Workshops are back!

I’m excited to announce that I’m resurrecting Papillon Press letterpress workshops this Fall 2021! Come to our studio in Westport and learn how to set type and print your own notecards using all our old printing equipment.

Dates are available through weekends until mid-November (except for Thanksgiving weekend because we have plans). Book through AirbBnB Experiences.Book your spot on AirBnB Experiences

Guests will be introduced to our 70-yr-old letterpress in our studio, learn the basics of setting type and will ink and print their own personalized note cards (qty. 50, value of $100) by hand on the press. They will create their own stationery choosing from a selection of over 50 typefaces from our vintage typecases and etched graphics.

Day of workshop schedule

10am-11am The first hour of the workshop is spent discussing the history of letterpress printing, basic typography, types of papers and each participant’s project over coffee and Chantal’s homemade muffins. Each participant is given a handout for their own personal reference that they can keep

11am-12pm The rest of the morning is devoted to learning how to compose type in a composing stick, choosing from over 110 cases of type including lead type and wood type and from our dozens of cuts (pictorial etching

12pm-1pm Break for lunch.

1pm-3pm– Work on composing your type, then learn how to mount the type in the chase using furniture, leading & slugs. Each participant will proof their project on our proofing press to ensure there are no errors before printing on the big press.

3pm-5pm Each participant will learn how to mount the chase containing their type on our floor model 10×15 Chandler & Price letterpress and take their turn printing 50 pieces of their own

Clearing out

Shop the clearance sale

In April last year, I wrote that Papillon Press was on hiatus while I explored another direction with my career. For the last 8 months I’ve switched gears and have dived into freelance illustration. I ended the year on a positive note and am encouraged to persevere with freelance illustration as my new career choice in 2017. I had fun with Papillon Press while it lasted, but I’m no longer interested in continuing in the stationery industry. There are many factors involved in this decision and, while I may feel like ranting about it, I won’t bore you with the details. Suffice to say that I am thrilled to no longer have to attend god-forsaken industry trade shows 😉

I’ve decided to close down Papillon Press and clear out my remaining inventory at low, low discounted prices…up to 75% off everything! It pains me to do it, knowing how much work goes into one single letterpress card, but there it is. Help me clear out space in my studio and replenish your card stashes for the coming year at the same time!

Joel and I again want to thank those of you who supported us over the years by buying our products, coming to see us at craft fairs…and even just laying down $6 for one single card. You know who you are! Happy 2017!

P.S. I’m keeping my equipment for personal use, so I won’t be selling any right now.

Upcoming 2016 Holiday Craft Shows

‘Tis the season for holiday craft shows! Joel and I are looking forward to selling at 3 local ones this year:

Sunday, November 27th – 10am-5pm St. Anthony’s Banquet Hall, Ottawa, ON

Fall 2016 Letterpress workshop

Summer has come and gone; it’s time to buckle down and get busy with a fall letterpress workshop. If you’re in the Ottawa valley or in nearby Ottawa or Kingston, come out for a day and learn how to set type the old fashion way and print your own personalised note cards.

Dates: 

**Rescheduled to Saturday, October 15– 10 to 5

Cost: $150 per participant

Here’s what is included

-all supplies (including paper)
-learning about setting type the old-fashioned way and setting your own
-access to our 110 cases of type (possibly the most type in Ontario aside from Upper Canada Village) and our vintage cuts (etched graphics).
-a chance to use our 60-year-old letterpress to print your own note cards
– You will be walking way with at least 50 A2 (4×5.25″)  flat letterpress note cards,  a value of $100.
– the knowledge that you handcrafted a stack of your own letterpress stationery (priceless) 🙂

Day of workshop schedule

10am-11am The first hour of the workshop is spent discussing the history of letterpress printing, basic typography, types of papers and each participant’s project over coffee and Chantal’s homemade muffins. Each participant is given a handout for their own personal reference that they can keep

11am-noon The rest of the morning is devoted to learning how to compose type in a composing stick, choosing from over 110 cases of type including lead type and wood type and from our dozens of cuts (pictorial etchings mounted on wood).

noon-1pm Break for lunch. Westport has several nice cafés that serve tasty lunches.

1pm-3pm– Work on composing your type, then learn how to mount the type in the chase using furniture, leading & slugs. Each participant will proof their project on our proofing press to ensure there are no errors before printing on the big press.

