Gearing up for the Fall

I just found out this morning that I'll be vending again at The Big Crafty on December 4th! This is one of my favorite craft fairs, both for vending and shopping, because of the variety of handmade stuff, the friendly faces, the party atmosphere, and of course it's all right here in my neighborhood. I never take it for granted that I'll be in because of their jury process, so it's always exciting to put it on my calendar.

But before December comes along, we still have November to contend with, and this will be one my biggest Novembers yet! As some of you already know, I moved into a new studio space this past summer, but I haven't yet invited anyone to stop by, or opened it to the public, because most days I'm either still fixing it up or just too gosh darn busy to have people wandering around in here. I'm now working on the invitations for the big Grand Opening and Open Studio, scheduled during the River Arts District Studio Stroll on November 12th. Check back here for details, or sign up to be on my mailing list to get a personal invitation (including a raffle ticket to win a free Heavens to Betsy print!).

L.A. Printers Fair

Well it took a bit of coaxing from Rachelle Chuang, the tireless volunteer extraordinaire at the International Printing Museum, but I packed up and headed out to the L.A. Printers Fair last week. I met my friend Kseniya Thomas there, where we set up a Ladies of Letterpress table right next to my Heroes & Criminals Press table. The trip was mostly for work, but we made sure to fit in a little bit of sight-seeing, shopping, and sampling the local cuisine in some swanky (and some not-so-swanky) restaurants.

The fair itself was overwhelming, not just for me but also for the 1200+ visitors walking around like deer in headlights. And I mean overwhelming in the best of ways: such an amazing gathering of talented people, printed goods, presses, type, and anything else you can think of that's letterpress-related. As it turns out, the museum in itself would've been worth the trip, and the fair was just icing (gobs of icing). If you haven't been yet, I highly recommend that you put this event on your calendar for next year. Here are some highlights: