Grey Moggie Press

Eat Street Font

The Eat Street Team combines two of my favorite things: Food and letters. I found this video on Serious Eats; you can download the font here.

Greening it up with packaging!

I buy and use a lot of pretty paper. See here, here, here, and lots of other places.  I also buy a lot of books. See here. I print out lots of articles because I can't edit on a computer screen and I really like red pens. That's a lot of trees! So there are a few things I try to do to limit my paper consumption. I try to make cards of a size so that I use as much of a sheet of paper as possible. When there is a good sized strip left, I save it for making a bookmark. Since I have a lot of books, bookmarks come in handy. And if I have leftover paper that's not quite big enough for a bookmark, perhaps it will make a good gift tag, or mini-note, so I keep that, too. I save even smaller pieces of paper because sometimes they inspire me to start a new project. I also have a whole bag full of the tiniest scraps that I've saved in the hopes of using them to make more paper. 

I always save the brown paper packing material that is stuffed into the cardboard boxes full of (more) books delivered to my door each semester. I reuse it as packing material, but also in many other ways. It's great for making envelopes. You can stamp them, or use pretty labels to personalize them. Have you ever gotten a letter sent in a handmade envelope? I think they're so fun! And with a bit of baker's twine, you can make the prettiest little gift packages.
 
Maybe I'm being environmentally aware, or possibly just thrifty. Maybe I have a secret (not so secret?) hoarding problem, or maybe I'm just creating a fire hazard in my apartment by keeping all those paper scraps lying around. The fire marshall will never get me to give up my brown paper packaging, though!

The Real Grey Moggie

...lounging with her friends Julia, Mr. Pumpkin, and Mrs. Squash early in the morning.

Friday Favorites

Here are a few things I'm enjoying lately:

My baby envelope template from Paper Source. Baby envelopes are the perfect size for little notes and gift tags. Last spring I bought a bunch of 6"x6" paper on Etsy. I got the paper for super cheap and a lot of it is gorgeous. I was able to use some of it in mini-books, but there are only so many mini-book pages one girl can make.  As it turns out, a baby envelope kit is super useful for someone with many 6x6 sheets of paper.

One Thing Notes. These sticky notes are from Pretty Bitter. I use them to mark the last page of my reading assignments for school. While I'm reading, I like to pretend I only have one thing to do that day. Also, it's nice to read something that makes me smile or laugh, instead of making me want to pull out my hair. I had been planning to post about them here today, but I saw them on Design for Mankind yesterday.

Regina Spektor. Maybe I'm a little slow to this, but I just discovered Regina Spektor's song Samson. Ok, so I didn't discover it. It was in my iTunes because a friend of mine included it on her mix cd birthday present to me. In January. And I loved the mix, so I must have loved the song back then. A few days ago I was listening to one of those "genius" playlists iTunes puts together (this one was for Tegan and Sarah's Call It Off) and Samson started playing. Since then, it's play count has increased by about 100. awesome. What you're seeing in the photo is the line "you are my sweetest downfall," from the song. It's part of a mini-book I update whenever I'm inspired by a song or its lyrics. Call It Off got its own page in the book, too.

October Mosh Posh Kit: It has that sweet butterfly chipboard book. I have no idea what to do with it, but I'm sure I'll figure somehthing out. And it has butterfly patterned paper. Those cursive alphabet stickers I used in my mini-book are also from the same kit.  Most importantly, I love those two sheets of patterned paper from 29th Street Market. When I saw this calendar on Etsy, I thought about asking what paper was used for the background and wondered if it was hand printed. Later that day, I came home to the new Mosh Posh kit and saw the same paper inside.

Take Out Photo. Maybe you've noticed the new Grey Moggie banner (look up!). And the cool little photo grid in this post (and also in this one). I got Photoshop Elements last spring and had heard great things about it. Sadly, I could not figure it out and never took the time to read any of the guides that came with the program. Somehow, I stumbled upon Take Out Photo and learned how to make those awesome photo grids, and to add text to photos. It's so easy; I can't believe it took me so long.

