Beautiful Letterpress

In my wandering on the web, I came across letterpress books by British artist Julia Humfress. She has printed 3 books highlighting wood type and I was lucky enough to be able to purchase the 3rd book. The books are beautifully printed and bound in a limited number. (Book 1was completely sold out but I was able to buy the digital version of Book 2 and while nice, definitely not the same as having the original letterpress version.)  The book is really tactile with rich colors. If you love letterpress, definitely worth having in your collection!

Here are some highlights of the third book which may still be available on Julia's website https://www.woodwordsletterpress.com/ She also has prints available and you can see images from the first 2 books

book front

opening page

my favorite spread

back cover

2021

 Happy New Year!

New Collages

I got motivated and completed two new collages. The first one is done on an old Bingo card. I letterpressed some pattern carved on linoleum block in the back ground. One pattern is printed with a clear varnish. On darker paper, the clear varnish shows up a little darker and is transparent. The other pattern is a light gray which didn't show up as well as I had hoped but does add a little texture. I then used some of my vintage wood type and printed the X and o's. For the rest of the collage, I used rubber stamps and vintage papers. (I purchased the large letter X at lschneeman on Etsy. The shop has a nice selection of letterpress wood type and other print blocks!)

My second collage is done on the back of marching band music. I was originally going to print on the music but I turned over the card and really liked the hand writing across the back. I printed my pattern in gray going 2 directions. I then letterpress printed the X, ampersand and exclamation point from my wood type collection. Rubber stamps and a few vintage postage stamps still on their envelopes complete the collage. At the top is a 1955 postmark from Vatican City.

Collage1 with the letter X

Collage 2 with wood type

Christmas Gift

A few years ago, I saw on Ebay a really cool vintage lamp made using wood letterpress type blocks. It was way too expensive for me to bid on but I've thought about this lamp for a long time.

As seen on Ebay

My husband like projects so I asked him to make me a base so that I could have my own letterpress lamp. And for Christmas this year, I received ...

a gorgeous lamp base for my type. What's really great about my lamp is that the wood type fits in the sides (it stays put thanks to some removable sticky squares) and doesn't need to be glued down so I can still use the blocks for printing. The base even rotates so I can admire it from all angles.

sides 1 & 2

sides 3 & 4

Maybe I'll get a matching one next year - hint, hint, hint...

New Cards

Mother's Day is Sunday, May 11 and I've got three new cards for Mother's Day in the shop.

Letterpress printed from a hand cut linoleum block

Letterpress printed from vintage wood type

Letterpress printed from a hand cut linoleum block

New Valentine Cards

I created two new Valentine cards this year. The first one is letterpress printed from calligraphy I did a few years ago. It's printed on a nice pearlescent paper.

The second card is printed from vintage wood letterpress type. I was trying to get away from having every Valentine's card red and pink so I printed this one in red and aqua. I've always liked this color combination. It's blank inside so could be used for other occasions.

Both cards are available in my Etsy shop.

Valentine's Day

I have a few new items for Valentine's Day. All are letterpress printed. The "Hello Love" card was done with my collection of wood type and the "Owl Love" from hand cut linoleum blocks. They're available in my shop here.

It's Christmas!

My holiday card for 2012 using my collection of wood letterpress type and tiny ornaments.
Happy Holidays!