Navy Friday

"Reporting for duty"

Navy told me he was sick of everyone thinking he was in the Navy so he said he wanted to be in the Army for Halloween, to be "ironical," as he put it.

Hope you all have a great weekend and a spooky Halloween!

New Calligraphy Styles

I've been working on some new calligraphy styles. Take a look!






If you are interested in my calligraphy services, please contact me at navybeaninfo@gmail.com.

Heading off to...The Nate Berkus Show!

Today my friend Mackenzie and I are headed off to see the Nate Berkus Show. I randomly decided to try to get tickets to the show a few weeks ago, thinking it would take months to get them but luckily I got tickets right away! I'm so excited to see the show in person, especially since so many of my favorite bloggers (Mrs. Limestone, Sherry & John and Janell) have all appeared on the show. Keep an eye out, maybe you'll see us in the crowd!

Lessons in Letterpress

Yesterday I took a 6 hour course on letterpress at The Arm located in Brooklyn, NY. I've been wanting to take this class for quite some time and I'm so glad I finally signed up for it. As you know, I'm absolutely adore all things letterpress so I thought it was high time I learned more about this fascinating process. The great thing about The Arm is that once you take the class, you are able to use the studio by the hour so I'm hoping you'll start seeing my designs in letterpress form soon!

The Arm studio

We started off by learning about printing on the Vandercook Universal Press. These days most letterpress pieces are printed using photopolymer plates. That is, (in exceedingly simplified terms) you send your computer generated design to a company who turns your design into a raised "plate". You place your "plate" on the letterpress machine, roll ink over the design and "press" the paper over it to create the indented design. But the majority of this class was spent learning how to print using wood and metal type.

Vandercook Universal Press

Wood Type Set

Using the wood and metal type was absolutely fascinating to me. It's hard to imagine that back in the day all printed pieces were set by hand. Each individual letter and space is it's own block. Not only that but printers had to set everything backwards. It's so easy to take print and design for granted these days. I mean, I spend hours designing printed pieces using a computer. All I have to do is use the delete key, make a few clicks with the mouse and then press print. Imagine the time, skill and manual labor it took to print a book!

So my class partner, Caroline and I decided to re-create the "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster.
We used the wooden type, centered it with "furniture" blocks and set it on the Vandercook press.

Furniture blocks neatly ordered by size.

The finished product!

We also learned how to use the C&P Pilot press, a smaller hand operated press used for undersized printed pieces. This time we used the metal type, which if you can believe, is even more tedious than setting the wood type.

C&P Pilot

Inking the rollers.

Metal type set made out of lead.

My name and address set in a "frame" on the C&P Pilot press.

A menu set with metal type.

I had so much fun learning about the letterpress process and I'm excited to do some of my own printing very soon. If you're as captivated by typesetting and letterpress as I am, you might enjoy this video from 1947 entitled: Your Life Work Series, Printing by the Vocational Guidance Films. It's a little long but definitely worth a watch. It truly makes you appreciate the craftsmanship of old fashioned printing. I'm so happy letterpress has not become a dying art form and interest in it continues to grow. Buy something letterpressed today!

Navy Friday

Happy Friday everyone! See you on Monday!

Warby Parker Recap

A while ago, I blogged about Warby Parker, the online eyewear boutique. Well, soon after I blogged about them they contacted me and invited me to visit their new offices in NYC! (This is one of the many reasons why I love being a blogger!)



So a few months ago I swung by their new digs in Union Square. I was graciously greeted by all of the very cool employees and they directed me to the showroom area. I was able to try many of the different styles and narrowing it down to just one pair was extremely difficult!



Each pair of glasses was exactly how you would expect from the pictures online. The vintage style frames are stylish, are made of high quality materials and are extremely comfortable.

I finally ended up choosing the Colton glasses in Sandlewood Matte.

A couple of things: Warby Parker has amazing customer service. After I had placed my order, I got an email right away suggesting that I might want to go with their ultra thin lenses because of the strength of my prescription (I'm totally blind). Just the fact that they caught that and were looking out for my best interest, blew me away. Secondly, it took less than a week to get my glasses in the mail. The convenience of it is phenomenal. The only downside is that since it's an online company you have to go somewhere to get them fitted. Unfortunately the first time I tried to get them fitted I went to LensCrafters. They were pretty incompetent and didn't get the fit quite right so I had to go a second time somewhere else to get them re-fitted. But this had nothing to do with Warby's and for the price, I'll definitely take that extra step.

The Warby Parker team hard at work.

So there you have it. My experience buying Warby Parker glasses online was wonderful and I highly recommend that you try them out for yourself!

Woolly Love

This photograph makes me smile.

Woolly Love by Jacquamoe

Chevron Pillows

I want to make pink chevron pillows for our living room. Right now the living room is very neutral with creams and grays so I need to add pillows to incorporate some color.


I love this pillow cover by Rubie Green but I'm excited to tackle a new project. Plus, I think I can make several pillows for the price of this pillow cover.




I'm considering purchasing this chevron fabric which is an absolute steal at $9.99 a yard.



But I also found this great tutorial by Dana-made-it.com on how to turn regular striped fabric into a chevron pattern. I actually love that added texture that it creates.


I'll keep you posted!

Navy Friday

Navy has had the best week ever. His best friend Bella has been staying with us for the past few days and the play sessions are non-stop. Notice all the snorting and heavy breathing. Yes, frenchies are really that loud!

Have a great weekend everyone! See you Monday!

Orange Letterpress

I love these blank letterpress notecards by Orange Letterpress. They are produced in a plethora of patterns and come with bright, colorful envelopes. I also like that they come in the unique monarch size (3.625 × 7.25) instead of the usual A6 size (4.5 x 6.25). And look at that gorgeous packaging... love is in the details!

Anthology

There is a new print magazine in town... Anthology! I'm so excited to see a smart and well designed lifestyle and shelter magazine in the flesh, not that I don't love Lonny (check out their new website by the way), but sometimes it's nice to flip through glossy pages. Anthology was founded by Anh-Minh Le and Meg Mateo Ilasco (who co-authored this book) so you know it's going to be great! Check out the preview of the magazine here, and subscribe here.

Currently Lusting...

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been MIA... I took a much needed blogging break last week. But I'm happy to be back!

This Owl Lamp by West Elm. I love his little face!

The wedge boot trend. Love these Tauret booties by Aldo.

This gorgeous matelasse bedding by Restoration Hardware.

White watches. Especially this one by Michael Kors.

Any print by Volume 25. They are so whimsical and sweet.

Pottery Barn's Buchanan Swivel Armchair. And luckily it's arriving next month!

Products by Living Proof. Mostly because I love the packaging... the shape reminds me of king oyster mushrooms.

Navy Friday

Loungin'

Happy Friday everyone! See you Monday!