next up we have personal favorite of mine - hammerpress. i first love them because they’re based out of kansas city (where i spent 8 quality formative years of my life), and, more importantly, for their vibrant letterpress work with bold typography that’s all about having fun. today founder brady vest shares a look inside this wonderful letterpress studio that definitely reflects their work and style. if you don’t have a chance to make it to kansas city anytime soon to visit their shop (don’t forget the kansas city design guide!), you can also find their work online. click here for loads more images. [thanks brady and crew!] -anne

[Above: A view of the shop from across Southwest Boulevard. the building is… very old. i don’t know how old. our friend and neighbor, jeff owens, owns the building and it was used by him originally for set building, which he used to do. i believe it was originally used as a machine shop that build really heavy military equipment years and years ago. the are we are in is the primary arts district of kansas city - the “crossroads”. it’s made up mostly of large warehouse buildings and in the last five years or so has become subject to “developement”, which as we know is a double edged sword. we’ve been in this area for the last ten years and were lucky enough to find this great space on a prime corner of the area.]

this is just a good overall view of the front of the studio. we’re lucky to have a good sized storefront area in the shop with good light. (client meeting area to left).

The “mission command” of our listening station.
all of the signs in the shop are hand cut and spraypainted stencils. we try to do everything we can by hand in the shop, from the signage on the fronf of the building which is handpainted to the price tags which are handtyped. we go for slow!

A detail of the fine craftsmanship of our Business Card Bar. Designed & Constructed by the Utilitarian Workshop.

Just a squirrel trying to get a nut (in a non-descript corner of the shop).

“Sweetie” notecard displayed on one of our antique typewriters.

this is a wall in our client meeting area, which is mostly used for meeting with wedding clients. this wall is covered with vintage photographs we’ve been collecting. most of them are old wedding photographs although some are just vaguely romantic in some way. it kind of has the look of old paint flaking off the wall.

this first sneak peek of the day is a special one for me because it’s the first real working letterpress studio i ever visited: gilah press in baltimore, maryland. it’s the perfect mix of fun and sophistication, combining modern technology with good old fashioned printing. with mica grad kat feuerstein at the helm, it’s the kind of place that you’d look forward to going to work everyday. and just like the day i visited, kat gladly opened the doors of her studio for our first sneak peek of the day (you can click here for more images, and make sure to keep your eyes out for pica the studio cat!). stay tuned for another great studio tour at 12pm. [Thanks, Kat!] -anne

[Above: Ah, “The Pink Warehouse”, as we so lovingly refer to it. It’s actually more of a salmon color, but “Salmon Warehouse” sounds like we package and process salmon, the fish. Ew. Our rickety mailbox has been abused by neighborhood brats a few times, so we refuse to get a nice one, but I do pine for a stainless steel industrial looking mailbox. Alas, the black plastic one that is now taped shut will have to suffice…]

This is where all of the hand work magic happens. The table, which we love, was also left in the space for us. Measuring 10’ x 2.5’, it gives ample room for packaging, cutting, pasting, all of our hands-on kind of stuff. The light-up moustache on the wall is on loan from a friend of ours who had made it as a prop for a party called “Don’t Touch My Moustache”. It makes for great party light, even if it’s not a moustache-themed party.

A nice chill area (for Pica, mainly) in between work spaces. The time clock is to keep Pica on track and make sure she’s earning her keep. The poster on the wall is from a Jeff Tweedy show. That’s Maggie in the background, one of our interns, and Kat’s office to the left.

Straight ahead is our client meeting area. Its most unique feature is our chandelier that was custom made by Wholly Terra Studio out of recycled Bombay Sapphire bottles. The design was inspired by a piece done by Tejo Remy of the Droog Design movement. The brown wall showcases two original pieces (one shown) by Dave Plunkert of Spur Design. They are on loan to us since we are his tenants. The lockers were included in the space when we moved in; form AND function, wow. Guess it pays to have a cool landlord. (Check out the Spur Design sneak peek here).

Our proof press was salvaged from a garage nearby. It is by far our simplest piece of machinery; the type sits on the bed and is hand inked. Paper goes on top and the (heavy) roller to the left is then just rolled over it to create the print. The sculpture that hangs on the wall behind it was created by Jacob Cecil and is a set of long hand-carved alphabet stamps. The detail to the left shows the carved letters on the ends.

This is Whitney running our most used press, “Stinky”. We named him that because when we brought him into our studio the whole place smelled like mildew and rust. Hours of scrubbing and lots of love brought him to tip top shape. He’s now our fave, but don’t tell the others…

When you look to the right as you enter our studio, you’re greeted by our gnome. He doubles as our door stop. On the wall hangs our (sadly unframed) monoprint we picked up at Hatch Show Print on our studio road trip to letterpress shops in Tennessee last fall. Underneath stands our receiving table that sees everything that comes in and out of the studio.

There you have it, Gilah Press + Design headquarters!

though i’m flying mid-air while this post is going live, i wanted to welcome mackenzie sala of kenziekate to the d*s guest blog this morning! our flight got cancelled last night (along with seemingly every other north bound flight out of virginia beach) so we had to get up early this morning to catch an early morning flight. we have two special sneak peeks lined up today and i’m going to try to run back in time to get some regular posts going but in the meantime i wanted to welcome kenzie and direct you to her first post of the week- right here. thanks to kenzie for joining us this week!

ps: since mackenzie is a normally a wedding themed blogger i couldn’t resist sharing…that i bought my wedding dress this weekend! it’s a jenny packham dress and i’m so excited! thanks to everyone who emailed me with dress, designer and shop suggestions.

