materialism

Did you know some vintage typewriters are actually affordable? Say hello to my Sears Tower Quiet Tabulator Manual Typewriter from the 1950s.

I was shocked that I didn't have to break the bank to get my hands on one of these cuties. I happened upon this gem at my local antique store, The Antique Barn. Tucked away at the bottom of a shelf full of knick knacks, this baby screamed my name and yearned to be taken home and loved.

Her real name is the Silent Super by Smith Corona - a popular typewriter manufacturer in the US of A around that time. This is the rebranded version by Sears. It comes with a CHARMING carrying hard case that can be repurposed as a travel case. That's like two deals in one! Oh, and ribbons are not hard to find online at all.

So what's the damage? Just a couple of Hamiltons ($10s). I'm serious! And I'm not even "good" at antique shopping.

Go visit your local antique shoppes! Now leave me alone so I can type my to-do lists, recipe cards, love notes, not-so-mental notes... I'll be bringing her to my wedding. ;)

Who doesn't love letterpress? And now pretty much anyone can own their own letterpress with Lifestyle Crafts' new Letterpress Combo Kit, available for $134.99 at Oh My Crafts!.

While I love this new age of bringing artisan crafts to the everyday consumer (die-cuts, embossing, you name it), usually the limitations of these converted products are still very prevalent.

The machine is similar to the Cuttlebug + its embossing plates. It's rather small, so it's good for small cards and tags. But you wouldn't be able to print stationery or anything. On the plus side it does offer its own proprietary printing plates with some nice modern designs for weddings and whatnot. To print your own design, it may be possible to have your own traditional plates custom made and use them in the machine.

Overall, it's a pretty simplistic system. As a crafter, I would probably prefer to make my own because I'll have much more control and a much larger dimension to work with that way. (I'm already set on doing letterpress wedding invites. :P ) There is a very excellent tutorial on woodblockart.ca on how to make a press using an automotive bottlejack, some pipes, and plywood.

Bottle Jack Press

It's a very impressive design. Bottle jacks are quite the cheapo at Home Depots, you can even get a powered hydraulic one so you won't have to crank. I'm sure you can maintain a pretty nice impression that way. You can probably add some registration elements to it too for more accuracy. If you're really a serious crafter, you would even get a boxcar aluminum base. *drool*

Boxcar Press Boxcar Base

I guess what letterpress one would want is their cup of tea. Lifestyle offers a nice all-in-one package with virtually no assembly required. A bottle jack press can be cheap and has more expandability, but certainly would be a lot more work. Or, you can also just do some online shopping for some pretty dazzling readymade letterpress prints.

Letterpress Delicacies: letterpress.etsy.com

This weekend was full of fun and goodies!

I don't know what planet I had been in, for this weekend was the first time I went to the LA Fashion District! I can't believe I had been missing out on sooo much. Especially Michael Levine. Can I please have the whole store? Pretty please with a cherry on top?

This weekend was also my first time at the Rose Bowl Flea Market. This place r0x0rz. There are some very nice and rare vintage stuff there. I got some sweet dealz, check em out.

My very own (well, shared w/my baby) Polaroid SX-70!!! I am so excited to get my hands on some films and play with it! Maybe, just maybe, someday, I'll be as good as ms e.soule.

Yay giant Pyrex bowls! Not Fire-King, but nonetheless beautiful. Orangey, vintagey, and big. I think the two smaller orange ones will serve as perfect ramen bowls. Mmm... 3 for $15, what a steal.

MOAR orange. Actually, these were from Pottery Barn, not the flea market. The soap dish was a buck. The vase was was two bucks. Another jackpot! Seems like I'm stocking up on lots of bright, happy wares. I wish for my next home to be bright and cheery.

Packing of one thing leads to the unpacking of another. I think I'm kind of a packrat.

My Gocco came!!! In super sonic speeds!!! Wow printaddictjapan is awesome. My order was shipped three days ago and I got it TODAY, from JAPAN. I sent her a million emails too, 'cause I kept adding to the order and changing my selection of ink colors.

I've been glowing all night long (it's probably the 96F weather) with twinkly eyes messing with every little bit of the Gocco set--carressing every box of ink and studying the manual. This item was a gift from my baby <3. I am spoiled.

I was the one who did the ordering though, and thanks to my Chinese genes, and thanks to lih82, I was able to hit an awesome deal.

So some details, perhaps it'll be useful for others...

• ebay comes out with some coupons every now and then for discounts like 10% off or $10 off shipping. And on rare occasions, you'll even find sponsored discounts like Microsoft Live Search's cashback program, where if you search on live.com for your product, you'll get an ad that redirects you to ebay guaranteeing 35% off Buy-It-Now items. 35 PERCENT OFF!!!1!1!11!!! That's exactly what I hit up. The cashback doesn't take place until 60 days after your purchase though--just in case you decide to refund the product, they'd have no way to backtrack. So I'm anxiously waitin' for the fiddy (50) bucks of reimbursement from Micro$soft. This purchase was seriously a deal. If not for it I would not have been able to pick PG-11. I would've had to go with PG-5. So patience does pay in this case.
• What's different about PG-11 vs PG-5?
  • PG-11 has this detachable clear blue registration plate between the screen and print surface that you can use to print on to help align your different layers of prints. You can also move the base surface around and shift your print coordinates by a minimal amount. (see pictures below)

Let's get to the juicy part...

::drool:: Actually, I cheated in these pictures. I had already opened the package once. In all my excitement I didn't take pictures the first time. And the seller did a clever job of stuffing all the supplies I ordered into the same box. So I had rearranged all the stuff back into the box to look like they should've been originally.

List of contents. VHS tape is replaced by a sharpie labeled cd. Thank god. I would have to youtube for the video otherwise.

A ghetto photocopied Gocco manual. Perfectly okay with me.

No bags because I had already tossed them away.

Cleaner solution, carbon pen, batteries for lamp housing. Does anyone know if the pen really has to be a 'carbon' pen? What is the difference?

The machine. You can see the blue registration plate I was talking about.

The locks and guides that let you move the base around. Reminds me of pinball machines.

Lamp housing.

Extra supplies I bought, because this set didn't come with anything. I only bought basic colors of inks. I think I'm pretty good with color, hopefully I can mix the colors I need... Bought two screens. For some reason they are PG-701 screens for cloth. Supposedly they work the same as B6??? I would think they're a different mesh count though... Guess I'll find out.

The bulbs have this metal meshy fluff inside. It's too bad they're one-time use. Supposedly there's an alternative you can buy, which are specifically flash bulbs. I wonder how those work out... Will share my finds if I ever do try them!

So there! Ah so sleepy now. I should probably take a third shower for today...it's SO HOT I can't even play right now.

Must dream of a fantastic design to print!

I don't like to use bar soap. But if I did, these would be my soap of choice:
http://www.soapylove.com/soapsicles.html

They smell and look soooo good. I just want to take a big chomp out of them. Especially the watermelon one. I plan to put these in an ice cream tub or popsicle box and wrap it up for a birthday present.