Letterpress Progress

Last week I printed! I cannot describe how much I love the process of letterpress printing. There are so many steps to remember, there is so much room for improvement....egads, it's fantastic!



I completed two projects, one of which are notecards for my sister, who is attending the Winter Music Conference for the first time ever. Go on, sis! Robert helped me with the set up. We used a Latin Elongated and I found two flourishes that worked with her name. Since we were out of Transparent White ink at the shop, we figured it out with Rhodamine Red and a teeny bit of Opaque White. I love mixing the colors. The pantone books give you the recipe - genius.

All was well and I printed 50 cards. I'll ship them to her this week.



Working on the C&M Rotary Press was a bit of a challenge, there isn't a throw, so you can't push a lever if you miss putting the paper in the press. It took quite some time to get the press under control and for me to figure out how to slowly treadle the press. I lost 2 sheets of paper too. Robert is obviously concerned that I don't try to grab the paper when it falls....One false move and you could become a printer with only 8 or 9 fingers.

treadle, treadle, treadle

distribute the type after you're done...(put it back)

I have to bring my camera into the shop, the pictures I'm posting are a bit blurry (still haven't mastered the iPhone's camera).

Also inspiring was a stamp album Robert picked up in Asbury Park. It's filled with pages of cancelled stamps. I think he'll use some in his collages. Oh, and the man who assembled the book didn't glue them down! He tipped them in with little elbows of adhesive. Painstakingly beautiful, I think.

President Obama mentioned that we should all commit to higher education, either at educational institutions or apprenticeships. I love that he is challenging all of America. The page on the right has dozens of Apprenticeship stamps.