skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Morning tea and a new cup! This is a lovely Orla Kiely mug that I got off ebay. It arrived yesterday along with the two others I bought. Anyone who knows me would tell you that I have a propensity for buying housewares – and that I have far more tea mugs and cups than I could ever use, even if I invited a whole house-full of people over at once.
Today I'll be in the studio printing stationery to get enough inventory for Crafty Wonderland on September 9th...
I just noticed that I can upload video! How could I resist? To start off, here's a little clip of Liam – it's a couple months old – singing. What I love is his hair which looks like it's taking off from his head and his Bob Dylan-esque way of singing. What a winning combination! I like, too, that he sang 'keep on rocking in the free world' to our friends in Old Crow Medicine Show a few weeks ago when they played at the Oregon Zoo. His newest song is Bad Boys, Bad Boys – come on, you know the rest – what you gonna do, what you gonna do when they come for you? Seriously, he's a rock star. I don't know where he gets it from.
Anyway, I will get back to posting about letterpress soon enough – but, after all, August is SMA awareness month and there's only a few days left in this month. {To read more about Liam, visit my website or read my earlier post about him.}
It's already the 27th in Melbourne and almost the 27th here in Portland, so the stationery collaboration between Lara and I is officially for sale here and here. You can also go straight to the birch set here, the treehouses one here, the japanese tree here -- and a set of one of each pattern here. If you're in Australia, go straight to Lara's shop for cheaper shipping; if you're in the U.S. go to mine. But don't worry about where you're buying from too much because Lara and I are keeping good track of everything and it will all even out in the end!
I'm really excited about these beautiful cards – thank you, Lara! It's funny how an email here and another there leads to a really wonderful project with someone I've only met through typed (not even hand-written!) words. But what fun it's been; I hope there are many more projects to come still.
At last, the designs for the 2008 calendar are complete! The calendar will have both old and new drawings. I am sending off for my photopolymer plates this week and will be hard at work printing them soon. There's the obvious amount of work – 12 months equals 12 pages, plus front and back cover makes 14 pages ... But then on top of that, each page has between 3-4 passes on the press, so the sheer amount of hours into it {remember I hand-crank my press} is a little daunting. But oh so fun! I can't wait. I'm planning {hoping} to have these for sale on my etsy shop come mid-November.
P.S. I will be selling at the next Crafty Wonderland Show at the Doug Fir on September 9th. Come visit!
I'm still trying to finish up all the design work for my 2008 calendar, but I've been mighty distracted by cleaning up the studio. There's a new IKEA in Portland and Ben, Liam and I went this past weekend to buy this red metal storage cabinet. I like it so much that I zipped in and out of IKEA yesterday to get another one! New storage places, lots of organizing going around here this week.
The press (a Vandercook SP-15) got a new cover too – this lovely fine wale corduroy apple print fabric that I love. It seems a little silly to use it to cover the press, but I'll just admit it – I really, really can't sew. I buy all these great fabrics, hoard them away with the intent to, someday, learn to sew – but, well, you know how it goes. The stack gets bigger and bigger, so I think the apple fabric is being put to good use – and I didn't have to sew a thing! And I get to look at it every day.
I really am almost done with the designs for the calendar. And I'm still trying to figure out the fancy new camera...
This was a fun project I printed for Cjala Surrat last week. It is really gratifying to print other people's work because it makes me extend beyond my usual way of looking and designing and thinking. Cjala's design worked really beautifully for letterpress; it's not the kind of piece I would have come up with myself – I lean toward more organic, fluid shapes – but it pleases me all the same. All I mean to say, really, is that I think it is nothing but a good thing to occasionally depart from our usual ways.
I like the strong contrast between the paper and the vibrant ink colors. I added extra packing for the bird blind stamp so it would really stand out texturally. The blue ink was a little tricky for me as it has a lot of transparent white in it. For some reason, I tend to end up with a washed out color when I am mixing ones with mostly transparent white. I find I have to play around with the measurements quite a bit – which sometimes means two or three attempts. Does anyone else have this same issue?
I'm shipping these to Cjala this week and they'll be available for you here once she receives them.
My new to me used Nikon D70 came on Thursday. I've been too busy to take many photos yet, but here is one of Liam. I played around with the settings in iPhoto a little bit. This camera is so much fancier than our old point-and-shoot so I have to actually read through parts of the manual. In any case, the photo quality is so much better and I'm looking forward to getting some good close ups of my work (and Liam, too).
