So, how did this come about? Well, we have been organizing like crazy around here! After receiving some BEAUTIFUL new furniture, we were able to streamline our studio, letting us expand our workshop/class area and organize our new wholesale lines after our great trip to the National Stationery Show in May.

This has unearthed some amazing treasures, don’t you know? We have boxes of cards, books, kits, and furniture, all waiting to go to good homes and leave room for the ideas that are bursting out of our heads!

A logical conclusion surfaced: hold a clearance sale, and invite our friends! The idea for this event is to help crafters, collectors, letterpress/printing enthusiasts, artists, and others clear out their crafting/art studios of extra products, supplies, machinery, tools, etc… to leave room for creating more art and crafts!

Here are just a few of the beautiful items we will have our our sale table, and we’re finding new things every day!

Stop down on Saturday, take a look at the Worthington Treasures on the Green event and stop by our Summer Treasure Sale – you never know what you’re going to find!

As many of you know, Igloo Letterpress was named by my husband’s maternal grandmother.  Grandma Beardwood was a lifelong Californian with a dry sense of humor.  Young newlyweds buying a house in Minnesota for a printing press made no sense to her.  She took to calling our house our igloo and the name has stuck with us through 15 years and a move to Ohio.

When our daughter was born in 2004 we took a trip to meet the California relatives.  Grandma took a trip with us to the beach as we dunked our three-month old Ava’s toes in the water.    Although Grandma Beardwood has passed away, we decided that we would continue this tradition.   We took a long President’s Day weekend to introduce Adam to our California friends and family.  It is hard to believe that this was Adam’s first trip to California and he is already 2.5 years old.  We had a great visit.

Of course, no vacation is complete without visiting another printer’s workshop.  On previous visits I visited Elum and San Diego Book Artist Kathy Miller.  This trip featured a visit to Bay Park Press with my California family, Anne and Amelia Chapman.   If you are in the area, I encourage you to register for a workshop.  I am encouraged to see an artist’s printshop running for 11 years!  Thanks to Sibyl and Jim for showing us your beautiful books and paper quilts.

When: Saturday, February 5 and 12; 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Where: Igloo Letterpress, 39 West New England Ave, Worthington, OH  43085  (614-787-5528)

How:  We have a collection of images and different fonts that you will use to design a valentine.   We will have three presses set with different colors of red and pink ink. You will select a color, an image and tell us what you would like the card to say (up to 6 words).  We will typeset your valentine and you will get to use our press!

Don’t forget your camera to catch that happy smile as you see the finished product!

Who: This activity is appropriate for adults as well as kids 4+ who attend with an adult.  (A note to parents:  this is an active print shop with 19th century printing equipment and paper cutters.  Don’t forget to have that valuable “see with your eyes” chat in the car!  We will have rubber stamps and coloring projects for younger siblings.)

Cost:  First Card is $6, multiple copies are $2 each  (cash, check, Visa or MC accepted)

If you would like to make more than 10 cards, or would like to design a custom card, please email me at allison@iglooletterpress.com for special pricing.

Stop in to our neighboring shops and restaurants while you are visiting Igloo.  There are great ideas for your Valentine at our boutique shops.  Create your own candle at Candle Lab, pick up a bottle of wine at House Wine, a gift certificate to the Worthington Inn, maybe even cupcakes and ice cream!

We can’t wait to see what you create!

House Wine

644 High Street

Worthington, OH, 43085

6-9 p.m.

$15

You will be able to shop a sampling of Igloo cards and books as well as view invitation samples for those of you planning weddings and Spring events.  I will also have a giveaway of Igloo goodies.

If you have not visited House Wine before, join me tomorrow night.  The staff are so helpful and knowledgeable. It is a great place for both aficionados and beginners!  I feel pretty lucky to have such an amazing selection to browse on my walk home from work.

Hot off the press!  Igloo is featured in three magazines this month!  First we received a notice in Ohio Magazine‘s Best of the Best Hometowns article.  Country Living included Igloo in a notice of letterpress shops where you can make your own valentines (info in blog post to follow).  What an honor to be in such good company and we are pleased to see Sharon McMullen’s valentine selected as the photo for the Country Living piece.  You can buy one for your valentine in our Etsy shop.  (www.igloopress.etsy.com)

Finally, we did an article for Stationery Trends magazine discussing the evolution of our bookbinding kits.  This trade publication is mailed to retailers.  We hope that it inspires more bookbinding projects for adults and kids!

I am a little behind on our blog posts, so you will be hearing from Igloo several times over the next few days.  I hope we get a chance to catch up in person as well!

