DIY Best of Show! (West Coast)

DIY magazine did a special section in the winter issue of the magazine devoted to small time crafters. Lucky Bee Press was included in the mix of letterpress crafters! Thanks DIY! Congrats to all the hard working crafters who also were listed—about 50 in all! And a special praise to the other letterpress gals! Yeah letterpress!

Rounding a Corner (Midwest)

A couple weeks back Laurie and I had this long phone conversation about the disappointing news that our paper vendor was no longer offering rounded corner, flat notes in A2 size. I know. It's really a tragedy. I think we went through all the stages of grief during that phone call. Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance...

I decided that in order empower myself and move on I needed to locate the perfect corner rounder. I ended up deciding that a hand punch (think scrapbooking tool) would be doable. I could punch corners while watching tv (think Desperate Housewives of Orange County) and make my own rounded corner flats. Heck, I probably have other printed things that would be cool with rounded corners (think grocery lists).

So, after a week or two traveling to various craft stores, buying what looked like workable and sturdy corner rounders I found one I liked. And, three that I didn't which were returned. Presenting the Fiskars hand-squeezy-view your paper-round your corner-and watch a paper piece flip up into the air model. I like it because it cuts easily and consistently. The blue stock below is a duplex card stock, at least 110 lb. You can see the corner is pretty clean and has about the same corner radius as the precut flat beneath it.




Who knew a craft punch would be so exciting that someone would photograph and write an entire blog post about it? Not me.

Thursday (Midwest)

So, yesterday I had a friend come over to chat and learn how to use her Gocco. I hauled out the inks and other crafty stuff and we talked (geeked) out about art, design, crafting, etc. I find myself up early with a head full of ideas about what could be a next project. And, since my desk is clean I'm sketching and thinking. It's a nice way to begin the day. Miss K. thanks for the playdate. I'm so pleased to connect with someone with similar interests. :)

OK. Now I need to gripe about my keyboard. It seems the nine/left parenthesis button has pooched. Argh! I had to go into one of Laurie's posts to copy and paste a parenthesis. And (as you know) I use them all the time. I will try to clean and examine the keyboard today. I have weak McGuyver skills, so I'm fairly confident this will not be fixed. Rats.

I hear kids upstairs. Soon three children and 2 rats will descend and need to be prepared for school so I need to go slam another cup of coffee.

Happy Thursday everyone!

Punchy (Midwest)

A couple weeks ago I had an early evening sitter, so off I headed to the Scrapbook Superstore. I have a yearly membership for using the die cutter there.

Yes. Yes. I know. At least I can admit these things to you.

Anyway, after I die cut a zillion fish cut outs, because the teddy bears were icky and the butterflies were too small, I lingered in the craft punch aisles. I have a growing stash of craft punches. I use these punches to make gift tags out of overstock and scrap letterpress cards. If something has a smudge of ink on it, it will go into the to be punched pile. Anyway, my favorites are the Whale of a Punch dealios because they stay sharp and don't require leaping off the table onto the handle to cut through card stock. I bought a sweet little scalloped circle punch. It has come in very handy, as seen on the Etsy shipment above, mailed yesterday.

We are in the final stretches of our swim team commitments. The All City meet happens the first weekend in August. Can I just say that I'm stinkin tired of getting up early every morning? I plan to print after that all ends. Also, I have a couple potential design projects lining up which I'm looking forward to. So, hopefully I'll have some fun things to post on soon. Until then Laurie is rockin her letterpress and has been such a diligent blogger. I'm sure she will be showcasing something new soon. Go Laurie. Go Laurie. Go Laurie...

Moosday (Midwest)

Above: 10 Free Moo Cards came with my Flickr pro account. They make interesting card houses.


It's Tuesday. I'm adjusting to our new summer schedules and such. I have my brother from California visiting with his kids and my mom and stepdad, too. It's busy, but I'm still checking off action items from my to do list. Today I will order printing plates for my wedding clients. I'm excited to print their invites. I have a huge stack of blank paper just waiting for the job.

I ordered my business cards for handing out at the Craftacular. And, I printed up some letterpress soap labels. More on those and what they are for later. :)

Also, I've been having fun playing around with my new camera. I try to have it handy to snap some practice shots here and there. I'm pretty lousy at shooting people. Rarely do I get a shot where the part that is in focus is what I thought I was focusing on. I have so many pics that should be sharper. I did get a pretty decent shot of Sophie coming off the slip n' slide the other day. So, that was encouraging.

Finally, I'm working on some photos for our application to Renegade Chicago. We will attempt a joint application with Boh Bon Soap Co. So far I have shot a few table top scenarios of the soap. I have to shoot some shots with our cards next.



