Picking the perfect tree

A few weeks ago we decorated the house for Christmas. Every year we pick out a tree with our friends Sara and Ben. This year was no different!

After we got the tree home Marni and Lindsay came over to decorate and helped us by stringing popcorn for our doorways. It took me back to grade school and for few days the house smelled like popcorn and pine needles - it was great!

Bust Recap

As promised, here are a few pictures of our table at the Bust Craftacular (my camera died within the first five minutes). I split the table with Amber Mahler of Mani Designs. Her work is absolutely gorgeous and her display was just perfect. She used an old letterpress type case to display her earrings, which fit quite well with my letterpress printed pieces. I wasn't in love with my display, but I did manage to fit everything into just two suitcases for the plane ride!

While we were in the city Jake and I stopped by Anthropologie and admired the paper chain garland and other great displays.

All around the city there were Obama window displays. This was one of the best, complete with stockings hung on the fire place for the whole Obama family. I regret that I didn't get any pictures of the multiple Obama food specials (like the "Obama Burger" or the "Obama lunch buffet").

Last-minute holiday!

In the spirit of the season Pistachio Press is offering a last-minute holiday special. This package includes:

*2009 letterpress wall calendar collaboration {design by Ink+Wit, printing by Pistachio Press}
*Woman walking dogs, limited edition letterpress print
*Set of five season's greeting cards
*FREE domestic shipping!

Don't forget to check out hello handmade paperie's newest downloadable banner and ornaments. I haven't had too much time to decorate this season {more on this later}, so these will be perfect for any of you who are in the same boat!

And finally, make sure you check out new prints from FreshlyBlended Press! Nicole just completed a series of four beautiful letterpress and gocco land bird prints, available in her shop. They're even more wonderful in person!

Later this week I'll give you an update about the Craftacular and the many awesome artists I finally got to meet in person!

Craftacular, here we come.


I will be participating in the Bust Craftacular this weekend. Stop in and say hi!

Sunday, December 14, 2008
10:00 AM – 7:30 PM
Metropolitan Pavilion
125 West 18th Street, NYC

Jake and I decided to make this our holiday weekend in New York. We're renting a studio apartment in Chelsea and I can't wait to walk around the city in the snow. This is my favorite time of the year in the city and the Craftacular is the icing on the cake!

But, I underestimated how much inventory I would have left after second storie and my studio holiday gala. I thought I was caught up with work, but it looks like I'll be printing for the rest of the week and finishing up some custom work, so you probably won't hear from me for a few days. How does this happen?!

Even more thankful!

Yesterday Pistachio Press hit a milestone - 800 sales in my Etsy shop! My very sincere thanks to everyone who has ordered a card or sent kind words in the last year and a half. Also, very many thanks and hugs to all of my friends and family who encouraged me and gave me advice when I most needed it. Your support has allowed me to live my dream of running a successful press, something I didn't think was possible just a few years ago.

As the press continues to grow I have been exploring new ventures that I will be able to share in the coming months. Once I'm done teaching for the semester I'll be undertaking the task of updating my website. I still like the general layout, but I need new photos and descriptions of pieces, especially since half of my work hasn't made it onto the site yet!

If you're near Rochester and looking for something to do this weekend stop by my studio and say hi! It's time for the Anderson Alley Holiday Gala. I'm in studio #4-7.

December 5, 5-8pm & December 6, 11am-4pm
250 North Goodman Street · Rochester, New York 14607

And if you're near NYC next weekend, stop in at see me at the Bust Craftacular.

Missing....

One of my favorite leisure activities of the last few years has been reading blogs, but they tend to suck up my time and make me procrastinate as I click on link after wonderful link. I had to cut them out of my daily routine to make room for things like work, but no more! They're slowly making a comeback into my life and I'm so happy about it. Especially when I find things like this!



A gorgeous collection. So pretty that I could see myself spending whatever it takes to make sure I have several new outfits for summer. I just love the color palette! Check out Morrison for more super beautiful pieces and a picture of the dog who started it all.

I couldn't have found these amazing pieces without the help of forty-sixth at grace. Nikole is the co-owner of the most lovely shop, herriott grace. Her father hand carves each wonderful spoon. These would make such an amazing gift and would surely make cooking even more pleasurable.

And I found out about herriot grace from Satsuma Press ... see what I mean about link after link!

{images of clothing from Morrison, image of spoon from herroit grace}

Thankful

Wow! What an amazing holiday and weekend. The past few weeks have been a blur, as I'm sure you could tell by the lack of posts lately. Teaching, getting ready for second storie and running Pistachio Press have really been three full time jobs.

