I used to like papyrus, but their aesthetic has gone off the deep end. Maybe it's me, not them. These days it's hard to buy greeting cards when you can crank them out yourself.

See what happens when I plan it ahead of time? I can make my own and a few more to spare! I just wish I was better at the planning ahead part instead of the usual method of scrounging for a card on the day of a friend's event. Yep, guilty of that one. Good thing I have a few these to spare!

This is no ordinary CD sleeve that you buy at an office supply shop. This project in the works is for a local wedding photographer. I'm guessing this sleeve with a disk of photos will be what she gives to her clients after a shoot. I'm hoping the finished product will have that instant "wow" factor. Caroline approached me with the idea and I couldn't resist. Who thinks of letterpressing a CD sleeve? It's a great idea and I've never seen it done. Maybe it'll be a new trend in the wedding scene. 

It's got a long way to go. It needs 2 more runs through the Vandercook, and soon after I'll be scoring and folding. Almost there...I think. There will be pictures posted as soon as it's complete

Boxcar Press is the authority in the letterpress world as printers and as suppliers to smaller press shops. In this video, you can see the hands-on care that goes into every print. Boxcar is a huge operation on the east coast with all the machinery to make letterpressing a breeze with multiple fully-automated, windmill Heidelbergs, plate-making machines, heavy duty cutters and the man power.

For now, this video is inspiring showing endless possiblities in a single print. Maybe I should start shopping for a faster machine to give my single-sheet fed Vandercook a break. Something to daydream about.

​I've been meaning to post about this for the sometime now. I'm still so smitten over that fact that Presshaus LA is in a book, a real published book! And it's not just any book, but it's a book featuring 100 pretty notable and damn good artists. I'm so honored and flattered to be apart of this elite list!

I was still in Munich and under the wing of Christa Schwarztrauber at the Fliegenkopf Werkstatt, the place where I really learned the craft of letterpress. When I received an email last October asking if I was interested to be a part of this book, I was ecstatic! Someone had just dropped out and stopped responding to her, and she needed one more person to fill in. I said yes and started send over photos. I didn't really have name for our future letterpressing studio yet!

During that time, my then fiancé and I just locked in a Vandercook 4T from a local guy in Burbank. We were still in Germany so it had to sit in his garage for a few weeks until we could come back to move it over to Silver Lake. It was an epic move. That machine is about 1200 pounds. We had stairs and  that day, our pathway was a little muddy from the previous rain. It took 7 big guys, 4 sheets of plywood, one truck, a whole lot of teamwork and an entire day.

It's now June and we've been back for about 6 months and now married for 4 months. So much has flourished for Presshaus LA since. Our home studio is filling in with prints, papers, cutters, ink, and supplies; and our client list is starting to grow slowly but surely. 

Some things happen for a reason. Looking back, it all makes sense now.

***

You can purchase the Vandercook 100 book through Amazon here.
Find out more about the project and the other letterpressers:
http://www.justvandy.com/thevandercook100.html

​Me with author Heather Mitchell and her book, The Vandercook 100

Presshaus LA's spread​

Yes, you can letterpress for jewelry. Why not?

I'm so pleased to be a part of this collaboration. Ann Monzon and Hanna Yum put their jewelry genius minds together and created N+n jewelry. They hand make necklaces and bracelets (so far) with understated and minimal style when worn solo, but as you layer the pieces together, they complement each other perfectly.

For their packaging, I stuck to the raw elements and created a matchbox sleeve in chipboard. No fancy paper here. Even their logo is simple just like their jewelry pieces.

Take a look and if you're interested, you can find their pieces for purchase on A-thread here, here and here.