Happy Hour 2.1.12

Some photos from this week's happy hour!

Erika came by to finish up some notecards/valentines:

And Erin was there to do some proofing for her own valentines:

The next Letterpress Happy Hour will be the 15th. Hope to see you there!

Happy Hour 11.2.11

Some photos from last week's Letterpress Happy Hour!

Erika came by to set type for her second color on these cards:

The second color is going to say "You're so sweet" underneath this list of sugars. Love it!

Alyson came by to pick up her Letterpress Calendars and also to play around with setting some type for her holiday cards. Here are some proofs:

Happy Hour 10.05.11

Photos from this week's Happy Hour!

Here's Lauren helping Happy Hour first-timer Jane with getting ready to hand-ink. Jane came to get in some practice printing with photopolymer because she hopes to be able to do her wedding invitations soon.

And here's what Lauren was working on herself. She decided to print a second color over her birthday cards from last time.

The fonts she was using didn't have enough p's for all her "happy"s so she got creative and started using upside down d's! Love the effect... looks like the p's are dancing!

Erika also came by to set some type for note cards for friends. She's got a great system going of spending one happy hour setting type and then printing at the next one!

Hope to see you next time!

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!

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"

Happy Hour 08.08.11 (Featuring Handmade Photopolymer)

Fun Happy Hour last night! Erica came to print a linocut she'd carved:

Meanwhile, everyone else decided to experiment with making their own photopolymer plates. Here's everyone scratching away at their negatives:

Molly's project:

Erin hand-inking her plate (everyone inked by hand to save on clean up time):

Her negative and the print:

Laura planning out what she wanted to do for her design:

A cute heart in a speech bubble (in dusty pink):

Loved Erika's trees:

Great job everyone! See you in two weeks!

Happy Hour 7.11.11

Great Happy Hour last night... I think we set a record: all 4 working press (including the little Vandercook 0 proof press) were in use!! I don't think I've ever seen that before! 

Here's a shot of everyone in action:

Beck's project for the night was printing a poster for a fundraiser event for the DC Abortion Fund:

I can't believe I forgot to take a photo of the finished print!

Aly was working on some personal stationery for her and her husband. I liked the effect of the hand-inking:

Newcomers Eric Kerby and Lindsay Block experimented with typesetting for the first time and then printed on the Vandercook 0 (they had taken my Photopolymer class last month):

 

Fellow Photopolymer classmate Laura McLean did the same:

Here are Laura's prints... really impressed with the way she was able to ink so cleanly and register so nicely!

Lauren Emeritz printed some business cards on the C&P. She also brought in this ingenious drying rack that she made at home:

Using Beck's hot pink ink, Erika Pfeiler printed some note cards:

And lastly, here's a photo of my hand-inked prints of my very first linocut!

I had an awesome time and hope everyone else did too! Next Happy Hour is on Monday July 25. Hope to see you there!

Happy Hour 6.16.11 (Featuring Rainbow Roll)

Some photos from Happy Hour a couple weeks ago....

Dawn and Erika hard at work setting type:

Here's what Aly was working on:

And Lauren's project of the night (printed on the C&P):

 

We actually inked up the Universal with a rainbow roll, but unfortunately my camera died before I could take photos. Luckily, Aly took some shots with hers. Here's her type locked up. Pretty colors...

And her prints:

Happy Hours in July are going to be on Mondays. Hope to see you there!