This is going to be a crazy month

We have some big studio news...we're moving! Let's back up a bit and I'll tell you how this all came about.

During the Ladies of Letterpress conference almost all of the printers we know (and met) told us we're crazy for printing everything on our trusty Vandercook presses. In fact, we have friends who have been telling us this for years. Although the Vandy's print amazingly, they are much slower than more automated presses and are much more physically demanding. We can't produce huge editions since we have to hand crank every sheet of paper through, for every color of ink. Honestly, we've been at a tipping point for a while and we really need to be able to print more to keep up with jobs and to stock up on inventory more efficiently. So, we caved and decided to start looking for a Heidelberg Windmill.

The day after we got back from the conference I went to our local paper shop and saw a handwritten sign in the window for a Windmill. Really! I called in the parking lot. We looked at the press the next day and put down a deposit. It was in perfect condition, oiled every day and was only 30 minutes from our studio. And the seller could deliver! What can I say, we have good press karma.

So, that brings me to the studio. We have a gorgeous space on the fourth floor of an old shoe factory. It's big and sunny, but it's on the fourth floor and we have to run the presses with other artists working below us. I always feel bad about the clanking of the press while we print, so we often print at night. This just wasn't going to work for the new press, so we had to figure out what to do. Do we only ever print at night? Do we move into a new building? Well, as luck would have it, I returned from visiting the Windmill to a voicemail from Eric on the first floor of our building asking if we would be interested in splitting his space. He's a digital printer and bookmaker (perfect for us to share a space with) and there was a possibility for retail in the new space! Seriously, this all took place in the span of three days. So we talked to our current studio mates and decided to move into the new space as a group!

The new space is pristine and much larger than the old space. The only thing it's lacking is gigantic windows (and we won't get to see the sunset as easily). To let more light in Jake and Eric demoed one of the gallery walls and then we started moving. As I write this, all five of our presses are in their new home and only one of the guillotine's need to be moved. Our studio mates are almost settled in, too. It's been an exciting few weeks full of change. I know that we have some adjusting to do (like learning how to use the Windmill) but I'm trying to embrace it and I'm so excited! Now that I've rambled on about everything that's happened in the last month, I hope you'll forgive my blogging hiatus!

ps - My family is from Heidelberg, Germany. When I told my mom about the press she told me I had to get it! And it's beautiful.

Mark your calendar: Salt City

Salt City Craft Market is coming up soon. Can't wait for it! Stop by, say hi, and chat letterpress with us!

Bootcamp Winner

Congratulations Andrea from Paper Presence for winning the Tradeshow Bootcamp Giveaway!

Andrea said...

Tradeshow Bootcamp is already a great idea & opportunity, but a giveaway, too?! Yay! My question is "how do I know what to exhibit, i.e. what are buyers looking for?"

We're looking forward to answering this question (along with the others posted) on September 29th. Thanks so much for entering.

LofLCon recap

As promised, although a bit late, here's my recap of the Ladies of Letterpress Conference this past August. We had such an amazing time meeting fellow printers, geeking out about ink and type, and learning tricks of the trade.

One of the best parts for me was meeting Judith Berliner of Full Circle Press, who also happened to be the keynote speaker. Judith is one of those people who is incredibly genuine and she's been printing since she was 14 years old. She's seen tons of changes in the industry and was also caring enough to ask everyone she could about their first press. She's completely inspiring and generous. I can't wait for the next conference!

Owego Flood Relief

Can you imagine losing everything you own? Your house, your clothes, your computer, your family photos and heirlooms, your kids artwork, your new couch. Now try to imagine losing your whole town, too. The town you grew up in. The town where you are raising your family. The flooding in many upstate NY towns has done this to countless families. I can't even fathom how devastating this would be, especially for the thousands of families who don't have flood insurance. Although I didn't grow up in any of these towns, I grew up very close to them and I have friends who live there. Abbey, from Aesthetic Outburst, is organizing a fundraiser for her hometown Owego. You can read more about her story here.

If you can, please make a donation. Even $10 helps. Abbey's goal is to raise $5000 for the Tioga United Way, but I know we can do better than this. The blogging community is filled with such passionate, supportive people and I know we can spread the word of this very far. Please re-post, tweet about it, put it on facebook, tell your friends. You could also put a piece of artwork for sale in your shop and donate the money you make from selling it. Put a badge on your sidebar or website. We're creative people. We can do this. Please help Owego.

