LoLP Con Recap & Big News!

It's been a little less than a week since I returned up north from the Ladies of Letterpress Conference, 2012. Asheville was wonderful...so wonderful that I am moving there next month! Yes, this has been in the works for some time, now, but this trip absolutely confirmed that it's time for me to move from Scranton - though I do love it here - it is time for a change. Myself, my great friend April, Hand Deliver Press, my dog Arrow, and I will all be making the move down there September 16th. I can't wait to get everything set up and be surrounded by artists and printers. 

The sense of artistic community down there is very strong, and this was quite evident on the first day of LoLP Con, when we traveled around the city visiting various letterpress printers. Everyone seemed happy for me that i was moving there, and offered help left and right. I remember feeling like this after returning from the conference last year - that the letterpress community is like a big family. Yes, we are all competing with each other, but it never feels that way. Everyone I have met in my line of work has always been kind, helpful, and willing to help a new printer. We all understand that our craft is an old one, and we need to keep it flourishing. The only way to do so is to encourage other people to print as well. 

I am so grateful for Ladies of Letterpress for allowing me to grow so much in a short amount of time. The support and friendships I have gained from our organization is absolutely invaluable. Last year I had produced only one small print, and a handful of cards. This year my work was included in two exchanges, including the Expanding Communities Portfolio Exchange, in which dozens of women that I have admired over the years were part of as well. When I saw my work in that portfolio, and up on the screen during the panel, I was so overwhelmed with where I have gotten in a year, and so incredibly happy. Thanks, ladies!

My badge! Which I actually, sadly lost one night. 

At Mink studio. I love this organizational setup!

Some nice type and cuts at Innerer Klang

Swooning over 7 Ton Letterpress Collective

Truth.

More 7 Ton.

At Bookworks Gallery

Me and Judith Berliner of Full Circle Press in front of my Expanding Communities Print hanging at Bookworks. Love that lady.

At Hand Cranked Letterpress. They had the nicest home! 60s mod styled everything. They even had champagne for us!

And cheese type!

Mohawk Exchange table. My print is toward the end there.

Letterpress Things table. I bought some dingbats from them.

Expanding Communities Portfolio. Beautifully bound.

There was a screening of the documentary about Amos Kennedy, "Proceed and Be Bold", and a Q&A with him and the directory afterward. Such a great film, I highly recommend it to any printer.

Amos Kennedy sold his prints after the screening, it was a madhouse. I bought four!

I'm in Asheville, North Carolina for second annual The Ladies of Letterpress Conference! I've been here since Saturday, exploring Asheville and the surrounding areas. This city is perfect for the conference, as it is absolutely brimming with artists and designers.

I am so excited to see the wonderful lady-printers that I am only able to tweet at/Instagram-like/Facebook-like throughout the year. It's going to be four full days of nerdy paper-talk, story swapping, and catching up. This conference is the embodiment of why I adore my career.

I'll have much more to post during and after the weekend is through!

Expanding Communities

I have had the absolute honor of being asked to participate in a portfolio exchange through Ladies of Letterpress. 30 letterpress printers were invited, most of whom I have admired for years, now. The theme of the exchange is "Expanding Communities", and though I have to keep the final print under wraps until the show, I can offer a little sneak peek here, in it's grey and red glory. How nice is that ampersand? And the star? I can't wait for the full reveal. The conference is in 41 days, and I am so excited to see Asheville again, and spend all that time with fellow printers. Go, letterpress, go!

My dear friend Jess Fisk has redesigned my website for me! I am so thrilled with how it looks now, and there is so much to be excited about. First, is that you are now able to buy work directly from the site. Second, is my line of customizeable wedding invitations. I have designed three of them, and have more on the way from local female designer friends of mine in the Scranton area. Take note, brides to be!

 I have a whole lot in the works for the coming months. The University of Scranton is letting me print using work from their archives, (and they will be filming me while I do it!). I'll be instructing a tabletop press workshop this summer at ArtWorks Gallery, and I'm involved in a print exchange through Ladies of Letterpress that includes other amazing lady-printers, plus the unbelievable Amos Kennedy. The conference is coming up fast, in the beginning of August, and I will be joined at the hip with the Vandy until then. Also, while at the conference, I'll be teaching a "Yoga for Printers" class! So happy!

