I was taking a look at the TTAH archives, and reread the Designer Interviews from Bright Ideas Week. They were so wonderful, I've decided to make a habit of it: every Friday, I'll try to post a new interview with some of my favorite designers out there - obviously, it'll depend on their schedules as well as mine. Kicking off the new feature is the wonderful Sarah Ridgley, whose work you've seen on many blogs already, but has been kind enough to answer some of our questions with incredible insight!
Sarah Ridgley runs the lovely letterpress studio Sarah Ridgley Letterpress. She is based out of Fort Smith, Arkansas, and was kind enough to share with us a little bit about herself, her process, and some of her favorite things.
ABOUT SARAH
What does your company sell? Letterpress cards and coasters. I also do custom work like wedding invitations and baby announcements.
Who are your favorite visual artists or crafters? I absolutely love Mandy of Belle and Boo. Her illustrations are delightful and they always make me smile.
What's your favorite food? A perfect steak from Doe's Eat Place.
What's your favorite color? Green, in all its glorious shades.
What's your biggest guilty pleasure? Shopping at Anthropologie, I spend lots of hours and dollars there.
What's your favorite pastime? I think my favorite thing would have to be cuddling in a blanket on the couch reading my favorite magazines (Domino, Martha Stewart Living, and Make).
Cats or dogs? Dogs.
Pepsi or Coke? Coke
Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate
Printed magazines or blogs? Ohhh, I don't know. Probably printed magazines.
Where would you go if you had a plane ticket to anywhere? Straight to India. I can't imagine a more visually stimulating place. I would love to wonder the markets and pick out amazing fabrics all day long.
If you were marooned on a deserted island, what three things would you be most desperate for? My husband, bug spray, and my itouch with solar powered charger.
What's your creative background? I don't really have any formal training in "creative." I've been interested in fashion and design for as long as I can remember. I think most of my training came from studying magazines and books to develop a sense of what appeals to me.
What made you pick up crafting in the first place, and how did you learn to do it? After I got engaged I started researching wedding invitations. That's when I first learned about letterpress printing. I started reading everything I could find to learn how the process worked and what you needed to get started, thinking I could figure it out and make my own invitations.
At that time, there were lots of presses available for cheap. I bought one in Memphis and my fiancée and I drove all night to pick it up. It was very exciting! Unfortunately, once I started teaching myself how to use it, I realized there was no way I would be proficient enough to print my own invitations in time. I called several local printers to see if they could help me, but most of them didn't even know what letterpress printing was.
So, I was completely on my own for learning. It was great though. I would spend hours out in our barn mixing inks and pulling prints. What motivated you to turn your hobby into a business? One afternoon at work (I'm an attorney by day) I discovered a link to Etsy. I started looking at all the shops, and I thought it might be fun to see if my designs would sell. So, I made a few cards and listed them. Once they started selling, I got hooked and decided to make my very own website.
What was your strategy for promoting yourself once you decided to start the business up, and was it effective? I tried several different things when I first started up. I used Google Adwords (a waste) started a little blog (fun, but very time consuming) and put pictures on Flickr (my favorite!!). I also did a little mini-campaign where I went through tons of blogs and left comments. That way people could look up who I was and find my shop, and I wasn't too much in their face.
What are some of the lessons you've learned along the way? Is there anything you'd wished you'd known or thought of before taking the plunge? Packaging was my biggest challenge. I had no idea what to do. I wasted a lot of money at first trying different ideas until I finally figured out what works for me.
Is there any particular advice you'd give someone interested in starting a crafting business, online or off? Test your ideas on a few people (not relatives or close friends) first. I presented several card options to my coworkers before I listed anything. They were quick to tell me which ones were lame and would ruin me. *smile* Everyone should get a little criticism before jumping in there. It only makes us better!
Are there any other people in the independent design and craft community that you look to for inspiration or whose work you really admire? Oh yes! I love Heather Bailey and all of her fantastic patterns. I also enjoy anything from Oh My Cavalier and Abela Bloom. I was very excited to have Trevor (from Abela Bloom) design some Christmas cards for me this year.
Do you have any big influences outside of the crafts community that have significantly impacted your work? I lived in London for a year after I graduated college. After growing up in a small town in Arkansas, I was blown away by all the culture and opportunity that comes from living in a big city. I went to every museum I could find, and spent most Saturdays trolling down Portobello Road.
