I found a new antique shop to visit in Boone, Iowa this weekend. I purchased several children’s books to add to my little collection, and this was one of my favorite finds. I love the blend of bright tones with the neutral tan of the cover.

Mondays are always a challenge for me. After a slower-paced weekend (I still work on the weekends), I feel my weekend pace remains until late Monday afternoon. (No surprise, this quote comes from the movie, Office Space.)

Shutterfly Holiday 2011: Here is my round-up of some of the cards I have available at Shutterfly.com this year. You can find the section with some of my cards in if you sort by “Other Designers” or click here.

CLA #2: edge-painting: I’m constantly humbled by the two huge pieces of iron that live in my basement, and I’d like to start documenting certain things i’m learning in the printing world, so I’m doing this little segment called crazy letterpress adventures (CLA).

The photos above are my first attempts at edge-painting. Edge-painting is a challenging technique for a couple of reasons: 1. Nobody tells you exactly how to do it. Edge-painting is usually kept proprietary to each printer, as perfecting the technique takes time and lots of experimentation. 2. It’s really important that everything is perfect when you do it. You need to have the right mix of paint, your edges trimmed perfectly, and everything clamped tightly. You need to know when to fan the stack, so that you don’t rip the paper etc.

Each color you see is actually a different technique I tried. They aren’t perfect, but there are definitely certain techniques I’ve found that work better than others. I found most of my information via the Ladies of Letterpress Forum, and then I experimented from there. I still have some more experimenting to do, but until then I’ll probably outsource my edge-painting until I have perfected my technique.

The business cards were designed by my dear friend, Andrea Stember. She’s a designer in Louisville, KY and you can follow her here.

Moglea Holiday 2011: This shall be the first of a few posts featuring the holiday cards I have available across the web. I’ll start with Minted today! You can receive 10% off any of the holiday cards below with the code: MOGLEA2011 Click here to order one of my cards through Minted. Be sure to check out the sweet options for envelope liners and patterned backers. I’m a huge fan of all of the fun details.

tuesday yarn typography. I need little reasons to take myself away from my computer sometimes, and when you see a ball of yarn across the room, sometimes you just need to do something with it. xoxo, m

I’m giving away some letterpress monogram stationery over on my facebook page! The giveaway ends Wednesday. (Some blind debossed faux bois may or may not be involved…) I did want to mention: The amazing ribbon that is featured in my announcement image is from Angela Liguori at Studio Carta. She has the BEST ribbon and really elegant stationery. I purchased some more ribbon for packaging and couldn’t help snapping some photos of it.

I adore the November Crewcuts catalog! They feature the best little outfits (and color combos) in a farm setting. The bright colors work so well with the muted backgrounds. You can take a peak here.