This was a Monday full of nice surprises and progress…could you ask for much more in late April?

As someone who has a self-professed paper, book, and printing obsession, I spend a reasonable amount of time looking at blogs and sites related to all three. Today, I was completely surprised and flattered to find a nice mention and picture of one of my thank you cards on I Love Typography, a personal favorite!

I have lots of new letterpress cards to share just as soon as I have a free moment to take some new pictures. In the meantime, this evening was spent experimenting. I’m working on a set of custom portfolios, and came up with a design that involves stitching 2 panels of leather together to create the covers and, where the leathers join, I wanted to show a simple, raised stitch in waxed linen thread. So far, so good:

More to come soon, plus photos of the new cards (Green on green! Script!) and, the other leather-related news: it’s a printing surface, too!

Just before I head to bed, a portion of Marge Piercy’s lovely poem “To Be of Use” that seems to resonate, no matter what time of year or the circumstances of daily life:

“The work of the world is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums
but you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.”