Author: Bess Paper Goods & Gifts

Impressions

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

As letterpress becomes more popular, more and more customers want their pieces to look LETTERPRESSED, by which I mean they want their design to be printed with a deep impression that they cannot only see but feel. That is the point of springing for letterpress isn’t it?

Results on my press can vary greatly and what I’m learning is that the design of the piece can influence the depth of the impression just as much as any adjustments I make on press. Some designs can only go so deep.

Take, for example, these two holiday cards I embossed a few years back. The design on the left is a busy, all-over design that consists of many very thin lines. When a plate like this is pushed into the paper, the paper has nowhere to go, no space to give to the design on the plate. The result is a relatively light impression, especially in the areas where the design is particularly concentrated.

The design on the left is much simpler, with slightly thicker lines and less of the paper covered with them. The result? A very clear, deep impression.

A detour

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

I don’t often write about what’s going on in my personal life on this blog. I’m the type of person who needs time to process what happens around me—I know better than to think I can come home at night and write something entertaining or meaningful about my day. So I usually confine my writing to projects I’m working on and handmade goodies I covet, but sometimes something so important happens that it creeps into everything I will do from that point forward.

Two weeks ago, my mom was in a terrible terrible accident. She was driving home on a country road when a driver crossing her path chose not to stop at a stop sign. These are not busy roads, he’d probably blown through that intersection dozens of times before. But this time someone was there, this time his decision broke all of her ribs, both collarbones and her pelvis. His decision filled her chest cavity with fluid, his decision made every shallow breath incredibly painful.

His decision will keep her in the hospital for almost a month. His decision will not let her sleep next to her husband for another six months. His decision will change the lives of everyone she loves.

My mom is amazing. She is dealing with the pain and focused on recovery. What she is taking away from all of this is how incredibly lucky she is to be here. One setback after another comes her way, and she finds the good in all of it.

I have been described as an aggressive driver. I’ve never blatantly blown a stop light or sign, but I do speed and probably take more risks than I should. I used to drive the same route a lot, much of the time on autopilot. What I am taking away from this is how much one decision can impact your life. How quickly the world can change.

As you head out to work this morning, remember what an incredible responsibility driving a car is. Honor the agreement you’ve made with your fellow drivers: Pay attention. Watch out for others, they may not be watching out for you. Obey speed limits and stop at stop signs. Those few seconds you shave off your commute are just not worth the risk.

Even if you think you’re invincible—or worse yet, you don’t care about yourself—you don’t want to be that guy who makes that one stupid decision to put someone’s mom in the hospital.

Hatch Show Print

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

I’ve never written about arguably the most well-known and respected letterpress studio in the U.S. until now because, well, almost everyone else has. But last night I watched Jim Sherraden of Hatch Show Print present the shop’s work and history and I’m so inspired I can’t resist.

Hatch is the longest running letterpress studio in the U.S., operating continuously for well over a century. Jim has been instrumental in not only keeping the shop running through the hard times (also known as the ’80s) but preserving its historical accuracy. He doesn’t allow any new wood fonts into the shop, believing the Hatch brothers (founders, originally from Wisconsin!) carefully curated the collection to work well together; and by only allowing new artwork that’s been hand carved—no digitally-created photo-polymer cuts.

Hatch does, as you can see, regularly employ the magnificent collection of historical printing plates, adhering to a theory they call “Preservation by Production”—or the belief that vintage wood cuts and fonts fare better with regular use. I would rather see these artists create beautiful work than gaze at plates behind glass any day. They have a cut of nearly every famous artist that ever played Nashville, as well as some of the earliest printing plates in the states—and they’re still printing all of it. I’m thinking of planning a trip to Tennessee just to visit Hatch!