Sneak Peek: Idora Postcards!

I spent the day at my friend Olivia's letterpress shop the other day and couldn't help but be excited.  Maybe it was the tea, perhaps it was the amazing gingerbread and poached apple desert brought to us by Richard of St Hieronymous Press, but I think it was the postcards of my sketches that Olivia printed for me!

There's four different designs:  a playful set of Felco pruners, a couple of Romney coulteri (Matilijia poppies), a very twiggy little gate, and the spider that I told y'all about here.  The backs of the postcards announce the fact that I exist and suggest that the dear reader visit my website.  They're printed on chipboard, the stuff that comes between stacks of paper to make it more rigid in shipping and storing.  Hooray for reusing!  The chipboard is pretty squishy and thick, so it took to the press very well with deep and precise indentations.

Don't despair if you're wanting a few!  Olivia will offer sets of the postcards for sale on her etsy.  Check back with her in the next week or so.  We had such a wonderful day- a field trip of little tots even stopped by to stare at the big moving wheel of the press.  They were mesmerized!  Olivia recounts our lovely day at her blog, too.  And she has better photos, so I highly recommend it.

Happy Friday!

Field Trip: Olive-Route Press

I'd been looking forward to visiting Via at her shop for weeks and the day finally arrived yesterday! Via runs Olive-Route Press, a letterpress shop in Berkeley and creates amazing work. I love stopping by her shop and rummaging through all the lovely things she's created for weddings, greeting cards, business collateral (she helped design my logo and website) and just fun, fun prettiness. We're working together to create a special edition of botanically-inspired postcards, which I'll keep you posted on in the future. (unintentional pun!)


I sketched some drawings and she printed away as I was introduced to Jay-Z's new and excellent album, delicious poached eggs made in the microwave (I kid you not) and plopped into tortilla soup by Richard at St. Hieronymus Press next door, and Via's contagious enthusiasm over a very large garden spider we found on an after-lunch walk.


All in all, the kind of work day where you don't feel like you were working.

*Update: I forgot to include a link to Via's very entertaining blog: http://olive-route.blogspot.com/