What's your favorite part of your design process? My favorite part would be actually pulling the prints. It's exciting every time I get it all set up and the first perfect print comes through.
If you could pick up another craft, what would it be, and why? I've always wanted to learn to sew. My mom gave me her old sewing machine, but I could never figure out how to get it threaded. I guess I use up all my patience when I print. If I do something else, I want it to be simple.
SARAH BECOMES THE BLOGGER
What are your favorite supply sites? Owosso Graphics - they make my printing plates.
It's not the first time I've been to the blog I Love Letterpress, but yesterday was the first time I really looked through their directory - as in, pretty much every link. It's phenomenal, and it's so inspiring to see all the different things people are punching out with their letterpress and leaves me utterly envious of those who have a press! ILL gets a big round of applause from me for documenting all of those letterpress companies in such an organized manner - you absolutely must check it out!
I highly recommend you visit Elephantine for some of the most adorably illustrated note cards I've ever seen! If I could pinch these little guys' cheeks, I would. There's also some equally "awwwww" inspiring plushies you've got to get your hands on!
And so my search begins for a letterpress. I'm desperately wanting a Craftsman Imperial, the press above, but Briar Press and Ebay are coming up short. If anyone has a lead, let me know! I've started designing paper goods but I'm not entirely sure how long it'll be before I can find one available. If it takes me more than three or four months, I'll probably go after a Kelsey, but the reviews I hear about them are pretty bad - disappointing, since they're the most readily available brand. Le sigh.
12/18 - Edit: I have a classified up on Briar Press if you have a tabletop to unload. My request is here.
It's not like I haven't seen anything with a moose design on it before - I live in Minnesota now, for Pete's sake! - but something about these cute notepads from Linda and Harriet brought me back to the days when I'd spend hours in front of the television with my dad watching tapes of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. It's definitely in the style of drawing - a very stylized silhouette drawing that reflects the whole line. Memory Lane connections aside, Mr. Moose is positively adorable and so winter appropriate, making him the perfect gift for a teacher, office buddy, or anyone else you want to show your appreciation to at this time of year without getting too holiday-specific. $12 for 100 sheets.
I have a confession to make: I'm a sucker for anything vaguely related to The Phantom of the Opera. When I saw these beautiful holiday cards by Mulberry Muse were inspired by the story, clearly I was sold. Like the rest of the cards at Mulberry Muse (which I highly suggest you check out), the design was already elegant and so in the spirit of the holidays, but to know where the design originated made it hit home even more - Phantom is sort of the "official" family musical, so it's utterly fitting!
And remember... you might want to watch your head while opening these cards. Chandeliers, well - they have a tendency to fall.
The physical labor paid off: our engagement announcements came out great! The above picture is a scan, so it's not going to be color accurate, but the ink is an antique gold and the paper is a blush pink. I'm going to slowly be adding photos of it as part of my documentation of the planning process, so keep checking my Flickr account for new uploads. I'm going to try to get some done tonight.
If you're a design-it-yourselfer like I am, and you like this look, here was my supply list:
Since you need all hands in the studio that are available, I couldn't take step-by-step pictures of the process, but I will be going back soon to press the holiday ornaments for the swap, so if anyone would like to see them, comment here to request them. I will, however, give you a brief overview of what to do to press your own. I can't get too specific, because the process greatly depends on what kind of press and images you're using, but here we go:
Design your invitation or announcement, then get it ready for prepress. Convert all images to black and white, and outline our text so it becomes a vector image rather than a font. If you don't use SmartSet, the Linotronic film vendor I have linked above, contact your negative producer to see what formats they'll accept. My file was submitted as an Illustrator file. Send off your file, and you'll usually receive it back fairly quickly.
When you have your negative, prepare and make your plates. This step, and the negative making process, can be consolidated by simply by having your plates made by Boxcar Press. You can choose metal or vinyl backed plates - vinyl are more flexible and transparent, so you can easily register and square off your plates with a Boxcar base (available through them). I recommend vinyl, but it's a personal preference - if you end up washing your plates out by hand, you may prefer metal backs.
