The studio will be closed for a much needed break through August 15th. We'll continue to be short-staffed through August 22nd while we're at the NY International Gift Fair.
Thanks and Happy August!
Showing posts with label studio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label studio. Show all posts
8.05.2011
Gone fishing
The studio will be closed for a much needed break through August 15th. We'll continue to be short-staffed through August 22nd while we're at the NY International Gift Fair.
Thanks and Happy August!
6.16.2011
11.12.2010
I dream of drawers
Had we come across this beauty on the street (or on Craigslist) it would make the most perfect addition to our studio. Sadly, the Terrain pricetag puts it a bit out of reach for our kind of use. This alternative from Ikea has also been long on the wishlist.
We seem to make do with the pieces we have now, but I've always loved the idea of tons of drawers for organizing tools, smaller bits of decorative papers, samples and other odds and ends.
If I ever redecorate the office I'm feeling dark chocolate brown accent walls to contrast our mostly birch furniture. Hmmm...
6.18.2009
Hot shots
Last week when Melissa Coe came in for a press check on her note cards she snapped a couple of great photos of the shop. These are two of my favorites:
(Photos copyright and courtesty of Melissa Coe Photography)
The shop looks great, even in all of its clutter!
For more photos from the day, visit Melissa's blog. Thanks, Melissa!
(Photos copyright and courtesty of Melissa Coe Photography)
The shop looks great, even in all of its clutter!
For more photos from the day, visit Melissa's blog. Thanks, Melissa!
2.17.2009
Spring cleaning
Though not quite spring yet (Punxatawney Phil saw that shadow) the new office space has encouraged me to get a bit more organized here at the studio. Fabulous Colleen and Daphne helped me by sorting out all of our overprints into neat piles for samples.
They're now all bagged, tagged, boxed and on the shelf for easy reference. How very satisfying.
They're now all bagged, tagged, boxed and on the shelf for easy reference. How very satisfying.
1.09.2009
Long time no see
It's been an incredibly busy past month, wrapping up the holiday fair season, actually participating in family holiday extravaganzas, and during the past week of relative quiet we've been busying ourselves expanding into a new office across the hall (painting, carpet laying, furniture building, reorganizing).
It's all terribly exciting, and I'll be photographing to post proof of all of the hard work shortly.
Right after the bridal show we're doing this weekend.
It's all terribly exciting, and I'll be photographing to post proof of all of the hard work shortly.
Right after the bridal show we're doing this weekend.
4.07.2008
Tie one on
Our favorite plate makers extraordinaire, Boxcar Press, recently launched their new website. As one of the first fifty online plate orders, they sent me a brand-spanking new, super-awesome printing apron.
I love the fit; I love the adjustable neck strap (eliminating needs for knots); I love all the pockets; and I love the silkscreen design with the tiny little boxcar in the center.
Thanks, guys!
I love the fit; I love the adjustable neck strap (eliminating needs for knots); I love all the pockets; and I love the silkscreen design with the tiny little boxcar in the center.
Thanks, guys!
3.21.2008
Chaos theory
The fight against entropy is an uphill battle. Especially in a print shop.
In an attempt to be a responsible manufacturer, I try not to waste anything, which really means that nothing is thrown away (to the great delight of some unnamed god of clutter). There are piles of over-printed projects kept for sample requests, small but usable cutting scraps, boxes and packing materials from supplier shipments, little puddles of custom ink colors that are too good to throw away, a mess of scrap paper notes-to-self, plus the ordinary print shop ephemera of swatch books, reference books, art supplies, tools, boxes of finished cards in inventory, plus thousands and thousands of sheets of paper and envelopes.
It's a tricky thing keeping it all organized. And case in point, we don't.
This week I reached my breaking point. I stopped all work (because I could barely think with all the clutter) and started an all day venture into spring cleaning.
Looking at a four foot high pile of corrugated cardboard, I caved and brought half it it down to the recycling dumpster. Same with boxes that just weren't good enough for re-use. Three wax paper sheets dotted with months of various saved inks finally found their way into the garbage.
The most noticeable success so far was the complete re-organization of the swatch book, catalog and reference bookcase which had previously been stuffed seven ways to Sunday with duplicates, random business cards and other ephemera, and not at all prettily.
There are miles to go before we sleep, but I can see the bottom of the shelves once more, and that has made all the difference.
In an attempt to be a responsible manufacturer, I try not to waste anything, which really means that nothing is thrown away (to the great delight of some unnamed god of clutter). There are piles of over-printed projects kept for sample requests, small but usable cutting scraps, boxes and packing materials from supplier shipments, little puddles of custom ink colors that are too good to throw away, a mess of scrap paper notes-to-self, plus the ordinary print shop ephemera of swatch books, reference books, art supplies, tools, boxes of finished cards in inventory, plus thousands and thousands of sheets of paper and envelopes.
It's a tricky thing keeping it all organized. And case in point, we don't.
This week I reached my breaking point. I stopped all work (because I could barely think with all the clutter) and started an all day venture into spring cleaning.
Looking at a four foot high pile of corrugated cardboard, I caved and brought half it it down to the recycling dumpster. Same with boxes that just weren't good enough for re-use. Three wax paper sheets dotted with months of various saved inks finally found their way into the garbage.
The most noticeable success so far was the complete re-organization of the swatch book, catalog and reference bookcase which had previously been stuffed seven ways to Sunday with duplicates, random business cards and other ephemera, and not at all prettily.
There are miles to go before we sleep, but I can see the bottom of the shelves once more, and that has made all the difference.
11.30.2007
Let it snow
It's been some week.
The print count is hovering around 3,000 (not counting two-color runs, which puts it closer to 5000, or the 1000 business cards that I'll be printing tomorrow) all of which have been folded and packaged for selling at the fairs, which begin this weekend.
The shop is also undergoing a huge transformation (read, cleaning), painting frames and hanging things, organizing, tossing out scraps too small to use, hefting tables into new arrangements, and hiding everything else. All in prep for Paper & Chocolate. I wish I'd taken "before" pictures, but I'll certainly have "after" ones on Sunday.
There has also been busy-ness sewing a new table covering for fairs (bright sunshiny golden yellow), painting a new banner, and staining new display boxes.
Plus the regular ongoing design work (some exciting projects in the pipeline).
Oh, and in all the spare time allowed by 14 hour days I designed and printed some new coasters. So, while I swore left and right and up and down that I'd leave the Paper & Chocolate promo first on the blog for the rest of the week, I just loved them so much I was motivated to post anyway.
Though printed as coasters, just punch a hole and hang them as ornaments.
Packs of a dozen, four of each design. Get 'em while they're hot! Or while it's cold.
The print count is hovering around 3,000 (not counting two-color runs, which puts it closer to 5000, or the 1000 business cards that I'll be printing tomorrow) all of which have been folded and packaged for selling at the fairs, which begin this weekend.
The shop is also undergoing a huge transformation (read, cleaning), painting frames and hanging things, organizing, tossing out scraps too small to use, hefting tables into new arrangements, and hiding everything else. All in prep for Paper & Chocolate. I wish I'd taken "before" pictures, but I'll certainly have "after" ones on Sunday.
There has also been busy-ness sewing a new table covering for fairs (bright sunshiny golden yellow), painting a new banner, and staining new display boxes.
Plus the regular ongoing design work (some exciting projects in the pipeline).
Oh, and in all the spare time allowed by 14 hour days I designed and printed some new coasters. So, while I swore left and right and up and down that I'd leave the Paper & Chocolate promo first on the blog for the rest of the week, I just loved them so much I was motivated to post anyway.
Though printed as coasters, just punch a hole and hang them as ornaments.
Packs of a dozen, four of each design. Get 'em while they're hot! Or while it's cold.
11.14.2007
Like a Whirling Dervish
Work is hectic at the shop - in a mad dash to finish up holiday commissions before Thanksgiving, as well as the calendar pre-orders, plus, of course, building up a stockpile of cards for the myriad holiday fairs in the first two weeks of December. Which happens frighteningly soon after Thanksgiving. Which is next week.
Ack!
So, not much time to blog, but here are a few pictures of yesterday's finished madness.
The refreshingly bright sunflowers by Marisa, which we'll be selling in mixed packs at the holiday fairs.
Printed calendar pages awaiting binding.
A pile of 1,000 holiday cards for a law firm in Boston. One more color yet to go.
Can't think about all the work still left to do - just gotta do it.
Ack!
So, not much time to blog, but here are a few pictures of yesterday's finished madness.
The refreshingly bright sunflowers by Marisa, which we'll be selling in mixed packs at the holiday fairs.
Printed calendar pages awaiting binding.
A pile of 1,000 holiday cards for a law firm in Boston. One more color yet to go.
Can't think about all the work still left to do - just gotta do it.
10.28.2007
A Pair of Pretty Printers and their Pretty Printed Pair
I spent the bulk of today in the studio with Angela. Together we editioned a series of holiday cards she designed with very talented illustrator Susy Pilgrim Waters. These cards will be for sale by Angela at our collective holiday Paper & Chocolate open studio in December (stay tuned for details) as well as Angela's other fairs this season.
