working from home

Working from a home studio is a really nice thing. I love it even though it sometimes means that I spent an awful lot of time without going anywhere but from house to studio to house for days on end.

Well, that's not exactly true – I went with Liam on his first field trip to the pumpkin patch yesterday, which was lots of fun.




But what happens when you work at home is that it is really hard to separate home from work. Meaning: just take a look at the over-flow of stationery to house, waiting to get folded and packaged there, even though I have, in theory, space to do this in my studio.



Only I don't because the calendars are taking up quite a bit of room, neatly stacked in their boxes. And that big business card job, it's stacked up on my folding and packaging table ...


And the back yard? It's being sorely neglected these days. But the calendars? I'm hoping to have them all printed in the next two weeks.

shop update

Last week I said I would post about a new stationery design that came about accidentally. When I am setting up do print, I have to pull a couple proofs to check for layout, registration, ink color, impression. I have a stack of paper that I just use over and over for this before they go in the recycling bin.


Last week, I happened to print the background for the Maple Leaves Stationery on top of some proofs of the Narcissus Stationery in silver – and I loved the depth and texture that it created. So I printed some more to sell in the shop: the narcissus are in silver metallic ink with just a hint of shine and the textured stitch background is in lilac purple. I think it's a lovely combination – a little bit festive, definitely pretty and maybe you'll think it's just right for the holidays.


You can find all my new stationery in my Etsy shop. Well, almost all of it ... I still need to take photos of a few of them. I hope to get to that today or tomorrow. Here is what's new: maple leaves, japanese textile, holiday narcissus, autumn flowers {posting soon}, silver narcissus {posting soon}.


Oh! And just a reminder: pre-order pricing for the 2009 calendar ends November 1st. Visit the shop or email me at lynn@satsumapress.com to place your order. They're $40 + shipping til November 1st and then $44 after that. {Please note that you do need to pay for it as well as place the order before November 1st – thanks!}

distractions

I've been distracted this weekend. The weather has been so amazing – and look at those fall leaves and blue sky! I've been folding and packaging stationery today, but what I'd really like to do is go wander around and soak up what might be the last of the sunshine for a while.


And, truth be told, I got a little bit sidetracked yesterday when I was running out to the grocery store ... and I picked up these awesome mini Converse for Liam. I used to buy him See Kai Run shoes, but they have gotten much more expensive over the last couple years.


But these Converse fit the bill in so many ways: most importantly, easy to put on and take off {hooray for velcro which means we can open up the shoe all the way} because Liam cannot really help with that very much. And pretty cheap – half off on the second pair so now it looks like Liam will be wearing the same shoes for a couple years. And so much style in such a small package – really, look at how small they are! All said, a kid still has to have some cool shoes, right? All-Star shoes for my All-Star boy.

fall colors

Here are some peeks for you of the calendar. So far, I have printed September, October and December – and I'm really loving them. I like to see what I've learned about texture and impression over the past couple years, getting better at knowing what sorts of lines and shapes will print the best. The three designs above will all be available as stationery sets, too, just as soon as I get some time to photograph and post them. Along those lines, I've been considering switching from Etsy to Big Cartel – does anyone out there have any advice?

I am especially drawn to the fall colors of September and October. Can you tell by what I'm wearing today? We've had a spell of bright sunny days this past week – very, very cold in the mornings, but turning warm by mid-day. I think it's been about perfect. I love this time of year – especially so when the sun shines and it smells of wood smoke and apples and I get to wear sweaters and hats and boots!



Liam has been really loving his first few weeks at pre-school, though he is completely exhausted by the time it's done at 11:45. It's the end of his third week there and I think it's been such a wonderful time. There have been some logistics to work out with his stander and braces and how to safely transfer him in and out of it, but it's been going very well. Liam informed us the other night that he is very good at freeze-tag. He said that, actually, he is the fastest one in his class, especially if he goes 'full throttle on orange!' Orange is his 'high-speed' setting on his Snappie. It IS pretty fast. I, for one, am glad he has such freedom. Don't most little boys want to live life full throttle?!


Over the weekend, I'll post about how sometimes an unintentional overlap of designs during printing layout can turn into a new, good thing – with a photo and, hopefully, some new listings in the shop.

sunday best sale

There is going to be a sale at the end of November and it is going to be such a good one. I mentioned it here before, but last night I got an email from Tay of Honey & Milk letting me know that she is going to be writing a blog about it. So hop on over to it here and see the amazing line up of artists. This is a sale you should definitely come to if you are local to Portland – or anywhere close-by. I am really excited to be part of this one.

THE DETAILS

Date: Sunday, November 30, 2008
Hours: 11am to 5pm
Venue: The Cleaners, located on corner of SW 10th & Stark, just down from the Ace Hotel in downtown Portland, Oregon.

