randomness

guess what? i actually downloaded some music from itunes for the first time ever. aren't you proud? haha. ludo's broken bride ep & regina spektor's begin to hope album will be keeping me company this weekend as i push my way through the printing & binding madness.

oh, and it was trying to snow last night. more of a spitting from the sky type thing was happening, but the white stuff is coming. soon. i really need to get my snow tires on.

i was getting ready for bed the other night, and when i checked on the pups after my shower, i was treated to this lovely sight:


this is a big weekend - in addition to art, this will be the first year hubby & i will be handing out candy to the little hoodlums in our neighborhood! and...halloween is also our mia's 1st birthday!!!

this is not the most cohesive post ever. scattered, a lot like the way my mind's been the last few days. lots to do, so i better get to it...have a safe & fun weekend :)

recipe cards

since i've been cooking a bit lately, i thought "i should print some recipe cards!" i put together a card design - it'll be double sided & printed on some bright fun colors (yet to be determined). i'm planning on selling them in sets of 10.

here's the front:

and the back:

(the blue border was added to make the white picture stand out - it won't be part of the print)

so what do you think?

jekyll & hyde

this is normal mia:

this is playing mia:

a lot like dr. jekyll & mr. hyde, right?

weekend

got a lot done this weekend - glued lots of book covers and finished cutting all the book board & paper for the rest of the books. also cut down & packaged christine's notecards and mailed her package off this morning! i have 66 books made, 26 books in progress, and another 48 to glue. and one more weekend before the show. eek! i'll get everything done....just gotta keep my nose to the grindstone.

hubby & i also did a bit of decorating for halloween! this is the first year we will be giving out candy. i love that he is so excited about decorating for holidays & starting up festive traditions :) we put up a little trick or treat banner in one window & some lights in another:


you like the sweet ripped up blinds? that was a gift from vito a while back...but it actually makes the halloween stuff look better, don't you think? haha

still haven't decided on costumes yet. we don't want to be those people that dress up their dogs...yet we almost bought a hot dog costume for mia. it was actually pretty funny...but would also last for maybe .2 seconds.

i'm on day 6 of my experiment....and so far so good! starting my day off a bit earlier is having positive results. i'm more relaxed and my attitude seems more optimistic. when i got up this morning, the pups didn't even want to get up...they actually stayed on the bed and snoozed! hopefully i can continue this momentum...

snowman card set

the new winter card set is finally done! these snowmen started as doodles and now they are gorgeous letterpress cards. check them out:

these 2 color cards were printed on french pop-tone paper in berrylicious.

the first color is a background of white snowflakes (hard to see in the pictures)

...and the second color is a soft blue.

they are folded 4 bar (3 1/2" x 4 7/8") notecards...

...blank inside, and come with a kraft paper envelope.

soooo who wants to buy a set? :) i hope you enjoyed them! i will be busy working on books & other goods for the shows this weekend...what will you be up to?

sneak peek

sorry for the late post! today (like everyday, it seems) has been busy...

i worked on a custom letterpress order for my friend christine - she wanted some thank you notecards printed with a blind (no ink) impression. i tested this by printing one page with no ink at all - the results weren't great. her logo & thank you were difficult to see...so i mixed up some white ink with a tiny touch of silver.

printing with this ink gave the impression more definition without looking like i used any ink. cool, huh?

the notecards are currently drying...once i get them all cut down & ready to mail, i'll show you the final results!

finding clarity

good morning all! yesterday i ran a couple of errands to drop off my new business cards at some of the shops that carry my stuff around town. i had a chance to catch up with annie (owner of bella boutique & jewelry artist extraordinaire). you know how there are certain people you talk to or spend time with & they make you feel better? rejuvenated? positive? well, that's how i felt after talking with annie.

i've suddenly been hit with the stress of the upcoming shows & haven't handled it well for the last couple of days (ask my ever patient husband). and a lot of little annoying things have been building up...you know how that is. for example, i took our dogs to the park yesterday and they weren't listening well. then they saw a dog they've played with many times before....and ended up getting into a spat over a stick. no one was hurt (fortunately) & i got so frustrated trying to wrangle 130 lbs of excited dog (while the other owner was in shock that her dog would get so possessive over a stick...she wasn't very helpful while the incident was happening). it's situations like that, that i've been allowing to ruin my whole day (or week in some instances).

