Card swap II

Postcard swap update. Here is the lovely card I received from JezzePrints, together with one similar to the one I sent off.

Postcard swap

I have jumped in on a postcard swap, arranged by Jesse of  JezzePrints, which means that at some point I should be receiving one of these beauties!

Prints by JezzePrints

I have not been printing much lately myself, but managed to put something together to send off in return. Will not show what it was yet, so as not to spoil the surprise :-)

I love snail-mail!

Printers blocks: Snakeoil

Today I thought I'd show you two more of my old printers blocks, this time with a medical theme. The first one is a bottle of milk of magnesia by the Philadelphia Magnesia Co.

" For relief of acid condition. An effective but gentle laxative".

Yep, every home should have one. I think this block was a genuine advertisement for the product, and it is really detailed and in pretty good condition.

The second one I was more unsure of. It says:

"German Liquor Cure. Sure cure for drunkenness. Stop drinking. Sold only by Sears Roebuck and Co".

The rest is kind of hard to decipher. Because of that, and the whole 'cure'-thing, I thought this might have been an advert for a novelty product, for instance some kind of sweets? But then I found this online, and what do you know, in 1902 there really was a cure for drunkenness!

New Font

Still no sign of the roller runners I ordered a month ago. The little Adana is sitting idle on my kitchen bench, and it is becoming very frustrating not to be able to do anything with it, just because of one tiny missing part. But, something else came in the mail today: a new set of wooden fonts!

It is from the Stephenson Blake foundry in the UK, but I do not know what font or how old it is. But it looks lovely!

An Adana 3x5!

It will still be a while before I get the Adana 5x8 I ordered a few weeks back. Refurbishing takes time. And while impatiently waiting for it, I did something I promised myself that I wouldn’t: I impulse bought one on Ebay! And a 3x5 to boot!! I had already decided that it would be too small to be very useful, and that I was going to spend my hard earned cash wisely on essentials only! Right. Redeeming factors are that it was very reasonable, and the very nice seller was kind enough to include a full starter kit for me.

Today it arrived, and I have to say it is lovely to finally have a press, even if it is a Mini! It looks to be in good condition, and it came with all kinds of great extras.

I had to give it a quick test run, just to see if I still remembered anything from the workshop. And I remember some, but certainly not all of it. Hopefully it will all come back to me as I continue working with it. It generally seems to be very similar to the 5x8 Adana, with a few minor differences. For instance there is no typeman padding bale, and the chase is held in place inside the bearer chase by screws.

The rollers moved very awkwardly over the chase, roller bearers and bearer chase, and it took me a while to realize that I am missing roller runners. In the mean time I had covered everything in ink, but luckily I did not ruin the rollers, and all the ink can be cleaned off. I have now ordered roller runners, and don’t think I will risk using the rollers any more until I get them. And then I guess there will be a lot of tinkering and tweaking until I, hopefully,  get a good, even impression. But at least I’m on my way! Hurra!!

Woha... I have finally ordered my first press, an Adana 5x8! It will be at least a month before I get it, as it has to be refurbished first. And right now that feels like a veeery long time. But while I wait I can always feed some of my letterpress craving by watching this little video by Middle Path Productions.

Operating a Kelsey 5x8 Press from Middle Path Productions on Vimeo.

Printers blocks: Something fishy

While still buzzing from the Letterpress workshop I thought I might show you some of the old letterpress printers blocks I have gathered over the years. This one is one of my absolute favorites. I do love fish, and who could resist this ugly mug? Actually, this is more what we in Norwegian would call 'styggpen', which I guess would translate to ugly-pretty. Which basically means that it is ugly enough to be charming and unique.. underdog pretty. But I also love all the intricate detail and the fact that it seems to have been used a lot. At the moment this is just sitting in a drawer, and it would feel very satisfying to use it for printing again.

I also have a small sole, which would also be great to get out of retirement.

Letterpress Workshop

Yesterday I had the best day! I took a one-day letterpress workshop at Harrington & Squires - a printshop in North London run by two fabulous ladies, Chrissie and Vicky. The fact that they were in London, using Adanas, sold me on the workshop initially. The fact that they were super sweet, fun, generous and knowledgeable,  making stuff that I love, in the most charming premises ever was a lovely bonus! Even lunch was outstanding! I am still kicking myself for forgetting to bring my camera!! We spent the day going through all the basics - presses, general equipment, design, setting type, paper. Basically everything you need to know to get started. 

I made my own very first letterpress cards, wich came out pretty good....for a first attempt. Now, on my way home, my head it just throbbing with ideas and possibilities. So much information that I'm hoping not to forget. Can't wait to get going on my own press! Thank you so much, ladies!!