In a word, civility

What an amazing poster created for GREER by Hammerpress. I wish this was something more people embraced.

You can also check out the Hammerpress studio on Truly Smitten, it's pretty sweet.

Vote today

I hope you head out to vote today. Jake and I will be walking to our polling place this afternoon. Also, did you see the Rally to Restore Sanity this weekend. It looked like an awesome event.

{image from jacdupree}

Happy Halloween

Pics from our Halloween dog walk a few years ago. We found their cosumes last night hile trying to make something for Jake to wear to a party. Cassie was a pumpkin, Pancake Sue was a bumble bee, Scout was a construction worker and Emma was a cop. With better forethought, we could have had the Village People.

My life plan

The Baltimore Print Studios offers these sweet prints a part of their fundraiser to support the opening of their new studio. You might also want to check out their amazing type-themed cake!

Dexter posters

 

I just came across these amazing Dexter posters designed by Ty Mattson. They're three-color screenprints on black paper and they're totally amazing. I can't believe how well they capture each season (although I'm only caught up through season two). I talked Jake into letting me buy Season 1! Possibly the most awesome part of this is that Ty created these, posted about them on his blog, and the next day the producers of the show came knocking. You can buy them on the Showtime website.

Salt City recap

This past weekend we went to the Salt City Craft Market and it was so much fun! I got to visit with friends and talk letterpress to paper enthusiasts. There was a line out the door before the show opened and it was packed until right before closing time. I wish I had time to take photos of the whole show, but I was only able to snap some pics of the tables near mine, which were also great!

carvingmyinitials

second seed

 

Vicki Hartman

 

 

Pistachio Press

 

the great crowd

mid-century calendar

It's been serious calendar printing madness around the Pistachio Press studio. We just finished our annual 12-month wall calendar and this year the design was based on the clean, simple lines of Mid-Century modern aesthetics. I have to say, I am so happy with it! Same format as last year (4x11") with space at the bottom for special notes. And...the first 25 orders receive a free holiday card with the purchase!

To purchase, or look at more photos, check out our shop.

Salt City Urban Art & Craft Market

I'm super excited to be exhibiting at the 2nd annual Salt City Urban Art & Craft Market! I had a great time at the market last year and I'm sure this year will be even better! There will be 40+ local designers and crafters hand-picked for their crafty ingenuity, 5 live music performances by local artists, and local food and beverages!

Please tell all your friends and join us on: 

Saturday, October 23rd from 10am-6pm

Case Supply Building, 112 Wyoming Street, Syracuse, NY 13204

between W. Fayette and Marcelus Streets, in the Salt District

Off-street parking and 2 parking lots on either corner the building on Wyoming St

Bringing back the 1940s

My sister's best friend got married over the summer and wanted a 1940s wedding, so I created these fun telegram invitations for her. I really love how they turned out and how open she was to keeping them playful. My favorite line on the invite: "reception to follow (non-stop)".

Welcome to Fabulous

I'm so excited that I can finally show you this fabulous calendar, a collaboration between my good friend Jim DeLucia and Pistachio Press. As friends and studio mates for years we decided that a calendar would be the perfect project to work on together. Jim created the design and I took care of the letterpress printing. I hope you like it as much as we do!

cozy

The puppies have been lazy this week. I plan to take some lazy time this weekend.

Breathing again

Thanks for dealing with my post yesterday. Although I was still grumpy for a good part of the day and although I still think everything is hard, I finished the day so much better than the last. I made some headway on a few really big projects, got almost all of my inbox cleared out, and I will likely be in bed before 5am. My studio mates showed up at the studio today while I was there and, as usual, helped to cheer me up. I'm lucky to have such great friends. I also realized that it's been cold and rainy and that when summer ends I often get into a funk. So, I am going to make the best of the changing seasons and turn my mood around.

Things I am looking forward to:
*The start of Survivor Night, where we bank episodes of Survivor and watch with friends over pizza every few weeks.
*A very long walk through crunchy leaves with my pups.
*Stripping old wallpaper and painting our hallway and guest room an awesome shade of gray.
*Launching the 2011 calendar. The design is complete and the plates will be here soon.
*Meeting up with a fantastic group of stationers to go apple picking and chat about non-work things.
*Cheering for Jake at his second cyclocross this weekend.
*Learning more about Youngna Park, who made these great photos of sunlit balloons and winter flags.

