Meghan’s necklace

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Evil eye necklace

Turkish evil eye with wishbone charm and glass beads

I gave her ole evil eye…

When I was in Istanbul a few years ago for work, I bought a handful of evil eye charms. I had the super talented Jodi Bloom of So-Charmed make one of the larger charms into a necklace for me, and I gave another of the large ones to my sister Meghan.

This Christmas Meghan asked me to make her charm into a necklace, so I took inspiration from Jodi’s work, went to Beadazzled, and set to work on trying my hand at jewelry-making.

I simply used jump rings and headpins to assemble the existing parts, so it was a pretty low degree of difficulty, but nevertheless I’m rather pleased with the result. And Meg likes it, which is the best part.

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My first greeting cards!

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Keep Calm and Carry On (Luggage) greeting card in white

Keep Calm and Carry On (Luggage) - A2 greeting card in white

Tuesday night I used the letterpress studio on my very own (first time renting solo!) and printed some proofs of the new photopolymer plates I had made. I made two greeting cards and then tested Garrison‘s idea to letterpress print a QR code. I’m happy to report that the cards came out nicely and the QR code works!

I plan to list my cards on Etsy in order to gauge consumer interest. I like the Snowfall chart on the bright white paper, though I might want to play with the ink colors. I think the Keep Calm would be more fun on colored paper with contrasting ink. I have to say I’m really proud of my Keep Calm luggage idea — I’ve never seen anyone make this version (and there are many versions of this poster). If people seem to like the design, I might screenprint it onto tote bags or t-shirts.

Snowfall chart - A2 winter greeting card in white

Snowfall chart (my design) as a foldover A2 card. Black ink on bright white paper.

Detail view of my letterpress printed QR code.

I love the tactile, letterpressed detail of the high-tech QR code.

I’ve ordered a Scor-it-All board so that I can more easily fold cards like these. And Julia says that Lettra paper isn’t the best for folding, so I’ll try a different paper next time. Maybe French Paper? That’s what Julia recommended. I really like the colors listed on their site.

What I also need to do is find a better way to photograph these cards. I’m open to ideas…

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Crafty Bastards

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Erin and I help a visitor try his hand at letterpress.

Erin and I help a visitor try his hand at letterpress. (Photo from WashingtonCityPaper's Flickr photo stream, taken by Rachel Carrier.)

The take-home flyer we printed at the demo booth.

DIY Tchotchke, brought to you by the letters P and A

Three weeks ago I volunteered to help give letterpress demonstrations at Crafty Bastards, the DC alternative craft fair that happens every October. This year it was cold and rainy, but the crowds were still huge. Erin and I worked a shift at the Pyramid Atlantic booth, explaining the art of letterpress and the opportunities to learn said craft at Pyramid to booth visitors. We gave letterpress demonstrations on the proofing press, and helped the more intrepid visitors ink and print their own handouts.

I dressed warmly and so I didn’t mind the cold. I really enjoyed working the booth. And when my shift was over, I got to check out all the awesome and inspiring vendors. I got a few small things — a foxy tee from Gnome Enterprises and an embroidered bracelet for myself (I think the vendor was Berkley Illustration), and a couple of gifts for friends (Girls Can Tell, Jenny Jen42). I also saw some shops that I may patronize in the future. I liked Elizabeth Graeber‘s illustration of the fox at the bar, but it only exists as the cover of a book about cocktails, and I wasn’t so into the book itself.

The two shops that really caught my eye were:
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Printing February

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Several prints of Februarius (first color) on the drying rack.

The prints dry after their first run (in plum).

Inked photopolymer plate for February

Our plate on the Vandercook for first proofs.

Monday night Laura and I finished printing our month, February, for the 2012 Pyramid Atlantic letterpress calendar fundraiser. Bonus: we both finished our certification so that now we can rent the letterpress studio without assistance!

