over a bit more - sleep on it a while. I'm curious what the rest of you are up to - re: outlets for selling your wares.

Happy letterpressing...

Hallelujah!

Since my last post, there have been a few exciting developments at the studio. First off, the flywheel is now back on! After much struggling - the flywheel was finally put back on the crankshaft thanks to:

1. Filing down the hole in the center of the flywheel - yep, there were lots of little burrs. Who knew a tiny little insignificant groove could cause such trouble.
2. Filing down the crankshaft.
3. Liberal application of WD40.
4. Lots of hammering (I hadn't tried this on my own too much because I was too scared to break something).
5. And most importantly, a father-in-law who happens to be a mechanic. Yay for fathers-in-law!

My father-in-law managed to get the wheel off from its stuck position on the shaft in about 2 mins by wiggling the wheel. Then he filed down the shaft and wheel center with sandpaper, put the wheel back on, and well...hammered the heck out of it until it was back on as it should be. Then we put back in the pin, and Bob's your uncle.

I once read that "if at first you don't succeed, try a sledgehammer". I'm glad we didn't have to take that route!

Currently I am working on my holiday line, items for sale at upcoming craft shows, and some custom orders. If you or your business needs custom letterpress holiday cards, please contact the studio for an estimate. I can produce a custom design for your business, or you can use a pre-designed layout and add your text and logo. I have already started on holiday orders, so it's not to early to get going. I also can assist with your holiday party invitations - please contact the studio for more information.

I was also recently asked to submit a broadside for an art museum show on letterpress printing in Oregon. Unfortunately, the gallery didn't realize I was Canadian, and so I can't participate after all. It's too bad, as I was really excited to submit a piece. But, art galleries and museums are that way here too, so I do understand the restriction.

Above you'll see some chartreuse notecards I recently printed on the C&P - they are now available for purchase in my Etsy shop.

This week I'll be working on custom orders, holiday stationery, and some Christmas gifts for friends and family. The studio is jumping with new web and print-related projects for a variety of clients - so I will be nice and busy until Christmas.

Happy letterpressing!