Extraordinary Mondays - Letterpressing

Originally uploaded by porridge papers

Originally uploaded by dolcepress

Examine the image above. The detail, the inking, the embossing. Aren't lovely to look at?

I have recently just discovered letterpressing and have caught myself simply staring at pictures of the prints. It is all bittersweet as I really don't have space to even begin to think about getting even a small tabletop press.

Letterpressing is an age old method of printing on paper originating from about the 1400s. The difference between this method and our modern day printers is the texture. It has experienced a revival particularly in the wedding industry because there really isn't any better to indulge in your wedding stationery than to have them letterpress printed.

I can just imagine my own personal line of stationery, letterpress printed by myself, with my own designs, all using homemade paper and fruit/vegetable inks.

So, if any of you have any leads to a machine somewhere, I'd like to know. Maybe I could just buy the machine first, store it until we've done our extension and THEN, I'll have space for letterpressing. Sigh!