Printing – Make Your Own

Each year we create a commemorative Letterpress printed bookmark to give away to our friends and neighbors. Come see us in the make your own tent, to get yours. They’re FREE! Also, during the Fair, you can add your name to the back for only $1. Kids enjoy picking out type letters, arranging them perfectly backwards and pulling down the handle on our little table top letterpress to print their name on the back of the bookmarks. I love to see the amazement on those little faces when they see their name appear, upon opening up the press. Even 1 and 2 year olds can recognize their own name 🙂
This year’s bookmark design features Baskets, because we just opened the new basket shop this year.
We’ll be printing these bookmarks in 2 stages. The background will be a tone on tone. The imprint being a shade darker than the paper. Then, the second layer, (the text and image), will be dark brown. We’re planning to use 3 or 4 colors of paper; Pale Pink, Minty Green, Light Blue, and Cream.
We’ve started with the Pink. We’ll need to alter one of the printing plates to ensure that the second color registers properly. So we had to suspend the operation temporarily. Here’s a picture of the press covered in wonderful pink ink. Below, you can see a bookmark with the first color already applied. It shows a basket weave pattern. I’ll try to post another picture when we add the 2nd color…