progress

Finally, after a lull in my productivity in the studio, I made some progress on all these projects that were put on hold. I shipped out two business card orders last week – both sets were identity packages I designed, which is a whole new field for me ... I'm finding that I really enjoy it.




And yesterday I finished printing the collaboration with Yu I. I'm realizing the limitations of my press and my skills, which is a good thing, really. We ended up re-doing one of the plates because the registration was just impossibly tight – something I most likely would have caught pre-press if February hadn't been so crazy for me. Ah well, it happens ... Maybe what I'm learning, too, is exactly how much I can take on in the studio. In the end, though, I am really pleased with the final pieces and I hope Yu I will be, too. I'll be printing the text on the backs later this week or early next and then shipping half of them off to Yu I. No sneak peeks of these – you can expect them in our etsy shops very soon!

Today I will be taking inventory of my stationery in preparation for the Buckman Art and Show in two and a half weeks. I will be reprinting the hydrangea stationery (hello spring and summer!), along with a new design. More on this later – I've got organizing to do and lots of blind stamping for the stationery ...

no knead bread!!

Admittedly, I'm a little late to the no-knead-bread craze ... but I finally did it and the results are lovely! I don't know what's taken me so long since it's about the easiest thing ever, but I guess it was the photo in the William Sonoma catalog of their version with lemon and rosemary that pushed me over the edge and into action.

But, really, there's not much action to be done, just patience. I mixed together the ingredients (just flour, yeast, salt, water, lemon zest, rosemary) last night after dinner – it only took five minutes – and then ... it just sat and sat til about an hour ago. Voila! Liam and I already tasted it with some good grassy olive oil and also with some sweet, unsalted butter. It's delicious. I may never have to buy bread again. I think I'm going to try it plain because I'm not sure I'm completely sold on the lemon zest, though. Maybe with fresh cracked pepper and rosemary next time? Maybe replace the water with buttermilk? The point is – this bread is so quick and easy and there's nothing to lose experimenting with it.


Here is the recipe:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1-3/4 tsp salt
{ 2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary }
{ 2 tsp chopped lemon zest }
1-5/8 cup water

Mix together everything but the water in a large bowl. Add the water, stir til blended. You will have a very wet dough that looks a bit more like batter. (Note: I added a bit more flour and bit more salt. But, it should be said, I am not very precise when I cook and this is a very forgiving recipe. I also used active dry yeast – the kind sold in the little packets, nothing fancy – with perfectly good result.)

Cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rest for 12-18 hours at warm room temperature til the surface is dotted with bubbles. Place dough on lightly floured surface, sprinkle with flour. Fold dough over onto intself once or twice. (I actually just used a rubber spatula and turned the dough a few times, gently, in the bowl.) Cover loosely with plastic wrap, let rest 15 minutes.

Using very little flour, quickly shape into a ball. Coat a smooth cotton towel with flour or cornmeal. Put dough seam side down on towel and cover with another towel. Let rise til dough is more than double in size and does not readily spring back when poked. This takes about 2 hours. (I was impatient and probably only waited an hour and a bit.)

At least 30 minutes before the dough is ready, place a cast-iron dutch oven in the oven. Preheat to 450. Remove pot from oven after 30 minutes, turn the dough into pot with seam side up. Cover and bake at 450 for 30 minutes. Remove lid and cook for another 15-30 minutes til top is browned. Take out and let cool in pot for 10 minutes. Turn out and eat straight away with butter, olive oil or by itself!

This bread is really, really good. It's hard to believe it could be so easy and so good, but it is. I'm a huge fan. I'll try some variations over the next couple weeks and let you know how it goes. You try it, too; I don't think you'll be disappointed.

In studio news ... I'm corner rounding 800 business cards today. By hand. I would love to buy a corner rounder that could do the whole stack at once, but I just don't have the space for that. Ah, well, it's a day of listening to music (on pandora.com – also new to me, again I'm probably just catching up to what's been around for a while), eating fresh-baked, home-made bread and corner rounding ... Not a bad day, really.

in the studio

Printing day in the studio ...

a new week

A new week! Now that I am firmly in the month of March with the mayhem of February behind me, I'm ready to get some things done. I just cleaned the studio – I tell you, empty boxes can really pile up in here. So while it's not perfectly clean now, it's at least tidy. I can't work in a mess, my mind just won't settle down. But this week is a brand new one and I am really ready for some printing. The press has been sadly neglected for the past month or so – but today I will be printing the first of two sets of business cards I designed for some perfectly lovely clients.


I've got a cup of tea, in my new cup, which I love.


And yesterday I made posole, which I love to both make and eat.


And here is a photo of Liam who is 100% better now. {Thank you, everyone, for your sweet comments and well wishes.}

welcome march!

It's been a long time since I posted last. I had the best of intentions to start posting again regularly in the new year. But I have to tell you that February really was tough. My boy, Liam, was in the Pediatric ICU for almost a week and we just came back home last Tuesday afternoon. He had RSV and pneumonia and needed to be on BiPAP for the first time. In the most basic terms, his SMA means that while his immune system is perfectly normal, he is more high risk for respiratory complications simply because his muscles are all around not as strong. I'm not going to spend too much time going into the details except to say that the PICU is a very scary place to be. The good thing is that we are home now and armed with all the durable medical equipment we need to help Liam when and if he gets sick again. The good thing is that everyone at Emanuel Hospital was nothing short of incredible. The good thing is that Liam is the most amazing kid, so patient and helpful through our stay at the hospital. The good thing is Liam is all better now. And, the last good thing in the list is that I am taking him to the lovely Little Red Bike Cafe for home-made ice cream later today.

My grandmother also passed away at the end of January so I had to go to New York for her memorial mid-February. As soon as I got back, Ben got sick with pneumonia and then as he was getting better, Liam and I got sick. Then the hospital stay ... But now we are all home, all healthy and ready for a happy month of March. Good riddance to February, I say.

On the printing front, things have been put on the back burner, obviously. Still in the works – the collaboration with Yu I. It's going to get done, I promise, in the next few weeks. I have a couple of business cards to print and cut and package, too. And I am hoping, somewhere along the line, to be able to spend some time drawing some new spring stationery designs.

Also, for those of you who might have followed Liam's story on Good Morning America ... There was a very short follow up piece yesterday morning. It is here.

Pretty soon there will be a return to printing posts, I swear. But – as you know – other things happen along the way, right? Stick with me, there will be more Satsuma Press updates soon enough.