Packages part one

Oh deary me...I feel like some party bore who, after several glasses of wine, has done little but drone on about fungus and letter press tags for hours, while people politely yawn and try to shuffle away discreetly. It's over. Never again will I ever go about a job in such a cockeyed way. Everything I did was wrong, from the inks used, to hand cutting 400-odd different sized tags by hand, with Stanley knife, hand rolling each block at a time, and then trim, corner punch, and thread up. Not to mention packaging the wretched things. Twenty five packs...

And all entirely my own fault for rushing headfirst into something I was only dabbling in at the time. I am simply relieved and somewhat amazed that they finished up looking alright. Lessons learned, solutions found, move on. And open presents. That'd be the Hallowe'en box I've been hoarding for weeks - someone who did not leave a name, but who knew me very well indeed...Arthur Rackham on the front...

Victoriana fairy on the back...

Horribly realistic, almost untouchable spider lurking inside with beautifully wrapped packages - autumnal pages from Country Living magazine. By now my attena are twitching...

Well worth the wait, the most beautiful autumnal box, so thoughtfully put together; and everything that I like from preserved leaves, an amusing article on vintage childrens fiction, to wild cherry tea and vegetable transfers. And a sweetly messaged but anonymous card - a red squirrel (only found in a handful of places in the UK) - twitch twitch...hmmm.

Gorgeous cards, laid out with suitably warming soup recipes...and this, which sealed my suspicions...

I have only encountered this delicous substance once in my life - tablet. The Scottish form of fudge - hard and sweet, and tasting distinctly of black treacle. And given to me by the same person; I might possibly be wrong, but I think - I think my secret fairy is a certain Border Tart. Correct me if I'm wrong. But whoever it was, thank you for such an amazing box, which has given me enormous orangey-warm pleasure on this grey, mizzly morning. When all has been consumed and stashed away, it is just the right size for storing letter press blocks in...no, shut me up now, before I get started again.
However, Emma, our latest admin fairy who has been wonderfully holding the Secret Fairy fort, has set up a Christmas SOSF event. Skates on, as last post dates are nearing and the closing date is 30th November!

Oh, for those who asked, I do have some spare packs of tags which will be in my Etsy shop, (alongside my pathetically small selection of Christmas cards) so if you wanted some, I aim to get them in by Thursday. Now I've told y'all what a bodge job it was, I'm sure you are tempted.

I'll shut up now. About tags and letter press and all that. Hic. Falls asleep on sofa, quietly drooling...to everyones' relief.

Tagging

No, not that kind of tagging...this kind of tagging...two shop orders and a craft fair to supply. Little Brown Dog generously offered to make space on her stall for some of my bits. I will be there in spirit if not in person, as it's in the next county. I've posted her several packs of my cards and Christmas gift tags. I have never 'done' a craft fair before, lacking the basic infra-structure (eg - transport and trestle table) so I will be interested to see how it goes. Ten packs of Red Flannel Elephant cards = one full load of wood. We need wood. It's getting cold.

I have somewhat made a rod for my own back, as I've done my designing and planning on the hoof with the letter press stuff; it's all got a bit out of hand and not very cost effective as far as time and effort goes. What started off as simple little packs ended up as swanky big packs, for presentation purposes. However, at least I should recover the cost of the not-brilliant-but-servicable inks.

I do confess to enjoying designing my own packaging - something I loathed at college. And writing blurb has to be the best part, riding the thin line between genuine enthusiasm and cheese.

Vintage Impressions

A selection of twelve individually printed Christmas
gift tags, using traditional letterpress techniques.

For six hundred years, until the advent of the modern computer, books and stationary were produced using a variety of ‘hot metal’ techniques. Unlike today’s uniform digital printing, letter press has a distinct personality. You will notice that the card is not only printed, but slightly impressed into the card, where it has been gently rolled through an antique proof press, before being finished off by hand. Using a variety of authentic vintage blocks and type faces, Vintage Impression tags will ornament your special gifts with unique style.

Because of the age of some of these blocks, print finish will vary.

(that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it)

The pack labels are not letterpressed - that would be a dedication too far. And it is not, by any stretch of the imagination, typesetting; more like decorative printing. But it's a step in the right direction.


Before I return to the busy land of small enterprise...I have two packages. One from Tara and one from my unknown SOSF partner. They are still both unopened, waiting for a quiet moment. That is unlikely to happen in the near future. I am going to open them this weekend. I feel I've earned it.