Print A Little Valentine with Me!

I'm happy to say that the Printing Station is back and will be posted at the lovely SOUVENIR studios this Saturday February 13th, just in time for Valentine's Day. If you're keen on a little DIY, come into the shop between 12:30pm-3:30pm to print a little love note with pre-designed plates on the mini Showcard flatbed press. Each print is $5 and you have a choice between using one or two colours.

Swing by SOUVENIR and get your print on. There will also be fresh bouquets, baked goods, and other swell things in the shop that you can pick up for your loved ones or to keep for yourself). It'll be a good time!

for big mistakes eraser printing

A few weeks ago I was able to get my hands on one of those crazy big erasers "For Big Mistakes" and got to do some carving! It wasn't exactly type high so I just placed a piece of cardboard that was about 3mm thick and that did the trick. The eraser is just big (and small) enough that it's not daunting to work with and gives you plenty of room to ink something up that feels substantial. If you happen to have a mini Showcard press, I highly recommend using it to print with the eraser. But if you don't, I still recommend giving the carving a go and finding something heavy enough to put on top of it that will transfer an impression onto paper. Good times!

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i wanna do bad things with you art print

 

True Blood is over and I'm a little sad about it. But I think things wrapped up pretty neatly on the series finale. I couldn't help but print this baddie up for the occasion. Now available in the shop!

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letterpress signage for Cultural Hotspots project

For it's inaugural year, an initiative called Cultural Hotspots will be featuring the south area of Scarborough by celebrating culture, art and community. I was invited by craft maven Kalpna Patel to participate in her window installation project "Please Come Again" which transforms an unconventional space and brings it to life through the lost art of visual merchandising and striking displays.

 

Say Yes and Ask Questions Later

If you aren't familiar with Kalpna's work, get to know it - it's inspiring. I was both honoured and scared straight when she asked if I would create an installation. I loved the idea of this gallery of storefronts coming to an area that hasn't ever been mined for art installations before. I'm always griping about living so far out east from the downtown core where all the cool stuff happens. So the opportunity to do something that I've never done (and have always wanted to), and the chance to work with an ace in her field, and bringing some craft to an area nearby are all the reasons why I jumped in with both feet. 

 

The Big Idea

The storefront that I was assigned to isn't really a store. It's the Crossroads Business Improvement Area office. What these folks essentially do is market, promote and revitalize businesses in the area, which in this case is between Victoria Park Avenue and Warden Avenue. Kalpna came up with the concept of creatively displaying names of businesses along that strip. It was a simple and effective idea that gave both purpose and meaning to its storefront.

 

The Process

As a letterpress artist, I was excited to execute the vision. For this project, I knew I had to get type that was larger than what I owned. It's not often that I get to work on things larger than 5x7", so this was a treat. I selected various fonts with serifs and a  gothic trade and sizes between an inch and a half to 3 inches in height for visual interest. The primary press used was the Morgan Line-O-Scribe flatbed which has a bed size of 14x22". For the smaller signs, I used the Mini Showcard press. This was all very fitting because these antique machines were originally used by small shop owners to print temporary point-of-sale signs. The business names that were printed were, for the most part, selected at random. Other names, Kalpna and I just really liked the sound of regardless of the business type and its current state of operation.

 

The Community Notice Board

The BIA asked if I could help address their promotional flyers situation. Up until the installation, they would tape announcements of events to their windows for passer-bys to read. But it looked plain, scattered and a little untidy. I decided to create a notice board disguised as another piece of storefront signage. It's simply a corkboard covered in felt and "Crossroads of the Danforth" hand-painted in a fashion reminiscent of old-school signage. The board is now prominently showcased with the dual purpose of either displaying the business name or a collection of flyers neatly arranged.

 

Big Ups

This project was a hell of a lot of fun to work on. I only have big hugs and thanks to give to Kalpna for trusting me to see it through. She was a huge help in the actual installation. I brought the supplies but she brought the know-how.

My hope is that people who come upon the window stop, look, read, wonder and smile. The display will be up for a month, so if you are in the area (or even if you're not), have a look-see and please do check out the other window installations created by fellow artists. Each of them are truly unique and a sight to behold!

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wedding invitations for jon + jeannette

Bright pinks and dark greys make for a fun and sophisticated colour palette!

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first communion invitations for luna

I loved working on this first communion invitation for a little girl named Luna Fragolina. How wonderful is her name? Luna's mother requested a simple design printed in a strawberry red colour. I adore the large script cap and the tiny srawberry amidst the copy. This design is light, playful and sweet!

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tags + labels for TARO crochet

For a little over a month now, I've been hooked on crocheting.

It started with the desire to make myself a cowl. On the spur of the moment, while visiting my mom, I asked her to teach me how to crochet. She did, and the next thing I knew I was crocheting cowls for two straight weeks, probably one a day.

I'm delighted to say that I love doing it. I especially like using soft, wool-blend, thick and chunky yarn. And oh, the colours! I partly made so many cowls just to see them in so many different colours. Not only are they beautiful but they really do keep you warm. While I was knee-deep in cowl-making, the temperatures here in Toronto were unkind. Freezing rain, snow, and wind chills in the forecast made me giddy and looking forward to cowl-wearing weather!

