Happy Hour 9.21.11

Some photos from last week's Happy Hour!

Erika came to print the type she'd set at the last one. She's now done with her Christmas cards for the year!

Lauren came by to print some birthday cards:

A lot of them! (all on the Vandercook 0!)

And Chau and set some type for gift tags:

Here's her proof:

So cute! The idea is circle the giver's (or givers') roles (whether they made, found or wrapped it) and then circle the giver's name(s).

Hope to see you next time!

2012 Letterpress Calendar critique

This year I decided to include a critique as a part of the process of creating the 2012 Letterpress Calendar. I figured this would be a great way for this year's calendar crew to get some feedback on ideas and also just have another excuse to get together and get to know one another a little better. Here are some photos of the critique which took place last week (including a few mock ups and draft designs!):



Can't wait to see the final designs in print!

In the studio...

One of our studio regulars, Kathryn Hoeppel, is an excellent watercolor artist. Since she's gotten into letterpress, she's been playing around with combining the two. She's done some beautiful business cards printed over paper that she'd painted on. Now she's done a pretty set of thank you cards as well. She was kind enough to leave one on our bulletin board:

Happy Hour 9.7.11

I was only at last week's Happy Hour briefly but managed to take a few photos before I left everyone in Leslie's care.

Erika started setting type for her holiday cards. Every year, she does something with the phrase "Peace on Earth," which is a really great idea:

Lauren came by to play around with wood type for her April calendar design:

And Sabrina Gray came by for her first Happy Hour! She was hoping to make some personalized stationery as a gift. I hope it turned out well.

Here's a photo of (almost) everyone plugging away at their projects"

In the studio...

Steve and Gretchen have been working on putting together a poster for The Fillmore, a new music venue in Silver Spring. Some photos (all taken by Steve):

Here are some photos from their third round of proofing:

The lockup:

The color:

Inking:

Inked:

And the proofs:

Looks great! Can't wait to see the finished poster!

goodbye summer!

Gretchen organized a Pyramid family portrait this week to sort of mark the end of summer. This summer was really great... filled with a lot of fun letterpress happy hours, the Ladies of Letterpress Conference, a great group at Artscape and even acquiring a new type cabinet!

A few things to look forward to this fall: the 2012 Letterpress Calendar, the Type Truck's DC stop, fall letterpress workshops and, of course, more happy hours!

2012 letterpress calendar printers!

Just a list of our 2012 letterpress calendar printers!

Cover: Kathryn Grill Hoeppel
January: Alyson Hurt
February: Laura McLean & Molly Moran
March: Erin Brophy
April: Lauren Emeritz
May: Morgan M. Ward
June: Miranda Anderson
July: Alison Whitty
August: Tia Blassingame
September: Sara Shaffer & Bridget Stoyko
October: Leslie Smith
November: Beck Levy
December: Tess Sammarco
Back Cover: Sarah Hanks

I'll be getting a peek at everyone's designs next week.... Can't wait!