Staying Busy, Staying Warm

mug from heath ceramics, and handwarmers from andrea

 Anyone who has known me for more than a few days knows that I have no problem staying busy.   Even with most of my jobs on some kind of hiatus this week, I have plenty to do.  Like make my room a little more homey, print in our garage studio, scheme new projects and bake.  (See the Smitten Kitchen cookbook for the popcorn cookie recipe.  They are the ultimate party cookie and we are making this weekend a party by baking these two nights in a row.)  I have a harder time staying warm, despite my deep down Yankee blood, but a few Christmas gifts from Andrea are helping out.

sara white's invitation to me

One thing keeping me busy for a few minutes was a drawing for Sara White's upcoming project in New Orleans.  She sent me an invitation to do a drawing for her.  I think she is making prints of the drawings she receives. I can't wait to see it.

desk and wall of postcard inspiration

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For the new year I finally made a few more datebooks for the procrastinators like me.  I also have started printing at home and offered a special to subscribers of Keep Writing postcards which will keep me busy with custom orders for a little bit.  I would love to spend more of my time printing at home (with baking breaks), and so if you have been waiting to get something letterpressed, write to me at gutwrenchpress@gmail.com .  I have been slow to offer custom services because I still do not own my own press.  Too much moving around and debt to be able to invest. Also, for most of my adult life, I have been able to work part time at a job I may or may not have liked but was able to have free time for writing zines, learning to print and volunteering at a community bike shop.  Now that I am done with school and I have a degree in printmaking (ha!) I feel more like maybe my work time and free time activities should merge more.  Not to mention I have lost a lot of my patience for food service.  The question comes--how do I do what I love, earn a living and  continue to love what I do.  I am still figuring that out.  For now that means collaborating as much as I can, asking to work with people I love and whose work I love.  Also, I remind myself why I love printing--because making multiples of something means you can distribute, share, and hopefully connect with more people. So, here I am.  Let's work on something.

the newest datebooks

Date Book Day!

I am not even sure I sleep in my sleep anymore. However, now is the time to finally share with you the finished collaboration between Gutwrench Press and Blackbird Letterpress. These datebooks are born of talk the perfect datebook, something flexible but accurate, sturdy but stylish, compact but room for all our ideas! We have spent months hand-setting type, printing on the Vandercook, buying books at used book sales, practicing our coptic binding, finally deciding to print the remaining pages with polymer plates, cutting, sorting and now you can have one! I had them at the New Orleans Bookfair two weeks ago but now we both offer them online on our separate etsy shops. Blackbird Letterpress also has a much better story about these lovelies on their blog. Check out their website to hear her side of the story, including a photo of the press bed with handset type, and to see her selection of covers. Each is unique. You can also see what I have here.

It's Hurricane Season Somewhere Else

Six years later, I still try not to watch weather reports that overuse the word "extreme" and generally inflate a sense of panic, even if it is to instill a sense of seriousness in the warnings. A bunch of my friends are on the east coast now, hunkering down, baking a pie, or about to play a show. So I am at home eating everything I would put in a veggie hot dog bun as a salad:

Not as gross as it sounds. Too tired to cook for myself and since I am staying home to do "homework" I thought I would do a little research with my new vegan cookie recipe book. First up, almond butter and honey cookies. They use agave syrup but I like local Louisianan honey over that. My choice. You decide if you'll eat it or not. They came out all right. I am going to send some to a friend who is about to have a baby.

Most of my school work this week has been planning and organizing so it is fitting that I finally bound a datebook for myself. The pages are letterpress printed, a collaboration with and soon we will both have some for sale with vintage hard book covers and coptic binding holding them together. Lovely.
Now back to not worrying and writing papers.



(Note: I made my datebook cover special for myself because I couldn't choose from the books I had so I printed this chicken on book cloth and voila!)

Million Dollar Books

Somehow it is noon on a day in mid-August in South Louisiana and we have all the windows open and the air conditioner is off. I might even leave the house this afternoon. I think it rained yesterday, clearing the air, but I am not sure where the smothering humidity went. And I am not complaining. It is lovely outside and school starts in a week.



Here is Keep Writing no.32 as promised. Two shots. This month it is actually three postcards, one for you with my new address, one with a love letter to the USPS stamped and addressed to the Postmaster General, and a postcard for you to send back to me with your description of your favorite form of communication, real or a plan for the post-internet world.



August has been slow all around which has given me and Blackbird Letterpress a chance to get a bunch of printing done for our letterpress datebooks. If only I hadn't miscounted somewhere along the way by 1/3. Good job. Anyway, the back pages were done while waiting for the new shipment of paper to correct my mistake. We also had a chance to bind a few practice ones and they are cuter than we could've known. Worth the wait, I hope.