To make your plates, they need to be exposed to UV light. Place the negative so that it is wrong-reading (emulsion side down) on the surface of the plate and expose it - 3 minutes is generally enough if you have strong bulbs. The plate will noticeably be different - exposed areas will have slightly changed color. Wash out your plates gently in a lukewarm bath with a soft brush (Boxcar supplies these brushes as well, I believe) until the gummy surface of the unexposed plate has washed away and water rolls off of the surface like it would on glass. Let the plate dry thoroughly; it's best to do a flash dry with a hair dryer so that water spots are avoided as much as possible. If you have a plate dryer, let it sit in there for 10-15 minutes. Re-expose the plate without the negative for equal to or slightly more time than it took to initially expose it to completely harden the plate. If you're using vinyl plates (instead of metal backed with a magnetic base), you'll need to add plate adhesive to the back of it, which is also available at Boxcar.
It took me a few days, but I finally got around to planning the second installment of my Holiday shopping list, and I'd love to share my selects with you. Since I'm now buying for two families and our friends, this might end up being longer than the two-parter I was originally figuring it would be!
For a family friend who is like a little sister to me, a simple but sophisticated necklace from Tryst by Kerry that reflects the maturity she has for someone who's only in their early teens. The gold and warm pearl will look excellent with her olive skin tone!
We've got friends of the family that collect really unique and vintage ornaments, and I think a couple hand-blown glass ornaments from Teagues Beads on Etsy would fit right in with their collection. I love that this one is non-traditional all around - the shape is incredibly interesting and the color is unexpected!
For my best friend who is a very talented writer and was probably a pirate in a past life, there's no question that she needs If'N Books' Jen Corace Pirate Journal. I don't think anything has possibly suited her better.
It's inevitable, right? At some point, condensation - or worse, spillage - is going to happen around a glass while you're entertaining this holiday season. Thanks to the Martha Era, the population generally knows to avoid those tacky rubber coasters that double as an advertisement for [insert beer or other alcoholic beverage company here], so what's a host or hostess to do?
Fortunately for us all, many letterpress inks (which are generally made of oil or rubber) are waterproof and more and more indie paper goods companies are designing coasters, so it's easy to accent your decor with a little bit of your favorite designer this year. Here are my picks!
Greer VH1 Limited Edition Coasters: beautiful graphic designs with an aqua blue to bring out the season, but are also good for any time! If you thought it can't get any better, you're in for a surprise: twenty percent of the proceeds from each sale goes to support VH1's Save the Music program, putting music education back into public schools. $8.50 for a set of 8.
Femme Fatale Coaster by Magic Jelly: perfect for your holiday party with the girls, and, with the opportunity to mix and match these coasters with a variety of other designs, they can make for a fun and unique way to add some quirkiness to your festivities. Consider using these coasters in the place of wine charms or Sharpie-written names to help guests distinguish which cup is theirs.$6.00 each, or 4 for $20.
Snowflake Coasters by Green Chair Press: between the letterpress "hit" and the silver ink, this coaster was easily on its way to add elegance and classic flair to any party. The design adds festivity into the mix, making it the perfect compliment to any tabletop with a silver theme. Consider using aqua and red accents into the mix to add pop and let these guys become a subtle, sophisticated part of your table. $10 for a set of 8.
Two Red Deer Coasters by Papered Together: I love these adorable coasters, and I love the fact that it appears like they're two male deer kissing. Between the cocktails and the champagne, I'd put out a prize for the first one to notice at the party! $10 for a set of 8.
Score one for IndiePublic for helping me find something new and fun to write about! Lana from Paper Skirt friended me yesterday, introducing me to the great work she does with her trusty little Gocco (with help from her kitty, dubbed her "Studio Manager", who is quite a ham for the camera!). I love her illustrations and their graphic quality. Though she just launched her online shop, it looks very promising! She's already got some greeting cards and art prints up, and I can't wait to see what's added next!
I've been finding a lot of local finds in Minneapolis and the state in general, so I thought I'd just compile them all together into one bigger post about my (still relatively) new home base state.
Various Opportunities
Letterpress Internships Available at Lunalux: The local mother of all letterpress studios is looking for some interns who are interested in getting their hands dirty while learning about the beauty of letterpress. Located nearby me in the Loring Park neighborhood, it's easily accessible, and well, it's a chance to get on a press!
