Julia & Dan

My intern Julia Neises just got married recently and I thought it would be great to share her wedding invites. They turned out absolutely amazing, so proud of her :) She started planning early this year around the same time she started her apprenticeship--Julia splits her time at my shop and nextdoor which gives her a unique blend of both worlds.

All the text was set in metal, the image carved from linoleum blocks then hand-printed on the Vandercook. Definitely labor-intensive but worth all the work!

What's great about this project is that she was able to take it from concept to production and learned quite a bit during the process (i.e. what makes a design suited for letterpress, basic typography and composition, how to mix inks, trim  and prep paper, etc..). And her hard work shows. This wedding suite is classic and beautiful, you can tell she poured her heart into this one. Good work lady!

Do you know how to wax seal an envelope?

...well, let us tell you how! Ms. Camille was gracious enough to do this for me, what a sport :) We sent this how-to video to our client to help with her invite crafting. This just shows the extent of my OCD and how far I'll go to try and control a situation ;) Enjoy!

P.S. Thanks to my brother, Carlos for filming the vid! It took a while to stop the giggling but he and Cam eventually pulled it together.

Hello Camille + Bird Loves Bee Event

Camille is my other lovely intern who has been a great addition to the Olive-Route family recently. Besides helping me at the shop, she keeps very busy with other things: keeping a full-time job, freelance writing, starting her own small press, publishing her first set of art "zines," producing and curating her first art show coming up...just to name a few things on her plate. Geez, this girl is one busy bee!

Speaking of bees...Camille has been hard at work all season for her upcoming show next week titled "Bird Loves Bee" where she will release the 3 art zines she's been producing as well as showcasing some local talent in the art and music industries. To read more about this event, please visit her pages:

Birdlovesbee 
One Red Delicious Press
FB Event Invite 

Here are some photos of her recent work for the event. Hope you can make it! Your support of small business and all things crafted by hand and heart is always, always appreciated. What Camille is putting together is quite an undertaking, I'm very proud of her and wish her the best! You can purchase copies of her zines as well as the limited-edition letterpressed poster at the event.

The event is on Friday, January 21st from 8-midnight (free admission).

A writer in New York: Printing and Pressing in the Big Apple

by Camille
 
As a writer and an aspiring book artist, I had a great opportunity to participate in the Letterpress Printing & Fine Press Publishing Seminar at The Center For Book Arts in New York in November. After submitting a portfolio of my writing, I was invited, along with seven other writers, to spend a week letterpressing and printing in the Chelsea District of New York City. For five days, I had the opportunity to meet with writers from a range of diverse backgrounds--writers teaching in art programs for youth to recent graduates from some of the top MFA writing programs in the country--who shared their insights and experiences from different cultural and social perspectives.

Hello Lauren

Just wanted to write a post formally introducing Ms. Lauren Aczon. She's been an intern at my shop since the beginning of summer and came to my rescue during peak wedding season when I was in over my head with production work. She started out doing some assembly work and was up for some non-glamorous tasks at the shop--organizing samples, trimming paper, archiving, and even spray painting!

But since then, her internship evolved into something closer to an artist in residence so-to-speak but without the living in my shop part :) Lauren expressed interest in letterpress from the get go, and had some previous Vandercook experience in college which always helps. She's also a fantastic artist and after perusing through her sketchbook, I could easily see how her style of linework would translate well into letterpress. I harnessed my inner mother-hen and encouraged her to print her own work and see where it takes her...

Inspiration: Re-imagining Holiday Giving by Making Old Things New Again

by Camille
 
Every time during this time of year, I am inspired by how creative people are. Sometimes, in the hubbub of our busy lives, we are just waiting for an excuse to make things and be creative with our hands, and the holiday season seems to make that possible. Since we are at a time when saving and reusing is very important, I though I would share some inspiration from artists/crafters that really take the art of 're-imagining' to a new level. Something old can really be something new again in the eyes of a designer who sees beyond a piece's functionality and makes it part of something that crosses the line of what it was originally designed for. The best seem to find ways to make something 'useless' into something timeless. I wanted to share some designs that I found especially inspiring for the holiday season; the pieces I found I feel are aesthetically pleasing, charming, and in some cases, really functional as well.