Thanksgiving itself was great. I hosted the meal for the first time ever. There were only five of us and since we are all vegetarian I got to eat everything! It was even more exciting because I finally got to cook a meal. I've been living off take-out for the past few months and didn't realize how much I missed cooking. Here was our delicious menu:

Roasted butternut squash soup
Home-made stuffing from ciabatta bread
Creamy red mashed potatoes
Roasted brussel sprouts with pine nuts
Glazed sweet potatoes with almonds
Tofurkey and gravy
Multigrain rolls

My mom brought dessert: Pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream, apple pie, and Bienenstich (a German cake made with a custard center a topped with almonds). After dinner the family watched a movie while I stuffed cards into cellophane bags in preparation for second storie.

After many months and countless hours of work second storie was an amazing success this weekend. Our vendors were every bit as talented as I had expected and even more kind that I could have imagined. I was able to trade/buy many gifts, mostly for myself! On Sunday we hosted a delicious brunch with food carefully made by an incredible woman (it filled two six-foot tables). It seemed like all of our promotion paid off - we had a great crowd, many of them spent a few hours shopping and talking to vendors. My sister helped me at my table and by greeting people as they came in. And my husband was super-awesome! He greeted each person who came in, gave them an info booklet, told them about the free hot cider and provided the perfect cheerful introduction to the event. I only had time to take two photos, but check out Frenshlyblended's photos, they're great!

Second Storie} Indie Market


I would love to invite you to Second Storie} Indie Market on November 29 & 30 at the Visual Studies Workshop. Baby Shivers Boutique will be playing Saturday evening from 4-6pm. There will be door prizes every hour, hot coffee and cider courtesy of Boulder Coffee, and amazing art and crafts for all of your holiday needs.

During the biggest shopping weekend of the year, doesn’t it sound nice to cozy up with some cider, listen to a local band and shop for gifts that were lovingly handmade? Shop handmade this holiday season and join us at Second Storie} Indie Market!

zine exchange


Just a reminder that the deadline for the Generic Zine Exchange is this Saturday, November 15. Organized by Abbey Hendrickson, the exchange will be an awesome way to add some zines to your collection. What are you waiting for? It's time to get working!
{image is the cover of Abbey's zine}

Book overload

The Book Arts Fair this weekend was awesome. I bought a book from Sara Langworthy that I have wanted since the last conference, two years ago! It's beautiful and will fit in perfectly with my newly remodeled office. The image above is one of her books, but not the one I purchased. I am glad to be home, though. The fair was incredible, but looking at books for two days was a bit of a visual overload! I have a ton of ideas for new work, but no time to make it. I hope to have a bit more time over the winter to tuck in and make some new pieces.

And in honor of all of the wonderful books I saw this weekend, here's a tunnel book from the Pop-up class that I taught over the summer. The woman who made it meticulously painted and cut out each page and then hinged movable pieces to the pages.

Don't forget to sign up for the Holiday Ornament Swap, today is the last day! I received many beautiful ornaments last year and I'm looking forward to participating again.
I have been in love with Marcie Paper's work since I saw it in Abbey's apartment a few years ago. Thanks to Abbey's recent post I found out that Marcie has a piece for sale through 20x200! I can't wait to get my copy in the mail!

This weekend I will be going to the Pyramid Atlantic Book Arts Fair just outside of Washington DC. I'm really excited to buy some new books (I bought several last time) and go into DC to see a fascinating book exhibition. I hope I get some time in the next few weeks to work on the new press and clean up the yard before it snows. The time is really flying by!

New addition!

On Halloween a sparkling Vandercook SP-15 was delivered to my studio! It's an awesome feeling to have a press pull up in a pickup truck and be loaded onto a freight elevator within 10 minutes of arrival. I call this good press karma, buying the right press from the right person makes the move much easier!

I didn't want to jinx anything by talking about it too soon, but this is a gorgeous press (repainted, re-wired motor, new belt, pristine bed, shiny grippers) and I can barely hear it when it's running. I am only the third owner and the previous owner took excellent care of it. I know this press will have much love and use over the years to come - my working space is now complete!

I'm also very excited today because I was able to vote for a candidate I believe in, for a person who will inspire America, and for a person I truly respect. Go vote!
This has been a long week - full of printing, burning screens, and cherry coke. The first snow flurries of the season arrived while I was teaching on Wednesday. I really do love this time of the year and it's been much cozier since I started wearing all of my favorite turtlenecks and fleeces.

I'm learning how to use a Heidelberg Windmill, and yesterday I loaded paper and printed some proofs. It was very exciting! There's a lot more to understand about the way the press works than with the Vandercook, especially how to load paper correctly. I'm feeling a lot more confident and hope to run an actual job on it soon.