Here's the third of Lara's patterns that I printed yesterday in a warm orange. I mixed the ink by hand so it's a little brighter than the Pantone color Lara and I had chosen, but I think it's perfect. It's sunny enough for summer, but rusty for the suggestion of approaching autumn. Again, it's just a sneak peek so most of this pattern will stay a surprise. I've been holding off posting more photos because I've been waiting for my new (to me) camera to arrive, a Nikon D70. I can't wait for it to come – I should be able to get some really crisp close up shots with this fancy camera!! But until then, there are just these ...
Today I am trimming the edges and folding the cards, all 750 of them. Next I'll number each set and package them up in fives. I'm planning to send a box to Lara by the end of the week so we can post them on our etsy shops when she returns from Japan.
These patterns translated beautifully to letterpress, especially with a really deep impression, more than I normally have. The blank spaces in each pattern, once printed, created a pop of texture and dimension that is just lovely.
I held out as long as I could, trying to decide whether to keep the next two designs a secret, but obviously I couldn't wait! But my compromise is that I'm just showing you a little bit of this pattern, just enough to tempt you ... Just when I thought it couldn't get better than the little treehouses of yesterday ... Today I am printing the second pattern from Lara in our collaboration. Her patterns are truly lovely and a joy to print. These japanese trees are printed in a gray-blue-teal on my house paper, Crane's luscious 100% cotton lettra.
For those of you just tuning in, Lara of Kirin & Co and I have teamed up to make these limited edition stationery sets. They will be for sale exclusively on our etsy sites – satsumalynn.etsy.com and kirinco.etsy.com – beginning August 27th when Lara returns from Japan (lucky girl). We are starting off with three different designs, each in their own colors, in 50 sets of 5 folded A6 cards with envelopes.
Oh, we hope others will like them as much as we do!
Here is the photopolymer plate on the bed of the press with the rollers inked in green. And here are some photos of the first perfect print. I'm going straight back to printing, but I am so pleased with this that I couldn't wait to share. Lara's patterns look stunning letterpressed. There are two more patterns after this one, too!
Here's a little sneak peek of what Lara and I are working on together. This is the stamp on the back of each card. It was originally going to be a blind stamp, but things changed. The text was too small to pull off a legible blind stamp, plus the penciled in set number would have stood out just a bit too much. So I mixed up a lovely slate gray and printed some 800 odd pieces yesterday.
Tomorrow, the first pattern – whimsical treehouses and leafy green ink.
Consistently, the most difficult thing about this business for me has been pricing. It's a hard balance between pricing too high and pricing too low. I finally had to make these charts for my pricing on business cards, announcements, weddings – and it has served me well, if even just as general guidelines. Since I made the pricing lists, I've been able to stick with them, to just say: these are my prices, this is what my work costs, this is what I believe it is worth. And I've found good, solid pricing for my stationery – but these limited editions, let me tell you, they've been tough.
After mulling it over for a few days and obsessing about it all evening, I just changed the prices on my limited edition prints. {If any of you readers – that is, if there are any! – bought a print at the original price, don't worry – a gift is on its way to you.} I'll be the first to admit they haven't been selling as fast as I'd hoped – so there is that part of changing prices – just the cold, hard cash part. But, more than that, more than the fact that I'd like to be selling these and putting money in the bank, it's that I want to see more artwork out there in the world at affordable prices rather than less at higher prices. We'll see if it makes a difference ...
Any thoughts?
Two posts in one day! Posting to my web-log, I'm finding, is a great procrastination device...
I'm working on my first calendar. I'm realizing how far in advance I need to be drawing (and re-drawing) and planning for it if I want it to be ready for sale in, say, November. It's an awful lot of work - 12 months! lots of different colors! lots of photopolymer plates to be ordered, lots of printing to be done! I'm really excited by this project, though I'm finding myself stumped by those wintery months - December, January, February, March -- and trying to come up with images that aren't cliché.
Above is a black and white image of what I've planned for the month of April -- cheerful narcissus bringing the promise of spring. They'll be in yellow when I print them, with some centers filled in... (I just couldn't figure out how to get it to come out in yellow to upload. Anyway,I'll just say that it's best to keep some parts of this a surprise.)
Back to the drawing board now ... I'm hoping to have these calendars for sale through my etsy shop in mid-November. I'm also applying to sell at Crafty Wonderland's Holiday Sale so I should have them there as well ...
