Letterpress Beginner 101

OK, it has been a few weeks since I got the Kesley Excelsior Type O vintage printing press that I proudly bought off of ebay! I have to be honest though and admit that I do have thoughts of what in the world was I thinking?!!! Still, I'm intrigued by everything I have to learn in order to print anything.....even one small Christmas card for 2011! I think that is exactly what I love.....the challenge. SO.....I finally ordered the new rollers from a merchant on Etsy. The came all the way from the UK so they must be brilliant right? They were on my doorstep today when I got home. I could not wait to open them.

I'm just a little confused about all of the different ways I could go to create my christmas card. Do I just do a linocut? Or maybe a photopolymer design? I don't have any furniture for the type that I just bought. Can you just make your own furniture with wood? If I do photopolymer with boxcar press, do I still need furniture? What the hell is tympan paper? Oh, so much to learn. I'm not giving up.....NEVER!!!
I'm thinking of ordering a book or two on this subject.

Meanwhile, I decided that the first step is to clean this press! I have learned that there may be some adjustments required. From the looks of some of the screws and the roller springs, no adjustments will be made until cleaning and proper oiling is done. There is a little rust which will inhibit movement. I found some great information on Briar Press site.

Is there a Patron Saint of printers? If there is, please let me know as I will praying to him or her alot! Honestly though, this is such great fun. This weekend, I will be cleaning the press according to information I found on Briar press site. Will keep you posted. Oh, I have to tell you.....I finally figured out what year this little Kesley was made. Duh, it was right on the side as shown in the pic below.

1928! That would make Ms. Kelsey...83 years old! I think it is about time that she gets back into action don't you? Keep watching for more progress. If you have a Kelsey and you want to share information, please do! I feel like this is going to be a great adventure. I would love to talk to letterpress artists who would be willing to share information to this newbie!

Comments

About Sewing on Vinyl

The top handbag is my most recent piece of art. LOL. Sewing on "marine vinyl" is not for the weak hearted. I had to "google" every trick in the book. You need to understand some of the basics of Vinyl before you start a project. I'm telling you this because I started the project before I knew.....which is typical of all of my projects. First, let me just say that vinyl is sticky and does not like to feed forward. It sticks and refuses to move without feeding with your hand from the back side and pulling from the other hand from the inside. Plus, after much research.....I learned that you must get a teflon foot which helps to feed the material through. You can also tape your foot with scotch tape-but the teflon foot was like 3.00 and well worth it. You will also want to do some trials on some pieces of the fabric (vinyl) that you are going to use to test out the tension and stitch length. Apparently, the weight of your thread is important, and you wa...

Paper Flowers and Fabric Flowers

Well, I'm kind of in a creative funk again. I hate it when this happens! I'm so glad that next weekend I am going to Fredricksberg, TX again to the trade days. I know it will inspire me in all kinds of directions. Meanwhile, while I am trying to get my groove back........I have been making a lot of little short term projects in the paper department. I made this little posey pin from faux vintage post/letters etc papers from the scrapbooking department. I actually wore it yesterday on my jacket. Then I spotted this book on Fabric Flowers by Elizabeth Helene Searle at the fabric store and I had to get it. I used her instructions to make this first fabric flower. I want to try several of her other flowers instructions. Now, what will I do with them? Who knows? Does it really matter if I am enjoying myself? Probably everyone will get fabric or paper flowers for Christmas! Heehee Have a great day.

Poor Little Tuesday

You know, Tuesday kind of has a bad wrap. It is not the beginning of the week, not the end, not even the middle! It is kind of a bland day if we let it be. But, I want it to be fun so I am bringing back the Tuesdays Ten Tiny Things Challenge~! Yay! FUN! Several of you participated in this challenge last year and you produced the neatest photographs of your Ten Tiny Things collections. See them here on my Flickr. Let's do it again! Here is the challenge. You have until Sunday of this week (JUNE 28) to send me a link to your blog post about Ten Tiny Things . All of the pics will be posted and one of them will be randomly selected for this challenge. Whoever wins will receive a prize from me. I don't know what it will be yet. I want it to be something fun though. I will keep you posted on that. Meanwhile, I will also be thinking of my Ten Tiny Things to post. Have a Happy Tuesday and rest of the week. Now get going!

Funky Art Queen

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