Have a great Halloween! I have some news in the works for Monday.
Has it really been a week since I last posted?! I can't imaging the days passing any faster this time of the year. Last weekend was our "weekend at home" where Jake and I try to do fun things together or around the house for one weekend a month. We took a long walk with the girls through Letchworth Park. It was beautiful - the leaves were changing color and the air was crisp. We also indulged in three very different movies - a huge luxury of time! We saw Burn After Reading, American Teen, and Pineapple Express. I've never seen three movies in one weekend, but this was a much-needed break.



In September our weekend at home was actually spent in Buffalo. We saw the B-52's at the Albright Knox, went to dinner at one of our old favorites places, and went shopping at Ikea for new office furniture. I'm looking forward to our next weekend at home actually being at home!

one of those days

Calendar printing has been going quite well, until today! And today wasn't actually that bad, just a few snags. The first major snag was that one of the plates was wrong. I thought I would have to re-order it, but I was able to cut it apart and piece it into the correct position. It took a while, but not as long as it would have taken to reorder. The second snag was actually a terrified panic that I didn't have enough paper to finish the last page of the calendar. I finally found half a ream of paper hidden in my studio, just enough - hooray!

The rest of my day...a veggie coyote at Dog Town with Shanna, Parliment, sore right shoulder, new paper order, hot shower, print club board meeting, email, send proofs to client, amazing Obama pictures.

Calendar pre-order ends next week. Pre-orders received a complimentary note card and free shipping.

the leaves are changing


This weekend was filled with adventure. Jake and I drove to Syracuse on Saturday to stay with friends and visit an apple festival in the hills of central New York. The leaves are changing colors on all of the trees in the state and it was a beautiful setting to drink hot cider. On Sunday we all drove together to Rhode Island for another friend's wedding. Again, we were lucky enough to drive through the beautiful Berkshires and end up at a gorgeous wedding, which was impeccably planned and included a troupe of waiters who danced in formation holding trays of flambe!

Unfortunately, the past few weeks of non-stop work have caught up to me and I've developed the cold that all of my students have had during the past month! My fingers are crossed that it won't impede my printing ability this week, as our deadline for the calendar launch is coming up quickly! I actually have to head to the studio to print shortly and will try to post a few sneak peeks later today.

Thanks Indie Fixx!


A big thank you to Jen at Indie Fixx for inviting me to participate in her Indie Artist Fixx interview series! I was truly honored to be asked. You can read the interview here.

Celebrity Death Match


Boy, things have gotten pretty heated politically in the last few days! I was thinking about MTV's Celebrity Death Match...what would happen if they paird up Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Keith Olbermann. Might not be a completely fair fight, but it would probably be fun to watch.

Thinking about 2009


It's that time of the year again...calendar printing time! Tara and I are working on our second calendar. She sent me the designs a little while ago and the plates and paper have arrived. This means I'll be a printing fool for the next few weeks since we're trying to launch these by the week of October 20th {remember last year?} We're currently taking pre-orders, which will include free shipping and a complimentary note card.

Happy Birthday


My very sweet Cassie turned three today (at least this is the day we picked to celebrate as her birthday since she was a rescue). In honor of this we cuddled for quite some time this morning before I had to leave for school. I should have brought her with me, my students would have been in love!

call for entries

image}MJM, calligraphy} betsy dunlap

call for entries}
featuring the best indie arts and crafts in the north east and beyond. second storie is looking for talented vendors to be a part of this truly unique holiday festival. Application deadline is October 27. This is our third event and I'm sure it's going to be amazing. I can't wait to see who applies!


energized

I attended an amazing event last week with my mom, sister, friends, and 300 fellow community members. We peacefully gathered to take a group picture, sing, and say together, Sarah Palin doesn't speak for me. I truly felt united among so many wonderful women, from such varied backgrounds.

remembering

I said weeks ago that I would post some more pictures from Italy. Well, that time has finally come! Here are a few of my favorites, more on my flickr.

A very lonely little canoe in Portofino. I just love that it's pink!

One of the most gorgeous views we saw on our hike through Cinque Terre.

We came across this netting, woven through the trees, on one of the trails between towns. It was such a great reward to find this after a particularly tough part of the hike.

Finally, my dream house. Teal shutters and curved walls make my heart melt! This gem was in the heart of the old city in Trier, Germany. One of my favorite things about my own house is a curved wall in out living room.

September cheer

So many things are weighing on my mind, so in an effort to push them aside I thought I'd post some beautiful things that would be sure to cheer me up (and maybe you as well).

This is one of the most beautiful bracelets I've ever wanted, and I don't even wear bracelets! I'm in love with pearls and the raw nature of this piece. Visit Gretchen Walker's shop to see more great finds.

