Around the Studio

With my first holiday show just three weeks away, I'm in full holiday prep mode. The press is fully up and running now (although I'm definitely still learning), and I've been printing hundreds and hundreds of Christmas cards to get ready. I'm also working on a long list of custom projects, which always seem to pick up around the holidays too.

Whenever I hear people talk about how commercial or materialistic Christmas is, I say bring it on. It is hands-down the best time of year to be in business, as people start shopping and thinking of personalized gifts to give. Plus, anyone who has seen me struggle to wait till Christmas morning knows how much I love giving and receiving presents. So bring on the holiday season!

2012 Holiday Shows

My holiday show schedule is finalized, and I'm excited to announce three different shows this Christmas!

First up, I'll be at Crafty Bastards in Washington, DC on November 10th. I'm excited to head back to DC for the first time since living in Vermont, and to see some familiar faces!

Next, it's back up to Vermont for Queen City Craft in Burlington on November 17th, which will be my first show in Vermont.

Then, back to DC again for my favorite show of the year, the Downtown Holiday Market, where I'll be every day from November 30th to December 7th. All year I dread doing a week-long outdoor show in December, but it is consistently my favorite show of the year, and makes shivering in the cold worth it.

If you are in any of those areas this holiday season, come stop by one of these markets, I'd love to see you!

The Beauty of Engraving

The Beauty of Engraving by I DO Films from Beauty of Engraving on Vimeo.

Engraving is one printmaking process that I have never attempted (although I have done etching which uses similar plates). This really well-made video shows all the presses and heavy machinery at work and is fascinating to watch. So if you ever receive an engraved invitation in the mail, you'll know just how much work went into it.

Holidays at Minted

I have a new holiday card design available now at Minted, "Block Printed Mistletoe" is available in die-cut shapes so you can choose rounded corners, scalloped edges and other cutout shapes. It's available in three different colors (and if you liked last year's Minted card, that's still available here and here too). Take a look at the new design right here!

Greetings

A new line of cards is now up in the shop! Two Happy Holidays cards, plus one I Love You and one Thank You card. All of my prints have been text-free for the last few years, but I finally decided to give it a try for the holidays. I am definitely more driven by the illustrated text-free cards (especially since I prefer writing in cards with no greeting) but I thought it was time to try something new. And, there are lots more new products in the works that will be coming out in the next few weeks! You can find the greeting cards in the shop right here.

Designing the Scarves

I worked on the designs for the scarves while we were in India, sketching out patterns along the way. I wanted to work from existing designs that I already had for sale (or in the works) so that the scarves would fit in with the rest of my prints. So I drew up some repeating patterns on paper, and worked with the printers to create the printing blocks from the sketches.

 

The scarves are printed with wood blocks rather than linoleum, since linoleum would never hold up to the natural dyes and repetitive printing they are used for. I had my blocks carved from a hard wood that would last much longer for textile printing (I learned to do this the first time I studied block printing but a block like this would have taken me about two weeks to carve, so it made a lot more sense to have a professional do it).

Then, each scarf was printed by hand, rinsed multiple times and laid out in the sun to dry next to a water buffalo.

 

(You can find them online right here.)

New Wedding Invitations at Minted

Minted just held its annual call for wedding invitation designs, and I created six new invitations for them. Click on each one to vote for your favorite! Since all of my work is done by hand, it's a nice change to work on some digital designs every now and then. I think my favorite is the first one with the lacy floral border, I'd love to see it with a bright red envelope.

 

 

 

 

 

Around the Studio

Fall has definitely come to Vermont, and I've been busily working on new items for the holidays. Including, for the first time, cards with greetings on them! I'm starting with Thank You, I Love You and Happy Holidays, but will hopefully add more later. They are almost ready, and will be in the shop soon!