Charmed

I'm 21 weeks pregnant now and have accepted the fact that I need to take a break from using the letterpress. I can no longer reach the lever, as there is a clash between my belly and the feeder board. I've been really in tune with my body, more so than ever before. Now I listen and accept what my body tells me. Usually, it tells me to eat more bacon. And drink water. So I do. It's been working out, the baby is growing just fine. I can finally feel the baby, which really helps validate this idea that I'm not crazy, there really is something growing in there.

So, letterpress printing, historically, has been a male dominated field. That's obviously not the case nowadays but originally it was. The men were printers and the wives did the copy editing. Most old school printers will tell you things like use kerosene to clean your rollers and wash your hands with turpentine. And when they say "Ink is in my veins" they're talking about the best printer's ink -- which contained lead. And then there's the type, which is all lead.

So back to my body. Suddenly the 6 years of letterpress printing has got me wondering. What toxic home have I made for my baby? But I'm not going to dwell too much on this ... it couldn't possibly do me any good. The point is, I'm taking an indefinite break from the letterpress and focusing on other little things, like these:



They're still in the production phase, but I just wanted to share. It's because I feel charmed to have a baby in my belly. Especially considering all the wrong things I've done to my body, it's nice to be given a second chance to do things right.

We Survived Arctic Blast 2008

We really wanted something to commemorate the 2 weeks of unbelievable snow that shut our city of Portland down. And now we have it:

Sweet Little Print Trade with All Things Grow

Today, sticking out of our mail slot was a cute little brown paper package from All Things Grow. We traded some prints and I got these two lovely little woodblocks on rice paper. They will look really nice in little baby's room. Thanks, Marcy! Visit her Etsy shop here.



PS If you're a printmaker, I love trading prints. I've traded with Big Headed Robot, mLee, Yummihouse and, well, so many others.

Weird Vintage Christmas Cards!

They're ... after us.....

You've been baaaaad....

Mommy... Daddy... where are you?

I don't think there's enough going on here. I think we better add a floating pretzel and donut. That'll really drive it on home.

Portland friends - Handmade Bazaar this Sunday

They say there might be snow this weekend.
How magical - don't you want to be downtown when it's snowing?
And looking at handmade treasures? I can't think of a better weekend.

Opening tonight and through the month of December

I won't personally be there for the opening, but these ladies will, and they're available for purchase:





Also I have brand spankin new letterpress prints available. Je préfère le mots "pas trés cher" mais c'est la vie! As always there will be so many great works available. Go to Reading Frenzy for a complete list of participating artists.