Rachel Austin's work always cheers me up! The texture and colors just make me happy. I'm hopeful that I'll someday be able to hang one of these in my house.
“No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots."
—Barbara Ehrenreich



They certainly hit the nail on the head with this one. Let's put this sexist thing to rest and start talking about issues and asking real questions. I, for one, am disturbed that we don't even have a dialog anymore about the economy, homelessness, the war, health insurance, etc. I'm tired of hearing about lipstick and I don't care how many kids she has.




I had really debated with myself about posting about politics on my blog, but this is a major part of my life, as it should be. Part of my training as an artist has been to engage others in critical thought and dialog. As a member of the indie-blogging community I haven't seen much of this discussion happening, and I'm tired of side-stepping the elephant in the room (who may or may not be wearing lipstick). Sarah Palin does not speak for me.


taking some time

Lately I've been good at doing things that are unrelated to work (like making carrots at the market, above). I joined a gym this week with my sister. I hate the gym, but as more time passes in my life I have begun to realize that I never make time for my health (you all know about my Mountain Dew obsession). So, I got up today and headed over to take one of the 95 classes they offer each week, only to realize that I was looking at the wrong schedule and was 15 minutes late. This meant that I had to actually "work out" on real equipment with no peppy instructor - but I did it. But next time I will make sure I am on time for the class. Then I spent a few hours with a friend who just had a baby (and Marni took some beautiful pictures of her). We had a bit of girl time and her mom made us the most amazing eggplant paninis. I'm quite grateful to have such a flexible schedule, one where I can visit with friends on a Friday afternoon.

This evening we went to Marni and Nate's opening of their collaboration titled Witness. The piece above is from their series and is one of my favorite groupings. You should check it out if you're in the Rochester area. Then Korean for dinner and dancing at Taylors. I have to say, Taylors exceeded my expectations of both skeeziness and fun. We watched a true dance battle between two mirror-hogging men in their late 50's - it was incredible - and got to dance to some of my favorite songs.

Hoping to post some home improvements in the next few weeks. Jake and I decided to try to spend one weekend each month at home, working on things we never have time for, and enjoying a few lazy days. It's something I think might add some balance to our over-committed lives. I'm also hoping I can spend a few hours alone this weekend, to have some time to think about new projects and maybe make some headway on my website updates or neglected artwork.

Carrot Campaign '08


I'll be spending most of this evening (from 4-8 pm) making carrots at the South Wedge Farmers Market as part of a fund raiser second storie is helping to organize. Carrots will be constructed out of salvaged cloth and yarn and available for sale with the profits going directly to the South Wedge Farmer's Market. We'll be making a ton, so we'll need help! Stop by our tent and we'll get you to work - we'll have a bushel of carrots to be stuffed, yarn to tie and buttons to be attached.

Hooray!


Pistachio Press is featured in this month's issue of Lucky Magazine!!! I've known about this for a little while, but didn't want to chance jinxing it. The I Love You card is listed in the Bonus New York section of the magazine. Apparently the bonus section is regional, so I had to go to several different stores to find the New York issue (Boston and Philly were in the first few stores I tried). I am super excited - thanks Lucky!


I'm overwhelmed by the conventions and all I can think of is this clip from French Kiss. I think it sums up everything pretty well. Also, I love Kevin Kline movies - the distraction would be good :)

we have returned

We're back from vacation and trying to get back into the swing of things! The trip was great. We went to France, Italy, and Germany. The photo above was the view out of our bedroom window in Italy. Santa Margherita was an ideal beach location, small town, perfect location, and beautiful beaches. I had a fruit tart for breakfast every day and tried to have at least one gelato each day, if not two!

The World Rally Championships in Germany were one of the highlights of the whole trip - really, even I liked it. Jake was ecstatic the whole time we were at the races, running around like a six-year-old taking pictures of all of the cars. Our hotel and the final race were in Trier, about a block from an old castle. And I didn't even panic too much when Jake drove on the Autobahn.

The last day of traveling was grueling - up at 7:30am, bus to the airport, long trans-atlantic flight where we watched about three movies and played Mystery Rummy for eight hours. Once we got to NYC we had an eight-hour layover in JFK (not our choice, but Delta changed the itinerary and never told us). So we checked our bags and headed into the city for vegetarian heaven at Red Bamboo. Finally got home and to be around 1:30am! Of course my internal clock was off (and continues to be) so I got up by 7 and we ran errands for much of the morning. I was actually in the studio printing by 2pm, feeling like a crazy woman. When you run your own business you really can't leave for three weeks and not expect things to be chaotic when you return.

So far this week I've printed a 2-color invitation for one couple and a 3-color accordion invitation with two 2-color inserts for another couple. Crazy as it may be, it feels great to be back home!

More photos of the trip to follow!