love love love

A little over a year?  I think I will shoot for once a week again.  I have amazed myself by going to the gym almost every day, so why not throw on one more thing?

I don't really make resolutions, I don't like to set myself up to fail.  Instead, I have been trying to make good decisions.  Like, for instance, I decided working out regularly is important.  I want to live a long and limber life.  Eating less sugar is important to me, even though candy and cupcakes are my favorite thing.  And the third thing on my list is my business.  I want it to grow, I want people to receive my cards and smile.  So, I have decided to work on one new design a week.  That means around 4 cards a month.  I know I can do this.

In January, I designed 5 new cards.  They are all valentines.  I love love.  I still have all the valentines that my dad has sent me over the years.  I tuck them between books so that they surprise me when I go to get something off the shelf. It always make me smile when I come across one.  Seeing his handwriting warms my heart.

These valentines are available in the etsy shop as well as at Antler Gallery and the Crafty Wonderland store in Portland, (no shipping, locals!).

and I want to make these!!  So cute!

Seen via the Gus and Ruby Letterpress facebook feed.  I want to know who made these, they make me smile.

Let the Sun Shine In!

Lots of doing.  Working on a new website...moving the blog....details to follow soon....but I just want to play outside today.  It is so sunny and beautiful, almost warm if you stand in the sun.  It makes me want to play hooky from my cubicle prison.  


You can almost smell the flowers starting to come up.  

LP Birch Fan

Stopped by Geranium Lake on my way into work this morning (incredible Portland florist Kim Foren who invited me to do a photoshoot with her for a local bridal magazine!  Yay!)  Here is a little sneak peak.  So excited to see the real deal!  Being in her shop was such a pleasant way to start my day today, such great colors and textures in there, succulents, herbs, rununculas...just a  few of my faves.

LP Birch Chains

Kim was kind enough to indulge my obsession with paper chains.  The chains are made with birch veneer and some have been printed with pairs of things that go together, just like a bride and groom.  

The chains take me back to sweet memories of decorating our home for parties and helping my fabulous hostess mother add festive ambiance to all her gatherings.  She puts so much love into her presentations of get togethers, meals and sweets, the chains definitely remind me of dancing around the house while the band played in the living room at the parties of my youth.  Orange shag carpet and all.

Happy Friday

New goal.  Blog once a week.  

new block mounted prints @ LP

It has been a busy few months in so many great ways.  I've been doing lots of research on my booth, new products, materials, etc.  I finally feel like I have a clear vision of where I want to go.  All hail pinterest for those of us who are SO visual.

So inspired by this, via designsponge

I started tradeshow bootcamp this week.  Between all the old posts I come across and listening to the experiences of other during the teleconference, I feel a bit less freaked out about being freaked out...if that makes sense.

Poplar alphabet blocks via PDX Fab

I am so excited about new products being produced for a photo shoot and the show.

via http://rosecitycollectorsmarket.com/   

Antique fair this weekend, hoping to procure booth materials.  Can't wait to hunt for treasure!  

If blogging was a job....even I would fire me

boxes and blocks....not blogging enough...but making

I never have time to blog....(#notintendedtobeafactualstatement)  There is time, but when there is, I can't think of what to write about.  Not sure I can now.  My brain feels like it is stuck on the spin cycle.

For those of you (or no one, its cool) who know me...I am not a great planner, budgeter, time manager or organizer.  My desk looks a lot like how I feel.  When I organize, I can never find anything.  Sorry, mom.  My life is filled with OCD, type A personalities.  I don't have one myself.  I am pretty laid back.  Maybe a little too chill.....97% of the time, until I get super stressed and move a mile a minute.

None of the above are good.  Not great for trying to be a grown-up.  Not great for taking a little letterpress company to a HUGE trade show filled with type A's who also happen to be amazingly creative.

SO.....I need to be a planner, budgeter, time manager and organizer for this endeavor.  

Luckily I was lent (thanks CW & LOPR) giant post its.  I am hoping to organize my many floating lists into one.  

