introducing: Prospector Artisan Workshops

If you have been a reader here for much time at all, you know I have a deep seated passion about using creativity.  I also have something inside me that pushes me to share this with others. 

I have been working on an idea now for some time. I wanted to put together some classes to introduce people to different mediums. I wanted to get people using their hands. Making things.  I wanted to inspire creativity.

Thus, Prospector Artisan Workshops was born. Why Prospector? Because finding what you really love, what makes you giddy and excited about life, sometimes takes a little exploration.  Sometimes you have to chip away for a while before you find gold. My goal is to make the chipping a whole lot of fun.

I am nervous and excited and more than anything, proud of the workshops we have to offer. They are diverse and relevant and most of all they are super great projects.  We will have four classes: letterpress, silversmithing, silk screening and pop art panels.

I hope you will consider joining me and the other Prospector teachers for a weekend of old school, hands-on arts and crafts.

Go here to register. Space is limited.

is it just me?

Okay. Seriously. Is it just me or do these birth announcements boggle your mind and make your heart race?

What is it about letterpress that makes me weak in the knees?

   by Ty Mattson

I think I feel about letterpress the way some people feel about nicotine. Totally addicted.

Which leads me to the actual reason for this post. No, I haven't taken up smoking. How gross of you to think such a thing.

I have a little announcement to make. And no I'm not pregnant. Ew! How gross of you to think that. My word, will you stop it already?

The announcement is this: We bought a letterpress. Our very own. It's traveling from Cincinnati even as I write.

That fact, the mere idea, of having my own letterpress, makes me feel like the shiz.

Today you can find me strutting my plume, feeling all artsy and crap and cleaning out the car. There are like a billion Cheerios mashed into the carpet.

the happiest place on earth

When you are eight, the happiest place on earth is a place where one might find a castle smack dab in the middle of a fantasy land with princesses strolling around, waiting to take their photo with you, and pink cotton candy sold on every corner.

And a daddy to pay for it all. Every whim.

When you are thirty-six, and sick to damn death of princesses or anything with a high voice or robotic or sticky or crowded or overpriced, the happiest place on earth is a warehouse in the middle of industrial Los Angeles, with stinky chemicals, old machines and no children.

And a Sugar Daddy to pay for it all.

Tis true.

Sugar Daddy and I went on a date. An all day date which is a luxury we decided to build into our life once a month because well, to be honest, sometimes having three kids makes us want to gouge our eyes out with hot pokers and if we can just have a day a month to regroup and focus on each other we think we can make it. And when I say "make it", I mean raise three kids to be great people without becoming nasty bitter people ourselves.

We took a letter press class at Lala Press. The classes are run by Mable, who doesn't really seem like a Mable at all in person. She is actually young and petit and gorgeous and Korean.  But I do love the name. It was my great-grandmothers.

And I love Mable. She was such an easy going, low key kind of a girl. She seemed so small operating her old printing presses.  Like a elf.

Lala Press offers several different classes. You can make anything from wedding invitations to Christmas cards. If you live in the Southern California area, I think you should book a class. Like right now.

Sugar Daddy and I made business cards.

We started by mixing our own ink and let me just tell you, Pantone books make me light headed. I must procure one pronto schmonto.

I'm not exaggerating when I say it may have been one of the funnest days of my life.

After the class we left with two hundred business cards in hand, soaked in sweat and feverish to buy our own press. We plotted out our plan over Thai food.

I guess now that we had our fun we owe the kids a day at Disney.

Aye yi yi. Bring on the cotton candy.

late, but oh so magnificent

I'm a paper person. Seriously. There's a name for my condition. It's papyrophilia. Just one of my many neuroses.

I revel in beautiful handmade linen papers and Japanese oragami paper. I'll buy a book even if I don't want to read it if it has beautiful end papers.

It's really quite out of control. But what is there to do? I'm too tired these days for any self introspection anyway.

So needless to say, I take announcements and invitations very seriously.

It took forever to finally get Henry's birth announcement finished, but here it is.

I think they turned out magnificent.

Photographer Siobhan Ridgway

Taken using a Mamiya Twin Lens on black and white.

Letterpress onto 220 lb. 100% cotton paper by Page Stationary

And now, a word about the photographer.

And when I say photographer, I mean it in the truest sense.

Bear with me here. I'm going to express an opinion. Scary, I know. What comments will I get? The opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the population at large.

Having said that, I want to say this: Let's call a spade a spade shall we? I mean, it seems that there are a kabillion people running around these days calling themselves "photographers". To that I say, ummmmm. Sorry but no.

I get compliments on the photos I post here on my blog and to my Flickr page. And when I get those compliments, I feel inclined to tell whomever is the complimentor, that I am not a gifted photographer, just a girl who has a good eye for composition and knows how to use Photoshop and I think this is true of most people taking photos today.

Digital cameras have become so incredibly good, they are almost fail safe. And what the camera dosen't take care of, Photoshop can.

And then there are little gems like Siobhan Ridgway.  Siobhan took the photo of Henry with an old camera she most likely bought on ebay or found at an estate sale. She came to my house and found a room with the kind of lighting she wanted and she took a few shots. Not five hundred. Remember, this is old school. She used specialized square format film that she loaded one exposure at a time.

Siobhan shooting Henry (These photos are totally Photoshopped)

She did not use Photoshop or even crop. What you see is all her.

Think about it. When was the last time you saw a photo that was totally untouched?

When I meet Siobhan I was a little intimidated. First of all, she's beautiful. A natural kind of beauty. She used to live in New York and shoot for fashion magazines. She showed me her portfolio which included some tintypes she had shot last Summer.

That night I dreamt about them. No joke.

They take my breath away.

A computer screen doesn't do these justice. It doesn't allow for the shiny nature of the tin or the weight of each photo when you hold it in your hand.

Siobhan lives in Southern California. You can see her tintypes in person at the Del Mar Fair or by appointment. You can see more of her work on her website, Siobhan Photography.

paperedtogether- "favorite thing" #6

Remember a few posts ago when I was rambling on, as I tend to do, about quality Christmas cards and how they are hard to find? Well, all I had to do was click through my Etsy favorites to find exactly what I was looking for. Paperedtogether products give me the same rush of endorphins that I get when I eat really good chocolate.

Letterpress is a 500 year old relief printing technique, in which a raised, inked image meets paper with enough pressure to produce a print. Letterpress offers a tactile and nostalgic feel that cannot be achieved with any other printing technique. When combined with soft printmaking papers, letterpress printing conveys a beauty and elegance that is simply luxurious. -Krista Stout

Paperedtogether is a small Minneapolis letterpress shop owned and operated by, Krista Stout. Here are her thoughts on her work:

I love the slow, mindful art of creating each design, mixing inks, preparing the press, and hand-printing each card one at a time. my designs are inspired by timeless, simple vintage images & enlivened by modern colors.

I'm guessing that most of you haven't purchased your cards yet. I find that most people procrastinate even more than I do, so I think it is fair to say that chances are, you are still shopping for the perfect set. Well, look no further. Click on over to the Paperedtogether shop and poke around a bit.

Also, for your enjoyment, Ms. Stout has offered up, an exciting opportunity to win one of her 2009 letterpress calendars. Come one, come all. Leave a comment and be in the drawing on Dec. 15th! It retails for $35. You lucky readers, you.