Photos by Simon Wheeler for The Ithaca Journal.

GIVEAWAY:::Tradshow Bootcamp

I am super excited that Katie has asked me to speak at Tradeshow Bootcamp this fall. Even better, I have a space to giveaway for the Booth Logistics workshop!! All of your burning questions about how to set up your space, deal with union labor, shipping and more will be answered. 

Amber Ellis Seguine (FlyWheel Press), Katie Hunt (Kelp Designs) and yours truly will share our experiences designing, setting-up and pre-planning booth logistics for the National Stationery Show and New York International Gift Show.  Topics will include:

·          Pros + cons of sharing a booth

·          Setting a budget for the booth

·          Shipping + schlepping

·          Booth furnishings + vendor services

·          Q&A

To enter the giveaway for a chance to win a seat in the workshop just leave a comment on this post with your most burning question about booth set-up. I'll announce the winner on Monday, September 19th. Even if you've already signed up for the Bootcamp you can still enter the giveaway (if you win your fee for the workshop will be refunded)!


Click here for a complete schedule of the workshops.

Designer Rolodex

We are so excited to be a part of the Designer Rolodex on Oh So Beautiful Paper! This is a beautifully curated collection of wedding stationery and some of my very favorite designers are listed on here as well. Huge congrats to Nole for organizing such a well-designed and inspired directory!

Let's start at the beginning...

The beginning of August. Every month that passes seems to be busier than the last. August was no exception, as I'm sure you can tell. So, what have we been up to here at Pistachio Press? We visited my sister (Lindsay) and brother-in-law in Florida, took a road trip to Asheville, NC for the Ladies of Letterpress conference, and went to a trade show in NYC. We've been gone for most of the past month and now, thanks to a great gift show, we have a ton of printing to finish up. Oh, and the semester started last week.

The top two pictures were taken at a beach near Niceville, FL where my sister lives. I haven't been in water so clear and blue and warm in a very long time. It was pretty amazing. Seriously, the water was incredible. The third pic is from our road trip to Asheville. Lindsay and Jake drove while I napped and enjoyed the scenery. And the fourth image was taken when we hit the Blue Ridge Mountains. As much as I loved the beach, the mountains were a welcome sight. We hit right at sunset and it couldn't have been better timing.

I've really missed being in this space and I'm planning to spend the week catching up. I hope you'll forgive the lapse in posting and I hope you all had a great summer!

Another trade show?!

This will be our third trade show this year and we head out for the gift show in a few short hours! I thought at the beginning of the week that we had lots of time, but now we're in a big time crunch. Finishing the last round of printing and need to pack the car. Looking forward to being in NYC tomorrow afternoon for set up! Hope you have a great weekend :)

loflcon 2011

This we we're away at the Ladies of Letterpress Conference and we couldn't be more excited!

Keuka Lake

Do you like your in-laws? I completely adore mine. Jake's family feels like my family and his cousin and aunt just sent us these great pictures of our trip. I look forward to this every year and I think this was the best trip we've had. The weather was 90-100 degrees every day with beautiful blue skies, a nice breeze and an almost entirely private pebble beach. If we had been in Rochester I would have been suffocating from the heat, but luckily we were 20-feet from the beach! We played euchre most nights after making smores by the fire. Every night a different group cooked dinner. We lounged the day away reading, swimming, canoeing, biking and hiking. It was heaven.

New projects

A week off was just what we needed. I feel like a totally different person. Even though we have another big to-do list, I still felt great coming back to the studio today. I didn't take many pictures this trip - Jake's family did a lot of that and will hopefully send some along so I can post a few.

I've been waiting to post some photos of recent work but I still have to photograph a lot of it. For now, here's a teaser. Two-color hand-cut folders, three-color invitations, and a really fun new design. More to follow shortly!

A week at the lake

The last few weeks (maybe even months) have been rough. We've been working non-stop and printing around the clock. I thought that after the stationery show things would slow down and the wedding jobs would thin out. I was wrong! We've been reprinting cards to fill orders from NSS and prep for the gift show in August and the wedding jobs have been flowing steadily for the fall wedding season. I am so grateful that we have such great clients and that business is booming, but 12-18 hour days take their toll no matter how much you love what you do.