No Coast Craft-o-Rama Vendor Applications Now Online: Unfortunately, I didn't hear about this festival until (sigh)) two weeks after it had happened last year. I plan to be there this year with camera in hand, ready to blog! If you're in the area or ever wanted to see what the Twin Cities was like (because, you know, I'm sure it's every kid's dream, along with one day becoming a fire fighter...), it's a great opportunity to sell and get exposure! Let me know if you'll be there, and I'll definitely make a point of stopping by!
Notable Etsy Shops from Minnesotan Crafters
Papered Together: I think it's blatantly obvious by now that I'm a big letterpress fan girl. I just found out Papered Together is run by a local gal by the name of Krista. I had been planning on writing about the Etsy shop for some time now, but being that it is me we're talking about, I forgot (oops!). Here's the opportunity! Very cute stuff.
Pink Sparrow: The credit on this one goes to my boss. She came in with the most adorable felt owl pin the other day, and I scoured Etsy until I found the gal she bought it from - no easy feat when all you have to go on is that the crafter's from Minnesota and that it was, well, a felt pin. The Pink Sparrow stock is dwindling down, however - not surprising considering how cute the pins are - so I cruised through a bunch of sold items, and I think my boss may have started a trend. I probably will be sending her a convo to see if she can recreate some of the super cute stuff she's made in the past.
With Remote: Pretty cool graphic silkscreen prints.
The lovely Fiona Richards was kind enough to send me a press kit of her beautiful line of cards, Cartolina. Mixing vintage imagery with today's aesthetics in a new and unexpected way, Fiona's cards offer a new take on popular trends. I was really excited to hold them in my hands - the card weight and print quality was excellent. Being able to see them as well as the wonderful line sheet she provided me also turned me on to the fact her cards were earthy-friendly - delightful!
Since I'm in the process of developing my own stationery line and since the bulk of my experience is in this area, I thought I'd share with you what's really inspiring me at the moment. I hope you feel the same way!
Illustrated Cards at Hello! Lucky: I've always love their cards, but I'm getting into a phase now where pretty engraving-style illustration isn't doing it for me anymore - too many people rely on it too heavily as a design aesthetic without bringing more to the table - I don't mean to say Hello! Lucky is among them, but that part of their collection is beginning to lose its sparkle for me. The illustrated half, however, is really starting to make a bigger impact on me. What I love about the quality of the artwork on these is how well they work to really please everyone - children and adults. When you look at a lot of card illustration on the mass market, it's not very well executed in general and the styles don't often make sense with what the card is for, or who it's for. I find it also inspiring because I can see how I can relate it to my own work, since I have a similar style, with bold line work (I can't help it, I'm a graphic designer!) and thinner line details.
Wallpaper Post Bound Books at Freshly Blended Press: If there's a binding I love most, it's definitely post binding. I love how distinctly modern it looks alongside other binding types, especially when matched with interesting textures and patterns on the covers of a book. I love how smart FB Press was to use vintage wallpaper in the place of bookcloth, but what I appreciate even more is how graphic the pattern on this one is. I think, even though it's not literally modern, it looks like a very hip, contemporary piece when paired with the post bind and the elastic band. In the past, I've bound books like this with bold pattern as well, but in paper rather than wall paper, so I'm really inspired to see other ways I can push my books to be more innovative and unique after looking at these.
Scallop Edged Notebooks at Nantaka Joy: She stole my scallops! No, just kidding of course, but in a lot of design work lately, I've been a little obsessed with scallops (you'll see that in some of my cards, and anyone who saw the original layout for TTAH knows my love for them). What I take away from these is that there are really great ways to use graphic, impactful shapes and patterns while still staying feminine by taking small details into consideration. Other than the scallop edge which I obviously love, I love the light metallics, and the decision to keep all the shapes organic-looking (one reminds me of flowers, the other looks like either mitocandria (don't ask... I may have failed the ink blot test on this one) or abstract pine cones).
