Letterpress Class - Studio on the Square

i am deeply deeply in love with letterpress work, it has a very unique and different look from the printed ones. cuz i am so obsessed with it, i decided to take a class in nyc. and this is what i found - studio on the square.
the class is very small, so the instructor told us that we could work on whatever project we liked. i decided to start with something simple - my name and my email address pressed on a note card.


"lecture hall", more like a working area with sample work from students




monster press!




old school press, from 1860




closer look of the press (i had butterflies in my tummy standing so close to a monster press for the very first time)




woooo, see all the different fonts and sizes? the dark color drawers are metal types, and the lighter drawers are wood type




all these bars are press furnitures, they are used to keep the types in place during the printing process




above the press furnitures are different colors of ink for the press




woooo, setting type for the very first time! bodoni 18 :)




this is the little setting tool for the types, i already forgot the name of it, BAD STUDENT!




wooohoooo, my types are the smaller silver looking one on the right, it's all locked in place and ready to be pressed!




me at the press, looking silly




final product, pretty huh?

Jeweled Cocktail Menu

this project is to create a signature cocktail menu, to add more color and cut cost, i suggested to make half of the menu in a stardream gold cardstock (70% less), and half in yellow pearlized vine scored paper.


here is the gold stardream cardstock, the menu is printed on 5" x 5" cream cardstock. gold stardream cardstock menu is very straight forward, just cut and glue.




this is the yellow pearlized vine scored paper, it has a luxurious texture the bride adores, but more work is required




start with cutting a 5" x 5" cardstock to be wrapped by the pearlized paper. i layer 3 cardstock cuz i wanted the menu to be VERY thick, almost 1/16" thick, it will bring out the texture of the paper even more and stand up to the expected spills at the bar




corners are cut at an angle for a cleaner look when wrapped




all corners are trimmed




wanted a clean sharp line when the card is wrapped, so rather than fold the edges toward the center of the card...




i push it down... i find pushing it better than folding it, cuz i can never fold as close to the edge of the card as pushing it down could. plus, pushing it creates a cleaner line rather than folding.




book binding glue is ideal here, cuz book binding glue has less moisture, therefore the paper doesnt get wrinkly. KEY: LESS IS MORE




fold the flap and smooth it out, make sure all surface of the flap adhere to the card. no air bubbles, please




okay, very neatly wrapped, no wrinkles, no air bubbles




woooo, ready to be blinged out!




a little dab of glue to keep the jewel in place. KEY AGAIN: LESS IS MORE




tweezer is a useful tool to pick up those little pink jewels, my nails do not want to participate in this event




one pink jewel on each side, a little of color goes a long way




woohoo, gold stardream signature cocktail menu, how you like that?




yellow pearlized vine scored version of the cocktail menu, a little fancier

Photo Book

start with a 10" x 8" museum board and cover it by 11" x 9" gator skin embossed paper. in order to wrap it neatly, corners are cut at an angle




to create a flap to hold the photobook post (post will hold all the loose pages together), strips of cardstock get 2 holes punched




then layered to create thickness.




glue is applied thinnly but evenly




need 2 flaps, 1 to hold the post, another one to cover it for a seamless look




wrap and glue the gator skin embossed paper tightly around the base board




to ensure the flops fold nicely, the groove to be folded is scored




neatly glued and scored, it will fold nicely over the post :)




use the crazy hole puncher (that makes gun shot like sound that led to complaints from neighbors...) to punch holes for the post.




notice only one flap has holes? cuz the posts will go thru only one of the flaps, the other flap is to cover the post, therefore no holes needed.




the flap is done!




repeat all above steps, then you get 2 of them! front and back





final touch, a little black sheep, my personal favorite :)




here is the end product, not bad huh?

Julia

woohoo, the story of a beautiful invitation starts from here!




letterpressed invites neatly wrapped when delivered to me




5.75" x 23" will turn into an accordion with 4 panels of 5.75" x 5.75". O rite! time to get to work!




first find the center of the paper. dont want to simply rely on the the ruler on the scoring board cuz the grooves would take up some length. if simply score down where 11.5"" mark is, half of the panels would be a little smaller than the other half when folded.




align the center of the paper against a groove and score a line




then fold into half, make sure the fold is centered.




then repeat the same steps to create 4 panels




yippie! accordion :)



marking where to cut in order to insert the map into the invite and make an "almost" seamless look




cutting the slit on my magic self-heal cutting mat :)




you see the pretty looking slit? it will be just right to fit the map and keep it snug




time to put the covers on this baby



here comes the tricky part... steady hands are needed! cuz at this point, the glue on the back of the invite has become very sticky... if you lay down on the less desired spot... SORRY!
with that being said, carefully apply the invitation to its cover, making sure the boarder is even all around.




apply glue evenly, notice where my thumb is at has no glue but only a thin strip of it on the bottom? cuz that shall be glue-free for the map to be inserted and removed freely but still sealed on the bottom so the map doesnt go all the way thru when inserted




to be 100% sure that the front and the back cover would produce a "book" look, instead of taking the other end of the invitation and lay it down with an even all around boarder like previously, i simply stack them together...




like this... it is more important to me to have an even looking cover than a perfect inside but slighty off covers. FIRST IMPRESSION COUNTS! it's hard to be 100% percise when it is handmade, that is the beauty of it!




then i open it to smooth out both covers, to avoid any unwanted air bubbles




thn carefully insert the map into the designated slot




ready to put the final touch on the invite: skinny smooth cream ribbon. when you have a backdrop as intricate as the pattern embossed here and the delicate pearlized yellow, less is more.




tight a snug but flat knot for a simple elegance look




trim the ends for a clean finish!




here we are :)