Thanks so much Grace, for the invitation and the opportunity to share my little corner of the world with your readers, and in such creative company!
For those who may not know me, I’m Mackenzie Sala, owner, designer, secretary, janitor, and head of customer service over at Kenzie Kate Invitations, a small luxury wedding invitation studio. I also happen to be publisher of a little blog called Something Old, Something New (it’s all about weddings).

Our company mascot is our Italian Greyhound Shorty (or Short-Fry, or Short-Stack, or His Shortness if we’re feeling formal). He works hard as our official Paper Shredder (don’t worry, he’s not allowed to chew on the invitations).

Last year Kenzie Kate moved from Park Slope, Brooklyn to Providence, Rhode Island where we are now enjoying making our new home, learning our new city, and growing our business. So far we love it here, even though we miss all our friends back in the Slope!

Since I blog about wedding stuff pretty much every day over at Something Old, Something New, I’m excited to talk more about my inspirations as a designer and my experience as an independent business owner, (along with a few of my all-time favorite wedding links). I hope you’ll check back in!

ac and i landed safely in virginia and are off to find a beach that can handle two desperately pale people. in the meantime i wanted to do a weekly wrap up that would include this week’s, as well as last week’s, highlights because i had a small technical glitch and wasn’t able to post one last friday. i’ll see you on monday with some special sneak peeks- until then have a great weekend! [image above by andy sewell, via materialicious]

• new sneak peeks: wary meyers, trine of ferm living, summer of fawn and forest, conn and john in hawaii, dorothy draper’s greenbrier hotel, lara ferroni’s kitchen, the shack at hinkle farm, it’s (k)not wood at home, miller’s nursery, uptown country home
• new before & afters: stephanie’s home, amy’s chairs, leah’s attic, hilda’s chairs, barb’s side table
• new diy projects: handcut felt mural, stenciled trivets, woodgrain oilcloth lunchbags
• new city guides: portland maine, cincinnati
• regional roundup: portland maine part two and part three
• renegade brooklyn 2008: part one and part two
• preview: moma store fall/holiday 2008 product line
• new: moderntwist designs, textiles from three sheets 2 the wind, kari herer photography, pppottery ceramics, johanna basford wallpaper, selina rose rugs, pillows from caitlin mociun and lena corwin, maria gil ulldemolins furniture, cake plates from wingnut brooklyn, small wonders art show, christina oh knitting,
• shop textiles online: new studio bon textiles site
• vintage inspiration: patterned wallpaper and textiles
• a week’s worth of faux-bois fun (thanks to jon and em at it’s (k)not wood
• have a seat: outdoor cushions from toast
• eat up: in the kitchen with bonnee sharp’s rum cake
• embroidery: mariana leung

despite the fact that i’ve have never been a huge artichoke fan (and i don’t think grace is either), living in rome, it’s impossible to avoid them. as with just about every other food i’ve learned to prepare here, eating an artichoke was a relatively new experience for me. these pictured are called cimaroli (pronounced ‘cheema-roli’) here. they’re the huge ones- and make for a simple but delicious dish with a little garlic, parsley and basil. perfect for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike, this dish is a great summer meal with a glass of rose. click here for the full recipe and wine pairing- happy cooking! -kristina

seeing as it’s friday and “in the kitchen” day, it only seems appropriate to share a sneak peek of the kitchen of food photographer lara ferroni. you may remember her from her great toasted sesame and vanilla ice cream recipe she shared on d*s a couple months ago where the pictures look as delicious as the food itself (and is majorly making me crave ice cream right now!). lara has a small studio based out of her home, and this is where all the cooking and styling happens. she’s super lucky to have such amazing natural light. thanks to lara for sharing pictures of her home today! if you’re looking for something for dinner tonight, check out lara’s other sites cook and eat and still life with. -anne

[Above: My kitchen window sill is filled with herb cuttings that I’m attempting to grow. Most of these have come from friends plants… a few I’ve managed to start from grocery store purchases.]a few of my props… including stacks of various bread boards I’ve found (usually ebay), a few catherine holm pieces, mint julep cups, flatware, bottles with little fake cherry blossoms, piles of linens.a few of my props… including stacks of various bread boards I’ve found (usually ebay), a few catherine holm pieces, mint julep cups, flatware, bottles with little fake cherry blossoms, piles of linens.The house is filled with light… tons of leaded glass windows in every room. My studio has southern and western light, which is my primary light source for my photography.

tomorrow ac and i are heading down to va. beach for an engagement party my family is throwing us. i’m so excited to go home, dig my swimsuit out of the closet and dip my toes in the ocean. few things make me happier than feeling warm sand on your feet and smelling the salt air while you relax in a comfortable beach chair. since i’ve got beach on the brain i thought it would be perfect timing to mention these great new coral art prints from wayne pate at good shape design. too bad our beach has more plastic bags than coral (at the least it did the last time i was home), but it’s nice to imagine something like this growing near the shore instead. click here to check out wayne’s art collection (and here for prints) for sale.

ac and i are about to hop on a flight to virginia but i have a bunch of posts lined up for today so there’s plenty to come between now and 2pm. i wanted to start the day with an update about this year’s rock & shop in downtown raleigh, north carolina (click here for the d*s raleigh design guide). michelle smith is organizing this year’s event, which will be this saturday (tomorrow) june 28th from 1-5pm at the tir na nog in raleigh. there will be over 30 emerging designers featured and plenty of live music to keep you bopping through the show. modernradar (whose cards and pouches are featured above and below) will be there along with nonfiction design collective (featured below) as well as a slew of other great artists. click here for more information and to attend. [thanks, michelle!]

[stationery from modernradar]

[rat curtains by nonfiction design collective- i love this]

[painted brick from nonfiction design collective]

[stationery from modernradar]