How much to bring to sell...

Megan Carty, a fellow letterpress printer, recently asked me how much product I am bringing to the Got Craft craft show to sell. To be honest, I've been kind of winging it on this aspect of my first foray into the craft fair industry. I have probably printed between 300-400 cards, and I have no clue whether this is way too much, or way too little. The craft fair organizers had about 500-600 people at their previous show, so I sort of used that figure in my estimate of how many cards to bring, but God knows I'm probably way off.

The other factor is that I have packaged some cards and stationery into packs of four, so that people can purchase sets. This means that there are less "singles" available for sale. But, as my hubby pointed out, if the singles are selling more, I can just take the packs apart and sell the cards individually.

But, I may not sell a thing of course - and I need to keep that in mind so I'm not disappointed with my first craft fair attempt. I really am going for the networking opportunity, and the chance to meet young women in my target market that are interested in wedding invitations, birth announcements, and the like.

If I sell one card, I will be happy :)

If anyone has any craft fair advice or tips for me or AIL readers who are entering their first craft fair, please post a comment.

Happy letterpressing...

Gauge Pins & Boxcar Bases...Avoiding Disaster

Hello fellow letterpress friends! I am slowly emerging from March Madness (not the NCAA kind, but the client year-end madness where all projects have a deadline of March 31st!) and have been looking forward to spending more time with my Kelsey.

I recently purchased some new gauge pins from NA Graphics in Colorado after smashing the only 3 I was given by my instructor. They are delicate little things, those silly gauge pins! In any case, I was curious about how other people have dealt with the whole gauge pin conundrum when working with boxcar bases (i.e. how do you avoid smashing them into your base).

I found a nice little discussion at Briar Press about this very issue: http://www.briarpress.org/3811

You can see below how Wallflowers Press has dealt with this issue by making their own gauge "pin" set-up using folded paper (photo originally posted on Briar Press by Wallflowers Press):



Another user had suggested saving the tongues from smashed gauges and tape them down to the tympan paper on their own as another method.

So, alternative gauge-pin solutions are worth some thought, especially when a box of new gauges is about $25 + shipping, taxes, and duties (to Canada).

Happy letterpressing!

p.s. I really, really am going to get those business cards done...I will post photos when I get my plates from Boxcar Press...

Letterpress and Crisco...

Hmm, sounds appetizing, doesn't it? No, I'm not going to try frying up some dinner on my Kelsey, but I've read many websites and blogs lately about printers that use Crisco oil to clean their rollers, type, plates etc. Not only is this a more environmentally friendly option, it is also one that could save me from getting loopy on solvent or cleaner fumes.

So, I gave it a try the other day, and yes, it works pretty well indeed. It's still a bit of a messy affair, but it does clean nicely, and I just need to use dish soap to wash my hands afterwards. I'm going to do a bit more research to see if this is a good idea for the long-term, so we'll see what I find...

Tip for Multicolor Runs

A tip I picked up during a discussion with a commercial printer: if you are printing with two inks where the different colors have to overlap, always do the run with the lighter color first so that it is behind the darker color. In general, you should print your lightest ink first, then move towards the darkest ink last. This seems very common sense, but something to remember when actually printing so that you don't end up with a lighter ink showing up on top of a darker area (unless you've designed your piece that way on purpose).

Great article for beginners...

Our friend Anonymous posted this in the comments, and it is definitely worth a read:

Secrets of a Kelseyman! - By Jack Gifford, 1980: Some tricks and tips for users of the Kelsey and other tabletop presses.

Some good news...

So after my last attempt at printing with my photopolymer plate, I was a bit down. Not only was I not getting any impression, but the ink coverage was not good, and things were not going well. So, I fired off an email with my photos to my letterpress instructor (Jim Rimmer) to see what he could tell me. So far, I have learned the following:

• My design has some larger solid areas. This is not something I was thinking about when I designed it, but I should have. For my first ever run on my press, I should have kept to line art or text perhaps, for better results.
• The paper I purchased was a bit too textured, causing some uneven coverage.
• A printer has to ink specifically for light type and heavy illustrations, depending on the job at hand.

So, Jim suggested that I cut up my plate into sections - one for the bird, one for the berries, and one for the text. Last night I did just that and...

EUREKA! Ok, so I didn't do a full run with ink, but all of the sudden I've got a definite impression with the text, a slight impression for the bird, and a better impression for the berries. This weekend I will have a go at it with some ink.

The design I'm working on is for a New Year's card for my design studio clients. I'm hoping to get myself sorted out in time to send it before January :)

I also ordered some 120 lb cover Eames (Furniture finish) paper from Neenah, which I saw someone use in the letterpress workshop I attended with good results. I will post photos of this next trial run when complete.


THANKS...

A quick word of thanks to Kathleen at Cake & Pie Creative for mentioning my blog on her site. I've already received lots of feedback from visitors, and it looks like there are many letterpress beginners (or soon-to-be beginners) in the same boat as me. Be sure to check out Kathleen's cool cards and craft projects!

Happy letterpressing!