We open on Sunday!

The National Stationery Show opens in the morning. We just finished the booth this evening and I really love how it turned out. I won't be able to make it to the show for the opening day (flying back to Rochester for graduation), but Jake will be there and I have a feeling he's going to have a great time. I can't wait to get back and I hope to see a few of you there!

NSS - Join us!

The walls are up, the vinyl has been hung, the cards and shelves are almost finished, the catalogs are sitting on the table. Final task for tomorrow, hang the print and try to stay sane! I love how it all looks so far!!! Keep an eye out for our coverage of the show next week on Aesthetic Outburst. 

For our printer friends at NSS

If you're a letterpress printer and exhibiting (or visiting) the stationery show, stop by our booth and say hi. We'll have one of these prints waiting for you! The iphone pics don't do the color justice - it's neon orange and it's bright :) Our booth is #1965. We do have a limited supply, so stop by early!

NSS prep

Stationery Show prep has been going well. Aside from being indecisive about next year's calendar (already!), most everything else is turning out great. We ended up cutting the walls we built last year in half and hinging them so that they'd fit in our car. We have one inch of wiggle room, but they are going to fit! We're also repainting them and all of our ancillary display pieces. We have three days before we head to the show. I'm feeling mostly pulled together, but in preparing for trade shows, I know this can change hourly!

Linwood Gardens 2012

Every year we visit Linwood Gardens for the tree peony festival. The estate is only open for three weekends each year (and a few extra days during the summer) and Jake and I try not to miss it. Usually we end up going twice. Sunday we spent a few hours wandering the grounds and enjoying the flowers. I can only imaging how amazing it would be to live here (it's actually a private residence) or to have been here in the turn of the century when it was built. If you live close to Rochester, I promise it's worth visiting!

This past week I've been fighting off a pretty bad cold. It was some kind of super-cold that knocked me out for a few days. The kind of cold that's more like the flu, but without the fever and chills. The only good thing is that it came before the stationery show. So, no matter how much I may have complained about being sick this past week, I am eternally grateful that I will be in good health for the show.

The stationery show is the largest industry tradeshow for us and I look forward to it every year. Although it's only our third year doing this show I feel like we've been exhibiting much longer (perhaps because we've done so many gift shows, too). Although it seems like it would be very competitive, it honestly doesn't feel like it. I have met so many incredibly talented people and friends through the show. And through their generosity I have learned so much and had so many amazing opportunities.

Jake and I leave on May 17th to set up for the show. Until that time, expect to see us in the shop around the clock. We've got a bunch of printing and packaging to do before the show, not to mention keeping up with wedding orders and proofing. Hope to show you our progress.

This weekend

There are quite a few awesome openings in Rochester this weekend. Three in my studio space!

And one by my studio mate Jim, at another gallery :)

And a whole bunch more going on around Rochester! Hope to see you out.

Studio music

This song has been stuck in my head for a while now. Who knew that the video was so awesome. Particularly the background dancers. They have some moves.

It's Monday, again

We had a really wonderful Easter potluck with friends yesterday. I think it might have been our fifth or sixth year doing this and I still love it. These planned meals are some of the only times I slow down and visit. I'm grateful we did yesterday. And the puppies were exhausted last night from sitting on laps and begging for food.

I'm not sure why I haven't been writing in this space. Part of me feels like it's becoming unnecessary with Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. I'm a little overwhelmed keeping up with all of these and I'm almost always too busy to sit down and read blogs, even the ones I love. Maybe that's just me.  I think I need a little time to figure out why I'm still drawn to blogging. And I think it might be helpful if I have a schedule for doing it - like weekly features. All of this rambling is mainly to say thanks for continuing to check in here and that I hope you had a beautiful and relaxing weekend.

hello again

I'm sure you thought I was never coming back. Well, it seems about time to check in. I've been traveling (to Baton Rouge and New Orleans), teaching (printmaking and book making), and printing (in the shop). Actually, Jake has been doing most of the printing and I've been doing a lot of design work. Wedding season knocks us out every year. Hopefully I'll be back here more regularly...soon.

Just popping in to share some pics from AmericasMart. Kathryn and I split a booth in Paper Boutique and we had such an awesome time. I couldn't have asked for a better booth-mate! It's amazing how long it takes to set up (even if we've done it many times before) and how quickly we can tear down a booth. Although the days were incredibly long, it was so nice to bounce ideas back and forth with Kathryn.

The day after I got back the semester started. I have two great classes this semester and a really wonderful bunch of independent study students. For real, I can't wait to see what they make this semester.

For your sweetheart

We've been busy printing a bunch of new Valentine's and are excited to share them with you! Head on over to the shop to check out the full collection. We even have an anti-Valentine's Day card :)

Where we are now...Atlanta!

We've been at AmericasMart for the past few days and have a few more to go. The days are long, but it's been awesome to hang with our booth-mate Blackbird Letterpress. Kathryn and I get to talk shop all day and hang colorful washi tape all over :)

Please excuse the cell phone pic :) 

Where we were...

At the end of December, just before Christmas, Jake and I headed to Aruba for a vacation. It was awesome! I don't think that we've ever gone on vacation without extensively planning it, but I am so glad we did. We got a great last minute deal (booked three weeks beforehand) through JetBlue that we just couldn't pass up. And the timing was perfect - just after the end of the semester and before trade show season and Christmas. So we spent six days on the beach, horseback riding and kayaking on the ocean. In short, we did nothing. I didn't research things to do, we didn't pack our days full of exploring, we only ate out once thanks to a kitchen suite. It was, thankfully, the most refreshing trip I have ever taken.

A new adventure

The start of January also brings about the beginning of the new trade show season. This year we are heading to AmericasMart for the Atlanta International Gift Show. We're splitting a booth with blackbird letterpress and we couldn't be more excited! Somehow (I'll probably jinx myself for saying this) we are really prepared this time around. Aside from not knowing quite what to expect from this new location we know how to efficiently plan and set up a booth, how much product to bring and where to make catalogs and buy vinyl.I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

If you are interested in carrying the Pistachio Press line in your shop but can't make it to a tradeshow, just shoot us an email (info{at}pistachiopress{dot}com) and we can send you our wholesale info.

ps- we won't be exhibiting at NYIGF this January since we'll be at the Atlanta show.