I'm psyched to be letterpressing again!
It seems like it's been a while since I've produced anything (my {Paper Elixir} business card, remember?), so I'm excited that I'm back printing away again this past weekend after weeks of traveling and general craziness.
This time I'm printing letterhead and envelopes, using the same motif from the business card.
Despite of all the trial and errors one inevitably go through in the process of learning to letterpress (What? Rollers too high? too low? too little padding? what's that funny sound from the press?! Ewww... is that Crisco on my pants?! Arrgghhh), there's something very satisfying in the process of transforming a humble sketch to a piece of meticulously hand letterpressed work.
Speaking of meticulous... this is just half the pile of the trial prints on the envelopes... it took me HOURS and they're not even done yet!!! I still have another color to print on the back flap...
I was warned that printing such a large sprawling design on envelopes would be a challenge, since there're so many folds and overlapped areas (just take out any envelope and look at the back), it almost guarantees uneven printing. On top of that, throw in some mechanical issues with the 75+ year-old press (I swear I heard it wheeze), it made for some pretty interesting printing experience.
Like my letterpress teacher Kim said, it's all about being zen... Ommm......
(P.S. Crisco is used to get the paint off the press. I know. But it works. Just don't get it on your pants)
