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!