In the past few months Seth Gould and I have done two trades. First was the enamel book and claw hammer trade. Second was calipers for business cards. Today I finished the cards and today he delivered my sweet claw hammer. Isn’t that hammer dreamy!

It sure does feel like Spring. The mountains are bursting green and there is that quiet hum of the busy bees. I myself am one of those bees jumping from project to project and trying to remember to sit down and eat. The grand opening for 7 Ton Letterpress Collective is May 19th stop by from 4-8 for ice cream and punch!

Yesterday the whole Seven Ton gang packed up and went to Yee-Haw to help sort type. There aren’t many people I would drive two hours to sort type for, but that place means the world to me. I learned how to carve there, I learned how to play there, and I learned how to run a press there. To say that I am sad to see the shop close  is an understatement.

I was excited when Dana at Chomp approached me about helping her create new business cards and hang tags. She knew I was in the midst of making the die jacket for my press and wondered if this project was something I could tackle. Seeing as I love Dana’s aesthetic I knew this would be a fun project as well as a great opportunity to test out the die jacket. Today was the moment of truth. I had done all the planning and printing. The die had been made and shipped to the shop. All I had left was cutting. I am pretty psyched about the final result and look forward to more die cutting in the future

This year for the Penland Scholarship Auctions poster I did a lot of drawing and carving! The majority of the piece is hand drawn type, inspired by art nouveau and circus posters. Projects like this take a lot of time, coffee, and love. If you are in the Penland area during any of the dates listed you should certainly check out an auction. You can find some beautiful work and know that your money is going to an excellent cause.

After a year or so of talk about how we could make our own polymer base we did it. This pricy piece of plate aluminum was milled down from 1 inch to  7/8th inch and prints like a dream. It came just in time for the new studio and the new hang tags I am about to print for my friend Dana. Shout-out  to Justin (for doing all the dirty work) and Hoss (for use of super sweet machinery that photographs beautifully).

We had a small opening at Seven Ton last week. It was so sweet to see a crowd of friends in the studio. The space has really come together and last week I got to print my first project here! I am so excited about this studio and the dear friends I get to share it with.

Being a Core Fellow has been the most unexplainable experience of my life. How can you explain that for two years you got to live with  a group of talented artists, run wild in 9 fully equipped studios, take classes with an ever-changing list of knowledgeable instructors, live, work, and play in Penland, NC…

Goodbye dear Penland I love you.

I recently made these sweet little cards for my friend Meg and her daughter. They are set in metal type and printed on Lettra. With this project I tried to stay really focused on the details. It was a blast.

The last week and a half I have been fortunate enough to participate in  Penland’s Winter print residency. Margot Ecke, the master printer in letterpress, has been a breath of fresh air. She introduced me to trace monotypes and has managed to get me excited about a book project!