I admit, terrarium fever is running rampant, and I wasn't spared the sickness. I love love love how the possibilities are endless with terrariums. This is a cool little terrarium design by a local SF blogger, Ann of The Hipster Home: the terrarrium in a lightbulb. Here an old lightbulb houses a little bit of life and light again. Terrariums are great gifts because they are all kinds of pretty, they are living but don't require a lot of work to keep them alive, and they make great gifts and centerpieces for the holidays. Also, with a bit of ribbon or string they would make great holiday ornaments, too!

Charmaine & Jack Website

Over the summer I posted about an Italy wedding that I'll be working on for the next few months. I already made the Save the Dates which were sent out this month--the wedding is in July of next year. My client Charmaine loved the save the dates and asked if I can design their wedding website and give it the same look.



























Here's a little look into the process...

Off the Press: Ragazza poster

This post is brought to you by the newest addition to the Olive-Route family, Camille, who will be a regular on this blog. I thought I'd mix things up a bit and bring in a new voice, new perspective on the shop. Enjoy!

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On the first day of my apprenticeship at Olive-Route, I had the lucky chance of working on a project that Via was commissioned to do for the opening of Ragazza, the sister restaurant to the already established Gialina. The new pizzeria, which opens this week, keeps with the traditional family-oriented decor of Gialina, but this time celebrates life and youthfulness. With photographs from her youth scattered around the restaurant, chef Sharon Ardiana captures life at its most fruitful.
It is no wonder then that the poster we printed for the opening encapsulates the joy of being young and free. A little Ardiana, bright-eyed and happy!

Botanical numbers

I had a great time making these wood laser-cut table numbers for a recent wedding. I love them so much I'm considering selling them on my etsy! Will let you know as soon as that's up. In the meantime, enjoy these production photos. We ended up painting them black to create a dramatic silhouette--hard to decide which I like better...

Stephanie for Sarah & Ezra

Definitely proud to see my previous intern, Stephanie, show off her first official wedding invite design & letterpress! She worked on this for her friends' wedding during her stay here at Olive-Route which gave her the chance to see what it's like to work on something from design to production.

To see more pics, visit her blog here. And make sure to check out the rest of the work she's posted up--lots of fun letterpress inspiration!

Awesome ladies :)

Yesterday was Stephanie's last day at the shop, very sad to see her leave but also very excited about her upcoming adventures! She recently graduated from CCA's graphic design program and before venturing off into the job world she'll be in Nashville for 6 weeks interning at Hatch Show Print! She'll be playing with letters and printing some rock posters, oh how I wish I could go...

Mini-Vandercook

My intern Stephanie gave me the cutest present for my 5-year shop anniversary--a mini-paper craft Vandercook press complete with a custom lockup! How printer-geeky and amazing is this?!! LOVE IT.


































You can make your own by clicking here. Thanks Stephanie for sharing! xoxo.

Bowerbird Craft & Design

My lovely and multi-talented intern, Stephanie Laursen, along with her friend Rachel recently launched an Etsy store which you should check out. They sell hand-crafted accessories such a hair-pieces and earrings--great for everyday wear or special occasions. They can also do custom orders which is great esp. for brides looking for that stand-out accent piece to complete their look :)

You can check out their Etsy here and more updates on their blog here. Thanks!

A labor of love

This is the thesis project of Stephanie Laursen, a graphic design student from CCA who will be interning at my shop next semester :) Stephanie spent two months at my shop last summer when she was interning for my shopmate, Anjel, at that time. I've gotten to know her over the last few months and have felt somewhat invested in her education, mainly due to her dedication to the idea of keeping the handmade process as part of her continuing evolution as a designer.