National Stationery Show with Ladies of Letterpress

Just got back a few days ago from the National Stationery Show, and slowly becoming re-combobulated. It was a whirlwind of paper, prints, cards, 'glad-handing' (as my friend Kseniya puts it), with some ribbons and balloon animals thrown in the mix. I made some wonderful new friends, though I need to apologize if I remember your prints more than I do your face or name.

I didn't exhibit this year, and instead focused on helping out my fellow Ladies of Letterpress to set up and, um, man the booth. There were eleven printers sharing the extra-large booth display, each one displaying their unique skills and creativity. Their names, and links to each of their websites, can be found here.

It was my first time visiting NSS, and even though the first day was overwhelming (had to find a quiet corner at one point to read for a while), I left feeling exhilarated. Not quite enough for me to jump into the stationery business, but enough for me to go back for another round one day.

Little Phoenix Press and LoLPCON!

As usual, I have one or two too many projects in the works, and this summer is zipping along as I keep up with all of them. One is a new series of letterpress printed cards and blank books with a Chinese inspiration. Instead of printing them as part of Heroes and Criminals Press, I decided that it needed a new imprint, and so I created Little Phoenix Press. The name comes from my own Chinese name, which is the same as my grandmother's. Even though it's another name, it is all essentially me in my studio, printing away. This is the first card printed in that series - Xie Xie (Thank you) - of little kids on a rocket ship from a propaganda poster. The design includes another run of silver on the rocket ship, but I'm having some trouble with my rollers (need to order new ones), so they will have do as they are. I didn't print a lot of them, and the plan is to make a larger run this fall with the silver, once my new rollers come in.

Also in the works, and has been in the works for about a year now, is the Ladies of Letterpress Conference! I'm not sure what came over me a year ago when Kseniya, my business partner, and I decided that, why yes, we can organize a conference, nevermind our complete lack of experience. Now a year later, considered us schooled. Well ok, I admit that I'm still no expert at organizing large events, but I've definitely learned a lot, and next weekend will be the ultimate test. We're expecting about 150 people and we have two venues: the Renaissance Asheville Hotel and Asheville BookWorks. The conference includes panel discussions, demonstrations, presentation, and a trade and printers' fair, all revolving around letterpress printing. This is exactly the kind of conference I would want to attend, and I have a feeling that it'll be a fun weekend all around. Wish me luck!

How many?

How many blogs can one girl have? Well, in my case, two. And to tell you the truth, I'm not even sure why. I'm particularly attached to this Blogger blog, where you are now, because it was my very first foray into the world of the internets. It existed before Heroes and Criminals Press, Ladies of Letterpress, and even before my current gmail account! So I guess we have long-term relationship, and we're sticking it out for now.

But I also have a fancy-schmancy website, which came included with a blog of its own, cleverly called "News". But really folks - it's just another blog, right? Anyways, my point is that I updated that blog this morning about a recent trip I took to San Francisco to represent Ladies of Letterpress, and I just don't feel like repeating myself here. So for now, go to that blog to read all about it, and I'll let you know if we end up saying goodbye to one of these blogs down the road...

 

Chocolate type, yum!