We printed Susy's bird in the transparent ink first, which looked subtle, shadowy, snowy, delicate. But after printing "Season's Greetings" in red we both thought the contrast was just too much. With a Tim Gunn determination to "make it work," we decided to try overlapping another bird in red which brought it all together perfectly.
Here are the finished cards on lovely, textured, deckled, Fabriano medioevalis paper:
It is incredibly satisfying to fan out a long line of identical finished prints (just one of the many reasons why I so love printing).
What a perfect combination - a red and white card to accompany a gift wrapped with red and white twisted twine (which Angela was so kind to bring me).
What a pretty pair.
And Angela printing. You can see on the feed board that in addition to the Fabriano, we were printing the birds on many piles of miscellaneous papers that she brought or I scrounged from around the shop (the blue Pescia was especially nice).
Though we were both pretty pooped by the end of the day, it was wonderful to spend it printing and talking and collaborating together. So thank you Angela for being such a delightful printing companion and I'll look forward to our future work together!
We printed Susy's bird in the transparent ink first, which looked subtle, shadowy, snowy, delicate. But after printing "Season's Greetings" in red we both thought the contrast was just too much. With a Tim Gunn determination to "make it work," we decided to try overlapping another bird in red which brought it all together perfectly.
Here are the finished cards on lovely, textured, deckled, Fabriano medioevalis paper:
It is incredibly satisfying to fan out a long line of identical finished prints (just one of the many reasons why I so love printing).
What a perfect combination - a red and white card to accompany a gift wrapped with red and white twisted twine (which Angela was so kind to bring me).
What a pretty pair.
And Angela printing. You can see on the feed board that in addition to the Fabriano, we were printing the birds on many piles of miscellaneous papers that she brought or I scrounged from around the shop (the blue Pescia was especially nice).
Though we were both pretty pooped by the end of the day, it was wonderful to spend it printing and talking and collaborating together. So thank you Angela for being such a delightful printing companion and I'll look forward to our future work together!
10.16.2007
Life is but a dream
How to do a four-piece, limited-edition, fine-art, print collaboration in five days or less.
Sketch.
Simplify.
Carve.
Proof.
Carve.
Proof.
Carve.
Proof.
Meanwhile...
Marble.
Marble.
Marble.
Put it all together...
Lock up.
Ink.
First color.
Second color.
Third (and final) color.
Number.
Title & Sign.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
And voila! Five days of intense sketching, carving, marbling, proofing, more carving, more marbling, more proofing, color selecting, and finally editioning a series of boat prints - all carved by Marisa Escolar, and all marbled & printed by me, Shelley Barandes.
While we've done work together before, this was our first collaboration where we really successfully played off of each other, responding to the various elements of the different media that we were working in. It was incredibly gratifying. Having bantered about dropping our other jobs to do full-time fine art collaborations (in a mostly joking sort of way) we are already planning our next (this time cross-continental) project (gritty urban landscapes - woo hah!). It should be interesting to see how working in different locations changes the evolution of design.
Marisa will be selling these limited edition prints both individually and as a collection at Open Studios in SF next weekend, as well as at the CityArt gallery on Valencia in the Mission throughout November, December and January. I, too, will have half of the edition for sale in Boston at our own holiday Open Studio in December.
Sketch.
Simplify.
Carve.
Proof.
Carve.
Proof.
Carve.
Proof.
Meanwhile...
Marble.
Marble.
Marble.
Put it all together...
Lock up.
Ink.
First color.
Second color.
Third (and final) color.
Number.
Title & Sign.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
And voila! Five days of intense sketching, carving, marbling, proofing, more carving, more marbling, more proofing, color selecting, and finally editioning a series of boat prints - all carved by Marisa Escolar, and all marbled & printed by me, Shelley Barandes.
While we've done work together before, this was our first collaboration where we really successfully played off of each other, responding to the various elements of the different media that we were working in. It was incredibly gratifying. Having bantered about dropping our other jobs to do full-time fine art collaborations (in a mostly joking sort of way) we are already planning our next (this time cross-continental) project (gritty urban landscapes - woo hah!). It should be interesting to see how working in different locations changes the evolution of design.
Marisa will be selling these limited edition prints both individually and as a collection at Open Studios in SF next weekend, as well as at the CityArt gallery on Valencia in the Mission throughout November, December and January. I, too, will have half of the edition for sale in Boston at our own holiday Open Studio in December.
8.27.2007
Cookin' the books
This past weekend Albertine Press hosted a two-day letterpress/bookbinding extravaganza.
On Saturday, five lovely ladies typeset and printed a small edition of bookplates. It was such a great group - writers, teachers, designers, illustrators, crafters and an engineer - very patient, hardworking, quick to pick up the craft, and creative to boot!
