I have spent last two days at the National Stationery Show, which was a positively overwhelming event. It seemed the true die-hards were there this year, and I met a lot of great people, many who started off with a printing press and a dream. I skipped most of the big corporate booths, and focused my time on hob-knobbing with those in the cottage industries. Everyone I spoke to really seemed to love what he or she was doing. Also, I made some wonderful connections for calligraphy -- so many people had very nice things to say about the booklets I handed out to everyone.
I had an excellent conversation with Trish Kinsella, owner of the
Dauphine Press. I had seen her work featured in something recently (I'm guessing it was a Martha Stewart bridal magazine); it is no secret that she is to stationery as Mercedes is to automobiles. If one were able to pick up a sample of her work, you will find she does very delicate and lovely letterpress on very thick stock. She was complimentary of my calligraphy and was very encouraging. I hope to stay in touch with her, as she is highly respected for what she does, and was such a kind person, as well. Thanks Trish!
Today I am featuring the work of The Yellow Owl Workshop -- an innovative group I met from the National Stationery Show. I had a very nice conversation with Evan, and he showed me around the booth. Much of their work was done with silkscreen, which makes for beautiful, flat colors. I tried silk screening in college, and though I love it, I must say I find it a tedious process when working with more than one color. I admire anyone who can get good registration with this method of printing.
There were also some innovative works made with blind embossing. I am surprised I have not seen more of this technique used with other vendors, but perhaps The Yellow Owl Workshop is starting the trend. I really like their do-it-yourself greeting with the LCD card. Nice work!
