etsy shop update: detour
Posted by debbie lee on
easter is in two days and in my imagination, the birds would be chirping, the sun shining, the weather warm, and my little online shop would be open for business with luscious letterpress goodies for the taking. that is not happening. instead, this is what is happening... 3 wedding invitation suites, 2 bridal shower invitations, and 1 first birthday party invites, but that is just as lovely as well... so my little etsy shop grand opening shall have to wait, but good things happen to those who wait. stay tuned for more shop updates!
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workday wednesdays: envelopes
Posted by debbie lee on
yesterday the doorbell rang. it was the man in the brown suit. the ups man, that is. i got excited. is it sad that envelopes, paper, and such excite me? my order of envelopes from waste not paper, the wholesale division of paper source arrived and i couldn't be more exicted. and what's even more exciting, the envelopes are from recycled material. go paper source, go green... way to save the earth a little at a time! i need to crank these greeting cards and stationery sets out and get my etsy shop up and running. i need to get this party started. look at the colors i've chosen. pretty and pastel and perfect for the warm weather!
mommy mondays: my sister
Posted by debbie lee on
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!
feature fridays: the war of art
Posted by debbie lee on
{look, my daughter is an artist with her purple crayon all over the inside cover}
do people read books these days? like actual bound books with pages? if you're not on the net and you want to pick up a good read, buy {or check it out at your local library} steven pressfield's "The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles". a quick and fantastic read! this book was recommended to me by my younger brother, who is like a walking reference book... he is one of those people that knows a lot of random facts, quirky tidbits, and reads a TON. since the recommendation, i've read the book three times... after reading it, i get on this natural high where i feel like i can DO ANYTHING!
here is an excerpt from the book that i like...
Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance... Late at night have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn't write, a painter who doesn't paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what Resistance is.
ahhh... resistance. whatever your resistance is, i hope you battle it. have a great weekend!
workday wednesdays: pink and brown
Posted by debbie lee on
is pink and brown yesterday's orange and purple? that's ok, because that's one of my close friend's favorite color combo... she was sporting pink well before it became trendy and for her upcoming wedding, underneath her couture dress will be hot pink pumps!
here are personalized note cards for said friend and her fiance. i love the use of ampersands... don't you want to have a "+1" in your life just so you can have lovely note cards with an ampersand between your names?
