My beloved friends at Individual Medley, a lifestyle store located just minutes from the studio, spent the afternoon with me to print a run of their hand-carved Thank You card. They watched  the process of letterpress printing from start to finish from cutting paper,  press setup,  inking and proofing.  The block was carved by Annika Bushman exclusively for IM and I was asked to see if it was at all possible to print with it on the press. Of course it will work! It's type high at .918 (nerdy printer talk).

Click below for more images + a Q&A.

Danke schön Monica + Crystal @ Individual Medley and to Stephanie for the amazing photos

I've combing through listings on Briar Press and Craiglist here and there for letterpress supplies. We've gone as far as Oakland to buy a few drawers of type and the rest is from. Where did we find the Vandercook? We found it in a garage in Burbank. It had been sitting in this garage for over 15 years and the owner said it was time to let go. All this time, there was a Vandercook less than 10 miles from our house.

As far as the other supplies, I got some type from Oakland, some wood letters and ink from my cousin who is also a letterpress aficionado and most recently, I've acquired a corner rounder and some wood furniture from Uno Press, a another local LA-based presser. They were relocating offices and downsizing and they were letting go a few things including a schnazzy fully-restored, bright red Vandercook 4.

Here's a few pics from my visit at Uno Press in Koreatown, Los Angeles.