So, last week Jake and I made the final push to print everything on our plate, package it up and take it to FedEx before leaving for a week-long family vacation at the lake. We ended up leaving a day late, but I can tell you that it was so worth it. Knowing that we were caught up when I stepped out of the car at the lake was like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. This is the most relaxed I've been in at least three years.

The boxes above are from about four days worth of work before we left. I've never dropped off packages for FedEx on a Sunday, but this felt great :)

Flocked envelope liners

Our Classic  invitation suite has been on press quite a bit the past few months. Here's an awesome pairing of warm gray ink, rounded corners, and pink flocked envelopes. Love how they came together and the subtle vintage feel.

Recycling hound

Dolly found the recycling bin at the studio and wore herself out chewing bottles. Notice all of the Mountain Dew? We've been pulling some late nights lately.

Ending the week

Last night we hung out on the studio fire escape with friends and drinks and watched the sun go down. It was gorgeous weather and the perfect way to end the week. Today Jake's family came up and we spend the day at the market and hanging out on the front porch and just generally relaxing. I hope we can take this feeling into next week as we finish a bunch of jobs.

Custom work

Print Craft from Visual Inclination on Vimeo.


I just saw this video on A Fine Press's blog and thought I should share. No custom piece could be made without a lot of experience and a ton of steps.

Sure, it gets easier as you go, but that's only because you've made mistakes and learned a lot along the way. I feel like I'm constantly learning and trouble-shooting. And, as I try to impart on my students, the more strenuously we plan and meticulously organize for the actual production, the less likely it is that a mistake is made.

This is our general work flow for any given project. Obviously, each project is different and the amount of work in each step can vary.

*Meet with client (via email, phone or in person) to better understand the project.
*Send samples and discuss paper options and any limitations.
*Start the proofing process digitally, which can take anywhere from one to ten proofs (or more).
*Prepare files and send to the plate maker. The set-up here is key. An incorrect plate can ruin and certainly delay a job. This is even more important with multiple color files.
*Mix custom ink colors and trim paper to initial size.
*Register the plates, ink the press and print. Repeat for every piece in the suite and every color.
*Trim the pieces to their final size.
*Do any non-standard finishing work (like lining envelopes).
*Count each piece and package the job.
*Prepare shipping labels (and customs forms) and take package to FedEx.

It's odd, but I don't think that I've every written down how we do things around here. And we've been doing a lot of it lately!

ps-I think it's about time we watch this video again!

A steamer is worth it's weight in gold

We've been more than a little busy lately. Months of working non-stop has led to a messy house and an even messier studio. After four years of working from home and studio we are finally trying to move everything over to the studio and reclaim our house. Honestly, all of it has been overwhelming me (hence the lack of blogging and tweeting).

In the midst of my dis-organizational crisis my mom and sister just came up and helped us strip the wallpaper in our hallway and the last of the ugly border in our guest room. A border, by the way, which was installed over another border that was pained over. Thanks a lot previous owners. Finally, after six years, our house is wallpaper-free! Jake picked an awesome semi-dark gray for the guest room and a much lighter and really beautiful gray for the hallway. We have someone lined up to paint for us (I'm trying to let go) and we've moved almost all of our inventory from the dining room to the studio. The studio is starting to come together, too. My sister laid out her vision for the space before heading back to Florida and my interns have been making it come true. Pictures and sporadic blogging to follow :)

Camping 2011

We just returned from our yearly camping trip with friends on my family's land. Had a great time, but it was sadly overcast and rainy the entire time. Today, of course, is beautifully sunny and we're spending it in the studio printing. At least our windows are big!

You may notice the sweet couch set up at the pond in the middle picture. Our camping trips are more plush every year.

Two new collection

Yes! I'm excited to officially launch two new collections. Our Mid-Century Modern designs are now available as cards and we teamed up with Abbey from Aesthetic Outburst on an entire collection of cross-stitch-inspired stationery. Both collections are also available as notebooks, which you've probably seen already.

To celebrate the new collection and the fourth birthday of Pistachio Press (yep, it's been 4 whole years already) we're offering a 15% discount for all orders placed during the month of June. Just enter code "summer11" during checkout.