 Stay busy, stay creative.

The shared booth of the Ladies of Letterpress at the 2012 National Stationery Show.

I attended The National Stationery Show in New York City for the first time this week and I was so overwhelmed with the incredible work people are producing! I went with Jessica White and Kseniya Thomas in support of Ladies of Letterpress, helping out in their booth and promoting our conference this summer, but it sure got me thinking about next year and whether I could exhibit or not. I met a lot of encouraging people, and I believe that it is certainly on the horizon for me. I am working on a line of wedding invitations that I could show next year in the LoLP shared booth, along with a lot of other projects in the works. NSS could be exactly the goal I need to set for myseld to take Hand Deliver to the next level. Until then, I will continue to admire the phenomenal women of LoLP. The ones who exhibited this year were truly inspiring. Their work was beautiful, clever, cohesive and artistic. I am so proud to be part of this community!

The lovely Sarah Hanks of Fancy Seeing You Here.

The wonderful Val Lucas of Bowerbox Press. Planning on visiting this great lady next month in Baltimore and talking more printing & crafty things with her.

There was a fantastic paper party at Little Town, NYC on Tuesday night. Great bar, great balloons.

I am still riding a big wave of happines and inspiration from attending the Ladies of Letterpress Conference in Asheville, North Carolina this past weekend. As soon as I can collect myself in a coherent fashion I will post all about the incredible things I learned, and the amazing people I met.

For now, check out the Ladies here. And here's a picture of me at Asheville Bookworks pointing to a numbering machine I want on a platen press standing  with my new friend, Dianna of Fourth Year Studio in Knoxville, Tennessee.  We did not intend to match.

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The view from the hotel.

The first Ladies of Letterpress Conference was an enormous success. I was completely blown away by the printers, sponsers and of course, the two women who run the website and organizations, Kseniya Thomas & Jessica White. They are endlessly humble, yet extremely talented, kind ladies whose dedication to the world of letterpress is undeniable. I was really glad that when I met both of them they recognized my name from the website and thanked me for being involved in various discussions on the forum page.

The Printers Fair was spectacular, with many members showing off their printed wares and some very impressive sponsers (Mohawak Paper, Boxcar Press, Neenah Paper, Felt&Wire)  giving away HOARDS of swag. Honestly, I almost needed another suitcase to get all that free paper home.

And of course the panels were great. I filled up most of a notebook scribbling down tips and tricks and bits of sage advice and funny stories from people who have been in the industry for years, and some who are just starting out, like me. At one point, after the "Letterpress as a Business" panel, I asked the speakers how they raised money to buy all of their equipment, because "I was getting very jealous listening to how everyone acquired one press after another, plus paper cutters, plate makers, etcetera". And somehow after that, I because known as "Jealous Girl". People came up to me in the days following offering advice by starting out, "You were the girl who said you were jealous, right?". It was pretty funny.

And that was one of the incredible things about the conference. The advice. I was somewhat nervous going in, since I've been printing for less than one year (though obsessed for many) I thought I might feel left out, or like an outsider. Yet, not once did I feel that way. I've never felt so enveloped and accepted by a group of people before. Everyone wants everyone else to succeed, too and there wasn't even a whiff of competitiveness among the printers. Everyone I spoke with was encouraging, friendly, and excited about what is happening in our industry and I think that we were all thrilled to be among people who spoke our language and felt incredibly comfortable opening up about mistakes we've made, and embarrassing stories because we all want to know that we're on the right path and that the people we admire didn't get there easily, either. And now, after meeting so many like-minded women (and a handful of men!) I know that I have a community to fall back on when I need help, a push or advice. We may work with some pretty obsolete machinery, but our community is as widespread and strong as the cast-iron with which we print.

Printing Office broadside, graciously given to everyone at the conference by keynote speaker (and all around fantastic lady) Judith Berliner of Full Circle Press. The original poster hung in her father's print shop for years.