Tag: vintage

Words with Friends

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

As you may remember, just a few weeks before I moved to Bermuda, I bought a bunch of vintage wood type from a college classmate who was closing her shop. I never even got a chance to print with it in Wisconsin, it went straight from the back of my car to the containers I was loading into my crate.

typeA_6793Within the first few months, I had proofed all the type and was offering custom stationery sets in a variety of styles along with a handful of type-based note cards, but after that I focused on my attention on my spring collection and let my wood type gather dust.

I’m happy to report that I’m rather word-focused at the moment and my collection of vintage type is getting inked up regularly. Check out the stop-motion video I made of locking up type before printing!

The “hell yeah” card and others are now available in my etsy shop. Here are a few of my faves—check them all out here!

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mazel_6967 bestMOMever_6592 bestDADever_6796Oh hi! You made it all the way to the end of the post! For that you get a little sneak peek of something else I’ve been working on… more to come :) Thanks for reading!

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New Personal Stationery

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

I have an uncle that’s really into antiques—when they built their house, they incorporated display space for a well-curated collection of old signage, vintage machines, furniture and more. So it was no surprise when he sent me a link to an awesome Craigslist find: a complete 18-point lead font for $40.

Andrew_5115Needless to say, I scooped it up right away and it has become an essential component in my studio as it mixes in so well with my larger type. It’s also the perfect size for stationery featuring a full name instead of just a few initials. And because it’s lead type, it can be printed with a very deep impression into the paper—it’s really incredible in person! You can order the new stationery here, or just send me a message! Enjoy!

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Debossed prints for Brain Mill Press

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ 1 Comment

Last week, I received an email about a rush letterpress job for a Wisconsin book printer. They were releasing a new publication and wanted something special for customers who pre-ordered the book.

I only had a few days to create the print, but luckily, they were flexible on the design, so I was able to use some of the vintage lead type I have in the shop, and they were very interested in the idea of a blind deboss, which means no waiting time for ink to dry. (Plus, inkless prints are a bit cheaper than regular ones, since I’m using fewer supplies and save quite a bit of time without inking and cleaning the press.) I’ve written about creating an impression before, and this design was absolutely perfect for creating a deep, sharp deboss.

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I shuffled my schedule around a little and was able to complete these in time for their newsletter last weekend! Scroll down for more about the book and to see my bio!

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Interested in a custom print for your corporate or personal life? Shoot me an email, let’s see what we can come up with!

Beer here!

~ Bess Paper Goods & Gifts ~ Leave a comment

beer_4766With all the new wood type I’ve added to my studio lately, I’ve been wanting to create more type-based prints. I started with this fairly simple beer print last week and I love it! It was a huge challenge to get it locked up in the press, but totally worth it!

It was also a huge challenge to get all the different fonts to print evenly. I wanted some paper show-through to give it a vintage feel, but some letters were so worn they didn’t print at all on the first few passes. Lots of extra packing behind the letters and some careful balancing later, voila! My new favorite print. Available in the shop—perfect to give that man in your life this season!

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Each print in the limited edition of 14 is numbered and signed by yours truly!

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