And, suddenly…it’s November!

My mom has an incredible green thumb, and her dad, Grandfather Bud to me, studied forestry at Syracuse. Growing up identifying every plant that crossed our path (or was even close to our path), I’ve learned enough to identify most common plants, but I’m still no expert. More than anything, I have a serious appreciation for the astounding complexity of plant life.

Between printing, packaging, and sending out holiday card orders like mad, I also launched the third new collection of Post-Marked journals and albums on Tuesday. The stamps on these books celebrate everything botanical, and feature a gorgeous, bright selection of vintage U.S. and international stamps. My favorite would have to be the Moroccan olive branch…although the diamond Russian mountain flowers stamp is a close second!

There are a few of the Botanica books left in our shop and they’re available until November 14. On November 15 we’ll launch the fourth collection in the Post-Marked series and Botanica will be all gone!

I know this press is meant to be ours because when I went out to meet it for the first time, it had its own Charlotte-in-residence. I saw a brilliant little brown spider and egg sacs galore on her web. Hundreds of tiny spiders were crawling out in to the world in bright sunlight. It was meant to be.

Charlotte #2
This press belonged to the inimitable Kim Merker and made its way to us via Tim Fay, one of the most dedicated printers I have the pleasure of knowing, who publishes The Wapsipinicon Almanac. It’s by luck of timing that the press became ours and we certainly intend to keep it working in the tradition of its previous operator, doing the very best work we can…and lots of it.

A few custom projects – one a birthday celebration book filled with letters to the client’s mother; another an illustrator’s portfolios and slipcases, and invitations for dear friends.

Informal botanical study three to four times a week at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Printing invitations at The Arm

I’ve been printing and designing invitations like a madwoman in between juggling one and sometimes two toddlers. Coming soon: studio space! Around the corner! Seriously!

Beach!

We just returned from a lovely wedding, followed by a luxuriously long week in Martha’s Vineyard. I had a chance to draw a bit and work on some hand lettering ideas that usually fall by the wayside (you’ll see them soon, I promise!).

My sweet dad, moving yet another press for me in Iowa! This one’s a Challenge MP-15 and I can’t wait to see it!

We have another wedding, and friends in town this weekend, then we’re spinning off to Iowa to celebrate my mom’s 60th (60!) birthday and see some of my recently acquired letterpress equipment in the flesh, as well as take some deep breaths under star-filled skies. We’ve been at a distant point on our orbit, and are looking forward to circling back in close to those people with whom it all started.

P.S. Matt’s been documenting our summer much better than I over here!
P.P.S. I’m sending out some fun letterpress snail mail when we get back from Iowa – email me your address if you’d like to receive a little mail!

Coptic stitch journal spines

In the middle of a regular rotation of reading Olivia, The Circus Ship, Knuffle Bunny, Goodnight Moon, and Where the Wild Things Are, I’ve also made more books in the last week than I’ve possibly ever made in such a short period of time. Hello, holiday season!

P.S. You might like to sign up for our email list (no junk, I promise!) to stay up to date on new card designs, holiday fairs we’re doing, etc.

September 15, 2010

Over 30 days, from September 8 to October 9 (I missed one day in there!), I drew a leaf every day…well, one day I drew a pear and there were some husk cherries, too. Otherwise? All leaves, all the time.

September 20, 2010

When I started, the lines were predictably difficult to capture, but that muscle got stretched out quickly and then I found myself wanting to flesh out the shapes and images to give them dimension, rather than just capturing outlines and obvious detail on the page.

September 24, 2010

The beautiful thing about drawing is that it’s not just about getting something literal down on paper; drawing teaches you to see. You find yourself looking more closely than ever, and discovering surprising details that just make you want to see and learn more.

September 29, 2010

I feel good about my 30 drawings. I feel best because they’ve reawakened my drawing abilities; I’ve gotten comfortable with sitting down and attempting to draw just about anything and that’s exactly what I was after.

October 9, 2010

P.S. The entire New York Times “Line by Line” series of posts is here, and well worth your time.

It’s absolutely redundant to say that I love the physical structure of books. If I didn’t love the structure, I wouldn’t be doing this work. That said, I have aspirations of creating books that beautifully and successfully blend text, imagery, and binding. That interest led me to The Fine Press Book Association and I became a member the moment I saw the letterpress printed cover of the Fall 2010 issue of their journal, Parenthesis.

My copy arrived Thursday and I’ve had it in my hands every moment I can since. There are wonderful reviews of fine press editions, as well as articles about process, technique, and about printers and binders and their background and inspiration. There is a wonderful review of Deep Wood Press’s incredible edition of Heart of Darkness and of Carolee Campbell’s edition of Nathaniel Tarn’s collection of poems, The Persephones (Ninja Press), featuring lushly textured leaves of domestic etch shaded with sumi ink layered with salt. Just the photos are breathtaking; I can only imagine the actual poems.

The moral of this little Saturday post: It’s important to keep feelers out for great inspiration all the time.

In honor of Mother’s Day, I wanted to announce a project that my own mom and I are working on together. I’ve wanted to pair up with my mom on something for a while and the first of what I’m sure will be many projects is in the works!

My mom just completed a series of drawings of spring ephemerals which I am having made in to plates and will be printing as sets of note cards! You can read a little more about her inspiration on her own blog and I will show them off once the plates arrive and I have a chance to do a few test runs.

A few of the drawings – Meadow Rue, Violet, Bleeding Heart

Enjoy the weekend and remember to thank your mom, if you possibly can. My mom makes my life great every single day – and not just by closing every phone call exclaiming, “I love you, Maggie Campbell!”…although that doesn’t hurt!

Enjoy Julia Kasdorf’s beautiful “What I Learned from my Mother”.

Here’s an itsy bitsy sneak peek at the drawing-in-progress for one layer of next year’s calendar. I’m excited about how the ideas are making their way out of my head and on to the page!

And I want to leave you with a little Shaker philosophy to keep us on the right track as we go through our days: “Don’t make something unless it is both necessary and useful; but if it is both necessary and useful, don’t hesitate to make it beautiful.”

New journals, just about ready to go out the door to Campbell Steele Gallery and Tokyo Pen Shop!

I’m drawing up a storm these days, tearing paper for album and journal pages from a big new shipment of paper, am about to order plates for new letterpress projects, and I can’t sew up books fast enough.

I’m also keeping track of lots of fellow printers and stationery mavens on Twitter who will be exhibiting at and attending the National Stationery Show this year. I’m making plans to exhibit next year, so will be attending this year’s show to scope out the setup and get a feel for the event!

Let’s just be clear: I was a major Twitter skeptic until relatively recently, but have come to really enjoy the community that’s out there, and have definitely seen concrete benefits for my biz…can’t complain about that!

Next week, I’m looking forward to sharing photos and details about a couple of collaborative projects in the works…one of which is particularly Mother’s Day appropriate. Don’t forget, Mother’s Day is May 9 – that’s just a week from this Sunday!

Here’s a peek at a drawing that may or may not make it in to a 2011 calendar or some cards or an invite design, plus a couple of shots of inspiration from around the neighborhood.

And here’s a passage that is quoted at the beginning of one of my recent reads, How the Irish Saved Civilization. I’m neither religious nor quite this realistic in practice, but it’s a beautiful statement:

“Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuos, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love.”
- Reinhold Niebuhr