Tis time to get the kids suited up for swim team. Ta ta for now.

Teacher Gifts (Midwest)

If for no other reason, being a letterpress hobbyist certainly comes in handy. Especially when you need a last minute gift idea. I always have a pile of extra printings that will never be in the Etsy shop or at a craft fair. Not because they aren't "good enough", but because I only printed a few, or I have a limited amount on a certain stock, etc.

This week Sam finished his first year at preschool. We had 2 teachers, a lunch helper and the school director to thank. I tied up some card sets and affixed a hand made paper flower to the twine ribbon. Quick and simple, yet handmade and personal. I found the tutorial per this blog post. I started making paper flowers a few days ago to make a twig/vase/paper flower display to have at my craft fair table. But, after making oh, about 20, I realized they have many uses. These flowers have a simple elegance that really pleases me. They are this week's obsession.

The Good & the Bad (Midwest)

Well, May is just cruising by. I'm stunned to look at my calendar and realize that it's the 20th already. Summer approacheth.

Our good news: Laurie and I received a convo last week from an Etsy admin letting us know that one of our cards (above) over at Lucky Bee Press was requested by a main stream magazine. We shipped it off and are holding our breath that it gets published. I'm hoping not to jinx it by posting, but this news is too exciting not to share. Also, I applied and was accepted for the next Craftacular, so I have a summer craft fair to look forward to. Here's a link to the vendor list. I just ordered two new folding tables and am thinking about sewing some sort of table cover. I'll have to look through my fabric stash and see if anything I have on hand will work. Also, I'm ordering some card display racks, and will make a sign.

Ok. Bad things, there really aren't any, I shouldn't complain. I guess my big issue is I have NO TIME to print these days. Joey is away on business, so I'm kinda busy with the kiddies. And, the free time I have fills up so quickly. I'm thinking that this weekend I'll get an opportunity. Laurie however has been giving her press a workout. Every time I talk to her she's printing. She is definitely the lucky bee at Lucky Bee these days. :)

Ok. I must dash off to run errands.

Friday (Midwest)

After a smallish bout of insomnia last night (from the adrenalin from LOST?), I find myself blurry eyed and behind this morning. I was planning on going to the gym. But, since I didn't get back to sleep till well after 4:30 I was too tired. Maybe next week. After I haul all the squirts to school I will have an extra cup of coffee and hopefully some success on the letterpress and my day will start to look up. I need to get those thank you cards done.

Yesterday, I received my delivery from Paper Source in the mail. On Monday I ordered new Gocco bulbs, screens and ink with my gift certificate from Gilbert (aka GI, aka Gilboat). I had some extra room on my gift certificate so I indulged in some rubber stamps and pads. It was quite the haul. Of course, when the box came yesterday I ripped it open and got busy. All the bits and pieces of paper in my house got adorned. Now I have a stash of little cardlettes to put into my Etsy shipments.

Outside My Window (Midwest)

For those of you who aren't in the Wisconsin, you are missing a spectacular snowstorm. It's been snowing about an inch and hour since late morning. Sam and I have been out twice. Our entry is littered with wet mittens and puddles. We plan to pick up kids from school via sled not car. This is part of why we moved back to Wisconsin from California. I wanted my kids to have winter memories similar to mine from childhood. LET IT SNOW!

For those who have sent me emails wondering about my studio space I'm posting a shot from our front yard taken earlier today at the onset of the snow. The right bank of three windows is the South facing wall of my office. It's a 10' x 14' sunroom with windows all along 3 walls. The light in the room is amazing. I should probably thank Joey for letting me have the sunroom. His office is in the basement (neener neener). Some sunny day I'll photograph the interior.




Finally, I'm thanking Jan over at Poppytalk for posting about my "love" card. She has sent a good deal of traffic to my Etsy shop. I've sold several cards already. Here is one of the card orders all ready to be shipped. I try to include a freebie with every Etsy purchase. Usually, it's a hangtag or two as is the case in this order.

Gathering (Midwest)

This year I'm striving to be a little more organized or maybe more business-like with Bee13. I've been taking inventory of printed pieces, organizing supplies, etc. I'm mentally preparing to file my sales tax and also do some year end bookkeeping. It feels good to take care of these business loose ends. I also reviewed my paper catalog and got a large paper order placed today. I've ordered 3 new colored folding note stocks. I've always been comfortable mixing ink and printing on white papers. I'm going to challenge myself and see what happens when the paper already has a color, tone, value and saturation to it.

