2014 Calendars are Here

It's back to school time again, and that means new office supplies (even if you aren't in school anymore). So with that in mind, the 2014 letterpress calendar is here! This border is done with a hand-carved linoleum block, and the text is added using a printing plate. It's done on a thick cream card stock, and is one of my favorite new products this year! You can find them in the shop right here.

New Lined Envelope Sets

The red stationery sets were one of last year's bestsellers, so for this year I wanted to introduce the cards in more colors and designs. I launched four new patterns at the National Stationery Show, perfect for important thank you notes or party invitations.

Each set contains six A7 flat cards and six kraft envelopes with matching liners. Both the cards and the liners are printed with a hand-carved linoleum block. You can find them in the shop right here.

Block Printed Quilts!

  
The quilts are here, and I couldn't be happier with how they turned out! These are lightweight quilts designed to be used alone in the summer, or over a heavier comforter in the winter. Are you sweltering at night during this heatwave? This quilt is for you (I've been using it for the last few weeks of 90 degree weather).

The quilts are resist-printed on 100% cotton, and dyed with natural indigo dyes. They are queen-sized, and reversible, with a block printed floral pattern on the front, and plain stitched indigo on the back.

The entire process is done by hand, from me carving the prototype in the US, to block carvers in India carving the hardwood block, to block printers printing the cotton, to the hand stitching holding the two layers together.

 

 

I knew I wanted to use indigo dye: I love the way it contrasts with the white print, and the way the color will fade and change with time. Just like a pair of blue jeans, these quilts are designed for heavy use and will get softer and broken in over time. I also wanted something reversible, so you could use the floral pattern, or turn it over for solid blue for a bolder look.

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

To begin the process, I carved a linoleum block with the pattern I wanted, and printed a prototype on paper. I then scanned the design and sent it to my printer friend in India, where the blocks were re-carved into wood, and used to print the cotton.

The quilts are resist-printed, which means that the design is printed with a resist and then dip dyed, so that the printed area will not hold the dye. This creates a white design on a blue background.

They are all printed by hand, then laid out in the sun to dry before rinsing. The plain and printed cotton pieces are then stitched together by hand, using a thick white thread.

You can see the quilts in the shop right here. (You'll be glad you got one when the thermometer hits 95 degrees!)

Around the Studio

Last week I was working on a photo shoot, taking photos of all the new prints and getting them uploaded to launch the new line in the shop. While we were doing that, I took a few behind the scenes photos as well. Photo shoots definitely bring a state of chaos to the studio, but I managed to make it look at least a little bit organized.

 

Five Dollar Calendars

I'm starting to get in my 2014 calendars, and the studio is getting crowded with last year's stock. In order to make room for new things, I am putting the 2013 calendars on sale for just $5! If you've been wanting one, this is the time to snap one up before they sell out. You can find them in the shop right here.

New Stores

I've been shipping out lots of orders to new stores this month, and just updated the stores list. Take a look and see if there are any near you! And if not, I am updating the online shop as we speak so everything will be available online very soon.

One of the stores I am most excited about is Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon. I have visited twice on trips to the West Coast and love browsing the giant shelves of used books (and obviously stopping in the stationery section).

I'll be adding new stores throughout the summer, and I'll be back with an announcement about the updated shop soon! Here are a few of the new shops, and you can see the full list here:

Powell's Books (photo from here)

Hillsdale General Store

Tiny Feast

The 2013 National Stationery Show

I'm back from a very successful National Stationery Show! I had a much-needed few days of rest after a long couple of months prepping for the show, and now I'm back in the studio (not completely relaxed though, I had a stress dream that the next Stationery Show was starting again today and I had one hour to prepare).

This was a big year at the show: I released 24 new blank card designs, a line of new greeting cards, a new color for the monogram cards, new art prints and journals, plus a new block printed quilt and lots of new little things (gift tags, coasters and notepads). There was a lot of new stationery in the booth! I am in the process of adding all the new items to the shop, so they should be up in the next week or so.

The Stationery Show is the biggest event of the year in the paper world: a full day of meeting store owners, buyers, and other artists, followed by meetings and cocktail parties in the evening with more schmoozing. It is so much fun and so inspiring, but also completely exhausting and I was so excited to get home after the show.

For my booth this year, I went with a purple-grey color (a more subtle look than last year's red walls). I wanted to stick to a lighter color this year since there were so many products in the booth. The big new addition was the block printed quilts which got a great response! They are made by the same printers who block print the scarves and I'll be sharing lots of photos soon. I built a wooden ladder to display the quilts and loved the way they looked hanging in the booth.

Take a look at the photos of the new products below! If you have questions about any of the new products that aren't online yet, you can contact me here. And if you want to see some of the other booths at the show, there is a great round-up going on at Oh So Beautiful Paper.