How well can you Kern?

My Husband sent me this little game online today. I thought it appropriate to share after the letterpress post below. Kerning on the computer is a modern convenience, when typesetting with lead type its much more involved.

Have a go at it.

Kern Me

Type. Set. Press.

   

On Saturday I was fortunate to drive to Houston for a Letterpress class at the Museum of Printing History. My friend Tania joined me both for the drive and the class. We had a blast. It was so fun! Not only did I get to spend that time with Tania, and meet the fellow Letterpress enthusiasts, but we actually went through the motions of designing, typesetting, proofing and printing.

(photos above borrowed from & property of weekendprojectgirl)

Tania and I left bright and early at 6:30am to make the 3 hour drive into Houston. We arrived about 2 and half hours later after a coffee stop and some pretty interesting sleepy-eyed conversation. Its always hard to form words, let alone complete sentences, when its still dark outside and my IV coffee drip hasn't been started. We arrived to an open but empty museum, it was a little erie. As other students and the instructor arrived Tania and I felt more at ease, knowing our 3 hour trip was not in vain. I have to admit that for a few minutes I wondered if the class was really going to happen.

(photos above borrowed from & property of weekendprojectgirl) 

Amanda, our wonderful instructor (also the curator of the museum), introduced the class with a selection of business cards that previous students of the class had created and that she had collected through the years. We each introduced ourselves and our purpose. There was an interior designer (thanks to Kelly for her pictures from weekendprojectgirl.blogspot.com), a marketing/advertising guy turned graphic designer -- due to accidentally falling more in love with typography in the ads than the ads themselves, and a married couple -- one a photographer the other an intern-architect who had fallen in love with letterpress during wedding planning (as many people do), Tania -- an intern-architect, and myself -- designer and artist.  The size of the class was a big plus, with only 6 students there was plenty of room in the workshop to move around and each have a chance to participate.

Amanda gave us a typesetting demo, using physical lead type and a composing stick. She taught us the lingo, most of which I have a cheat sheet for because I have forgotten. When she was done with her demo she let us loose to create our own "business card" design. The collection of type was incredible and I quickly just picked the first drawer I opened for my design. I didn't want to get caught up in choosing a font when I just wanted to practice the art form of typesetting. I created a card for my 22 month old daughter who loves to dance, hence the "dancer extraordinaire."

Because none of us had ever done this before it took us a little over an hour to actually compose the type for a standard business card size. Its a beautiful but labor intensive process. When we had all completed our composition, we lined them up together and locked them on the platen of the table-top press that we would use to proof. My Showcard press that I have at home is similar to this, but a smaller table-top size. We each had the opportunity to run the press once for a proof set. A few of us made some minor changes after proofing.

Amanda helped us to split them into two groups of three and lock them up together to move the set to the platen of our Kelsey table-top, and the other group's floor model Kelsey. We had the opportunity to "ink-up" the plates and rollers, set the paper guides and run a series of prints. Amanda showed us how to adjust the "packing" and adjust the pressure to achieve the perfect print every time. Of course every press is and will be different. Our group; Tania, Kelly and I, figured out how to do a double run on each sheet for the intensity of color. You should have seen our excitement after the first pull. WOW, it was incredible!

We ran out of time to cut apart the cards, so Amanda will be sending each of us our cards -- I will post pictures of those when I receive them.

Its been a dream of mine to learn this incredibly hands on art form and in turn be able to offer it to my clients. We are half way there! There is still so much to learn, but I really feel like I'm on my way to falling in love with the process. I returned from Houston gushing to my family and friends about the experience.

image: weekendprojectgirl

If you are in the Houston Area, please check out and support the museum and here is the class description if you are interested in the future:

Letterpress Business Cards

Learn the basics of setting type by hand and letterpress printing using the table-top platen press, still widely available on the market. Learn the california job case, set type, use a pica ruler and composing stick, mix ink, ink the press and print. Each student will set and print his or her own business card. We'll pull proofs, make corrections and print multiple copies; then we'll distribute type and spacing, and clean up.

Instructor: Amanda Stevenson
Level: all levels
Tuition: $90 plus $15 materials fee

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Essence of the Holidays

The Holidays are approaching quickly, contact us today for your custom holiday cards, party invitations, baby announcements, or thank you notes!

