Around the Studio

There are only two months until the National Stationery Show (I'll be in Booth 1942), so I am hard at work carving new designs and thinking up new products that will launch in May. Two weeks ago we drove to Maine for the weekend where I bought a 1966 Challenge paper cutter that I found on Craigslist. It can cut through 500 sheets of paper in a second, and it is so satisfying that I've been using it every chance I get.

I am hard at work on a whole bunch of custom wedding invitations for summer weddings, above is an ink I mixed to match these bridesmaid dresses.

Test printing lots of new carvings with black ink before I choose the colors.

With the number of projects going on right now, I will have a lot more photos to share soon!

Design Wall

It's only February, but I'm already busy working on my new catalog that will be coming out in May. That means lots of new designs, carvings and products are in progress right now. I thought I would share some photos of my design wall, where I've been hanging all my sketches of new designs. I start by sketching out all my ideas (either half-finished or ready to carve) on paper, and then hanging them all up together. Then when I am ready to start carving, I'll head to the wall of designs and choose one to work on. I've been continuously adding and subtracting from the wall, making notes and changing designs, getting them ready to form a full collection.

I've been posting photos of the carvings I've been working on recently on Instagram, you can see all of them 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.

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!

Block Printing on Film

Hand Carved Design from Cassie Spodak on Vimeo.

My friend Cassie came up to visit this summer, and while she was here she shot some footage of me carving a linoleum block. Cassie is an amazing filmmaker (you can see her other videos here) and she turned it into this beautiful video that shows the full block printing process, from a sketch to a print.

Thank you Cassie!

Carving Away

I'm in the middle of getting ready for the National Stationery Show right now, and I have a few more designs to finish to debut at the show. I'm working on four new blocks, and thought I would give you a little sneak peek.

I'll give you a sneak peek at the other ones in the next few weeks!

New Print!

I may not have been posting them regularly, but so far I've been keeping up with my resolution of making one new print per week. Here's one that will be making it's debut at Eastern Market this weekend:

They'll be available in the shop soon!

Handmade Valentines

The first new print of 2011 is here! Valentine's Day seems like a long way away right now, but if last year taught me anything, it's that time has a tendency to fly by. I wanted to create a bold design for the card, but something that was a little reminiscent of a handmade doily valentine, and I think I struck a good balance between those two.

They are available right now in the shop!

Here We Go!

2011 is off to a great start! In my head I was thinking that January would be slower because nobody wants to shop after Christmas, but the universe has proven me wrong. There's plenty going on behind the scenes right now: finishing custom pieces, a new print almost finished, new stores and markets coming up, and a new studio! Last night Joe and I stayed up late and rearranged our apartment, so my studio is now in front of the window. I no longer have to stare at a wall all day! I feel better already.

I will put up pictures as soon as I'm done organizing. As part of my goal to stay organized this year, I am sorting through every scrap of paper and tube of paint and making sure I don't have to fight through the chaos to find what I need.

And, a sneak peek of the new print:

New Peony Print!

Yesterday I found out that my Christmas card designs blew off the roof of my car somewhere on the Pennsylvania interstate. To deal with it, I curled up in a ball and watched old episodes of 30 Rock (while wearing a snuggie, just to stay with a theme). After an hour or so of self indulgence I snapped out of it, grabbed my sketchbook and started again. So today the first of the new prints is ready! It's not very Christmas-y, but it is a new print that I'm very excited about: the Peony print! Next time I will make sure to keep it secure while my car is on the highway.