The Byrd Show: 40 Years of Art & Design

So I made it on the last day in the last hour of The Byrd Show exhibit at the Brand Library back in July. Pretty pathetic, I know but that's what happens when I am trying to manage two young kids and their summer schedule on top of a busy workload.





In fact, David Byrd was there himself having some photographs taken of the exhibit but I was a little hesitant to talk to him with an unpredictable toddler in tow. I believe this is the first of two shows he will have at the Brand Library and I will not wait 'til the end to see the legendary Illustrator's next show.

M Press Cards at the Pacific Asia Museum

These two cards were printed recently here at M Press. I had the opportunity to design and print some cards for the Pacific Asia Museum Store and it was a challenge narrowing down endless inspiration to two cards but these are a good start.

Special thanks to Tai Ling Wong at the museum for making this happen.



Available exclusively at the Pacific Asia Museum Store.

Mom's List

A friend ordered these buck cards for his wife for Mother's Day.

He wanted to get a nice box to put these in and I suggested making a drawstring bag casing for them. He'd be enabling me with my sewing, after all.

I think they turned out pretty cool!

The Radiant Bride

I just delivered some wedding ephemera to a client yesterday and I can't help but think how the term Radiant Bride is really true. There's something about having a big celebration and a future to look forward to that just brings out the beauty in someone.

These wood type, clustered on the front door of a downtown L.A. bar. They have no idea how much I want to take each and everyone and keep them for my collection.

Mother's Day Card

Here's one of two Mother's Day cards I printed recently. I love the lighter, spring-like combination of colors in this set.

Available at the shop.

Quilting Bee Blocks

1. Jennifer's January Blocks, 2. quiltalong, 
3. Seams Perfect February Block #2 for Liberty, 4. Seams Perfect - February Block #1 for Liberty, 
5. March Block #2-Seams Perfect Bee, 6. March Block #1-Seams Perfect Bee

A quick update on the quilting bee blocks I've made so far (picture #2 is part of a quilt-along and this block is for me).

So far, the quilting bee group has been a really good experience for me. It's pushed me to be creative and to try new things. April is my month and I'm looking forward to seeing the blocks come in.

C&P's Need Oil

My C&P press has been a bit squeeky so I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I was oiling it with that 3-in-one oil to the right of the motor oil in the picture.

But in the interest of sharing and helping other letterpress printers out there, I found out through the Briar Press discussion boards that motor oil is best for oiling presses. Step aside 3-in-one, the 20w-50 is so much better. A standard 10w-30 is good enough but I happen to have the 20w-50 handy when I needed it, late one Friday night.

Postcard Exchange, #6 in a Series

I'm lagging with my postcard exchange goodies post. Here are 3 postcards from (top to bottom): An original postcard from Camille Robin of Fish Lake Press, a cool nautical octopus from Spoon & Sailor, and a Canadian entry from Akemi Nishidera of KOZO Studio.

UPPERCASE Magazine, Letterpress Edition

If you are interested in letterpress printing, check out the latest issue of UPPERCASE Magazine. I'm honored to be a contributor to their letterpress edition where the magazine's subscribers are lucky to get samples from letterpress printers around the world.

The magazine itself is beautiful, every issue well curated to highlight all things art and design. As a contributor, my little studio got a mention on the magazine. Pretty cool.



And check out this flickr page for all the other letterpress sample contribution.

Coaster Swap

Here's a preview of the coasters I printed for the letterpress coaster swap. It's all done but I just need to pack it up and send it off to the organizer. Can't wait to get my set!

Bee Mine

Here's another Valentine's Day card: Bee Mine.

Recently featured on Real Simple Magazine's website. I'm still pinching myself for making it to their site!

Test Print

When I look back at test prints I marvel at its raw beauty, mistakes and all. They often find their way on my bulletin board because in a way, one-of-a-kind art has been created.

This print takes me back to when I was printing these two-colored cards of a bridge over the L.A. River. In the process, I felt that the black was too harsh for the soft lilac color in the background. The press was scrubbed clean of the black ink and purple ink was applied instead.



The cards turned out better than if I had printed them in black but this test print brings out some other kind of beauty.

Love

New love cards are printed and available at the shop. Because your love is better than bacon. Or cupcakes.

Just in time for Valentines Day.

A Challenge

Working from home with no one to bounce off ideas with, I always second-guess myself. What am I doing? Is this good? Will people like this? And so on, the questions and doubts fill my head every day.

That's why joining swaps has been a satisfying endeavor. It makes me feel part of a bigger community, puts things in perspective and provides me with challenges and constraints.

This year, I joined another letterpress swap involving coasters and the alphabet and a quilting bee. More on these later.

Plus, my LAMQG group has provided each member with a challenge: to create a small quilt using these charm pack made up of solid fabrics and adding just one other solid fabric. A challenge indeed but I've started and so far, it's been a good exercise. Due in March, I'll show the end-result then.

Postcard Exchange, #5 in a Series

I love the humor in the Washington postcard from Darcie Cooper of Pedal Pusher Press. The postcard from Wayne is simply gorgeous making use of a really thick cardboard stock from Two Paper Dolls. And do you see the ketchup bottle on the Pittsburgh card? Simply brilliant from Clothes Peg Press.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all!

Aside from the usual resolutions like going to the gym etc. I try to add some fun stuff to the list. This year, I plan to send a postcard a month to an unsuspecting friend. Easy enough to uphold, right? Let's hope so.

Postcard Exchange, #4 in a Series

The smartly textured argyle cow is from Taylor Luke of Marzipan & Martha.

Florida's postcard reminds me of a bright, powerful sun and is from Ellen Knudson of Crooked Letterpress.

Washington, DC's entry is from Stephanie Hess and Camden Richards of Drop Cap Collective & Press. The text includes, "Capital was an adjective used to describe something excellent or first rate."

How interesting that each card represents their state so accurately and succinctly on a 4" x 6" piece of paper.

Postcard Exchange, #3 in a series

Printed on green stock, that opaque white ink in the background is a nice touch on the Louisiana postcard. I love the upside down exclamation point used as an "i" and Gutwrench Press includes a summertime favorite in the back:
Fill a pint glass with ice
Add 1-2 ounce of bourbon
Top with ginger ale - canned, bottled, or home-made
Garnish with lemon.
Relax. There's so much to be angry about.

Western New York postcard, oh how I love you. The image above does not do this postcard justice. The hand-drawn illustration is printed in 2 shades of green and is just lovely. From Carrie Kaser of Kaser Studio Workshop.

The rawness and complexity of the black and white woodcut entry is striking and is from Aaron Ardell of Dayton Printmaker's Cooperative.

Volunteering

Because I don't have enough to do (yeah right), I volunteered for the reDiscover Center to turn some industrial fabric remnanants into tote bags.

According to their website:
reDiscover promotes creativity in early childhood and elementary education while encouraging environmental responsibility.

reDiscover recycles everyday discards donated by business and gives them new purpose as hands-on learning materials.

I found the call to volunteer for this project from a yahoo group site and since I started sewing, I figured this is a good way to volunteer my time and help out a good organization that teaches children art and recycling.