Aren't the colors above pretty? I seriously wanted to order them all. It was really difficult to stay in budget and stick to three colors. Of course I had to order envelopes in coordinating colors. So exciting.

A Late Gift (Midwest)

Yesterday morning as Joey and I strollered Sam home from dropping the girls at school we were discussing Etsy. This discussion triggered Joey's short term memory cells and he realized that he had another Christmas present for me...somewhere. After some seeking in the basement he presented me with this family of cone vases that he bought for me from Etsy seller SecretSnowbird. You should check out SecretSnowbird's shop. She knits and felts from her own patterns and has a nice sense of color and design. I like the little embellishments she adds after felting. I'm very excited about these and can't wait to find a perfect spot for them in our house.

Midweek (Midwest)

As usual, I have been up since about 5 am. Those who have known me for more than a decade will still be stunned knowing that I'm an early riser now. I have NEVER been a morning person. But, with kids and the business the day brings, I find it a nice time to sit, read, and sip. This is the time of day I catch up on blogs, do paperwork, or go to the gym.

This morning I went over to Print and Pattern. This is my all time favorite blog. It is always inspirational and I never feel that it is just a large advertisement for the blog writer or the things she showcases. I read, and I feel like sketching and designing. I followed P&P's links to this Japanese shop. The images I'm posting are of products they carry. I especially like the rubber stamps. Laurie and I used to design and have stamps made that we would use for business purposes. For instance, we used to stamp all our invoice envelopes with a stamp that had a bee and said "Ouch that stings!". Grownups playing with rubber stamps. Always good!



This week I have to spend some production time making changes to a brochure for our local preschool, make some name/text changes to newly married Joanna's business cards, and print a new batch of letterpress cards. I'm wondering how it can be Wednesday already, and how I will fit this on to my calendar. But, at the same time I'm eager to get to it all. I love my job(s)!



Here's a peak at the magnesium die I had made (free!) for my Valentine's Day Love card. I'm testing metal plates verses photopolymer to see which leaves a cleaner imprint.

Goodbye Winter Break (Midwest)

Tomorrow the kids head back to school and me back to work. HOORAH! We have had a nice holiday, but I'm missing my press and with 4 new card designs done I must get printing.

Oh but, I will miss the lazy pajama'd mornings, and the interesting games the kids came up with. Like the morning where Sophie was married to a bottle cap in a short and sweet ceremony performed by her older sister. Sophie, now "Mrs. Full Sail", took the bottle cap in "sickness and in wealth". And, the time the three kids performed a routine to the Black Eyed Peas song "Pump It" (naked of course). That was nice. Sam getting stuck in a snow bank. Also good. But, they (and when I say they I mean me) need go back to the normal routines of school, Brownies, play dates, swim lessons, etc.

So here I am eager to dig into 2008 and do something creative. I debated coming up with a better name for my greeting card "company". Bee13 or beethirteen isn't really clever or memorable enough, but I'm starting to think that I have some equity in that name already and maybe I should just keep it. Still pondering this one.

I have to thank Stephanie at Tepitalk for hooking me up with a call for submissions over at Rockport Publishers. I sent them an email with some card photos and they accepted them all. I had to ship the actual cards to them for photographing for the book to be called "1000 Handmade Greetings". Very exciting, thanks so much Stephanie!



Finally, a won an eBay auction for a lot of 23 small printers blocks a few weeks ago. I think I paid 53 cents plus a couple bucks shipping. Anyway, they came yesterday. There are some fun tidbits to design around here.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Brown Paper Packages Tied up with String (Midwest)

I got a box of presents in the mail from Miss Laurie today. I had to take a shot of this one. I love how this package is simple and fancy at the same time. Laurie, did you make that glorious bow? It's too cool. Also, I see Mr. Owl, from the ornament swap. I can't wait to see him in person and love the tie in with the gift tag.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Finally, another goodie from the package in my favorite colors. Yippee!

7 Ornaments So Far (Midwest)

I had a minute to take pictures of the ornaments I've received thus far from the 2007 Cake & Pie/Freshly Blended Ornament Swap. For those not in the know, there are something like 600 people participating. We have all been divided into groups of 10. The deal is you create a set of handmade ornaments, one for each group member, then mail them out. It has been fun to find these little surprises in the mailbox every other day or so.

