Fresh new colors for leafy Aloha Letterpress stationery

Personalized letterpress stationery with your name and leafy
ornamental borders in aqua blue and tangerine orange.

Time for some refreshing new colors with these personalized letterpress cards. I love the cool aqua blue and deep tangerine orange with these leafy ornamental borders and personalized names. The first prints I made were in a purple plum and I had been meaning to print some different colors. A lovely client's request finally brought about these sets in delicious hues.

To create these cards, I first hand set the metal type for the names into the chase (metal frame) with wooden furniture. Then I also set the individual leafy metal ornaments into another chase. I hand mix a combination of inks to create the aqua blue and the tangerine orange inks.

After placing some aqua blue ink onto the ink
disk, I ink the rollers. I have a Chandler Price
press with a treadle, and as I press the treadle,
the rollers glide over the ink disk until the rollers are covered with the ink. Then I lock the chase with the leafy ornaments into the press. After doing some test prints, I then print each card, placing one card at a time onto the platen. After the leafy border is printed, I remove the card and continue to feed another card until all of the cards are printed. I then remove the chase with the ornaments and proceed to print the name, again one card at a time, measuring and making adjustments for the centering of the name.

Once the aqua blue set is finished, I must clean the press rollers, the ink plate, the leafy metal
ornaments,  removing all of the aqua blue ink. The whole process is repeated for the next set with the tangerine orange stationery. Letterpress printing takes time and it can be rather meditative and soothing once I am in rhythm with my press. Each time I use my antique printing presses, I am awed by the craftsmanship of these marvelous printing presses. They are not as quick as printing with a computer and printer, but the effect is one that you must see and hold in your hands to appreciate the lovely tactile impression of images and words on plush cotton paper.