Graphic Baby Card, does it work?

I tried a new pattern paired with a metal baby block. Do you think this works? Coury and I have been discussing it a lot tonight. I only printed a few and moved on to printing other cards. I'd like to print this pattern blind for different cards. It might be too large for me to get a good impression on my little press though.

 I'd love to know what you all think?

I'm digging this one below.

Custom Cards for a little lady

This project has been in the works for a little while and I'm glad to say it's finished and ready to be packed up and delivered. A mother requested Letterpress cards for her new arrival to use as Stationary and Thank You notes. She saw this handmade paper I've used in the past on my site. I love using it, but it is a pain to tear down. I use water and paint brush to soften the line and then carefully tear the edges.  I also recreated the floral sprigs from a design that was given to me by a friend who's wedding invitations I printed.  It was well worth the tediousness. They've turned out lovely. 

Fresh Georgia Air

h is for hyc Creative!

We just took an amazing trip to Georgia for a friend's wedding. It was an inspirational, calming, and motivating weekend.  We took several hikes in the Georgia mountains, saw 2 beautiful waterfalls, and reunited with old friends. It was just the break I needed to get me focused for Fall and printing Holiday Cards!

Governors Island Jazz Age Lawn Party

I was so excited to be a part of the vendors on the island last weekend! I partnered with my friends NecksTuesday and we set out for a fun day in our Jazz Age outfits. It was an absolutely lovely morning. We were all a bit sleep deprived, but had the perfect people watching vantage point. I love the fact that some shoppers don't even notice the vendors behind the table. It's interesting what you can pick up.

It was an experience driving my car onto the ferry and driving around Governors Island too. It's just an eerie place. No one lives there so it's a lot like a ghost town. There are 2 pools, a church, and lots of houses that are no longer in use. They put up a Dance floor in one end of the Great Lawn and dance the day away. It was dreamy and surreal.

It felt like we were far far away from New York City.

Lots of beautiful people and even a Bill Cunningham sighting.

Lots of folks bought cards and I would love to do it again next year!

Laughing and playing and printing, oh my!

With several cards in mind, I dedicated the last two evenings to print. In an attempt to make more matted prints, I found 2 quotes that tickle my fancy. I hope others like "It's never to late to have a Happy childhood" ~ Berke Breathed and "Earth Laughs Flowers" by Ralph Waldo Everson. I dig them and I guess that's all that matters, but I do hope they sell.

Probably my favorite thing about printing is the happy accidents. I wasn't really sure how the prints were going to work out or even what colors I was going to use. I was thinking blue and pink for the Flower quote. When I had the rust color on the press, I decided to add a bit of mustard yellow to the ink plate and see what happened. I love this rusty orange result. If it hadn't been so late in the evening, I would have printed more rusty orange flowers for other cards. At some point I had to stop. I'm glad I used so many different colors of paper though. I was planning on printing just on the ivory, but grabbed a stack of colored 5x7 sheets. I didn't end up getting a very good print of the text on the watercolor ivory paper and I love the purple and light yellow pieces. Fun stuff. Can't wait to see how they come together.

I also used Savoy paper for cards for the first time. I was trying to get away from scoring and folding the cards on my own, but the quality is so nice and worth the extra work.

3 colors and lots of new cards and prints.

I made a trip to AI Friedman for mattes. Framed printed quotes coming soon!

hyc Creative on Skreened!

Coury and I have put our heads together and made a tee-shirt shop on Skreened! It's super fun. Take a look! hyc Creative on Skreened

New Toys from Letterpress Things in Chicopee, MA

I've been anxiously trying to make a trip to Letterpress Things in Massachusetts for months. Everything finally aligned. There there lives a new little baby in Rhode Island and we went to visit him and his family Saturday morning, then headed 2 hours north to the little gem of Letterpress Things. Coury was excited for me. He said I should just go wild, but I only hoped to spend $100 and to my suprise, that's exactly what I did, to the dollar.



John Barrett might be the nicest gentlemen I've met in a while. He was very eager to help everyone find what they needed and offer suggestions. I went in with a list of things that have been overpriced on Ebay for years. Line gauge, Composing stick, tray. I left with those and several new blocks, Quads for 8pt, 12pt, and 30 pt, a new font (12 pt Gothic), business card size paper, @ symbols in lots of sizes, and an interesting wooden storage box.

It's a lovely visit. www.letterpressthings.com

MOMA inspiration

Coury and I had an exceptional date at Arcade at the MOMA on Wednesday night. The only thing that could have made it better would have been eating dinner. Cour worked late, so I shopped and met him there sans food... and there were cocktails. I can't express how fun it was to run around MOMA with a bit of a buzz. Especially when everywhere you turn is a new video game or gigantic balloons. We got a lot of compliments on our sorta themed tee-shirts.

It inspired us to make things. Those things will be out soon!

Blind Printing Place cards

Today was the hottest day yet. Usually, I don't have to leave work and go out in the muggy streets much, but today I needed to get paper cut for place cards. I also took an order to Honey and Hazel. I was drudging around in 115 degree (heat index) heat with all this stuff. Luckily, it's a Summer Friday and I was out of work at 2. When I got home I took a little Seista while the AC cooled down my studio, but got to work after.

I've been listening to a lot of comics lately. So many funny Podcasts out there! WTF with Marc Maron is my favorite at the moment. It's interesting to hear famous TV folks in interviews. So many of them still doubt whether they are doing a great job or whether people like them. It makes me feel better honestly. I hate the fact that I crave other people's approval. I think it's human nature though. As a creative, it's very hard to make something, send it to your client and painstakingly waiting for a response.

I loved the Telegram invitations I recently did, but because I'm a perfectionist... I felt like there were a few flaws in them. It's one of the things I like and detest about my Letterpress creations. Because I work on a small press, it's limiting. It's also my favorite part about printing. Every piece has flaws that makes it interesting. Anyway, I was thrilled when they loved them and asked if I could make place cards for their wedding. I love printing things blind, without ink. This Savoy paper gives an awesome result. Now, I just have to score and fold each one. Sounds like a good job for Sunday when I'll be vending at Hell's kitchen.

Opposite Colors of the Color Wheel

This week was super Hot in NYC, but also productive for me. I decided to suck it up, throw on my coolest dresses for work, and embrace printing again. When I got home I immediately turned the dial on my AC to High cool and changed into boxers and a tank top to begin printing. And look at the results!

I've been building a list of things to print and reprint lately. I could finally set aside time to make it happen. Monday was the night for Orange. I reprinted my Sunshine in a bottle which is one of my favorite creations. It's not a big hit, but I love the idea of sending someone sunshine. I also printed my Thank you in multiple languages in orange. My friends Amanda and Carey gave me this idea. As teachers they often buy packs of very general Hello and Thank you cards for parents, etc. Tuesday I printed the Hello in blue and also a new Bunny card. I just sent this to my nephew who turns 2 next week. They grow so fast. It feels like yesterday that he was born. I don't think he knows how to say elephant or giraffe, but he has rabbits in his yard. I hope he says "bunnies" right away.

I simplified my elephant and giraffe plate. I was having trouble printing the elephant. It was almost too much coverage to print evenly. I decided to make an outline of the body and it seemed to do the trick.

Anyway, new cards are fun. Elephants, Monkeys, and Giraffes... oh, my!