Hours and hours

On the door to our faculty office there's a bumper sticker that says "Art is Hard." And every time I see it, I silently agree. And then I think "Everything is Hard." It is. I'm really inspired by fellow stationer Julie's blog and lately she's been talking openly about how she (and other indie businesses) struggle to find balance. In the clean, design-y, beautiful blogging world this is noteworthy. In that blogging world things are perfect and no one talks about trading sleep to fold cards. No one mentions that it's almost impossible to figure out what the next step is when you're trying to turn a meaningful profit. No one mentions what a feat it is just to stay on top of what you already have in the works, let alone try to develop new product. So, I'm just going to lay it on the table...everything is hard. I have a feeling that many of you reading this also feel the same way.

This morning was completely annoying (no real reason, just one of those days) but one of my coworkers helped put things into perspective. I'm pretty lucky that today was a teaching day, too. On non-teaching day I often sit in front of the computer all day working, designing, emailing, and over thinking the little things to the point where I can make myself come to a stand still. On teaching days I have the opportunity to immerse myself in my student's work, to troubleshoot with them, to laugh, to put things in perspective, and to be inspired to make my own work.

But that inspiration and excitement only last so long and when I get home and head back to the computer (or the press) I find myself drawn back into the same routine. I'm just not sure how to find balance. I know it means that I probably need more of a schedule, a routine time to check email, to make proofs, a designated art-only time, and time when I know I will be printing. For me the hardest part of running a business is knowing that only I can do it. That I just have to make myself set up a schedule if I ever hope to have free time. So I'm going to try it. I think I'm ready.


{Images were shot during NYIGF tear-down. Maybe the weight of an impending gift show and calendar printing induced this post...}

WNYBAC ::: Breathe

The WNY Book Arts Collaborative is a really wonderful letterpress/book arts center in Buffalo. They're trying to raise money for a ventialation system in their printshop. For anyone who has ever printed, you know how important ventilation is. Especially if you work with kids, like this non-profit does. Please consider making a donation, in any amount. Some of the donation levels will even bring letterpress goodies to your doorstep. There are only a few days left and the project will only be funded if enough support is pledged (they're close to the goal).

Boxcar Press, the company that makes my plates for letterpress printing, just featured an interview with me on their blog. Boxcar is one of my favorite companies to work with and I'm honored that they asked me to participate in their interview series.

Cyclocross

Jake participated in his first cyclocross this weekend. It was pretty intense and even though it was his first race he chose to do the 45-minute event instead of the 30-minute race. He's so stubborn! I am so proud of him for finishing it, even though his pedal broke off right before his final lap. That just meant he had to push or carry his bike through the course aside from the downhills. And...he was one of only two people riding a single speed bike. How's that for stubborn and determined!?

OK Go has the best videos

it's almost officially fall

September is nearing the end and the fall equinox is only a day away. This means we're getting close to the release date of the 2011 calendar(s). I thought you'd like a teaser for the carvingmyinitials collaborative calendar. It's quite fabulous and was super fun to work on with my talented studio-mate Jim. Can't wait for the official launch!

ps - A special treat for the next person who makes a purchase from my shop, which will be the 2000th!

{photo taken by Jim DeLucia}

Studio love

Lately I've been feeling really antsy. I change my mind daily on whether I want to move into a new house or stay put. Would I want a studio at home if we moved into a bigger house or do I really love having an outside studio? Could I handle printing in a garage? I think that maybe I should move my studio to a new location and add a storefront component. Or maybe it would be better to build a structure on our fictional new land, not quite attached to the house. Do you have the same irrational thoughts?

We actually just fell in love with a house that we can't afford, especially since Jake's income is less than stable at the moment. We even had our realtor come over and look at our current house to let us know if it's sellable. So while we contemplate our options we're going to do some long-overdue home improvements (like finally nail down the moulding in the bathroom four years after we "finished" the remodel). And I'm going to keep looking at houses and daydreaming about studio spaces. The spaces from Kanga Room Systems seem like an awesome solution, as long as we can build it on concrete for the presses and they have heating for the Rochester winters.