Paisley Dog Press-It’s A Good Thing

Martha Stewart is a good thing! Etsy is a good thing! Paisley Dog Press is a good thing! On April 26th Martha Stewart hosted an Etsy inspired show. The show was all about Etsy and its sellers.  It included  interviews with Etsy’s vice president of marketing, Matt Stinchcomb & Etsy’s merchandising specialist Emily Bidwell, an all-Etsy fashion show (with handmade, vintage, kid and pet items) and two crafting how-tos by Etsy sellers. You can check out the show and the Etsy sellers on the Martha Stewart website.

Our own Janelle Paisley was there to represent Paisley Dog Press with a limited addition letterpress print in lemon yellow and ocean blue. The letterpress print is also available in hot pink and ocean blue and both can be found at our Etsy shop.

Janelle had lots to say about her Martha Stewart adventure!  I headed out bright and early to meet up with fellow Etsy sellers and my partners-in-crime for the day, Kim & Chris, from the wildly popular Rogue Theory. My favorite part of the day was seeing all of the behind the scenes action. It is an amazing production, with hundreds of people, cameras, sets, and all of this while the poor folks at Martha Stewart tried to wrangle 150 creative people with all of their handmade goods…after taping another show earlier in the day! Even with all the excitement (and trying to make sure I was smiling, keeping my hair under control in the rain, and fighting to stay warm in a dress meant for the summer weather we had been having the week before the show) I did manage to snap a few shots of all the action. All in all it was a long, but incredibly fun day and I can’t wait to see what happens next! Thanks Martha!!!

 

 

 

 

 

April Showers Bring May Prints

Looks like prints are flooding the runways and streets this spring and summer. Designers have blended a mixing pot of patterns from paisley (can’t go wrong with a paisley!) to retro to florals and splattered them all over their lines. With designers stepping up their lavish ensembles it knocks the options for print media out of the park.

Fear not! You can now bring your closet to your print media. Whether it’s with wedding invitations or an event poster, you can add a splash of paisley here and a dash of flowers there and your prints will surely capture the eye of your audience. Brighten up the usual pastel flowers with vivid pinks, greens, and oranges. Another way to go is mixing paisley with bright stripes accented by a neutral color font.

 

Our Feature In National Mag : The Bark

Dogs and letterpress, they go together like peaches and cream. At least that seems to be the case for many letterpress studios around the country.

The Bark magazine contacted us a few months back about an article they were writing on dogs and the letterpress shops they love. I guess our shop was a natural fit considering our name and logo are based around our love of our furry companions. We jumped at the chance to show off our pups (well not really pups anymore, but you get the picture). Check out this fantastic magazine and all those super cute doggies!

Pick up your copy of the November/December magazine for the full feature article – http://thebark.com/content/novdec-2011-issue-67

Happy holidays everyone!

Let The Holiday Season Begin!

Our 2011 winter line of holiday greeting cards, gift tags, and garlands are now in stock!

This year we focused on a fresh green and metallic silver color palette with designs that played with pattern and texture. We mixed modern graphic patterns with more detailed illustrations to create a line of cards for any holiday occasion.

2011 line includes: Partridge with Pears, Deer with Wood Grain background, Happy New Year Stripes, and Cross Stitch Snowflake

All designs available as sets of 6, individually, set of 6 assorted gift tags, or as a garland with 6 assorted designs.

***Now – Cyber Monday take an additional 15% OFF your entire order. Enter code WINTER2011 at checkout. ***
(offer valid 11/26/11 – 11/28/11, while supplies last)

Letterpress App for iPad

As a letterpress printer and fan of all things Mac I’ve recently found myself caught up in a heated debate about the new letterpress app for iPad. I’ve got mixed feelings about this one for sure…

The Good - I think it’s rad that this app will introduce a whole new audience to the process of letterpress printing and it is cool that you can play around with positioning the wood type on the press bed.

The Bad - This is yet another attempt to digitize and commercialize what we do for a living and put it into a pretty little package rather than truly EXPERIENCING the process. I’ve seen the app and they have spent lots of time to create a fairly nice environment of setting the type, but have left out the details of leading, kerning, not to mention actually printing.

The Soul of a Pressman (or presslady) - There’s no substitute for the feeling you get pulling that first impression of a run, or the sounds of the presses in the shop, the feeling of the paper on your fingers, and the sense of making something so beautiful that’s completely unique each and every time from these dirty, heavy, ancient beasts. Not to mention the IMPRESSION, that’s really what sets letterpress apart from other forms of printing. So just remember when you’re printing your design out of ye old inkjet that you’ve really missed the most important part, the connection that you get from doing all of these steps by hand within a community that is so passionate about this process.

From the moment you reach out to touch and feel what’s being created you make an instant connection to each other, your community, and the personal satisfaction of making things by hand. Call me a romantic, but in this era of being completely connected to digital world 24/7 it is so fulfilling to spend the day in the print shop, it gets us back to our roots of really making things again and that’s something that we can all be proud of.

The Verdict - In the end I’m glad that letterpress is gaining popularity and that users will get to dip their fingers into the world of letterpress, but to really connect with the medium your best option would be to take a workshop, contact your local letterpress printer, or visit one of the many print museums around the globe.

We would love to hear what everyone else thinks about this controversy, leave us a comment, tell us how you “really feel”