dedicated to the proposition that a woman's place is in the print shop

Kseniya: Thomas-Printers's Blog (219)

Die-cutting on a platen press

This question comes up a lot, and so in response to this forum thread I'll illustrate the process of die-cutting on a platen press below! There are many methods for successful die-cutting; this is just how I do it. The press in the pics is a 10x15 C+P, but you can follow the same process on both larger and smaller presses. Most important is to protect the press itself, specifically…

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Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on November 8, 2011 at 7:30pm — 2 Comments

Beautiful, secretive, paper sculptures

Not only were these ingenious sculptures made by one person,…

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Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on November 4, 2011 at 7:00am — No Comments

Want to sell your cards on UncommonGoods?

UncommonGoods, purveyor of handmade items from all over the world, is hosting a holiday card contest! From now till November 11, you can enter up to five pieces (in the same collection) for a chance to win $500 and sell your cards on the website. Judges are Melinda Morris from Lion in the Sun in Brooklyn and Rebecca Paull Marshall, senior designer at UncommonGoods. You can read more info… Continue

Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on November 2, 2011 at 7:30am — No Comments

International Printing Museum Ludlow Project on Kickstarter

Not only is this a great excuse to support the International Printing Museum and help preserve an important part of printing history, but it also may be the best Kickstarter video you've ever seen. In the words of the…

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Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on October 20, 2011 at 7:00am — No Comments

Friday Frivolity: "The Office:" Print Shop edition

While admittedly pro-printer (sorry, designer friends!) this series from Sappi is pretty hilarious, and just weird enough to cause me to watch all of them. See the rest of the short episodes here, and enjoy your…

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Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on October 7, 2011 at 6:00am — No Comments

RIP, Steve Jobs

who made much of what do possible, and much of what we imagined real. In his words:

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find…

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Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on October 5, 2011 at 9:51pm — 3 Comments

Blotter paper in small quantities (coasters!) from letterpresspaper.com!

At last: Letterpresspaper.com now has 24pt (427gsm) blotter paper in full and half sheets! A nice white alternative to pre-cut coasters from our friends at Legion, one-sheet samples can be had here.

Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on September 28, 2011 at 11:20am — No Comments

Ladies of Letterpress at the Los Angeles Printers Fair

Jessica and Kseniya are excited to join the many other exhibiting LOLP members at the LA Printers Fair this coming Saturday, October 1st! We'll have t-shirts, patches, and other stuff for sale (including our new, beautiful, useful printers aprons!), along with photos from last August's…

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Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on September 27, 2011 at 7:00am — No Comments

New Vandercook reference book!

Vandercook Presses: Maintenance, History and Resources by Vandercook-genius Paul Moxon is now available!

If you've had a class with Paul, or talked to him for 5 minutes, you know that 98 pages of Vandy info, tips, specs and pictures will become an indispensable part of…

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Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on September 26, 2011 at 4:50pm — 3 Comments

Return of Friday Frivolity

Friday frivolity took a brief summer vacation . . . maybe because it's hard to laugh with the threat of the Post Office closing. But in tough times, The Onion to the rescue!

Read it and weep. And have a nice…

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Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on September 9, 2011 at 7:00am — 2 Comments

Ladies of Letterpress in the Wall Street Journal

In case you missed it, last week the Ladies of Letterpress (and the conference!) were mentioned in both the print and online editions of the Wall Street Journal! The article was about the use of social media (especially twitter) by both letterpress printers and stationery designers; check it out… Continue

Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on August 31, 2011 at 9:50am — No Comments

Call for exhibitors for the National Stationery Show

To quote myself from last year at this time:

May 2012 seems like a long ways away, but it's almost time to book next year's Ladies of Letterpress booth at the National Stationery Show! While I'm still working out the location of our booth, the contract for the booth rental for next year is here. If you have lines of cards or paper goods that you have developed, or are developing, for retail sale, a wedding or invitation line, or are a commercial printer,…

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Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on August 12, 2011 at 3:00pm — 5 Comments

Ladies of Letterpress Conference: Wrap Up

As one attendee said, "this is the most printers I've ever seen in one place!" With about 175 attendees, it was the most I'd seen in one place, too! I learned a lot from this conference, all of it good. Chiefly: there is no substitute for being able to ask a peer a question and get an answer based on their own experience, whether the question was about workarounds, customer relations, bookbinding (or -keeping!) techniques, or printing. And there is no substitute for being in a group of…

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Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on August 11, 2011 at 8:00pm — No Comments

LofLCon: Day 2

Saturday was started off with breakfast in the Printers Fair, where there was much mingling, meeting up, and munching! After the excellent panel discussions and lunch at one of Asheville's more than 300 restaurants, it was over to Bookworks for demonstrations by Kelly McMahon, Paul Moxon, Cat Realce, Laurie Corral, Chandler O'Leary, and Jessica Spring. Then Judith Berliner's talk . . . more on that tomorrow!

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Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on August 9, 2011 at 9:34am — No Comments

LofLCon First Day Pics!

We couldn't have asked for a better first day at the Ladies of Letterpress Conference! But we were not surprised--such a great group, great speakers, sponsors, weather, and hotel! Check out a few photos of the action!

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Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on August 5, 2011 at 10:33pm — 1 Comment

We can't believe it, but it's here: the Conference!

It's been more than a year in the works, but in two short days, the Ladies of Letterpress conference will descend upon Asheville! The town will not have seen so many printers since . . . probably ever. Needless to say, we are completely thrilled, and can't wait to meet everyone, make some new…

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Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on August 3, 2011 at 6:30pm — No Comments

Sunshine Letterpress show at the Curiosity Shop!

Our friends at the Curiosity Shop in San Francisco are hosting a great sunshine-themed show, featuring many of the awesome printers working today--and many Ladies of… Continue

Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on July 12, 2011 at 6:30am — No Comments

Ladies of Letterpress Conference: early bird pricing ends soon

Now is the time to register for the Ladies of Letterpress conference if you're thinking about it! The super bargain price includes panel discussions from some of the best printers and book artists working today, printing demos with…

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Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on July 11, 2011 at 10:58am — No Comments

Interesting Stuff for Sale in Pennsylvania

Sent to me by avid type collectors in Amish country--please call the number below for more details!

2-Hamilton Green Metal full-size Cabinets with 24 matching Cases--perfect condition;

2-Hamilton Gray Metal full-size Cabinets with 24 matching Cases--perfect…

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Added by Kseniya: Thomas-Printers on July 11, 2011 at 9:30am — No Comments

Friday Frivolity: We're in the basement learning to print!

Things are heating up as we near the conference--to get revved up for the biggest, hugest letterpress event of the year, I give you . . . the B52's! Weren't they cute? Have a happy Fourth of July weekend, to our American members!