In the midst of taking up this new-found interest, I started an Instagram account to document the goings-on of it all. And in doing that, I started to get orders for the cowls. And because of that, I decided to create a name for the work that I was making and designed and printed tags/labels to send out with the orders. It's been a whirlwind of making and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

The cowls are made to order and I'm still slowly adding more colours to line. And because of that, I'm taking the time to crochet rather than to set-up an online ordering system. For now, folks are ordering through the TARO Instagram feed and by emailing me at taromakes[at]gmail[dot]com.

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calling cards for andrew

Calling cards for Kitchener, Ontario artist Andrew McKay

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art print for Shannon

Shannon requested a single art print intended for her new husband as a wedding gift. She chose a beautiful Khalil Gibran excerpt paired with petite ornaments printed in classic black. Its size is 5 x 7" which makes for a simple desktop print. 

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bridesmaids cards for jeannette

One of my brother-in-laws is getting married next summer and I was more than happy when his fiancee asked me to print cards for her bridesmaids. Jeannette's colour of choice was pink and we decided to combine it with a bit of gold. Liners and envelopes are such a fun and easy way to incorporate another colour to the stationery. I picked out a bright pink envelope to match the ink and a beautiful soft pink and gold patterned chiyogami paper for the liners. Our families are very much looking forward to Jon and Jeannette's special day. It's going to be a beautiful wedding!

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birth announcements for alice

Laurence and Maxim contacted me from across the pond (all the way over in Belgium!) to help them create birth announcements for their little girl, Alice. We bounced around a few ideas and colour ways but ultimately decided on a very simple and elegant design. The main element of this announcement is Alice's initial which is an art deco font paired with a custom made ornament. This creates a single monogram and was printed in gold along with Alice's middle Thai name. The remainder of the text and the baby-in-the-carriage silhouette was printed in black. I am always so honoured when asked to print keepsakes for special occasions, and these announcements were no exception. Congratulations to the proud parents, Laurence and Maxim!

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anniversary party invitations for george + mary

A happy 50th wedding anniversary was celebrated over the weekend by George and Mary! A big thank you to their son, Peter, who asked me to help design and print the invitations for the special occasion. A soft grey for the text and, to mark their golden anniversary, only Pantone gold was fitting for their names. Cheers to many more anniversaries to come!

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stationery for tassie

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of working with Toronto screenwriter and producer, Tassie Cameron, on her new stationery. When we met to talk about what she was looking for I immediately clicked with her because she's just the sweetest person and she mentioned the words "simple design and typography". She's a woman after my own heart. As you can see we came up with an identity that is clean, elegant and classic. Included in the suite is a folded note, flat card, business card and return addressed envelope.

I've said it before and it's worth mentioning again...I get to collaborate with, design and print for the best clients.

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new address postcards for angela

One of my oldest and dearest friends has recently become a homeowner and I couldn't be happier for her. She asked if I could design and print her new address postcards and I didn't wait to get started. Her new space is in the historic Tip Top Tailors building which was converted from the warehouse and offices of the Toronto clothing retailer. I knew I wanted to print the building because, well, just look at it...it's an art deco beauty! I kept the signage in its signature red and used an art deco style font for the back of the postcards. Clean, neat, and simple. I think these moving announcements are the cat's meow :) 

Congratulations, Angela! Can't wait to see the place!

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linoleum block on the lino-o-scribe

Over the last couple of weeks I was able to try out my first linoleum carving with the lino-o-scribe. Before I started I was so afraid that it wasn't going to work for some reason. But I gathered up my materials anyway and hoped for the best. I got some really helpful hints from Kinga, who also owns a Morgan Line-O-Scribe, on which type of linoleum she uses and how to set it up in the bed so that it's about type-high.

My first step was to decide on the size of linoleum I wanted. That was the easy part. Because the press bed is 14x22", I wanted to go as big as I could. The largest block I could find at my local art supplies store was 12x18" which was perfect because I sourced some cardstock at the same size. 

Next was trying to figure out what design I wanted to see printed. But I also had to think about 1.) what I could easily carve out and 2.) something that wouldn't take me too long do. I decided on hand-drawing a series of narrow hexagon shapes with various widths of lines on the inside of each. This was a good first-time design because there was just enough carving that I didn't get tired of doing it and that I got to use a couple of the carving blades. All of the straight lines made the carving go nice and smoothly too! Also, there's a nice balance between the negative and positive space. I wanted to carve as little of the lino off to make the best use of it's size. By keeping the design large, I was also able to see if there were any problematic, low or weak spots with the press and ink rollers.

After finally getting the lino to the height that the ink rollers could make contact with it, I was ready to test the block out. I was happily surprised with the result but as expected, I had some more carving to do at the top and bottom edges of the negative space to have it completely free of an impression.

As you can see in the photos of the prints, there is some variation with the ink coverage. I actually don't mind that. This design would look very different if the colour was completely solid throughout.

All in all, I am very happy with my first experiment with the line-o-scribe and a lino block. The press is in fantastic condition as are the rollers. I see myself doing many more of these lino carvings!

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