This is shaping up to be another busy week at Igloo Letterpress!  Thursday evening we will be participating in Old Worthington’s Illuminating Shopping event from 6-9.  Stop in to pick up your holiday cards and gifts.  We will be taking orders for custom stationery for yourself and the lucky folks on your list.

Here is a little more info on this special event:  http://www.owba.net/illuminating_shopping.html

We are then taking our custom letterpress studio on a road trip to the Ohio State Fairgrounds this weekend for WinterFair.  You will find Igloo listed under my name, ALLISON CHAPMAN in the directory.

WinterFair runs Friday and Saturday 10-8 and Sunday noon-5.  We will be printing custom stationery as you shop!  A set of 10 cards = $18, 20 cards = $25.

For more info about this great craft fair please visit:  http://www.ohiocraft.org/fairs_wf.html

And of course, we will have our fantastic selection of holiday and everyday cards.  If you stop by the booth, I can give you a sneak peek of the Valentine that will be featured in a major print publication this February.

From our Igloo to yours, may your holidays be merry and bright!

-Allison

Be sure to stop by!
Here are details about today’s events.

Noon to 5:00
Igloo Letterpress and our downtown shop neighbors will be open to welcome you and your family today.

A “Cinderella” carriage will be giving rides.

Santa will pose for photos at the Worthington Inn on the beautiful sleigh.

You may print your own card at Igloo ($6 each design, $2 per extra copy)

5:30
Join Santa for the tree lighting ceremony to sing your favorite carols.

This was such a special day last year. My daughter talked about it the whole year! I hope that you can stop by with your friends and family.

The store is stocked and ready for your shopping pleasure.  Get a free card with every $20 Igloo purchase!  We have also put together some fantastic $5 and $10 mystery bags.

The Igloo lot will be filled with great local vendors:  Alison Rose Tees, Anne Holman Jewelry Design, Bethany Lesko, Flamestitch, Just A Jar Design Press, Kenyon Review, Little Alouette, Periodisa, Poshta Design, Made by AmyD, SKBG Photography, Suzy Ultman, and Wild Goose Creative. Glad Annie’s Old World Baklava, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, Lucky Ladle, and Pattycake Bakery will sell refreshments.

Free letterpress and bookbinding demonstrations will take place throughout the day.

Get on press by printing your own pennant using Igloo’s collection of antique wood type. A great activity for kids and adults alike!

Each layout is $3.50 with additional copies $1.  Each pennant perches atop an Igloo pencil.

(Ava did not hesitate when selecting her favorite!)

In addition to the Igloo Bazaar, Old Worthington will be hosting Market Day with over 200 vendors lining High St.  You can park at the the High School on 161 and ride the shuttle right over.  So much crafty goodness!

See you this weekend!

p.s.  I will be running free shipping through Halloween for Igloo fans who can’t visit the shop in person.  xoxo

You may have noticed a few Twitter and Facebook posts about the Mohawk Paper Design Ignites Change project.  Igloo was happy to take part in this fundraising project to raise grant money to support design education.

Here is a little more info about the project:

Feedback Loop: Notebook Project
100% of the purchase price of these notebooks will directly support Design Ignites Change which gives youth in underserved communities a real-world experience using design thinking to communicate their ideas, exhibit their potential and take action in their own lives. « Mohawk Papers is excited to work with Design Ignites Change and their youth mentoring initiative School: by Design which asks high school students – in collaboration with their college or professional design mentors – to “redesign your school.” If you would like to organize an easy-to-implement School: by Design mentoring program for a high school in your community visit the Design Ignites Change website: http://www.designigniteschange.org

Those teen years are so important to continue developing critical thinking skills.  Heck – we all need encouragement to find our voice and share what we are thinking about with others.  So, take a moment to pick up these great notebooks – just $15 each!!

Igloo’s notebooks feature Jeremy Slagle’s tangled cycle pattern letterpress printed in pewter ink on a light grey paper.  Blank white text pages are hand-sewn using yellow thread with an exposed stitch.

One of our family goals has been to reduce the use of our car over the last year.   My husband often bikes to work and I made it through most of last Winter with a kindergartener on a trail-behind bike.  We are glad that Adam is older and more excited about joining us.  He really hated being in the trailer and his old daycare was just a little too far to bike.

So, after Adam’s nap we loaded the bike rack and headed to Highbanks Park to practice riding on “mama’s bike”.  Success!

We have taken our Xtracycle FreeRadical kit off John’s bike so that I can ride with both kids around town.  I will also be practicing carrying cases of paper back from the store.   woo hoo!

Here is a link to the Xtracycle site (http://www.xtracycle.com) we have been super happy with the kit on both of our bikes.  And of course, thanks to John for taking apart his bike and sharing it with us.