Thank goodness of those aforementioned personalities who can harness a spreadsheet like nobody's business...and don't suffer from arithmophobia.  

Ever since I got stuck in Ms. Popick's 4th grade stupid math class, which was probably the right place for me, the stigma of "the dumb class" ended any hopes of a positive relationship beween myself and the maths.  But I digress. I ended up being a ceramics major.

So, I am trying to figure out how to make myself routinely do all the things I will need to do in an organized and budget conscious manner in preparation for this show that alternately keeps me up/gives me nightmares.

We'll see how that goes.  

I finally get it.....

Well.  Its been over a year since I have posted.  I actually did things this year, and even sometimes took pictures, but I wasn't inspired to write, or I was busy, or tired....or not sure that I had much to say.  I never really got the point.  It may be that no one but my parents and aunties are reading this but that doesn't really matter.

So, I got an email from the National Stationery Show on Tuesday asking me to consider exhibiting.

Um, maybe they had empty booth space they needed to fill, but whatever.  Getting that email felt like a really big deal.

Photo: Southern Weddings

This will be a really huge leap for Lettuce Press.  I have kept the business small, afraid to take on too much.  I have a day job that takes up a lot of my brain cells, and I need the health insurance it provides.  I have MS and while I am well and feel healthy and happy, it is with me everyday in its ways.

A few years back, 4 or 5, as I was getting started, I was glued to the blogs of "real" printers and designers, in awe of their displays at the national stationery show, and loving to get a peak at the "grown up table."

The national stationery show.  THE show, as far as cards go, right?

The creatives: elum, may day studio, albertine press, ink & wit, sycamore street press, design sponge and so many others showed me what it means to go big if you really love paper, and I do.

Photo: Southern Weddings

So, can I really do this?  Am I ready?  What if I can't get inspired and its a bust?  What happens if I succeed and pull it off and have to start printing by the thousand instead of the hundred?  What are my booth walls going to be made of?  Lighting?  Giveaways?  Quantities?

This list of questions runs on repeat, like a news ticker, all night.

I play words with friends in an attempt to think of something else so hard it makes me tired.  3:00 am.  comforter tent.  iPhone brightness turned all the way down. #Alec Baldwin, I'm on your side.

I was reminded that there always has to be a first step, an imperfect first try and mistakes made to be learned from.

So this is my leap and I'm nervous.  It is all I can think about.  I realize I need to get it out.  This is why I get it.  Let us blog.

Just sayin'....

The Etsy Black Friday Sale has begun! Stop by and gather love notes to share, even better, get a 15% discount on purchases in the Lettuce Press etsy shop when you enter "LettuceCelebrate" in the coupon code section.

 

Lettuce give thanks...

I haven't blogged in a bit, but its because I have been a busy lady.  I have been doing contract design work since the move but a few weeks back, I got a real, 9-5, "day job."  I really like what I am doing there and I am trying to find a balance between the day job and Lettuce Press.  Another thing that has been keeping me away from the keyboard is my list of letterpress projects.  I will save a few for later posts, but I have been busy printing wares for the Give Handmade Holiday Sale this coming Sunday at the Left Bank Annex in Portland.  Doors open at 11 am and there are goodie bags filled with locally made swag for the first 100 shoppers.  Can you spot the Lettuce Press love in the swag sneak peek picture below?

I am really excited to be a part of the Give sale for several reasons.  Its all about locally handmade goods, which hold a dear place in my heart.  Even more reason to love it, the whole event is a fundraiser/food drive for the Oregon Food Bank.  10% of all Lettuce Press sales will go to OFB.  The organizers will also be accepting cash donations as well as collecting dry/non-perishable goods for OFB.  In this season of so much consumption, from too much turkey to gifts for every aunt you barely remember, its so great that you can celebrate the season  by supporting local artists and helping to be sure everyone has something to eat.

Here is a peek at some of the new paper goods I'll be selling on Sunday(also available in my etsy shop):

 

 

Hope to see you Sunday at the Give Handmade Sale, until then, happy thanksgiving!