Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Beth, why are you taking pictures of your bread?
I have a goal of baking my way through the Artisan Breads Everyday book that my cousin gave me. This is the classic French bread. I may or may not have a sourdough starter on my kitchen counter. I say "may not" because I'm not sure if it's looking like it should. After a week of work on it, I'm a little worried.
This French loaf was super easy, though. Jason and I have been taking a hunk of bread, cheese, lunch meat and fruits & veggies for lunch this week and feeling very European. The best thing is that I made the dough on Sunday, and baked half then, and baked the other half last night. This way, we have fresh bread on multiple nights. And I dare say, I think the Tuesday night loaf turned out better. More time to rise in the fridge, I guess?
Up next in the bread baking extravaganza: English muffins. I'm just waiting on my little metal rings to come from Amazon!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
New Prints up in the shop!
After several weekends of printing custom print jobs--wedding invites, cards, etc., we had a free weekend to catch up on some of our own neglected prints.
We printed 4 of my states series. 
We're starting to phase in the states printed on the big press, as opposed to the ones printed on my small letterpress. The impression and overall print quality is far superior!
I've still got the drawings done for several of these that I haven't printed yet.
Look at that impresion! And our color choices have gotten SO much better after we bought the Pantone color book. Even when our recipe isn't quite right, it's so much closer than we used to be able to get it. Transparent white is the secret! I'd really like to try layering some colors that use a lot of transparent in the future--like maybe a cool plaid or something?
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
New letterpress business cards and wedding invitation
No time to write. I'll just post a couple of our latest projects. 
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Coasters are here! Letterpress Coasters and Coaster Posters!
After a mild delay last week to pick up our new press, we finished printing our letterpressed coaster series this week!
"Things that are Round" and are fun to draw, too!
We also printed a logo and title on some little cotton bags that will come with the set of 9 coasters. It's all about the packaging!
**Click HERE to buy the poster ( a limited edition of 38--get 'em while you can!)
**Click HERE to buy the coaster set. (Limited edition of 200 sets)
Friday, April 02, 2010
We've gained some weight
This could also be called: "We Bought a Guillotine Paper Cutter and Got a Free Letterpress" I'm so freaking exhausted from my day, but I wanted to share a timeline of events with you.
Last Friday: insomnia led me to a Craigslist ad at 4am that resulted in me calling this guy 3 hours from here.
Monday: Carrie's dad gives the go-ahead to get a new press and a paper cutter. He says he will help us. He will regret this.
Today:
7am: meet at the barn to throw all imaginable tools into the truck.
8am: Take off in the HUGE 26' dock-height truck for Southern Missouri
11am: drive up to a very ramshackle building with this terrifying dock. Yikes.
11:05: realize that the forklift doesn't work, the pallet jack doesn't reach high enough to lift the press, and there is a 6 inch tall, jagged edged step which we must get the press up.
12:00: Seriously rethink getting the press. Maybe we just get the paper cutter
12:15: Carrie's dad finds a 1/4 inch steel punch, chips away at a concrete crack, and threads the punch through part of our paper cutter in order to jack the press. Look at all thos printing blocks!
12:15-2:00: Alternate wedging old print blocks and the ill-fitting pallet jack in order to get the press up the step.
(There aren't many photos here because I was busy biting my nails.)
2:00: Carrie and I stand on the paper cutter for more leverage to pull the press up the ramp.
2:30, move the paper cutter into the truck
2:35: move the press onto the lift gate, which promptly sinks 6 inches. Carrie's dad says "Crud" and we all nearly had a heart attack. The owner said "Well, that would be a bummer". The motor held, though, and we put it up in the truck, strap everything down and blow that poop-filled chicken coop. You think I'm kidding.
6:00: get caught in traffic because of rain
7: Arrive at the barn finally, Carrie's mom brings us fresh iced tea, and Carrie's brother comes up to help us out.
7-8:00: Unloading, anxiety over height of truck to door, width of new pallet jack, and much pushing.
8:15, move everything into place. Go home. Collapse. Write blog before I forget everything.
I don't want to ever move ever again. The funny thing is, Carrie's dad says that it really wasn't that different than any other day on the farm. Well, I'm sure glad that's not my job. I would need to be on blood pressure meds!
The new press needs some work, but the paper cutter should work right away. I guess now we have a backup! We'll have to pour a little money in to the new press, and the previous owner hadn't used it in 10-15 years, but never cleaned up the ink, so it has melted one of the rollers and dripped absolutely everywhere.
Labels: 12x18, carrie, chandler price 10x15, letterpress
Thursday, April 01, 2010
It's Spring!
I'm so HAPPY that Spring is finally here. For me, there are only 2 seasons: cold and Summer. Spring is just early Summer, and Autumn is just late Summer. I'm already thinking of all the warm weather things to do. Is it too early for watermelon? Margaritas? Flip flops? I think not.
I have a flowering shrub of unknown origin by my driveway. Anyone know what it is? The blooms are sort of magnolia like, but there are no waxy leaves or cones.
This week has been unseasonably warm. I've done so many "firsts of the season"
1) Turned on my car air conditioner
2) Slept with the windows open
3) Worn flip flops
4) Eaten our meals outside
5) Fired up the grill
6) Drank a Corona on the wide steps of my deck
We're off for the day on an exciting adventure which I'll post about later. Here's a hint: One has moving parts, and the other is very sharp, and they're both very heavy.
Happy Friday!