Tag: printing

Coaster Roller

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

My favorite new items from the last year are my coasters! The first were save the dates for this wedding, and since the minimum order of coaster blanks was 1,000 I started playing around with existing designs and wood type. Some of my faves were the drink coasters below, currently out of stock because I pared down for the move, but I’ll print some more soon!

drink coastersThe coasters have been so popular, I’ve since ordered a couple thousand more blanks. The first design I drew specifically for a coaster was this citrus design. I love to have a variety pack on hand for summer entertaining and I think a large quantity of single-color coasters would truly be great as part of a baby or wedding shower theme! They’re available here.

citrus_coastersGame day coasters are also awesome—the ones below are exclusively available at Driftless Studio in Madison, WI.

W coastersAnd finally, most recently things came full circle for another save the date for a couple in Australia. Get in touch if you need custom coasters of your own!

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Keeping up with Bess the Press

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

Hello blog readers! I’ve been doing a bad job of keeping you up to date lately… a long post just seems intimidating these days! Please make sure you like us on facebook to stay in the loop: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bess-the-Press

A couple cool things are happening over on that other website: I tried my hand at live micro-blogging this weekend. I had a lot to print and thought it would be fun to give my followers a more real-time experience of what printing is like. Along the same line of thinking, I photographed the process and posted the pictures as well. I hope that explains a little more about the process of printing—don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions!

Among the things I made this weekend is a beautiful stationery set for a Madison woman named Masarah. She’s been a fan for more than a year now and it always nice to collaborate with someone who has an appreciation for what you do. Her cards were simple and elegant: with her name blind embossed using lead type. As always, don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’re interested in a custom piece of your own!

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.