Thursday night dinner at home with Mr. Moggie. Yum.

Letterpressed Stationery

I love the idea of personalized stationery. Especially now that I'm making an effort to write letters and send cards as often as possible, I've recognized how much easier it is when you've got pretty stationery to share.  A few times since I've started letterpressing, I've been able to create lovely stationery for friends.

I made pressed these flat pink cards for my friend, Courtney. We used to live just a few blocks from each other in DC, and now we're miles and miles apart (how far is it from Arlington to Fort Lauderdale?) and that's sad. So I sent her a pile of pink stationery to let her know that I was thinking about her. 

I made these two sets for host(ess) gifts for our friends Joe & Jenny, and Sarah & JT, who are always such wonderful hosts when we visit nyc. And also, they are just great people and deserve custom Grey Moggie stationery!

Letter Writing

Just before classes started up for this semester, I set out a plan for being better at keeping up with people. I talk to my parents almost every day (what can I say, I'm an only child) and I'm pretty good about letting everyone know what's going on through email and Facebook.  Electronic correspondence just isn't the same as putting pen to paper and stamp to envelope and getting the mail carrier involved. For someone who's collected the stash of beautiful paper that I've got, it would be a tragedy not to use it.
Every week, I've been trying to get one or two cards out to friends and family who are far away.
 
The first was this funny little lobster card I made for my mom and dad shortly after our vacation in Maine with them. I had the paper and letter stickers left over from one or another scrapbook kit, and the lobster paper was acquired during one of our summer weekend trips to nyc.
 
Again, I used some paper and letter stickers left from a scrapbook kit, and cut a large flower out of some patterned paper I picked up during the same nyc trip. This card was sent to my aunt and uncle who live across the street from my parents.
 
Here are some cards I sent a few days later. I love that I had all of this stuff just lying around. It feels great to be crafty without spending any (additional) money, and to actually put all this gorgeous stuff to good use. I've really had to work through the urge to just save everything, or to wait for the "right" project. Honestly, what is better than knowing you put a smile on someone's face when they found a loving greeting amidst all the bills and bad news in her mailbox.
 
And I know people are smiling! The best part of this project has been hearing back from friends and family that they've really enjoyed the letters and cards.

If you're looking for reasons or inspiration to write more letters, check out the Letter Writers' Alliance!
 

Girls' Day Out

I've already written about my wonderful summer, but I want to hone in on one weekend in particular that was just super-fun-awesome-amazing-excellent!  We spent the Independence Day weekend in New York City visiting friends, checking out Coney Island while it still hosts Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, singing karaoke, shopping, and eating.  It was a perfect weekend.
 
There were many highlights to the weekend, but one of those highlights was getting to pose for this photo with Crazy Legs Conti. It guess it helped that my buddy, Tim, used to live with Crazy Legs many years ago, but I think he might have posed with anyone.
  
Another spectacular part of the weekend was the day spent with these lovely ladies. The beautiful Jenny hosted a day completely filled with the exploration of the best bakeries and paper stores in lower Manhattan. I could not have asked for a more perfect day. It's always refreshing to have a girls' day, and I was so inspired by everything we saw, tasted, and did that day. I tried to capture it in a card the next time I was in the studio and this is what happened:

The flower stamp on the front of the card, and the kitty stamp on the inside were both treasures found during that adventurous day.

How to Set Type

This video from Wonder How To has been floating around some other letterpress blogs. It's kind of long and pretty slow, but enjoy anyway!

Technical not-difficulties

I'm playing around with new layouts and colors for the blog. I don't really have time for that endeavor, so the dust will probably settle quite soon. I feel like this is a good opportunity to post another photo of the grey moggie.

The Real Grey Moggie...what you've all been waiting for

Now that I'm trying to post more regularly, I figured I should also get back into the habit of sharing photos of our Grey Moggie mascot.

Here she is licking her paw in the morning sun.