Bloom recently collaborated with Essence Photography from Redding, California on a new endeavor. We created a custom template set for holiday cards. These templates will be used by Essence Photography to offer beautiful custom photo holiday cards to her clients. Each template can be color, texture and photo customized. If you don't live in Northern California and Essence Photography isn't available to you, we hope to adjust these designs for sale on Etsy soon! Let your family photographer know that you're interested in these designs and have them contact us. Each card is designed according to Miller's Lab Professional Imaging specs. Millers Lab is only available to professional Photography businesses, but each template can be adjusted for your personal card orders as well.

Want one of these designs adjusted for you this holiday season? Just Ask! We will do what we can to help you out!

WeddingInviteLove Lookbook

We are so excited not only to be a part of the WeddingInviteLove online directory, I've gushed on here before about the greatness of the website, but we are also now included in the first ever WeddingInviteLove Lookbook (Fall 2011). You can view it online or order a copy in all of its physical paper glory! We at Bloom love the feel of real paper, but if you want to see it online here it is.

Open publication - Free publishing

Thank you to Tracy for all her hard work both with the website and the new Lookbook. We LOVE it!

Black, white and red all over, programs revisited.

LemonLime photography posted their photos of this wedding on their blog the other day, including a beautiful picture of the programs that Bloom produced. Visit their blog to see the rest.

Rex...the dog

 

Our friends recently purchased a home, so for a house warming gift I painted them a portrait of their dog, Rex. Rex is the coolest little dog ever, and is also a good friend of our family, so we felt he deserved a place of honor in their new home.

It had also been a while since I painted with oils on canvas, so this was also an opportunity to touch my brushes. I took a new approach, having never approached a dark primed canvas, I primed this canvas with  black acrylic paint. This worked really nicely and I'm not sure why I never have done it before. I look forward to the next painting opportunity.

For portraits, please contact Bloom. To see other paintings and portraits visit, www.katherineburley.com

Wrap it up!

I've always had a love for wrapping presents. When the holidays roll around, I can't wait to find wrapping paper and make them all coordinate! Making it look cute and matching various wrapping accessories is all consuming for me. We have a friend who's birthday just passed and the party is this weekend. She too I know has a love for making gifts aesthetically pretty and will appreciate this as much as I do! Custom tags available for the holidays, contact Bloom to discuss your holiday gift wrapping ideas.

As a side note, I've never been able to wear green, so why lately am I so obsessed with it?

Brilliant!

Design Mom finds the most wonderful things, and her current updates on life in France look absolutely lovely! She posted today, here, about this incredible idea. Writing on buildings with Moss?!? Check it out! What a lovely idea for a wedding.

Welcome to September

As September rolls around theres a lull around here, between wedding season and holiday season. Bloom is undergoing a marketing redesign, logo and all, and as I go through this process I've found that I have slacked on my blog reading. Today I took a few minutes to catch up with the trends an beautiful pictures I usually peruse on a daily basis. I thought I'd share with you the wonderful things I've found. Here is some eye-candy for you. Isn't that Watermelon Carving incredible? And I'm in love with the origami place cards. So creative! (click image to enlarge)

1. Netherlands Wedding, Photography by Anouschka Rokebrand Photography (StyleMePretty.com) 2. Austin Wedding by Q Weddings (StyleMePretty.com) 3. Alexandria Wedding by Amelia Johnson Photography (StyleMePretty.com) 4.Kraxberger Estate Inspiration Shoot by Emily G Photography (StyleMePretty.com) 5. Sonoma Wedding by Bliss Event Productions Photos by Carlie Statsky Photography (StyleMePretty.com) 6. A Wedding at Design Within Reach: Renee + Brett, photography by Ventola Photography (GreenWeddingShoes.com) 7. Austin Wedding by Q Weddings (StyleMePretty.com) 8. Sonoma Wedding by Bliss Event Productions Photos by Carlie Statsky Photography (StyleMePretty.com) 9. Kraxberger Estate Inspiration Shoot by Emily G Photography (StyleMePretty.com) 10. Sonoma Wedding by Bliss Event Productions Photos by Carlie Statsky Photography (StyleMePretty.com) 11. Minneapolis Library Inspiration, Photography by Jeff Loves Jessica (StyleMePretty.com) 12. Brooklyn Wedding by Karen Wise Photography (StyleMePretty.com) 13. Sonoma Wedding by Bliss Event Productions Photos by Carlie Statsky Photography (StyleMePretty.com)