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).

A Fresh Start

Today I spent most of my time cleaning and reorganizing my office/studio, which really needed to be done. I've been attempting a massive purge of unused craft supplies in order to create more empty surfaces upon which to work. I'm pretty much done, and as you can see my closet now closely resembles the one in The Berenstein Bears And The Messy Room. This book clearly marked me as a child, and I blame all my perfectionist tendencies on it.

My letterpress and paper making studio area is small, but working for now. I've got the most basic (and cheapest) table from Ikea holding the Pilot, drying rack, and composing area. Below is boxey storage for paper, furniture, paper making supplies, and other stuff. Above I've just installed a nifty wall shelf unit that's very functional but also cool looking. I use it to store design related books, letterpress bits and bobs, and a few objets d'art.

On another side of the room I've got another desk (this one nicer, from Crate and Barrel) that holds my paper drying press and paper cutter. I intended for the Ikea table to also be where I could make paper, but now that I see the arrangement I might be a little nervous about getting so much water so close to my cast iron press. So, actual paper making may be relegated to the dining room until I can get a "real" studio.

And speaking of other spaces, today I received a text message picture of my 8 x 12 C&P, which has now been officially moved into it's "home" in the warehouse at my design job. It looks like from the picture that it's near a big window, which will be nice and maybe not make me feel too "warehoused." Storage above and to the sides - now I've just got to get Paul Aken to come help me get it up and running. Very exciting!!



Next order of business: I got my new rollers in from Roll Crafters. They were very nice and helpful on the phone, and a few weeks back I shipped them my existing rollers so they could use the cores and see the trucks before making new rollers. They finally arrived this week, and boy did they do a job with the shipping packaging! It took me a solid 10 minutes to unwrap the layers of cardboard, which were literally screwed into end blocks of wood, which themselves had holes drilled in them to keep the rollers steady. I certainly appreciate them making sure they wouldn't get damaged during shipping. The first picture is what the rollers looked like when I finally got them out of the box, with my trucks taped to the ends. Next is after I popped them out of the wood blocks, and finally after I unwrapped the paper around them. Beauties!

I did a quick ink and print just to test them out, with the same type I had locked up earlier. I'll definitely have to do a bit of troubleshooting - there were a few issues with the rollers inking the furniture in the chase, and the whole process being a little sticky. I think I initially may have had the rollers in the wrong graboids (technical term) so after switching them things seemed a little smoother. This was after I had already cleaned the press, though, so I didn't test them again yet.

I can't remember if this was happening with the old rollers, but they seem to get stuck at the bottom of the chase before the arm is all the way back up. I can push the arm up, but I feel like they should be able to continue all the way to the bottom by themselves. I'll probably ask Paul when I see him.



Here's right where they get stuck:

And here's where they end up when the arm is all the way up:

The trucks appear to be mostly in line with the pieces they roll against, though slightly off. I wonder if this has something to do with it.




All in all, a very productive day...and I can't wait to start pressing my "Dead Things" onto these nifty coasters I just received. I'm waiting on my Akua water based inks to arrive to test those out - though they mentioned there could be some concern with the inks smearing from "sweaty hands." Obviously not the best choice for coasters, but I'll try them on some note cards and gift tags. I've also recently been told that rubber inks can be cleaned with crisco and vegetable oil, so that might be an option too. WOO!

The Pilot Is Home!

More details and pictures to come, but here's a shot of the new beauty in it's spot in my office/studio. I didn't realize it was going to be and Old Style Pilot, so it's MUCH prettier than I had hoped and I just love it! I also acquired a whole slew of other necessary elements, and will probably try and run my first print this week. YAY!

Ian and I managed to get it inside from my car (all 200 pounds of it...my knees are not amused) without too much difficulty; luckily we live on the first floor and so there is only 1 mini-staircase to get up to our door. Oh, it's so pretty. Sigh. Now I'm off to try and find a serial number so I can see how old it is...