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.

 

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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!

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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.

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New Studio

I'm finally moved into the new studio! Just a few months ago, this corner of the garage was just a pile of old flowerpots and broken plywood, but with some shelving and a precarious move of the printing press, it's now a fully functioning workspace. I still have a few more things to move in and some organizing to do, but I wanted to share photos now that it is up and running. Take a look!

We rolled the press across the snowy driveway with two plywood boards and a pallet jack, worrying the whole time that it would roll into the ice and slide down the driveway. Luckily, it stayed put on the jack and we got it safely to its new home with no injuries.

I'll be posting more photos once everything is completely set up (there is a trip to IKEA scheduled in the near future), although I'm not promising it will stay clean and organized for long. And, you can see more behind the scenes posts from past studios here.

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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!

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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.)

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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!

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