Some photos of the calendars soon ...

weekend

The apple tree in our backyard has turned out to have pretty tasty apples, even though the tree itself is very unruly and neglected. There are a lot of apples these days – and a lot of them fall on the ground. I love how this one fell just-so and landed right on the rung of the ladder.

Speaking of apples, Ben and Liam are gone this weekend for the yearly cider press party at our friends' land in the Columbia River Gorge. I am sorry to not be there, but I am getting an awful lot of work done in the studio by staying home. And I am looking forward to some home-made apple cider tomorrow when they come home.

One thing that I've noticed about myself is that I stay up really late working. I guess I'm more of a night owl than an early-bird-gets-the-worm kind of person. It seems to me that even when I do get up early – I mean around 6:30, which I do fairly often, with some reluctance – I can't really seem to get going, truly, til around 9:00. I seem to find ways to fill my morning doing other things – checking email, reading blogs, drinking tea {several cups}, sweeping and tidying the house {some may say obsessively} – before I really settle down to work. So, I end up staying up late at night to compensate for my slow mornings – but this takes its toll in the long run ... waking up at 6:30, going to bed at midnight, repeat. I don't always feel tired out by it, but I must be because these past few months I have made a few mistakes with work that needed sorting out.

This weekend – did I mention that I'm done with the printing on that BIG job, though there is still quite a bit of finishing work to do on these – I've been focusing on stocking up on stationery {new and old designs} and plugging away at the calendars. Tomorrow – or very soon: a sneak peek of December all printed and lovely and so much better than the computer print out version. I'm very pleased with it.

If ...

If I had a day off, I might wish for a warm fall day so I could sit in this chair all day, reading and sipping tea. I don't have a great book right now, but the one I just read was: Out Stealing Horses. I might read it again, if I had time.

And if I had more than one day off, I might head for Portland and here is how I would spend my time {eating, that is}. First off, of course, I would go to Little Red Bike Cafe to say hello to my friends, Ali and Evan, and eat one of their best-ever egg sandwiches. My personal favorite is The Messenger. Liam likes the 11 AM and Ben likes the Zoo Bomb. We all like their ice cream. If Ben was with me, he'd want to stop at FlavorSpot – the one on Lombard, in the Videorama parking lot, near our old house – for the waffle with sausage and maple butter.

Then I might try to stop by at this shop, Ink and Peat, that I've been wanting to go to since it opened. I think I'd need to bring some money. I'd leave time for a long massage with Kerith, who is the best and has helped me through many stressful times in the past few years – mostly during the summer that Liam was diagnosed with SMA.

One of the things I miss most about Portland, besides friends, is the really good food. There is just so much of it, so in this dream-world where I have days off right now, I'd also be able to pack in 4 or 5 meals in a single day. I'd head for Pok Pok where I'd get the chicken wings – these are the ONLY chicken wings I have ever liked and, boy, do I like these – and some khao soi. For dinner, I would definitely go to Toro Bravo. I know I'd get the sherried chicken liver and the griddled shrimp with chilies, but I'd bring along our friends so we could order much, much more. Their food is the best. Everything about it. Really.

But if I got to add a few more meals, I'd also go by Foster and Dobbs for their mole salami sandwich with sharp white cheddar and tomato-chili jam on Pearl Bakery baguette. I might also stop by Queen of Sheba for the vegetarian house special and the spicy beef tibs with berbere.

And then I'd roll myself home to Corvallis.

fog

It's really cold here this morning – and foggy. After helping Liam get all loaded up in our red bus {Liam + Snappie, stander + braces, back-pack} and off to pre-school with Ben, I ran inside to get my camera. For my birthday, I got a new camera – one that fits easily in my purse or over my shoulder and that, in theory, I will take everywhere I go. So I hope that translates to more photos and more posts on this blog.

I took these photos, below, over the weekend. It was the perfect fall day with the perfect fall light.



A big thanks goes out to Grace at design*sponge for posting about my calendars today!!

calendars, details

Here is another sneak peek at the calendars ... I'm printing like mad to get these ready for you!

Again, if you would like to pre-order one {or two or more!}, please email me at lynn@satsumapress.com. If you pre-order before November 1st, the price is $40 per calendar + $5 for domestic shipping via USPS Priority Mail. {After November 1st, the calendars are priced at $44 each + shipping.}

Thank you, thank you!

P.S. I just added the calendars as a listing in my Etsy Shop right here ... I thought it might just make it a little bit easier.

calendar pre-order

I sent out an email about the calendars to my letterpress mailing list the other day, so I thought I should let you know, too ...