All of the ornaments are sweet. I like the ornaments from Kari because they are something I would do. She felted old sweaters to make a wreath and ball ornament. I have a huge pile of already felted sweaters from last year that may just find a similar destiny. The tree from Laurie (not The Hive's Laurie) is very unique. Look closely at the photo and you can see that the stem is some sort of vintage wooden dowel. Sarah made a charming snowman with great little acorn hat. Veronica made the little girl with the muffler. So cute. Geri sent a bunch of paper ornaments of which I like the green paper ornament best. It is very glittery on my tree. Danielle sent the ribbon ornament which looks really nice next to my letterpress ornaments (I should've taken a picture of that). And, last but not least I received the perfect felt blue and white snowflake circle ornament from Michelle. Thanks so much everybody!

I Have Blue Fingers (Midwest)

So the girls have been bugging me to make felted bead ornaments again. We did this last year. I think that project was one of my first posts. Back then I was very happy with how the whole project played out. The results were way better than I had planned and the kids were so into it. I guess it's time to do it again. Last year my friend Stephanie gave me some natural wool roving. I have read that roving felts up very easily, so we are going to use that. I googled these directions for dyeing the wool with food coloring. The color is very nice. I'm hoping that it doesn't rinse away during the felting process. Stay tuned for more photos of the felting in action.

While It Snows (Midwest)

We are having a winter snowstorm outside. Several inches on the ground already. It has totally put me in a Holiday mood. I decided to take a stab at making my own gift wrap this winter. This morning I carved a few stamps (designs inspired by Paper Source). This is my practice sheet to see if the stamps came out correctly. I think they did. So, after I do my last craft show (Dec 8th), and after I finish and mail my swap ornaments, I can pull out some papers and get wrap making.

Ornaments Or Not? (Midwest)

I'm so undecided about these. They are supposed to be my ornament for the Cake & Pie/Freshly Blended ornament swap. I'm not sure if they are good enough. Last year I stitched for hours making little bird ornaments. Somehow, a piece of paper as an ornament doesn't seem nice enough. Or, 3-D enough, maybe.

Is anyone sick of me yet with my pool blue and red color combinations on everything I print these days? I do own lots of other ink colors. It's just I can't help myself. I love these colors together.

Craft Fair Affair (Midwest)

I'm finally getting around to posting about last Saturday's craft fair experience. I had a booth at the DIY Trunk Show in Chicago. It was a busy day. Lot's of traffic, many sales, interesting people to look at and chat with. And, and, and! the show got me a few wholesale orders. I was pretty overwhelmed most of the day. I have lots of retail experience to draw on, but this was more personal. And, presenting graphic designwork to clients is different because you already know what your client wants. I gleaned quite a bit of advice from my seasoned booth neighbors which was helpful. I even got to make one trip to the bathroom. From what I learned every venue is unique and I'm sure this weekend's event here in Madison will be a totally different experience.

Before I sign off here's a rundown of what I used to create my booth. My table display was put together on the fly at the show. The kraft paper table covering was from the Dollar Store and sat over the top of a Goodwill white sheet. I used wooden rulers with clothes pins as sign holders, and wood boxes from our basement to house my cards. Finally, I used a laundry drying rack (free from the curb courtesy of my hubby) as print rack. I think I spent around $10 on my booth.

Ta ta till next posting.

Tagged (Midwest)

Julie over at perfectbound tagged me. Thanks Julie, and no, I've never been tagged before. This is so exciting. Here it goes...

First, I'm supposed to post the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names, and links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


____________________________________________________________________________________

My five things about me. I'm not sure if they are even interesting but here it goes right off the top of my head.

1. My real name is Elizabeth. When I was two or so we lived in an apartment which was previously the home of a little girl named Amy. I never met her. This Amy had name tags identifying her places in the home. Y'know, under towel hooks, pegs, coat hangers, etc. I always wanted my stuff in the Amy spots. Then, I started insisting I be called Amy, introducing myself that way. I guess it stuck.

2. I don't care for seafood. Since I dislike an entire food category I'm often (mistakenly) taken for being a picky eater.

3. When walking somewhere I have an obsession with crossing the street at the earliest convenience. If my destination is 5 blocks away and on the opposite side of the street it will drive me nuts if I can't walk the 5 blocks on the correct side of the street, the one the destination is on.

4. I'm finding it very easy to write about myself.

5. I've always had a weakness for men with crutches. By crutches I mean the kind the doctor gives out when someone breaks a leg. I know, it's weird.

Let's see, I need to tag some folks now. I'm going to tag my bested buddy, business partner and blogmate, Laurie. Also, I'm tagging Stephanie at Tepimade. Her etchings are so beautiful. And, talented Jenn at AzureGrackle. Lastly, I'm going to tag Poppy Letterpress. I'm sorry I don't know her name, but she's a graphic designer who is enjoying getting immersed in the letterpress world and is blogging about it. We are living somewhat parallel lives.