Hi there!  I'm having a giveaway over on Good Measure this week and I don't want you to miss it; details are Right Here.  Good luck!

Today I got out my block printing inks and made some thank you notes to send out with packages.  I've used several different types of notes since I started my business, but have wanted to make my own for a long time. I used my hydrangea design because the color coordinates nicely with my business card, and my intention is to find small glassine envelopes to put them in.  There is plenty of room on the back to write a hand-written note.

I love that my thank you notes now bear the mark of my hands in the same way that all of my work does. 

I spent a bit of time today finishing up a drawing for a new print and sketching out a couple of other ideas to fill out a new Inklore kids collection I'm working on.  These prints are an extension of my swingset, which was one of the first prints I ever introduced.  

It's a rainy morning here, the perfect type of day for a bit of reflection.  When I started this blog, I didn't have a vision for it.  I think that's fairly easy to see if you go back to my first post.  I know I've popped in here several times over the past few months, with big ideas about where this blog is headed, only to fail to follow through, and I'm sure it's because there was still no underlying vision.  

On Good Measure, I began with a vision and then built the blog, and it's so much easier to work in that way. And so, on this rainy morning, I finally have a vision for this journal.  In this space, I will share the simple pleasures of being a printmaker.  I've come up with a few ways to follow through with this idea as you can see above, but basically, this will be a personal journal, where I share how much I enjoy what I do everyday as a printmaker.  

I spent a bit of time updating my retailers page this week.  There are a few new shops where you can find my products (and a few more in the works).  While I was working on it, I had a thought that it would be nice to interview the shop owners who carry my work, so I wanted to open this up and ask you: what would you like to know from owners of these online and brick and mortar shops?  Do you have any questions for them?

Hi there!  I'm playing a little catch-up today.  Sometimes it seems I need a whole day just to catch up on emails, paperwork, and all the other little things that are so easily put off until tomorrow.  Well, today is tomorrow for me.

I'm popping in quickly though to say thank you to:

Ill Seen Ill Said for a lovely little post about Inklore.  This is one of my favorite blog reads, so it was especially fun to see my work there.

The Design Boards for posting a little interview with me.  If you've ever wondered what I'd take with me to a desert island, now is your chance!

Not Cot for posting my new Missing Sock bucket.

I also wanted to mention that I've really been enjoying Crafting an MBA and am planning to join in the book club, reading Made to Stick.  Let me know if you're joining in too!

Hello!  I spent a busy weekend finishing up some new things for my shop.  Some of these are prints that you saw here last week that are now at home on napkins and new coasters.  I've designed all of these new linens to mix and match so that you can add to your collection over time and still be sure that everything will coordinate beautifully.

I've also designed a new print, potted succulent which I've printed on moleskin journals.  I originally designed this to be used as a garden journal, but of course it is lovely enough to use anytime.

And because I always like to add a bit of whimsy to my shop, I designed this new Missing Sock Bucket.  

This new bucket is the perfect place to store those socks that make it out of the dryer without their mates, until their mates decide to reappear.  

I'm off to enjoy a day off with my kids and husband today.  I hope you have a lovely day!

Lately I have been drawn to close up shots of succulents like this one from Holy Smokes, so I decided to create a new print that is a framed out close up of a succulent. 

I did a test print of the block in progress this morning, and I'm really happy with the way it is turning out.  The block still needs a bit of clean-up, and then I need to play with color and decide which green to use for this print.  I mixed a grey-green this morning, but succulents come in so many amazing colors, deciding on just one will be difficult.  

Finally!  Here is the final product.  I printed the new print (still to be named) on natural linen and sewed it into a napkin.  These napkins will be in my shop soon in sets of two.  Do any of you have a good name for this new print?  I'd love some suggestions!

This was a large block and while the carving of it wasn't particularly tricky, it was a bit time consuming, but it's done!  There are two ways that I could have carved this block.  I could have carved away the lines and left the large rectangular spaces, but that block would have been much heavier when printed, so I decided to carve away everything but the lines, leaving more open space in the final print....

And here is the final print!  It's always a bit nerve wracking when it's time to do a test print as you never quite know how the print will look until it is actually printed.  Sometimes I get to this point, and then don't like the final print so it never sees the light of day.  But this one, this one I like and am delighted to share with you.  I like it so much in fact that it will probably make its way onto a number a products.  I'll be back tomorrow with the first final product to show you!