Posted in Custom, Letterpress, Studio Life on January 30, 2008| 7 Comments »
I printed a batch business cards the other day with a nice shade of blue, mixed to match pantone 295u (44% Reflex Blue, 44% Process Blue and 12% Black ink) – on 134lb fluorescent white stock. Right after I inked up a dark red color to print the February card! (I really love this one) I’ll put that up on the blog and etsy on Friday, 1st.
Posted in Studio Life, tagged guillotine cutter, letterpress printing on January 26, 2008| 7 Comments »
I’ve talked about this cutting trick before, but I thought it was worth mentioning again. I spent a lot of time cutting stacks of stock yesterday for a bunch of business card jobs I’m printing this weekend. The best tip I ever got on cutting was that the far side of the guillotine blade is the cleaner edge, since its the opposite side of the blade’s bevel. Some papers are more sensitive to this than others – usually the softer the paper the more you’re going to see a difference between the blade edges.
If that’s too obscure an explanation, here are a shot of the clean and ragged edges of paper stacks that have just been cut.
Posted in Heidelberg Windmill press, Letterpress, Studio Life, tagged Heidelberg Windmill press, letterpress printing on January 23, 2008| 12 Comments »
This year I was hoping to capture a little more “studio life” in this blog, so taking a look at the press seems like the right place to start. This is my beloved Heidelberg Windmill. I bought this press two and half years ago from a retiring printer in Kentucky. Although I knew the Windmill was the model I wanted, I had never even seen one in person before it arrived on an 18-wheel truck at the loading dock of my studio building. (Getting it upstairs and actually in the door was the closest I’ve ever come to having a heart attack…thought that was worth mentioning.)
After having it hooked up, it took me about a month of daily printing before I started getting the hang of it. It was a pretty humbling experience because I knew the machine itself worked, it was just a matter of learning how to use it properly. And I did that by patiently reading and re-reading this original manual that came with the press.
I’ll post some more pictures of the windmill from time to time, highlighting some of its many handy and amazing features!
Posted in Custom, Letterpress, Plants / Nature, Studio Life, tagged Letterpress, moontree letterpress on January 21, 2008| Leave a Comment »
As usual, January has been largely about meeting with clients and designing upcoming jobs. February will start with a bang as I have a few corporate identity projects in the final planning stages now.
But I did a bunch of printing this weekend, and it was one of those lucky occasions when I used the same ink color for a few different jobs. While I had sage green on the press, I printed some desperately needed new business cards for moi. I love green.
Posted in Letterpress, tagged bonny billy, drag city, wai notes on January 16, 2008| 4 Comments »
I guess now that it has been released I can finally post some pictures of the Dawn McCarthy/ Bonny Billy (aka Will Oldham) CD cover I finished in November. I was so lucky to work with the extremely nice and cool folks at Drag City Records in Chicago on this cover (amazing artwork by Magnus Johnstone).
If you look back at my October blog entries, you’ll notice quite a big gap. This run was 10,000 pieces (!) and required a lot of production after the printing was complete. But it was such a great challenge…hands down my favorite project of the whole year.
Posted in Crafts, Plants / Nature, Studio Life, tagged martha stewart, moontree letterpress on January 11, 2008| 1 Comment »
Sure, living in New York City can be hectic – but there are some unbeatable advantages. Back in November I went to a taping of the Martha Stewart Show (no kidding, my third time). This was an especially lucky taping because everyone in the audience went home with amaryllis bulbs!
We were carefully instructed on how to plant and care for our bulbs, and I’m happy to say my amaryllis is thriving. Such a nice memento from a very special day. Thank you Martha.
Posted in Letterpress Wedding, tagged brooklyn wedding, Letterpress, moontree letterpress on January 7, 2008| Leave a Comment »
After printing Brooklyn holiday cards this past season, I have received a few requests for Brooklyn wedding invitations! I printed some samples this weekend and will post some more styles soon. If you look closely you can see the Manhattan Bridge on-ramp in the background of this photo…a little inspiration outside the window.
Posted in Letterpress, Monthly Editions, Moontree Etsy Shop on January 3, 2008| 1 Comment »
Hooray! After a minor delay the new series of Monthly Cards is officially underway. This new project is a collaboration with illustrator Jessi Klein, who will be drawing an animal a month to be letterpressed by moi. You can find the new installment here on the 1st of each month, and in my etsy shop if you’d like to purchase a pack of six.
Posted in Letterpress Wedding, Moontree Etsy Shop, tagged Letterpress on January 3, 2008| 1 Comment »
With the busy wedding invitation season approaching, I’ve been trying to figure out a good way to organize samples. So I’m happy to announce that sample packs are now available in my moontree esty store. And better yet, if you purchase samples and end up placing an order for wedding invitations, I’ll deduct the cost and shipping from your final balance.
Posted in Heidelberg Windmill press, Monthly Editions, tagged Letterpress on January 1, 2008| Leave a Comment »
After a nice long holiday, 2008 has finally arrived. Tomorrow I’ll be back in the studio, so today is my last day to run around the city and enjoy my last bits of leisure time. I had planned on launching the new monthly card edition series today, but with holiday shipping mix-ups my plates were late in arriving. So I’ll be back with that in the next few days, as well as a nice new feature on the site for easy sample ordering. Until then, thanks for stopping by the new blog and happy tuesday!
Moontree Letterpress 