And here she is a few mintes later, thinking about taking a nap after a long morning of paw licking.

And here's one more, just because.

A long weekend

I don't have class on Monday! That means that I have one fewer day's worth of reading to for next week and that I have an extra day to do it this weekend. Alternately, a long weekend means more fun and less feeling guilty about it! Yesterday, I made it into the studio* for a few hours and made a PILE of goodies. I'm adding some finishing touches to it all here at home and then I'll share more photos.
 
Today, Mr. Moggie and I got to go to the farmers' market together. He suggested going when we woke up this morning and I agreed that it was a good idea. However, it takes me a little longer to get up and out the door, so there was a fair amount of toe tapping on his part while I fretted over whether to wear shorts or jeans, searched frantically for the camera, and explained to him what a nonrecourse loan entails. Eventually, we hopped on our bikes and picked up some lovely onions, honeycrisp apples (Mr. Moggie's favorite), onion cheese curds (my favorite), and some beautiful already-shelled butter beans.
I'm just adding a photo of this bike because I think it is so cool looking. Mr. Moggie got it from some friends of ours even though he already has 2 bikes because he thought it would be good for me to ride. Sadly, it's just a tad too tall for me, so now when we ride together, Mr. Moggie rides this crazy-cute red bike, and I ride his crazy-tough mountain bike.

As for the rest of the day, Mr. Moggie is baking up a storm (see him stirring up some ganache for truffles below) and I'm hoping to get out for a run. Maybe I'll be productive about homework in the afternoon. Maybe not. Then, I think we'll top off the day with a bad movie from Netflix and some red wine. Perfection.

* Interested in finding out more about what the fine folks at Pyramid Atlantic do? Check out the associates and their work during the open house this afternoon.

Gift tags

I'm swamped with homework and other things today, but I wanted to take a minute to share these letterpressed lovelies I whipped up in the shop a couple weeks ago. With the holidays just around the corner,* I'm hoping to find lots of ways to use these gift tags!

* Maybe it seems a little early to talk of the holidays being just around the corner, but by Christmas only one semester of law school and one bar exam** will stand between me and more freedom than I've known in a while. So please pardon my premature anticipation for that festive time of year. I've got a lot riding on it this year.
** Please let it be only one.

My new loves

...small type and handmade papers.
 
These are the beauties I felt so strongly about during Friday's letterpress session. I think it was my favorite letterpress project so far. I used a 12-point marjery type from the Pyramid Atlantic collection. It was stowed away in a smaller case of type I hadn't yet explored, despite the fact that I literally touch the case each time I use the Chandler & Price press in the studio.

The paper I used was part of the stash I got when I visited New York this summer and spent a day wandering through paper stores and bakeries with some lovely girlfriends. The paper is soft, thick, and a beautiful shade somewhere between blue and gray. It picked up the pressed ink beautifully. I asked a paper artist at Pyramid if she could tell what the paper was made of, since I'd love to find more of it. It's definitely cotton and she thought there was some abaca in it as well.
 
I mixed up some blue ink with a little dollop of black ink to make a dark gray. The similarity in color of the paper and the ink really helped give the finished product an organic feel.
 
I was only able to get 27 4-bar cards from the sheets of paper I had picked up in New York. Strangely, I needed to make exactly 27 invitations. I got some cream colored Lokta at Paper Source, however, and made a few extra. The Lokta also worked splendidly for this project, though it is much more delicate than the cotton paper.
 
I cannot wait to have another reason to use high quality handmade paper, and set lots and lots of type!

Awesome tunes will help you through it

Mr. Moggie and I had a spectacular summer! We got to visit NYC (our favorite place) three times. Two close friends had incredible weddings in beautiful Vermont. I got to show Mr. Moggie around another of my favorite cities: Burlington. Then we spent a weekend in Chicago for my first time in the Windy City. I spent several fun days with girlfriends in Baltimore, DC, and New York. We got back to our favorite lobster shack and spent some time with my family in Maine and Mr. Moggie's family in Virginia Beach. We celebrated wedding anniversary number two. I learned how to use the letterpress. I had a summer job I liked.

