We recently worked with The Lab Creative — new neighbors of ours here in the Delavan Center — to create custom letterpress coasters for a recent building-wide open studio event. The team at The Lab created a cool video showing their entire process, including the coasters being printed on one of our Heidelberg Windmills. Take a look!
This mesmerizing stack is what was left over after diecutting square coasters. What a splendid pattern leading into a dark infinite middle!
(looking for our favorite letterpress cards for valentine’s day? Check that out here!)
Need holiday gift ideas for the letterpress fanatic in your life? We’ve put together a list of our favorite gifts for this holiday season—we found some amazing letterpress pieces online, along with some great books and handy supplies that any printer would love to receive.
1. Boxcar Press apron: A heavy duty printing apron with deep roomy pockets, made right here in Syracuse, New York. $16
2. 9SpotMonk letterpress placemats: 10 by 15 inch placemats, letterpress printed on 100% Recycled Kraft Paper, and packaged in a sealed, clear cello bag with 3 non-toxic crayons. $14 for a set of 24.
3. Studio on Fire calendar: Positive Apocalypse Edition. $30
4. Gutenberg Printing Press: A miniature Gutenberg Printing Press. $37.39
5. Wood type: The bold Preissig design is offered as a woodtype font – prices range from $22 – $470.25
6. Johann Gutenberg and the Amazing Printing Press: This book focuses on Johann Gutenberg as an innovator who developed a way of casting metal type, a linseed-based ink, and a press to allow the transfer of inked letters to paper. Great for ages 5 & up. $16
7. Pantone iPhone case: Available in 9 colors. $36
8. Rubber based ink: Rubber-based inks are our ink of choice for general letterpress printing. Choose from a variety of colors (prices vary). Oil-based inks, acrylic inks, metallic inks and other supplies also available. $31.20
9. Glow in the dark posters: Goodmorning, goodnight glow in the dark prints by Dolce Press. $45
10. Vandercook Press book: A new, essential Vandercook reference book by Paul Moxon based on his “Vandercook Maintenance” workshop with notes on significant models and competing presses. $55
11. The Cloudy Collection: Monster Parade:A four-color, 8″x10″ letterpress print created exclusively for the Cloudy Collection. The print comes in a custom folder that features metallic silver printing on black paper. $75
12. Boxcar Press t-shirts: Choose from the Vandercook Universal III; the Chandler & Price Craftsman 12 x 18; the Heidelberg Platen 13 x 18; and the baby Sigwalt 5 x 8. Made in the USA! View them all here. $16
13. Letterpress Woodland Creature clocks: This bird clock was letterpress printed by the Sesame Letterpress Shop. $30
14. LetterMPress App: Experience the craft of letterpress on your iPad or Mac. $9.99
15. Roller setting gauge: This handy tool will help you accurately measure the height of your rollers so your press can produce the crispest printing. $22
16. Mark Twain’s Book of Animals: Twenty-five impressions of each of the thirty-one prints Barry Moser designed, drew, and engraved for Mark Twain’s Book of Animals have been printed on an archival sheet from the Zerkall Paper Mill in Hurtgenwald-Zerkall, Germany. $3,500
17. Letterpress holiday coasters: Printed by Paisley Tree Press. $10 for a set of 8
18. The History of Printmaking: A highly interactive tour of the history of printmaking covers Sumerian cuneiform, the innovations of typographer Frederic Goudy, the works of Rembrandt and Henri de Toulouse-Latrec, and comic books. $13.77
19. Dead Feminists Broadside: On a Mission: A 10×18 broadside, printed by hand on an antique Vandercook Universal One press. Each piece is printed on archival, 100% rag (cotton) paper, and individually signed and numbered by both artists. $35
20. Gutenberg Printing Press pencil sharpener: A detailed, cast metal miniature model of the Gutenberg Printing Press, complete with moving parts, is also a pencil sharpener! $6.95
21. Letter from Santa: We love great type and letterpress, but man, seeing real live amazing gorgeous calligraphy gives us the chills. This is a hand-calligraphed, personalized letter from Santa (if Santa was a really talented calligrapher) $15
22. Hamilton Wood Type: A History in Headlines: A 65 page book outlining the history of the Hamilton Wood Type Company and the importance of wood type to the growth of printing world-wide. $20
We’re diggin’ these coasters we recently printed for the shop – check ’em out!
Today we had the pleasure of welcoming Byrd & Bleecker to our very own printshop! They were treated to a premium tour by Cathy and surprise gift coasters to be letterpress printed and diecut right before their eyes. We all share the letterpress love! Here is a picture of the die about to make contact with the printed sheet and deliver the piece cut out. What a fun time showing these fine folks around.
by Carrie Valenzuela, letterpress printer. 2:11 p.m.
Ah, nothing as pretty as letterpress coasters in sunlight, even if the beautiful room where we’ve been doing our photography was about 110 degrees! The only thing about letterpress coasters: they seem too pretty to use, don’t they? But then again, functional pretty things are good. Designed by Don Kilpatrick III.