Christmas Approaches!

Today is the last day to place holiday orders in the shop! Get your order in by midnight tonight for guaranteed Christmas delivery in the US. Cards make great stocking stuffers (I know a few of my own family members will be getting some this year) and there is still time to order a few!

If you miss the shipping deadline but are in Vermont, I will also be at the Burlington City Arts Holiday Market this Friday and Saturday at the Contois Auditorium in City Hall. Come to Burlington this weekend and get some prints in person!

After that I'll be closing up shop for a much needed break, before getting started on carving out all my new print ideas in January. Happy Holidays everyone!

Shopping and Shipping

We just got back to Vermont from DC, after a busy week and a very successful show. Thanks to everyone who came by the Downtown Holiday Market! The weather was so warm I didn't even have to unpack my space heater.

If you missed the market, there is still time to shop online! I will be shipping for the holidays until December 18th, so if you order by that date your package is guaranteed to arrive in time for Christmas. There are plenty of gifts and stocking stuffers in the shop, and plenty of time left to get your order!

New in the Shop

There are a few new items in the shop today, including this year's block printed ornament. It's block printed on both sides with white ink on dark wood, and tied with a red ribbon.

Also new in the shop are new pinecone coasters in a set of six, and a new block printed single heart card. Find them all in the shop right here!

Holiday Market Starts Tomorrow!

Hello DC! I am back in the city for my biggest market of the year, the Downtown Holiday Market, which starts tomorrow! I will be there every day from Friday the 30th to Friday the 7th of December. Stop by any day from 12-8pm right outside of the National Portrait Gallery on F St. NW. I'm all stocked up on holiday cards and gifts, and I'll be launching this year's block printed ornament at the show, so come by and say hi!

Brides Magazine

I'm so excited to share photos of this month's Brides Magazine, featuring my lined envelope cards! Brides contacted me about three months ago to work on this, and I worked with Michele from Meant to Be Calligraphy (she lives in DC and I've been waiting for a chance to use her amazing calligraphy on something). My card is featured in the section on "Red Hot" holiday weddings. Run to your nearest store and pick up the December issue of Brides Magazine!

 

Queen City Craft Tomorrow!

Tomorrow will be my first craft show in Vermont! I'll be at the Queen City Craft Bazaar in Burlington from 10 am to 4 pm. If you are in the area, come say hi! I'll be carving a few blocks at the booth if you want to see how it's done. See you there!

Heading South!

It's time to pack up the car and head back down to DC for my first holiday show of the year! This Saturday I will be at the brand new Union Market in DC for Crafty Bastards from 10am to 5pm. Tickets are $5, but if you buy them online by Friday you get 2 for 1.

Also in technological news, I'm finally on Instagram. For real-time live updates from the studio, you can follow me @katharinegwatson.

See you this weekend DC!

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.)