linolerum print | Heartfish Blog

Letterpress Class 6

Posted on November 17, 2008May 22, 2009 by Hijiri

Last week, we learned how to die cut with Vandercook Press! I had no idea it can do die cutting so it was surprising and pretty cool!

The school had a few shapes, we tried circle ones, there were rounded corner one, too, but this was the most intriguing one… a die cut for a package box!

You just set it up just like you set up a wood type or metal type on the Vandercook Press:

You don’t have to turn on the power switch to cut, you just run the paper and it die cuts!

Can you see the cut? It also had a scoring line, but due to the Press condition, we couldn’t go too far (it was cutting where it’s not supposed to) so I have to score before I build the box, but how cute would this be for a holiday candy box! I will work on it later and make sure to share it with you here.

I also worked on my second linoleum art: a snowflake!

It took a little bit (and I messed up a little bit, too – but that makes it special, right?) and this is from “the making of”:

Started with white ink â€“ I love snowflakes, I think they are absolutely beautiful and no two snowflakes are the same shape, just like my prints. :)

I printed on color papers: came out nicely.

Added a splash of blue/green:

and printed on white paper, too.

From here, I am adding types and making holiday cards, but I will hold it until it is a holiday time to show you… Please look forward to it!

Letterpress Class 5

Posted on November 11, 2008October 26, 2010 by Hijiri

I have been so busy that I forgot to do my Letterpress Monday yesterday!! Oops. It was canceled last time so it’s been 2 weeks since my last letterpress class and in the meantime, I have ordered my first polymer plate from Boxcar Press! It was recommended by my instructor and turn around was very fast and I had no problem getting my plate, if you are thinking of having your plate made, I recommend Boxcar Press, too.

I ordered 7.5×11 inches sheet with 12-13 projects on it — you can cut it and use it indivisually. You can reuse it as many times as you’d like.

Out of all the projects I made a plate of, I started with a little thing for myself… holiday card back stamp (front will come later) and my note cards. Just so I can practice printing with polymer plate, too.

On Vandercook Press:

You use this grid base. The plate comes with double-sticky tape so you just stick to it. After you are done printing, you can seal it back and save it in the ziploc bag that also comes with the plate for future use.

The cream color paper is for holiday card and the brown paper is for my little notes. To adjust the paper so it prints in center and to adjust the plate to exactly where you’d like to print, it takes time and practice, but once it’s all set, printing is fun and easy!

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My classmates were doing their own thing and they gave me their prints so I wanted to share them here.

The school has not only wood types and metal types, they also have lots of decorative wood blocks (and more stuff, I’m sure) and here’s some prints — so pretty!

ohh, I love this guy!

and another classmate was printing a bookplate with linoleum. What a good idea! The owl is cute, too.

I have to plan ahead so I can do as many letterpress projects in 5 more classes… I don’t want it to end, though!

Nydam Press

Posted on November 7, 2008October 26, 2010 by Hijiri

Ever since I made my first linoleum print, I am hooked. I’m working on my holiday cards with linoleum and letterpress right now… I will share the progress here soon!

In the meantime, I came across this awesome linoleum print shop, Nydam Press at etsy — ohhh, I love it!

Here are some examples from the store:

Each print, she posted the linoleum block for it, so nice to see that.

She has some bookmarks — clever idea!

Love the style of the phone.

A Ferris Wheel! So great. Love the color.

Italian Greyhound! This makes me want to work on Maia’s portrait on linoleum.

Rocking Chair print: the high-lights are great. I love the presence of the chair!

Simple and bold and each print has the nice hand-printed warmth!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Have a great weekend!!

Letterpress Class 4

Posted on October 27, 2008October 26, 2008 by Hijiri

In the last class, we did something different – linoleum printing! Ohhh, it was fun!

Preparation – you can directly draw on the linoleum or trace something if you want to use certain art. Here, I traced a trumpet art by using a tracing paper. You can buy the linoleum on the board or just the sheet of it. The instructor had a sheet of it for us so we attached the sheet on a wood board with double stick tape before we worked on it.

And you just carve it by using linoleum cutters!

It is softer than wood and easier to carve.

Almost done… I didn’t need all the linoleum so I cut out the rest.

and you just set it on the Vandercook press (You might need to place papers underneath to raise the board a bit) put some ink, and print.

and here it is! My trumpet print!

From here, I tried to experiment 2 color printing. I made a little change on the linoleum and so the first color would show though as highlight or shadow. And take the first print and go through the press one more time.