Hey, it's what I went to school for! Well, sort of, but it ended up being a large part of my education. Paper arts is one of those craft categories where you can pick a project that's either really, really cheap - or really, really expensive. The best examples would probably be simple card crafting on the cheap end, and bookmaking on the "wait until your next couple of paychecks" end, but both are fun and rewarding. For a paper geek like me, it gets my heart racing. Here are some supply sites and general resources on the web I find to be really helpful. I can't offer you any tutorials on the web because I still haven't found any that I like which illustrate and explain it well for beginners; I've included some good binding books in place of any web tutorials.
Suppliers - Bookbinding
Talas: they have everything under the sun for the book arts and are the first company I went to in college for more advanced supplies. They've got a great selection of book cloth to choose from (sample swatch books available for purchase!), and their book selection is definitely worth checking out (a number of them I either own or have read).
Hollander's: I'd heard about these guys recently. Their retail storefront is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but they also sell their supplies online. If you're a beginner, they have large variety of text blocks already sewn and finished so you don't have to worry about the sometimes frustrating steps of gluing your signatures. All you have to do is add your endpapers and attach to your covers!
Suppliers - General Paper Crafts
Paper Mojo: I could stare at their Contemporary Prints section all day. They've got all sorts of awesome papers to choose from, from patterned to lace to tissue.
Martha Stewart Crafts: whatever, I'm a sucker. Really beautiful ribbon, paper, punches, embellishments, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Kraft Outlet: I love brown kraft paper. I'm not sure what it is about it, but it's awesome. Kraft Outlet has a whole bunch of nifty things for packaging, stationery and other various paper-based projects in sweet, sweet kraft.
Creative Paper Crafts: I found some pretty cute rubber stamps here. They've got supplies for a variety of crafting techniques including origami, embossing, and quilling, as well as scrapbooking supplies.
Resources and Information - Letterpress
Don Black's First Press Suggestions: want to get into letterpress but you don't know which machine to start with? Here's a good page to get your started.
Briarpress: the letterpress printer's haven. Whether printing is new to you or you're been doing it for a while, there's something for everyone, including classifieds (need a printer?), help forums, and workshop / class announcements.
Martha Stewart Crafts Projects: if you're doing paper crafts, might as well go the patron saint of all things (somewhat) crafty, Martha. There are actually a bunch of really cute projects here that can really inspire new ideas and don't necessarily utilize her product. It's well explained and illustrated, too - heck, I used to design and create place cards for a living (worked at an invitation store), but I'm not sure I could have explained the process of pop up place cards better than the way it's described in the Themed Bird Party place card instructions!
Books - Book Binding
Making Books by Hand by Mary McCarthy: I bought this book back in school during my sophomore year, when I was first getting started in bookbinding. It was a really helpful reference on alternative binds or little things I could do while constructing my book to make it special. I'd definitely say it was a worthwhile purchase, especially for a beginner, because of its clear photos and easy to follow, step-by-step instructions.
The Encyclopedia of Papermaking and Bookbinding by Heidi Reimer-Epp: this book really has a bit of everything in the process of making a finished book, from the papermaking process to several varieties of binding. It's well illustrated and explained, so anyone of any skill level in either area can easily pick up the crafts.
Unfortuantely, this year I was unable to get back to New York for the National Stationery Show (AKA the Mothership), so I had to entirely rely on my bookmarked blogroll for some tasty images of what's new and what's to come. The once thing that is very noticeable is that everyone and their mothers seem to be talking about Joy's new line of paper goods, Nantaka Joy. It's really not hard to see why - they're beautiful. I sort of don't even know where to start. I'm a sucker for scalloped edges (check!) and metallic inks (check!) and kraft brown (check!), but I also really love her combination of graphic patterns and embossing as a subtle contrast to ink imagery. I'm really excited to see them when they're finally available online, but for now, you and I will just have to gaze lovingly at the images posted by Design Sponge.
Okay, so in (yet another!) moment of weakness, I purchased this Art Shool Dropout necklace from the blog Modish's new store, Modishoppe. It was featured on her blog as a new item, and even though I saw it a day late, it was (somehow!) still there - definitely a too good to be true moment. My more frugal side made a compromise with my "needitnow!" side and I decided that if it was still there after three hours of back to back to back meetings at the end of the day, I'd treat myself. Clearly, my needitnow side is quite pleased with itself, and after receiving my "order shipped" email today, it has been making me refresh the tracking number every couple of hours or so.