so i decided to make a couple of small adjustments...
1) get up earlier - so i can start my day more relaxed. this is a big one for me since i'm definitely not a morning person.
2) go to bed earlier (duh) - i try to stay up and do as much as possible...but am amazed at how much better i feel when i actually get a decent nights sleep.
3) adjust my attitude - if i stay in the mindset that everything sucks, well, it will. so i'm going to stay focused on what is in my control, try not to let the little things bother me, and keep in mind that i've always succeeded in whatever i've worked hard for (in this case, preparing for shows)

as a daily (constant) attitude reminder, i also bought some bling:


clarity: "clearness or lucidity as to perception or understanding, freedom of indistinctness or ambiguity" (from dictionary.com)

how do you handle things when you are stressed? any good tips on managing stress?

business cards!

the new business cards are done drying & ready to cut!

what do you think? i'm really happy with how they turned out and am glad i printed on the extra cardstock i saved from previous cards. sooooo anyone out there want to order some custom letterpress cards from me? :)

i was busy printing the new holiday cards over the weekend and am SO happy with the results! once they are dry, i'll take some pictures to show you all.

i've also been working on making books and thought i had about 60 left to make...but i was wrong. it's more like 90. plus jewelry boxes & a couple of photo album box sets. i'm hoping to get all of the book covers glued this week so i can focus on printing and binding for the next two weeks...but that's a stretch. especially since i still have to go to my day job. but on the bright side, i get to drink more coffee!!

new book paper

i've been busy preparing book materials and wanted to show you some of the new papers i got in. forgive the flash...but it's late, and fall in alaska, which means NO natural light :(

book board cut for about fifty books

japanese paper!

my favorite is the one on the left. reminds me of hello kitty.

have a wonderful weekend!

office

things around here have been crazy (hence the lack of a post yesterday). i received my plates for the snowman cards & kitchen cards and they look fantastic! i also got my first order of french paper yesterday...and cannot wait to print. i love paper...*sigh*

my photographer friend christine pobke also contacted me about printing some flat cards for her, so i ordered the plates & paper for that project too.

oh, and i'm researching & preparing to restore an antique book - a collection of shakespeare, publishing in the 1890's.

and preparing for art shows. did i mention i've been busy? :)

the nice thing about all of this busyness is that the more i'd doing, the more ideas i'm having - for prints, card designs, etc. and i'm feeling like i'm accomplishing stuff. that feeling alone is totally worth the lack of sleep.

here's a couple of pics of my recently cleaned office (i cleaned in preparation of my mac arrival...i know, i'm a nerd).

the office was actually a LOT worse than the before pic shows...it turned into a cardboard pig sty/storage area for a ton of random crap.

the center print is a linocut i did for a print exchange & the other four were picked from a number of print exchanges i've participated in over the years.

okay, time to get back to work!

macbook pro!

i am officially in love...with my new macbook pro. its SO easy to use and takes the stress out of dealing with technology. the colors seem more vivid & i'm loving the backlit keyboard. i can't wait to start working on letterpress plates with it and see just what it can do. since i'm such a nerd, i even took some pictures:

YAY!!!!!!

business card printing

my press (which i've decided to name chester, after years of deliberation) had his maiden press run at his new home (the garage). chester & i had a couple of trying moments...but worked through them & basically rocked printing business cards. here's some (iphone) pics..

i originally planned to print only on stardream cover in aquamarine

but found some other stardream paper in vista (top) & aqua lagoon (middle) from previous business card press runs and decided to print them all

here's the first run in blue - i chose a brighter blue than i originally planned..

i had the printing plates made by boxcar press - who have awesome support & are very helpful

the stack of paper ready to go for press run 2

oooo pretty plum purple...

sweet!

printing went very well and i really enjoyed being able to print in our garage. i'm super excited about the new business cards and will post pictures once they are cut. they will take a few days to dry. i was also happy with how the ink colors came out on the three papers i used.

today is the big day...macbook pro is coming!