Here are the details: the 2009 calendars, titled PATTERN + TEXTURE, have been inspired by my love of Japanese textiles and vintage fabrics. The designs in this calendar are a slight departure from my previous work, but I am really excited about this new direction. I think you’ll find similar shapes, forms and colors – and I hope you’ll be pleased by them. This year, I’m printing between 350-400 calendars because last year’s sold out. As you know, these are a huge undertaking and a real labor of love. Every page of the 2009 calendar is run, by hand and with care, through the press between 2 and 5 times each.

The cost for pre-order : $40 each + $5 for shipping {each calendar ships in its own sturdy kraft mailer via USPS Priority Mail}. Optional gift wrap is $7 and includes a layer of brown kraft paper with a band of decorative paper and silk ribbon, plus a small bird + foliage gift card. I am more than happy to write your message on the card for you and send the package to your recipient or I can send it directly to you. {Calendars are priced at $44 after November 1st; pre-order yours now!}

How to pre-order: I’m sure there must be an easier way to do this, but if you would like to pre-order, please send me an email at lynn@satsumapress.com . Please include your name, your email address and the number of calendars you would like to reserve. I will send you an invoice with payment details and put you on the pre-order list. Don’t worry if it takes a few days or more for me to send out the invoice; I am just very busy these days!! But don’t hesitate to check back in with me either ...

{There will also be three new stationery designs from the calendar available at the end of this month in my Etsy shop.}

sometimes ...

Sometimes, when your work days don't really seem to ever end, what you need is a treat. Like the one above. I'm not even really ALL that into sweets, but this ice cream sandwich is extra good. It's from Ruby Jewel in Portland. I like the chocolate cookie with fresh mint ice cream. Actually, that's the only one I've ever had, except for a small taste of the peanut butter one. So, just a friendly reminder: if your schedule looks like mine, it'll look better with an ice cream sandwich on top.


Yesterday, Ben got the SP-20 off the pallet and in place in the studio. There is still a lot of work to be done, as it was banged up pretty good by the shipping company. But it is so exciting to have it – or perhaps I should say HER as Ben's named her Bertha and the SP-15 is now Minnie – in the right place. Ben is having a new feed board made at a local metal fab shop, so maybe we'll get to test her out in the next week or so.


Today is, actually, my birthday. 33! Which seems to me a great number, such symmetry. I've got a pot of Italian prune plum jam on the stove and Ben and Liam went to the fish store to buy crab for dinner. I'm planning to print the rest of today and then settle in to a crab and garlic bread dinner – and some canning.


This coming week is very exciting because Liam starts pre-school on Tuesday. More on this soon, such as: what things your four year old should and should not do while in pre-school. As in: do not – DO NOT!! – repeat any off-color jokes you might hear around your house.

add it up

Well, I don't know if I should be telling you this because I'm not sure what it might indicate about the kind of person I might be ... but faced with many stacks of paper waiting to be printed {see above}, I decided to do the math on just how many passes of the press these 2009 calendars are going to take. Let me tell you, it's a lot. A LOT.

Here's how to add it up. There are 14 pages in each calendar: 12 months + a front cover + a back cover. I am starting with stacks of 405 pages for each of those 14 pages. {Why 405? Well, it was going to be less, but I admit that my brain has been operating at a little less than 100% these days so I ended up ordering more paper than I needed ... so I figured I'd just print what I had and this is the magic number.} Of those pages, there is yet another break-down according to how many colors per design.

There are only two pages that only require 2 passes of the press: the front and back covers. {405 x 4 = 1,620 passes for those}

There are two months that require 3 passes of the press; that's 1 color for the artwork + black ink for the text + blind stamp.
{405 x 6 = 2, 430 passes for July + September}

There are six {!!} months that require 4 passes of the press; that's 2 colors for the artwork + black ink for the text + blind stamp.
{405 x 24 =9,720 passes for February, April, June, October, November + December}

And, finally, there are four {!?} months that require 5 passes of the press; that's 3 colors for the artwork + black ink for the text + blind stamp.
{405 x 20 =8,100 passes for January, March, May and August}

So, if you add it up: 1,620 + 2,430 + 9,730 + 8,100 = 21,880 passes of the press. Listen, that is walking back and forth – three steps there, three steps back – for a really long time, all said and done. That's building up my right arm like freaking Popeye.

This is not a poor-me entry. It's just the numbers. It's just to give you an idea, if you are not a printer, of how much work a letterpress printed calendar really takes. I love printing: really, truly, fully. I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed these days – and sore! – but so excited to show you the 2009 calendar when it's ready. Or maybe in stages along the way. I'm about half way through with the first stage, the black ink. In that photo above, what you see on the tops of each stack are just proofs of the work printed off the computer.

{Another way to look at it is that adding it all up = I'm insane + a nerd. In any case, it's time for the three steps this way - three steps back thing ...}