Everyone really blew me away with their designs: elegant illuminated letters, great overlays, free-form clustering, retro woodcut play, and a snappy end-plate.
Yun and Angela working the Kelsey's.
Andrea mastering the block form.
And the finished goods (pre-crop).
After a quick table shuffle and the addition of two new students (plus me!) we were ready for Sunday. Angela Liguori of Carta, Inc. took over and taught us all a binding technique called "sewing on tapes". It's a really beautiful, exposed binding, and Angela brought only the best supplies to make everything even more beautiful (if possible) - German laid paper for the text block, hand-dyed asian stock for the covers, plus her specially imported cotton ribbons in a variety of colors.
Here she demonstrates how to sew together the signatures:
And everyone with their finished books (bookplates and all)
For more pictures and perspectives of the event click here and here.
Such a successful weekend, and I loved the collaboration of printing and binding. It was the first of what I hope will be many such collective classes. Thank you to Angela for bringing such a calm and easy way of teaching (and all of the gorgeous samples). And thank you especially to Roxanne, Angela, Andrea, Yun, Susy, Pat and Ylenia for being such willing and able students - it was a pleasure working with all of you!
On Saturday, five lovely ladies typeset and printed a small edition of bookplates. It was such a great group - writers, teachers, designers, illustrators, crafters and an engineer - very patient, hardworking, quick to pick up the craft, and creative to boot!
Everyone really blew me away with their designs: elegant illuminated letters, great overlays, free-form clustering, retro woodcut play, and a snappy end-plate.
Yun and Angela working the Kelsey's.
Andrea mastering the block form.
And the finished goods (pre-crop).
After a quick table shuffle and the addition of two new students (plus me!) we were ready for Sunday. Angela Liguori of Carta, Inc. took over and taught us all a binding technique called "sewing on tapes". It's a really beautiful, exposed binding, and Angela brought only the best supplies to make everything even more beautiful (if possible) - German laid paper for the text block, hand-dyed asian stock for the covers, plus her specially imported cotton ribbons in a variety of colors.
Here she demonstrates how to sew together the signatures:
And everyone with their finished books (bookplates and all)
For more pictures and perspectives of the event click here and here.
Such a successful weekend, and I loved the collaboration of printing and binding. It was the first of what I hope will be many such collective classes. Thank you to Angela for bringing such a calm and easy way of teaching (and all of the gorgeous samples). And thank you especially to Roxanne, Angela, Andrea, Yun, Susy, Pat and Ylenia for being such willing and able students - it was a pleasure working with all of you!
8.04.2007
What's black and white and red all over?
Today I had another wonderful opportunity to infect four new students with the letterpress bug. Carol, Jesse, David and Jennifer spent the day learning the trickeries of hand-setting type and finessing both the Vandercook and one of the Kelseys in printing their work.
David began the day with show and tell, whipping out (or rather, very gently setting down) a gorgeously framed page printed on an original Gutenberg press (circa 1460). See the next post for details. If nothing else, the red and black color palate of the day's printing was inspired by the work.
No day would be complete without another example from the "Learning How to Read Backwards" lesson book:
My favorite design of the day was an absolutely lovely bookplate by Carol - what a great use of ornaments! She was ever-so-patient, despite registration frustrations, and I hope she's as delighted as I am with the result (perfect timing as well, given the bookplate workshop we'll be having at the end of the month).
Jennifer is the new proud owner of a C+P pilot (lucky girl!), looking to pick up a few pointers before diving into printing on her own. The pressmark on her card was not printed crookedly, or in a swayed way - I just couldn't take a straight picture.
Jesse made the most beautiful pyramid lockup I've ever seen, though of course, I neglected to get a picture. Bravo anyway, Jesse!
Thank you to all four, for a stupendous day of letterpress!
David began the day with show and tell, whipping out (or rather, very gently setting down) a gorgeously framed page printed on an original Gutenberg press (circa 1460). See the next post for details. If nothing else, the red and black color palate of the day's printing was inspired by the work.
No day would be complete without another example from the "Learning How to Read Backwards" lesson book:
My favorite design of the day was an absolutely lovely bookplate by Carol - what a great use of ornaments! She was ever-so-patient, despite registration frustrations, and I hope she's as delighted as I am with the result (perfect timing as well, given the bookplate workshop we'll be having at the end of the month).
Jennifer is the new proud owner of a C+P pilot (lucky girl!), looking to pick up a few pointers before diving into printing on her own. The pressmark on her card was not printed crookedly, or in a swayed way - I just couldn't take a straight picture.
Jesse made the most beautiful pyramid lockup I've ever seen, though of course, I neglected to get a picture. Bravo anyway, Jesse!
Thank you to all four, for a stupendous day of letterpress!
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