Clearly, I'm quite excited that I even got to an Art School Dropout necklace I liked in time, but to be fair, Modishoppe has got a lot of other interesting stuff in the shop. I definitely give it a thumbs up on the diversity of the offering - there's a lot of different aesthetics within the categories of merchandise so there's really something for everyone. It's a true reflection of the blog, and I certainly can't wait to see what comes out next!
EDIT: I received it today, and it's gorgeous! Jena did a great job with the wrapping and presentation, and I even got a quick little thank you note from her, which was a very nice personal touch. It's probably my best experience shopping indie so far, and I plan on emailing her to let her know that!
After a couple of years of hearing more and more about it and me, well, being a broke college student for most of those years, I finally bit the bullet. I bought myself a Gocco printer on Ebay last night, and I'm totally convinced it's worth every penny I spent for the brand new starter set (with machine) that I just bought.
What is a Gocco? It's this amazing machine from Japan that came about in the 1970s. It's essentially a silkscreen studio in this one little tool that looks like a toy. You can expose your screen (called a "master") and then print directly onto fabric or paper. The size you can print to depends on the model you're working with - mine does 4" x 6" - perfect for post cards and invites (after all, paper is my "thing").
In celebration of this exciting splurge, and in anticipation of some fun activities I'll be able to post, I'm giving you a Gocco (pronounced Go-Co, not Gokko) themed post for the craftsty types and the crafting fans!
So sue me, I generally hate Valentine's Day. Yeah, I'm one of those who think if you really care about someone you should tell them every day. What's great about this Valentine's Day card (available as part of a set of three from Studio E Paper is that it can be an everyday card that isn't, well, every day. Letterpressed and blank inside, the set of three goes for $8.50 (pretty reasonable for well-crafted letterpress cards).
As if I really needed more paper stores to blow my money! I was spending some time on the RISD Works website (which is a great place for some really cool stuff, by the way) which shows off and sells the work of alumni and professors. Somehow I ended up getting to the EIEI-O Studios site looking at a bunch of incredibly unique gift wraps that is, of course, right up my alley. It's no surprise, of course, that one of their online retailers is Luxe Paperie, by far my favorite (pre-designed) paper goods boutique online. The featured gift wrap print, which EIEI-O has named Bingo, is available for $3.50 per 19.375" by 27".
I came across Peculiar Pair Press several months ago and saw some samples of their work on their website. I'm a self-proclaimed letterpress geek (I fell in love with the presses while at school and still dream of the day when I own my own) and I loved the work they were doing. The engraved-style illustrations really emphasize what a good press can do: precision design in large quantity with a handmade feel. Alas, most of their items were not online at the time and you could only see the line in stores. Of course, there were none in my immediate area.
Flash forward to now, and one of my favorite sites to browse on downtime at work now stocks them! Huzzah! Peculiar Pair Press cards are now available at Luxe Paperie in singles ($4) and packs of six ($13). The all look beautiful, and there's even an amazing sympathy card for your friends who have lost their pets (hope I don't have to use that one soon, but it's still fun to look at!). My pick for now is the Bouquet Birthday Card, which comes as a single for $4.
Happy Hanukah to those who celebrate it! Now that we're in the full swing of the holiday season, I figured there'd be no better time to gush blog about the great wrapping paper at Whimsy Press. An acquaintance from work, knowing my love of all things paper (especially from independent designers or small shops!), sent me this link a while ago while she was getting incredibly excited over their Best Friends Gift Wrap Collection featuring four different types of pooches.
She wasn't wrong to be excited, because their gift wrap is great. They make great choices in color and have bold, innovative prints and illustrations and it's reversible so it's versatile, too. You can buy them as a single sheet ($4.50) or as a collection featuring 2 sheets each of several related prints ($18-40, depending on the size of the collection).
Not in the market for some swanky wrap? Check out their notecards, notepads, or placemats instead. You won't be sorry.
What's in the Try This at Home Reading Room this month? Here are our May recommendations, powered by Amazon.com!
: I bought this book back in school during my sophomore year, when I was first getting started in bookbinding. It was a really helpful reference on alternative binds or little things I could do while constructing my book to make it special. I'd definitely say it was a worthwhile purchase, especially for a beginner, because of its clear photos and easy to follow, step-by-step instructions.
