Arts on Foot, and a One Year Birthday!

Image from the amazing food blog Sprouted Kitchen

This blog is one today! I won't be having a huge 50% off sale again to celebrate, but I wanted to say thanks to everyone who has been reading for the past year. Here's to another great year!

Arts on Foot was this past weekend, and although it was a very different atmosphere than last year, it was still a great show. It was a quiet weekend in DC (as it should have been), with none of the crowds and excitement of last year, but it was great to see everyone who stopped by. And the new monogram cards were a huge success! They were flying off the shelves, and should be up in the online store this week. I will let you know when they are ready, and hopefully they will fly off the online shelves as well!

I made a "Hand Block Printing" banner with the cards, I love the look of them all strung together.
 

Hi Joe! 

I also had monogrammed tote bags for sale this weekend which were a hit, and I'll be adding them to the store this week too.

All packed up at the end of the weekend, ready to load up the car. The perfect time to enjoy some beers and dumplings at one of the only Chinese restaurants in DC's "Chinatown."

New Monogram Cards are Here!

I have been waiting for months to share this with you: the new monogram cards are finally here! A whole alphabet of hand-carved linoleum blocks, each with a different floral or geometric border.

You can use them as thank you cards, get your initials, spell out words and make banners, or use the ampersand to make a perfect wedding gift. They will be debuting this weekend at Arts on Foot right here in Washington, DC. Arts on Foot goes all day on Saturday and Sunday, outside the National Portrait Gallery, and we're hoping the sun comes out and dries up the city before then.

In addition to the cards, I will also be debuting the new monogram tote, a cotton tote bag with your choice of three initials on it.

Both items will be sold first at Arts on Foot, but I will be adding them to the online shop next week for those of you outside DC.

If you're in the area, come take a look this weekend! I'll leave you with a preview of the cards in progress, and check back next week to see the full alphabet, and for information about when you can buy online.

A Lobster Extravaganza

I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend! We got back from Maine last night, stuffed full of lobster and beer.

The main goal of our trip was to eat as much lobster as possible, and we succeeded in eating it three times over the course of a four day trip. We filled the non-lobster time with a beach-side bonfire, we made dinner with friends, took a brewery tour, waded through the ocean, and of course, visited the giant L.L. Bean.

It was a seafood (and all-around) paradise.

Up to Maine!

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone! We are heading up to Maine tonight to eat some lobster rolls, look at lighthouses, have a clam bake, and do other fun Maine-y activities, I can't wait.

Have a great weekend, and I'll be back here on Wednesday!

Image source: Ebay

Printing Tea Towels

I went over to the Torpedo Factory yesterday to work on some tea towels for Arts on Foot, which is coming up in two weeks. I print my cards and coin purses in my studio by hand, but for a large quantity of big pieces, it is much easier to just crank them out on the press. I took a few pictures of the process so you can see how they are made.

I start by ironing all the towels so there are no creases, otherwise the print won't go on smoothly.

I use a rented etching press to make the prints. I would love to have one of my own, and recently saw an ad for one that was in my price range, but getting a five-ton press into my sixth floor apartment would be a huge challenge. Plus, it would take up the remaining five square feet that isn't already filled with prints, so I'll wait until a more appropriate time to buy.

When I'm working at home I use Speedball brand inks because they are easy to work with and relatively odorless. On the press though, I use Graphic Chemical inks which are much thicker and messier but have much richer colors. They also smell really strong and you will get a headache after working with them for a few hours in an unventilated space. The results are great, but if you are working at home I would suggest using something else, your lungs will thank you.

Mixing the right shades of magenta:

The presses are covered in "felts," which are several layers of felt in varying thicknesses. This pads the block while it's going through the press, and you need a layer of paper between the block and the felt to stop the ink from transferring everywhere. The paper gets this fuzzy multiple-exposure print on it after a few runs.

Laying the block down on the tea towel:

Cranking the press:

And a finished tea towel, fresh off the press!

Clean-up is a lot messier with these inks, and you use a special razor blade to get all the ink off the glass. It is one of the most satisfying things in the world.

And that is how the tea towels are made! Much more complicated than printing by hand, but much faster when you are working on large pieces.