Fridays with Victor

Last week, I got to spend some time making stationery for my mom & I. It turned out REALLY nicely. I learned how to level my press. The impression is looking great. I made correspondence cards (which are flat 4x6 notecards) and my usual A2 folded notecards. 

I've had questions on when I'm going to sell some letterpress stuff - SOON! 

The fruits of my labor...Ta Da!!

{Correspondence cards for my mom} 

 {More correspondence cards for Mom. She now has stationery for eons!}

{I had to make some for myself} 

{And my folded notecards. These might be my favorites...}

A reminder: St. Patrick's Day is coming up on Sunday! I posted free printable stickers earlier this week & have one more freebie up my sleeve for next week. Stay tuned!

Playtime with Victor

The weekend before Valentine's Day I did it. I FINALLY inked up my letterpress & did some printing. I wish I had tons of pictures but I don't. I just didn't trust myself to keep the ink off my camera. Sometimes I think I can see into the future...

Here I am opening my ink can for the first time! Look at all that!!!

This is me 5 minutes later. It took no time at all for my hands to be covered in ink. Taking the top packing off the ink should be done with gloves from now on. I got enough off to start touching things...like the paper...or anything that I didn't want to turn pink, but clearly this is stubborn stuff.

I hit some snags. For some reason, the lower half of my platen prints deeper than the top half. The platen (which is a fancy name for the front part of the machine) needs to be leveled. For now, I used some wide painter's tape in my packing to get an even print.

Cleaning up was actually less messy than starting. I think by that point I was more comfortable moving around the machine, in general. I will still get gloves for this part. I am an ink magnet & I would prefer not to walk around covered in it. If anyone is thinking about getting into letterpress, read the forums on Ladies of Letterpress. GREAT resource. That's where I picked up some cleaning tips like the one above - standing my roller up in a board. It was so easy to steady it, clean it & leave it to dry.

Here's the finished product...Oh, that's right. I forgot to take those pictures. I was so concerned with getting my cards in the mail that after they dried I wrote them immediately, addressed, stamped & mailed them. Done!

So??? How'd I do?

Thanks to Mr. B who took these pictures for me!!

High 5 for Friday

Left to Right, Top to Bottom:
• My calligraphy is coming along in a short time.
• Had a great time making envelopes for my Valentine's Day cards!
• Chez Batty will soon be Puppyville.
• Oh, did I mention that I letterpressed my Valentine's Day cards?! I think that post is still a draft...Stupid busy week.
• Yesterday I took Molly for a bit while her big sister was at Daisy's. Big cookie for a little girl...

Happy Friday!

Setting Up Victor...

{Valentine's Day cards from a previous letterpress printing sesh at The Arm}

I've had lots of questions about my press in the last 2 weeks. Here's the update:

1. Have I started printing?

Not yet :( I have tons of supplies to order. A base to put my plates on, ink, pins, plates to print with...there is a long list. I've been looking at this stuff for weeks & I know what I want, but since I was sick & then filling that Hammock Pack order all last week, I just haven't pulled the trigger on purchasing what I need.

2. What am I going to print first?

Great question! Since Valentines' Day is around the corner I'm ordering plates for my You're Cool & Smooches cards. Plus, I thought it was high time I made stationery for myself. Lastly, my mom said she needs a reorder of the stationery I made for her a few years ago, so perhaps I'll whip something up for her.

3. What does this mean for my business?

As I said in a previous post, I've been designing with this type of printing method in mind for a long time. Several of my designs will become available in letterpress, plus I'll start offering custom letterpress stationery.

But not everything will make a made dash to the press. Some of my cards work well because of their use of color & type together in a way that will not make sense to print on my press at this time. Figuring  out what makes the transition to the press will take some time.

Bring on the wedding business! One of the most common questions I get is if I can make letterpress wedding invitations. I've always said yes because I knew I could rent press time somewhere. Now, the answer is YES!!! All caps, in bold! It will take some practice, but by the end of the first quarter, I want to have some designs for sale to build that part of my business up.