It’s been too long. I need to get organized and start printing again. I’ve had one excuse after another of why I’m not printing more. Some excuses are valid, some are just based on being lazy, but all add up to things getting piled up on or around the press. Then the reality is that I have a lot of work to do before I can think about putting ink on the press.
Sometimes I need a boost to initiate changes. This time the thing that helped me was the Bay Area Printer’s Fair and Wayzgoose. I needed to replenish my ink supply. The last time I even had an “inkling” of printing something I did have the color I needed.
I knew to bring my wallet. I was pretty sure that I could find some things needed to get me moving in the right direction. I was sure “Ink in Tubes” would be at the event, and I was correct. Check one thing off my list! The main thing I wanted was all the colors needed to custom mix pantone colors.
The second thing was to look for foundry type. For me that meant a visit to Skyline Type Foundry’s booth. It’s like being a kid in a candy store, what flavor do I want today. I kept adding thinking that I want it all! I must set my limits. Two things I did purchase were some a casting of “Collection No. 66” an elegant ornamental frame element. Plus, I picked up some 48pt. Spire type face. All the while I heard a voice, it said to me, “Now can you print me a Thank You Card.” The voice wasn’t a whisper in my mind; it came from Anita who was standing right next to me. She has been wanting a card for a while, and I knew it was time to deliver.
I wasn’t yet ready to fire up the C&P 10 x 15 press. Thus, I figured I could do a simple one color, short run on the showcard press. I only need about twenty-five cards, a proof press would be perfect. This was sort of a “Proof of Concept.” The idea was to print one-color, in this case black, and then tint each card in a flow water-color paint.