'puter & stuff

my big evil plan this week was to post a bunch of wedding pictures (we just got them in the mail!!) today...but i also thought my new mac would be here too. unfortunately, it is supposed to be delivered on monday and since the wedding photos are huge files, opening them basically stops my current laptop in its tracks. literally. so i will wait until my mac gets here, since i know it can handle crazy big files.

the paper & plates for the new notecards are on their way, so should have them by next week. i've also been making lots of books and will show you some new paper i just got in!

i haven't decided on what color to print the kitchen cards on...i was thinking of doing one color per design. i also wanted to have a colored background since the designs are simple. here's the color choices i was thinking of using:

left to right: orange fizz, lemon drop, gumdrop green, blu raspberry, grape jelly
(go here to see all of french paper's pop-tone colors)

thoughts? comments?

puppies

look at these two! waiting patiently for breakfast...

more cards...

uploaded all of the files for the next couple of sets of letterpress cards! my plates should be here next week. for the snowman cards, i'm going to try out a new paper, pop-tone by french paper in berrylicious:


and i ordered some of their speckletone envelopes in kraft for the set:


check out the other papers on french paper - it's a fun site to browse!

if i like the results of printing on this french paper, then i'll order more for this kitchen set. here's a sneak peek:

so much to do, so little time...i'm thinking i should stop sleeping and drink more coffee to get everything done in time.

new cards

i've been busy working on some new card designs for the upcoming shows.... here's a sneak peak of the snowmen set:

* please give me credit for the designs if you repost them :) *

press is home

saturday morning, i woke up in a bad mood. like oober bad. i got up late, which meant that i was going to work late, had to stay there longer, then had all this other crap to get done, which meant i wouldn't start printing my business cards until the evening, when i wanted to get them done during the day. then i would have to go to my parents house, move a ton of stuff just to get to my press, clean up, set up...etc. obviously i was very grumpy. i complained to husband then left for work.

so what did the best husband in the world do?

he jumped into action! he rented a trailer, talked to our friend & my dad, drove over to my parents house & together they loaded my 1000 pound press on to the trailer. half an hour later...


my press is in our garage, unloaded & ready to start printing. how awesome is that??

my hubby is SO thoughtful :) it's reasons like this that make me so happy we got married. he's my favorite :)

how old are you?

over the weekend, i went to a trade show (for work) with my friend jamie. we paid for the tickets and walked over to the entrance of the show, where a lady was taking tickets & handing out fliers for a giveaway of some kind.

"may i have your tickets?" (we hand them over)

she hands us our fliers...then abruptly stops me and asks "are you over 18?"

uuummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

i was speechless so jamie answered for me "yes she's 28."

the lady answers "oh okay, because you have to be over 18 to win the prize."

well, i haven't been mistaken as an 18 year old in quite some time. so apparently i'm aging quite well :)

that evening my mom said that sometimes i look a lot younger when i don't have makeup on. i pointed out that i was wearing makeup.

i'll enjoy this while it lasts! good thing my hubby wasn't there...he looks even younger than me!!

good stuff coming this week...stay tuned.

weekend plans

thanks for the advice & support yesterday :) i take comfort in knowing that other people feel this way sometimes too.

i got a few books made last night, with my little helper in tow:

she also worked hard at sniffing stuff around the studio, being unsure of my paper cutter, and keeping my feet warm under my work table.

and i have a busy weekend ahead...

- first friday art walk
- work at my friend's shop
- print new business cards (hopefully)
- make books
- prep some cards designs
- clean the house (because, frankly it's pretty bad)

and the big one....prepare for the arrival of fredrick, my macbook pro!!!!!! (yes i named it, in honor of the guy that helped me through the purchasing process with my newly acquired student discounts...)

or...i'll sit on my butt and watch tv. hrm.

what are you doing this weekend?

deer in headlights

do you ever feel so overwhelmed that you're like a deer stuck in someone's headlights? frozen in a panic, knowing you need to move, but you just can't.

well that's how i feel.

i have approximately five million things on my to do list and am so overloaded that i don't know where to start. then instead of doing something, i procrastinate.

anyone else do that? know how that feels? advice/support?

*sigh*