And then, all of a sudden, I was back in school. I had to leave the job because there was no time left for it. And we had to devise the New! Improved! Tighter! budget to make up for all the summer fun. At least I never got around to getting sun-kissed during the summer months, so I don't have mourn the fading tan. One thing that I can hold on to from the summer, however, is all the great music I played, downloaded (legally), danced to, and shared.

And I'm still sharing it. A couple weeks ago, I made several copies of this year's Fall in DC mix.* It is alternately titled: Summer's Over and I have to go Back to School, but it's ok because I have these Awesome Tunes. I think it might be my favorite ever mix cd. My friend, Catherine, the original recipient of Fall in DC (back in 2002) convinced the staff at her climbing gym to play the mix for everyone to hear during their Saturday night climb. The cover art is a collage I made using tidbits (still can't bring myself to say "ephemera") from the summer's adventures. I made a color copy of the 8'' x 8" collage, shrinking it down to cd case size using my awesome new printer (thanks DailyCandy!).

If you need to find me anytime between now and the end of July, I'll be in a coffee shop or the library, reading casebooks and studying for the bar, with my headphones securely in place, tapping my foot to Fall in DC 2008.

* Each September since 2002, I've been gathering up my best music finds from the previous few months, and compiling them in a mix called Fall in DC [year]. I started off sharing this annual mix with my friend, Catherine, every year and it's been a great way of keeping in touch with her as she bounces around the globe. This year I expanded the reach and shared it with a few more friends. If you use iTunes and want your own copy, most of the songs are available here. Or find them elsewhere...the playlist is below:

Death to Los Campesinos!.....Los Campesinos!
Keep Your Head...The Ting Tings
School Uniforms...The Wombats
Love Always Remains...MGMT
For the Actor...Mates of State
My Revenge...Julie Ocean
Shake It...Metro Station
Spinning Compass...Longhorne Slim
After Hours...We Are Scientists
Parentheses...The Blow
Don't Know Why (You Stay)...The Essex Green
Lady Lawyers...Oxford Collapse
You, Me and the Bourgeoisie...The Submarines
Ca Plane pour Moi...Plastic Bertrand
Hit the Heartbrakes...Black Kids
Paper Planes...M.I.A.
Lines to Follow...Secret Pop
Tales of Girls, Boys and Marsupials...The Wombats

You learn something new every day

    
What you see up there is an image of the California job case. It represents the way that letters are arranged in a drawer of type. At Pyramid Atlantic, where I rent studio time to do my letterpressing, there are many, many typefaces available in drawers laid out in just that way. It's like Christmas every time I go to the studio, discovering new typefaces, new projects, learning new techniques.

On Friday, I went to the studio to work on engagement party invitations for friends of ours.  The invitations required more text than I had previously used in one project: 11 lines! It took me about an hour and a half to set the type. I experienced an incredible feeling of pride when I pulled the first invitation off the press. Spending that much time setting type really made me feel connected to the work. Wow, I sound like a big dork! But it was amazing and I was on such a printing high when I left the studio.

Yesterday, in attempt to procrastinate reading a ridiculously long copyrights case, I researched movable type, letterpressing, and handmade paper. During my research, I stumbled upon a wonderful piece of trivia. According to wikipedia:

Prior to the adoption of the California Job Case, the capital letters were stored in a separate drawer or case that was located above the case that held the other letters; this is why capital letters are called "upper case" characters while the non-capitals are "lower case".

Doesn't that tidbit just kind of blow your mind? A little bit? Well, if that doesn't do it for you, perhaps you are more interested in what I learned when I finally got around to reading that copyrights case. Did you know that the Supreme Court thinks it's cool for Congress to extend the copyrights of already existing, in addition to future, works? It's true. Eldred v. Ashcroft, 537 US 186 (2003).