I think it's possible I'm just about to show how I just crawled out from under a rock, but after Lara posted about her lovely patterns on MOO, I went to check it out. I'll admit it, I love those little stickers. So I just ordered some stickers and mini cards with different washi paper patterns like the one above to send out with my stationery orders. I have drawers and drawers full of beautiful washi paper like the one above. I feel a little silly ordering from this mass produced place when, after all, I'm a letterpress printer, but I just think they're nifty. And you probably will too when they come with your Satsuma Stationery package ...
I can't believe I almost forgot to mention the collaboration Lara (of Kirin & Co) and I are working on! Oh, I'm really excited about this one. The printing plates are arriving tomorrow and I should be mixing ink and printing all next week...
SMA ranges from Type I (the most severe) to Type IV (adult onset). Liam is a very strong Type II. There is a lot of variation even within each type, but Liam sat up by himself and crawled within his first year. It was shortly after his first birthday that we began to notice that he was losing physical abilities. He was still able to sit up when placed, but had lost the ability to come to a seated position all on his own. He was crawling less and less and no longer pulling up to his knees. He was diagnosed in early July 2005. What this means for our family in the day to day is that Liam does not walk, but uses an amazing power chair which we brought back from England last March. At home, he spends anywhere from 3-6 hours per day in his Rifton Dynamic Stander, wheeling himself all around the house and studio. Standing is excellent therapy for Liam, but in order to have him in his stander each day for such a long period of time, we tend to stay home a lot. Of course, we take breaks and we go to physical and occupational therapy twice a week, but being able to work from home is priceless.
Spinal Muscular Atrophy is a purely physical disorder, so cognitively Liam is more than fine. He began talking at 11 months old and hasn’t stopped since! He’s full of songs and stories and smart as a whip. He’s a bright and curious little boy – so like many others and, at the same time, so unlike them. Liam’s SnapDragon chair allows him to explore the world around him on as many levels as possible. His Snappie has an elevator that lets him, by himself, go down to floor level and back up again. He can get down on the floor and play. He can give rides to his friends. He can race around outdoors. He can go on a bumpy road to pick blueberries in the summer. His Snappie lets him go fast – much faster than any other three year old I and before know. Then again, he’s not your typical three year old… Perhaps it’s clear as day, but I am immeasurably changed by Liam.
You can learn more about SMA here and see more photos of Liam on my website under the ABOUT ME section.
I'm off to work on calendar designs ...
Morning tea and a new cup! This is a lovely Orla Kiely mug that I got off ebay. It arrived yesterday along with the two others I bought. Anyone who knows me would tell you that I have a propensity for buying housewares – and that I have far more tea mugs and cups than I could ever use, even if I invited a whole house-full of people over at once.
Today I'll be in the studio printing stationery to get enough inventory for Crafty Wonderland on September 9th...
What can I say? I've been camera happy today. Here are some pics of my boy, Liam. He's watching old Tom and Jerry cartoons on YouTube with great delight – and concentration, too.
And, I wasn't kidding, more pics: lacinato kale and red sunflower from the garden ...
And flowered sheets in late afternoon light ...
This camera is so much fun – bear with me while I figure out exactly how it works, please ...
It's already the 27th in Melbourne and almost the 27th here in Portland, so the stationery collaboration between Lara and I is officially for sale here and here. You can also go straight to the birch set here, the treehouses one here, the japanese tree here -- and a set of one of each pattern here. If you're in Australia, go straight to Lara's shop for cheaper shipping; if you're in the U.S. go to mine. But don't worry about where you're buying from too much because Lara and I are keeping good track of everything and it will all even out in the end!
I'm still trying to finish up all the design work for my 2008 calendar, but I've been mighty distracted by cleaning up the studio. There's a new IKEA in Portland and Ben, Liam and I went this past weekend to buy this red metal storage cabinet. I like it so much that I zipped in and out of IKEA yesterday to get another one! New storage places, lots of organizing going around here this week.
Here is the photopolymer plate on the bed of the press with the rollers inked in green. And here are some photos of the first perfect print. I'm going straight back to printing, but I am so pleased with this that I couldn't wait to share. Lara's patterns look stunning letterpressed. There are two more patterns after this one, too!
I'm working on my first calendar. I'm realizing how far in advance I need to be drawing (and re-drawing) and planning for it if I want it to be ready for sale in, say, November. It's an awful lot of work - 12 months! lots of different colors! lots of photopolymer plates to be ordered, lots of printing to be done! I'm really excited by this project, though I'm finding myself stumped by those wintery months - December, January, February, March -- and trying to come up with images that aren't cliché.
