Happy Holidays!

So I guess I fell off the blog wagon again for the last week or two...the whole vacation over Thanksgiving mucked things up a bit. Not that I didn't enjoy myself, I mean, hello:


I didn't have time to letterpress print the menu that my mom and I came up with, but it was truly excellent. Prior to stuffing my face I'd been getting some orders for cards and such in from Etsy, which just warned my cockles. I just love the whole printing/packaging/shipping process...it makes me feel so "official."

The other day I finally got around to timing myself making paper out of junk mail, so I'll know how much to charge for the service in the (near) future. I even weighed the shreds prior to blending them so I'd know exactly how many ounces to use for regular sheets of paper vs. card stock thickness. I also took shots of the finished papers with various degrees of "chunk," or how finely I shred the fibers prior to making the paper. I personally like the paper when you can still see letters and sometimes even word fragments left over:

"Super Chunk"

However, such chunk-osity is only good for artistic applications (collaging or perhaps printing gift tags). If you actually intended to use the paper for writing but still wanted some of that speckly, recycled feel:

"Chunk Light"

And finally, if you were looking for a smoother paper,

"Smooth Operator"

All of these papers and various weights would be priced the same, it would just be a matter of providing me with more or less of your junk mail to start off with. As soon as I can get a few more details worked out, expect to see my junk mail recycling service available for purchase in the Tweedle Press Shop.

I told iHub (husband Ian) that one of the things I'll really like about the studio I intend to have some day is the ability to have lots and lots of space for drying my wet papermaking couch sheets (not the actual paper I've made, but paper I use to draw water out of them). Currently when I spend a day making paper, I have to lay all of my soaked sheets out whatever counter space there is in the kitchen and dining room. This last time I even strung some up in the windows and bannisters so we could actually have somewhere to eat:


Someday my setup won't be quite so ghetto. Lastly, I've just added a new product to the store which is actually the first thing I'm offering that uses some of the pretty papers I've made from my own junk mail and other waste papers.

Dead Things / Beast Gift Tags

I had originally intended to print these gift tags on chipboard (and still will, in the future) but I wanted to start using some of the paper that I've made for something. They'd be super cute tied onto a packaging with hemp or even baker's twine, and are pretty much as eco-friendly as you could possibly get. Credit card offers turned into letterpressed gift tags? Yeah, I do that.

Pulp & Press Soundtrack 12/4/09:"Lay Me Down"(The Frames).

The Benefit Of Working At Home

I'll just let these photos speak for themselves:

Today I worked on cleaning up the images for the gift tags, coasters, stationery, and envelopes in my "Dead Things" series. I need to have 3 sets of film/plates made, so I filled in the extra space with 2 cards I'm working on for the "In A Word" series. Here's what it all looks like squished up together for the film:



After the plates get made, I'll cut it up and stick the polymer to my lovely new Boxcar base. Then it's into the Pilot for printing! I sent in my old rollers with cores and one set of trucks each (both Pilot and 8 x 12) to Roll Crafters to have new rubber rollers made, which should take about a week. Now all I've got left to do before printing is buy some of the Akua water based inks to try out!

My First Project

I've been working on the designs for a new collection of letterpressed items called "Dead Things" for my shop, Tweedle Press. The sets will hopefully include gift tags, coasters, stationery, and file folders:

I'll be printing several of the items on chipboard, because I love the way it feels and looks. Here are the 2" x 2" gift tags:

My ultimate goal would be to print to stationery on some of my hand made recycled paper:

But I'll have to see how much of that I can actually produce. The junk mail is piling up, but each sheet just takes so long to make! Here are the stationery designs:

First, though, I need to see about getting new rollers for my presses and some ink. I may just go ahead and buy the starter pack from Boxcar Press since I'll need a base anyway for my polymer plates, but I do want to do a little looking into other types of ink first. If I end up choosing a different kind of ink, I may need a different kind of roller. So much to do!