Bookplate Progress

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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!

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...

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!

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.

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!