We printed 100+ pages in two colors, which we accomplished over two different nights. The first night we printed the plum color, which was the entire photopolymer plate minus the word “FEBRUARIUS,” and last night we printed that in a light blue color. So fun! Next week all the calendar designers will gather to punch holes in the paper and tie the calendars together with ribbon. Assemble to assemble!

I heart how our month turned out. See a sneak peek (along with months April and October) at the Pyramid Atlantic Letterpress blog.

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First typeset letterpress

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Close-up of Goethe quote on white paper

Printed on Crane's Lettra 110 lb. paper in fluorescent white.

On Monday night at Letterpress Happy Hour I printed the type that I had set at my first happy hour. This was my first time locking up type for printing, and Julia Louie was a big help! She took a great photo of the locked type (though I ended up later removing the ornaments in the corners because they looked too cheesy).
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Screenprint Society

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Molly with DuckDuckGoose screen printed shirt

Waiting for the duck.

Last Thursday night I went to the Screenprint Society happy hour at Pyramid Atlantic. I’m a total newb at screenprinting, but that’s ok — they welcome beginners at this happy hour.

Let’s back up a few hours: before going to the happy hour, I needed to acquire some basic materials for screen printing. So at lunchtime I pedaled (in a pencil skirt and heels, no less) to Utrecht and American Apparel to get the following:

  • masking tape
  • acetate sheets (transparencies)
  • newsprint paper
  • t-shirt to print on

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I’m co-Miss February!

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The February page from last year's calendar

Here's February from last year's calendar. Photo by Aly Hurt.

Good news, everyone! I’m going to be on the team of volunteers who design and print the 2012 fundraiser calendar for the Letterpress Studio at Pyramid Atlantic! Laura and I will partner to design and print the month of February. We’re both new to letterpress so Julia will assist us with the printing. Then, when we’re done, we’ll have enough hours to get certified to use the print studio independently!

I’m really excited about working on the month of February, and not because it’s my birthday month (actually, I hate having my birthday in February). I’m excited because there are cool things in February like groundhogs, and hearts, and best of all, leap year! That’s right — 2012 is a leap year. I don’t know yet what that might mean for the design, but I just feel that February is rife with possibilities.

Happy happy.

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Finally, I make a drop-spine box.

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The front 'cover' of my first drop-spine box.

The front 'cover' of my first drop-spine box.

I’ve been wanting to do this ever since I finished the Nancy Drew book purse, but the hang-up has been the cutting of the book board. The board is really thick, and thus difficult to cut. For this project, the rectangles need perfectly straight lines and a 90° cut. I tried to cut it with a craft knife and it took at least 7 or 8 passes, dulled and/or broke the blades right away, hurt my hand, and didn’t result in a 90° cut. So I took my book board to FabLab with the intention of cutting out the rectangles in one fell swoop with the laser cutter, but the laser cutter was acting up and although Phyllis tried everything she could think of, it just wasn’t working correctly. The mobile lab (with laser cutter) has since left DC. Tear.

The book purse inside the box (side view)

Cute, right?

Then, my friend (from trapeze) Colin said we could cut the board on his CNC router. We were going to do that yesterday, but then the router was being finicky. Running out of options, I asked for advice from an awesome associate at Bethesda Paper Source, and she gave me a good tip: box cutter. I didn’t realize that a box cutter was that much stronger than a craft knife, but it is. She also said to use a cork lined metal ruler (which I do) and to stand up when I cut to use my body weight. So I went to the hardware store and bought a heavy-duty box cutter, and went home to give it a try. Guess what? It works! It takes about three passes to completely cut through the board (which is .09″ thick – the Paper Source site describes the product as “tough to cut”). Once I cut out the pieces to make a box for the Nancy Drew book purse, I quickly realized my dimensions were a bit off.

The book purse inside the drop-spine box.

I chose the colors to match the book, and the polka dots match the lining.

The problem is that I was only guessing at how to assemble the boxes — I wasn’t working off instructions. But then I found this video from “Club Scrap” and although it doesn’t give measurements, I did learn a few helpful tips. Between the video and the trial and error of making the box (which did come out rather well, I do think), I learned the following:
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