Monday, December 1, 2008

Mum's the Word



No, really I mean "shout it out!" The mum bookplates and beaded bookmarks are ready to go now, here. There are enough to print eleven personalized sets. Enjoy! More holiday items are just about ready as well. I'll post them in the next few days.

Terrifically Two

As I was just making my coffee this morning, I realized it's the first of December. And then I realized the second anniversary for the Petite Press just passed. Two years have whizzed by. Thank you to everyone who's made it possible for me to continue doing this. Saturday was the Bizarre Bazaar here in Lawrence, and I was overwhelmed by the local support for my work. Thank you to everyone who stopped by our table. And an extra big thank you and squeeze to my seven year-old daughter who outlasted me with energy and enthusiasm during a very, very long day. What a wonderful little helper she was. Now, it's back to work for me...

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Bookplate Progress


{click image to enlarge}

For months, in spare moments between everything else, I have been working on a new personalized bookplate design. After two false starts, where the end product didn't live up to what I saw in my head, I finally have a version I'm happy with. Last night, I began printing the third color (brown). In the morning light, I'm pleased with the results. I will soon have them up on the website and ready to be ordered. They will be diecut into circles, and the area below the green "EX LIBRIS" is where the person's name goes, in blue ink using my "Liberty" vintage type. There are matching beaded bookmarks, too, and circular tins to complete the package... coming very, very soon!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

King Street Kitchen Co.



Over the last six weeks or so, I've had the privilege of printing some stationery for a new kitchen design company in Charleston, South Carolina. The folks at King Street Kitchen Company asked me to print their grand opening invitations, business cards, and notecards in letterpress. They requested Crane Lettra as the paper stock, and I was in heaven printing on this gorgeous paper. It's like printing on watercolor paper; the impression of the letterpress is so deep in the soft paper that the pieces truly become three-dimensional.

They were very patient with me, as it took quite a while for me to complete the thousands of pieces they needed on my hand-powered press. My poor little press had a small hiccup in the middle of everything — the pin that moves to hold each piece of paper in place snapped, and I had to rig a replacement part using a steel rod from my ironing board. Yikes. Such is the peril of working on antique equipment. Still, it was a joy to work on this project. Please stop by and visit the folks at King Street Kitchen Company if you're in Charleston's Upper King Design District. I hear tell that their new showroom is amazing.

Coming soon: new bookplates! Stay tuned...

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Bizarre Bazaar

It's that time of year again — Lawrence's annual "Bizarre Bazaar" is coming up next week. If you will be in the northeast Kansas area during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, you should try to stop by. Over one hundred local and regional artists from all walks of creative life sell their wares in an event that truly lives up to its name. It's held on Saturday, November 29th, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Lawrence Arts Center at 940 New Hampshire, and it takes up every inch of the building. I will have a table set up in room 212, the painting and drawing classroom on the second floor that's closest to the south stairs. I hope to see you there!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Goldfinger



Literally. My fingers are gold right now. I've just added another holiday item that's "hot off the press" — some faux-gilt edged (tricky, but pretty!) gift tags. They're letterpress, and come in sets of three. I couldn't decide which ribbon color I liked best, so I went with one of each color. I do that a lot.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...



(Well, almost.) Over the last couple of months, I've been working on holiday cards here and there between assignments, trying to add a few new designs before the holiday season is upon us. Here is a sneak preview of the cards I've made with the paper I mentioned in this post a while back. They're letterpress, with a diecut circle that makes the shape of a Christmas tree ornament. I'm finishing up the assembly of the cards, and should have them up in the shop next week. Also coming soon: some gilt-edged gift tags...

UPDATE ... these are up now, here!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Joy!



I'm told that this holiday card design of mine is going to be included in the upcoming December/January issue of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion magazine. It will be my first bit of press for the Petite Press. Quite exciting.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Letterpress Stationery Project


My friend, Leigh (an outstanding editor and online media expert), has recently struck out on her own as a freelancer, so she asked me to design and hand-print some custom stationery for her. She requested something inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement, so I created a monogram reminiscent of the leaded, stained glass windows of that time. Registration was rather tricky on this project (yikes!), but everything turned out well. Best wishes to Leigh in her new endeavors!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Delicious Paper Colors


Following Heather's thoughts this past week, my most recent paper order has arrived. I'm using these two colors for a new holiday card design. The paper company calls them "Wild Cherry" and "Sour Apple." Yum.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Plentiful Periwinkle


I have been printing up a storm during the past week, and the periwinkle blue Swirly Personalized Bookplates are back in stock. I reprinted all three colors, so there plenty to go around now. Thank you to everyone who's made this item such a success; this is the third printing of these bookplates!

The other good news: I have implemented online proofs for all the personalized items. So rather than faxing a proof back to me as in the past, it's all done on the website. I hope that will make the process much easier for everyone.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Second printing!


The men's "thank you" note cards have been so popular (thank you!) that I've printed a second run of them. There are 150 more now, split into single cards and sets of 6. Enjoy! Next to reprint are the periwinkle swirly bookplates...

Friday, July 4, 2008

Drying Bookplates

When printing, I place each piece of paper in a small stand to dry after each pass through the press. I liked the way these half-finished bookplates looked when all lined up in the drying rack:

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Personalized Items are Back

Thanks to everyone for your patience while personalized items were temporarily unavailable. I finished the big book project I was working so hard to complete under a tight deadline. This week, I'm hoping to get back to those new bookplate designs I've been working on for so long. Stay tuned.