for today's mommy mondays post, i have to tell you a secret. ssshhh... lean in... come closer... now a little closer... yet even closer. ok. here it is... MY SISTER IS AWESOME! really. she is a super mom, a super wife, super creative, and super fabulous... and best of all, she will be providing penelope's press with her awesome artwork! she likes to call herself my "ancillary staff" {a term used in the hospital setting}, but i like to call her my "freelance illustrator" {it sounds way better}. several penelope's press products that will incorporate designs will be hand drawn illustrations that will be scanned, uploaded to the computer, turned into vector line art, manipulated, made into plates, and pressed, one by one, by a vintage printing press.
when i first started to dabble in letterpress, my sister was intrigued by the "oldness" of letterpress and thought it would be nice to, "have a piece of american history". she thought it would be nice to have a hobby press for personal cards and stationery. which leads me to my excursion yesterday...
i packed the kids and the husband in the suv, loaded the vehicle with food, snacks, drinks, toys and movies, and drove, drove, drove to a nice gentleman's home in rural illinois. there, i bought two different sizes of this...
old and rusty... but was filled with this...
and this...
and you guessed it, more of this...
score! drawers and drawers of fabulous vintage type in different sizes and faces. also thrown in the mix was some random wood type, cuts, borders, dingbats, and decorative initial caps. oh type, how i love thee!
i also landed this...
a foot treadle for my newly acquired 8x12 chandler & price. i also picked up several cans of ink and a few extra chases for my craftsmen superior.
when i thought everything was said and done, my eyes fell on something. underneath cobwebs, an enormous amount of dead ladybugs, and junk, i saw this...
super cute and the perfect size for my sister! so when this press, {i've named her quinn} is all cleaned up and rust free, she'll be going to a good home!