Paper goods love

The current theme at poppytalkhandmade is "A paper goods and stationary market". They have picked some really lovely examples of quality handmade goods from small vendors, and it runs until June 4th. Well worth a browse if you love all things paper and print related.

A small sneak peak

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.

Porcelain gems

I have been wanting to do smaller pieces in porcelain, like jewelery, and this is the first batch of 'gems' fresh from the oven. Not sure what I think of them yet... will have to see if I can make something out of them. But an awful lot of fun to make!!

Tadpoles.....almost

I came across these little guys today, floating around, waiting to become tadpoles. I have always loved watching tadpoles evolve in spring, from clouds of round eggs clinging together, to finished frog leaping out of the pond. All in the span of a hectic few weeks.

New line

The days are getting longer and brighter, and it makes me want to make chrisper and cleaner things. I made a couple of these hand-pinched porcelain bowls last week, and now they have navy blue stripes on them. Might add them to my Epla shop, which has been slightly neglected lately.

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!!

Spring has sprung

Finally!!!

Identifying fonts

I have been collecting wooden type blocks for as long as I can remember. Not with any specific project in mind, I just liked the look and feel, and the history of them. Now it might sound like I have gathered up a huge stash of them over the years, which is very far from the truth. Norway is a small country with a limited printing history, and there has never been a lot of them around. So I have bought the odd block whenever I have happened upon one, and as a result have a small, very mixed bag of type of different fonts and sizes.

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Lately I have been thinking about maybe getting a table-top press, so that I can finally get to use them for what they were intended. And then things like size and font suddenly matters.

There are some great resources online for helping you identify fonts, for instance Identifont and  Linotype, which work in very similar ways. There you can choose what letters to use for identification, and they make you look at typical identifying features, which can be a great way to learn about fonts.  Another online resource is WhatTheFont, where you can upload examples or pictures of your mystery font and it will help you identify it. In general I find that wood type can be a bit tricky to identify. It might be because sites like these are mainly aimed at digital and more modern fonts. And a lot of these old wooden ones might not be completely accurate, or part of what is an 'official' font.

So these might be Franklin Gothic, or Helvetica  ..?

..and these look like they could be Century Schoolbook ..?

Latin Wide?

 ..?

Alphabet rubber stamps

I often use these to write words and sentences in clay, but I like them used just as patterns too.

Some of these espresso cups might find their way into my Epla shop

A fine winters day in my local park.

Not so fine for car owners, maybe....

Nerikomi

I have been making a few nerikomi bowls, using red iron oxide to stain porcelain which was then inlaid into white porcelain. Quite a labor intensive process, but hugely satisfying. I also like the fact that you don’t have to worry about decoration; once you have made the shape they are already fully ‘dressed’.

Great site for all things yarn related

It is winter, and as a Norwegian it is in my genes to start knitting as soon as the temperature drops below 10 deg C. We have a long tradition for producing yarns and patterns, and today I thought I'd give a shout-out to a Norwegian company who has a lovely, and very democratic, webpage: Drops Design. They have thousands of free patterns online, translated into a total of 12 languages, which are frequently updated with new models. The pictures below are from this winters collection. They cover a range of techniques, like knitting, crocheting and felting, from the very simple to the impossibly difficult. In addition to patterns you can also find great tutorials, advice on how to mount and care for your work, pattern help etc. etc. So if you love working with fibre, go check this out!

Printing in clay

One of the things I really really love about clay is how well it takes imprints. It will show off every thread and perfect little stitch when pressing fabric into it.

Sure, sometimes it can drive you absolutely bonkers if you are tryingt to keep things 'clean' and untouched, but most of the time I find it adds character to a piece, rather than ruining it.

Sometimes I discover small surprices. Here I didn't notice my own fingerprints in the fired piece until I looked at the close-up pictures. Something to keep in mind if I ever plan on committing a clay-related crime.... :)

I am on Epla

I now have my very own Epla shop! Epla is a Norwegian version of Etsy, which opened just under a month ago. Not wanting to fill up my already cramped apartment with the ceramics that did not sell at the market, I thought this might be a fun thing to try out. It is also nice to support the brave and obviously talented women who started it. And since I would never be able to compete with shipping prices on ceramics out of Norway on Etsy anyway, I don't feel like I am cheating on an old friend toooo badly.....

My shop name is Plan Bea. Not overly creative, but it has always been a standing joke that if I ever decided to do anything other than geology, it would be my 'Plan Bea'.