Ah, the trials and tribulations of loving letterpress printing, doing letterpress printing, yet not actually owning one’s own press yet. Gah! I know I’m getting there little by little and that I shouldn’t let my impatience get the best of me but, as my mom would say, “Ye gods!”

I’ve got a set of slightly customized thank you cards I’ve been trying to do for the last couple of weeks and, through a combination of shipping time, design time, paper delivery and press reservation, still have not gotten to them…and am not quite sure when the end will be in sight! (Subtle undertone: if you know of a tabletop letterpress up for sale, please, as soon as you possibly can, tell me about it!)

There are actually several projects on the immediate horizon, all of which I am excited about, and all of which are pointing me even more surely in the direction I’m trying to go with all of this paper-work. The looming set of thank you cards will be a chocolate ink on two different gorgeous bright green stocks from French Paper. Then there is a custom photographer’s portfolio and coordinating slipcase, both letterpress printed with the photographer’s name in that chocolate brown on a cream and copper vine patterned paper (ooh!). I also have a small custom guest book (for Polaroids!) in the works, as well as potentially having my first set of wedding invitations to do!

So, I think it’s safe to say that everything’s coming up Maggie right now, but wow is it interesting to feel like I’m just constantly fighting the not-enough-time, when-will-I-have-my-own-equipment battle. Of course, it’s all coming together and things are really turning out nicely and I seem to be getting a huge amount of traffic and interest these days…long story short: I should cut out my complaining and get to work!

Tonight’s docket: sewing up two 8″w x 7″h guest books/albums and finishing up some gluing on the rest of the stack of albums that are being shipped out tomorrow morning. Then the cutting down of paper for cards begins!

Lately, Matt & I have been looking at each other on Sunday evenings with a lot of simultaneous weariness and joy in our eyes, realizing that we’ve just spent the whole weekend away from work, well, working. It’s nice to do the things you love.