Working from Home

After ten days in a row of going to work, I have a day to stay home and work here. This means lots of baking, cleaning, and posting photos I have been meaning to share with you. Mostly this is a good thing, but not entirely. I have today off because there was a fire next to the building that houses Dutch Door Press, one of the three places I work. Everyone is ok and the presses are ok, but a lot of stock was lost and I think I might be spending some time cleaning up water- and smoke-damanged cards that I packaged last week.

At home, I am getting ready for another holiday sale. This Saturday I will be at the San Francisco Center for the Book from 12-5. Stop by if you are in the city. I am sharing a table with other interns, but I will have datebooks, postcards, and handmade paper.

I've also been posting photographs of postcards I've received. Today, Roberta sent me images of all the great cards she received from Keep Writing 41. I've been getting lots of good ones lately and I will post them soon. Though we have been in this house for a few months, we are slow to hang things on the walls. I finally had a chance to hang the balloons I brought from Louisiana, and a special housewarming gift I had packed away almost a year ago, from Blackbird Letterpress. Just in time to welcome friends from Michigan for a few days.

The Holiday Season

I've been folding holiday cards since October. Not my holiday cards, someone else's, who is much more prepared for the holiday sales than I am. Last weekend I finally posted a bunch of new items on etsy, including individual postcards from the keep writing series. They do not include the interactive, tear-away-and-send-back but function in the traditional post card way. Image on one side, room for you to write on the other.

Part of this preparation is for the first studio sale since last winter. My table is covered with things that need to be primped, priced and put into a bag, probably a waterproof bag since it is supposed to rain all weekend. If you live near North Berkely and want to stop by, check out this.

Ah winter. Even in California the CSA might need a break. We have pumpkin for the whole winter and enough frozen tomato sauce to actually damage our freezer ( I moved the piles away from the fan inside and everything sounds better). Still I will miss the twice a week box of delicious surprises.

It is not work all the time over here. Last weekend I rode to North Berkely to meet Andy after work and climb onto a rock to watch the sun set over the whole bay. Sigh.

Holiday Preparations

Holidays are sneaky. Ok, sure they mostly fall on the same dates with a bunch of warning and with the internet I am sure I can look up what is the date of Thanksgiving 2021. Still, here I am, the day after Thanksgiving getting things in order for holiday sales.

I've been binding datebooks, printing new business cards, and drinking whatever hot thing I can to keep the sick away and keep my toes warm. I think it is working. I had to clean off my desk too but it doesn't last. The shelves are stacked with piles of books in different stages, postcards in different stages and a pile of mail I can't wait to answer. I've been working from my home studio a lot lately, which has been great for my spirit and a little rough on the wallet. But we have been getting out a little more regardless and found a place in Oakland that serves really good craft beer on draft for 5 or 6 bucks a drink. Not cheap but a nice midafternoon treat when I have been book binding all day while Andy writes new music.

I've been busy finally getting to do some of the things I thought about all summer while carrying too many sweaters and not enough raincoats all over Europe. For example, if you want say, enjoyed your Keep Writing postcard this month and want to send one to a friend, now you can purchase just the postcard, without the portion to return to me.

I made some new simple business cards, with handset type one rainy evening at the San Francisco Center for the Book. I have had ideas for elaborate cards using polymer plates, but these little understated bitties are perfect for right now, just in time for a sale in the East Bay next weekend. If you are in the Bay Area, I will be at an open studio sale next weekend in Berkeley. There will be letterpress, cards, books, and a penpal I haven't met yet! If you don't live in the area, there is a sale in my etsy shop. Use coupon cope "gwp10" to get 10% off any items in the shop, until midnight on Monday.

And just in case you are worried about what I eat when I am so busy, Andy made vegan "shrimp" mirliton for Thanksgiving, from his mom's recipe. Things are good indeed. There are also a bunch more postcards to be posted on the Keep Writing tumblr site, so check back there once in a while. I think that's enough for tonight, though, don't you?