Birthday Card Sets at ArtSpring!

Our Letterpress Birthday Card Fundraiser sets are now available for purchase at ArtSpring - at their brand new location at 921 Ellsworth Drive, Silver Spring MD.

So get your set(s) plus other handmade goodies there!

(You can still purchase the birthday sets online: click here for photos + online purchase instructions).

Birthday Cards for sale!

With the help of Pyramid webmistress, Ariana Estrada, I've finally got the Birthday Card Fundraiser Sets up for purchase online!

For photos of the sets and all the individual cards + instructions on how to purchase, go to our special Birthday Card Fundraiser page!

Birthday Card Fundraiser Preview #4

All the cards have been printed and assembled into sets!

The sets will be available this Saturday at Pyramid's 30th birthday party. If you can't make it out, stay tuned for info on how to purchase them online next week!

And now, photos of the rest of the cards!

From Carina Herman:

Leslie Smith:

Sara Shaffer:

Beth Schaible:

 Jody McLean:

Amelia Smith:

Morgan Ward:

Sarah Hanks:

Hope to see you Saturday!

Birthday Card Fundraiser Preview #3

(Note: You may want to see Preview #1 and Preview #2 for background info on this project!)

I love that each time I go to Pyramid, I see new finished birthday cards in the studio! Here are some photos of the newly finished cards:

Bridget's added a yellow exclaimation point to go with her yellow envelopes:

Here's Melanie's card (unfortunately my camera had a hard time picking up the pretty blind impression pattern):

Bea's colors actually look really similar to Melanie's! Too bad they didn't coordinate to save on clean up!

Miranda's card fun word search card:

And the newest one, Tess' Marie Antoinette inspired card:

I really can't wait to package all of these together!

Birthday Card Fundraiser Preview #2

Yay! We've got some more completed (and semi-completed) birthday cards!

In case you didn't know, Pyramid turns 30 on April 9 and we're going to be selling sets of birthday cards at the party.

And on to the photos!

A shot taken by Marty of the "done" pile:

Bridget's first color (a really pretty one!):

Erin's awesome orange and pink design:

And a beautiful print of Megha's that I found in the scrap bin!

I'm loving how different these all are!

The studio is pretty much booked solid for the next two weeks, so stay tuned for the another preview shortly!

Tip #6

Marty sent me this photo:

The plan was to come print her birthday card in a creamsicle color. However, because the previous user didn't fully clean up, the creamsicle ink came out looking ochre (the lower print)! After a cleaning, she got the desired color (the upper print).

So the tip is to always fully clean the rollers! And if you're printing in an especially bright (or light) color, you might want to consider doing a check and a preventive cleaning, just in case. But, let's all try to fully clean up after ourselves each time we print. Remember, the golden rule... you wouldn't want someone to leave a dirty press for you, would you?

Birthday Card Fundraiser Preview #1

In conjunction with Pyramid's 30's Birthday Open House celebration on April 9, we will be selling sets of letterpress birthday cards designed and printed by various members of our PA letterpress community. All proceeds from the sales will go to fund Pyramid's awesome programs and facilities! 

This weekend kicked off the busy printing period for this project. We now have two (and a half) designs printed!

Steve's metal and wood type card, with a nod to the Beatles' "Birthday" song (Steve - I was thiiiis close to doing something with the song myself!):

 

Drying rack shot of the front of my own card design, also set in lead type:

And the inside:

Put them together:

And the first side of Marty's design:

I can't wait to unveil the complete sets at the Birthday Open House! Hope to see you there!

Happy Hour 3.2.11

Yay, another productive Happy Hour!

Newcomer Kelly checks out the 2011 PA Letterpress Calendar and other printed works on the bulletin board:

Bea and Erin were nice enough to come help me cut and divvy up the paper for the birthday card fundraiser. The blade of the guillotine was a little dull and I really wish I got some photos of us all hanging on the handle to get enough weight to cut through the stack!

And the fruits of our labor:

Now that the paper's all ready for you, all you brithday card volunteers have no excuse for not working on your designs (including myself)!

Call for Volunteers!

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS!

Pyramid'll be celebrating its 30th birthday in April, and we had the idea to make a box set of birthday cards for sale in conjunction with the celebration. The idea is to get volunteers (you) to design and print a birthday card (edition size TBD) to contribute to the set. 

Details:

-You create a design and print a card (edition size will be determined shortly)

-Studio time spent working on this project will be free (but still needs to be scheduled in advance)

-You will receive volunteer hours for time spent printing your cards

-Each participant will get to keep one set for themselves

-The rest of the sets will be sold with all funds going directly to Pyramid

-We will provide the paper

-If you choose to use photopolymer, you'll have to cover the cost of the plates

-The deadline to complete all your prints will be Friday, April 1

Please email Julia at letterpress@pyramid-atlantic.org if you're interested in participating and she will email you with more details/design specs. Also, please note that you need to be certified to print/rent on your own to participate in this project. If you are not yet experienced enough to do this, please consider pairing up with someone who is, or taking the workshops/lessons necessary to be certified!