3pm-5pm Each participant will learn how to mount the chase containing their type on our floor model 10×15 Chandler & Price letterpress and take their turn printing 50 pieces of their own project on a variety of paper stocks.

If you have a special project you would like to print, please discuss it with us first and we will try to accommodate you. The price may vary depending on the project.

How do I sign up? 

You can reserve your spot right away by buying the workshop listing on our website:

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT

 Workshops take place in our studio at 26 Spring Street in Westport, ON.

Dent Craft greeting card

That time of year is coming up; the time when you start thinking about which card your business will be sending out for the holidays. Is your business looking for a fun alternative to boring corporate Holiday cards? Look no further. Any of our Papillon Press holiday cards are available to be customized with an inside greeting of your choice. We’ll even design it for you!

Below is a card we did last year for Dent Craft. They chose our Festive Reindeer card and requested that the string lights be printed in their company colours, with an inside greeting printed in one colour.

Interested? Go ahead and fill out the Get An Estimate form and we’ll get back to you with a quote.

Our customized Festive Reindeer card

A one-colour greeting is printed inside the customized Festive Reindeer card.

The Studio – Then and Now

Everybody loves a makeover, right? I know I do. That’s why I finally got around to doing before/after photos of our studio and house.

When Joel and I first saw the house in late 2012, we immediately saw the potential despite it’s drab appearance. That, and the 1000 sq. ft heated workshop were a definite selling point. But it needed sprucing up. The house and workshop were in great condition so the only changes necessary were mostly cosmetic.

Here are before/after photos of the outside. Wait until you see the inside…another day though (because it’s pretty messy right now) 😉 The moral of this story is: it’s amazing what a coat of paint can do!

The main thing we did here to the studio was finish off the bottom part of the building, which had a layer of yellow foam insulation showing. This is called “parging”, when you add a layer of concrete over the bottom foundation. We also added a coat of black paint to the barn doors, added a couple colourful pencils in front of the doors (to advertise what we do from a distance). We also levelled the yard, re-seeded it with grass and made two flower beds in front of the windows.

The house needed sprucing up. We improved its appearance with a few coats of paint: first we painted the rust-coloured shutters a fire engine red, really making them pop. We also painted the front porch black, which contrasted nicely with the red shutters. This year we finally got around to digging up the entire front garden and replanting it with low-maintenance perennials.

The front porch was untreated wood when we bought the house. We painted it black to contrast nicely with the new fire engine red shutters and added some pretty flower pots.

The studio is behind the house, as you can see. The side porch was untreated wood when we bought the house so we needed to spruce it up to look prettier for when clients walk past it to the studio. Again, pretty simple makeover: a coat of black paint for the porch, fire-engine red shutters and pretty potted plants.

And finally, one of the first things we did when we moved in was to order a lovely sign to put at the front of the house. I love this sign.

Wedding invitation – Barbara & Aaron

Much to my pleasure, my brother and sister-in-law gave me carte blanche when designing the invitation suite for their Cape Cod wedding. They didn’t have any specifications other than the colour palette and that they didn’t want a typical nautical “Cape” style. I knew I wanted to create a design that was very much focused on illustration, so came up with this toile pattern that included a gristmill and a windmill (the venue had a water wheel outside), with some fall foliage thrown in because it was a fall wedding and fully illustrated type. Everything in this suite was hand drawn, including every letter. All pieces were then letterpress printed (also by me) except for the envelope, which was digitally-printed. 

I’m so happy with how this invitation turned out. It’s great when clients let you do your thing and have fun with a job. Fun wedding too!

Specs: Design Papillon Press (Chantal Bennett) | Paper Crane Lettra, 600 & 300 gsm, flo white | Size 5×7″ double-sided, 3.5×5″ reply card | Ink Colour Cobalt Blue & Silver | Extras custom digitally-printed envelope

Weber wedding invitation

People often ask us if we can print in languages other than English. The answer is a resounding “YES”, as you can see with this English/Arabic wedding invitation. I love the choice of colour and the lovely artwork on this letterpress invitation. We don’t print many folded wedding announcements any more, but this is a fantastic example of what it can look like.

Specs: Design Sam Weber | Paper Crane Lettra, 300 gsm, pearl white | Size 5×7″ (folded) | Ink Colour custom mixed PMS swatches

Joel Kimmel business card

You know what one of the perks is to owning your own letterpress business? Being able to print sweet, over the top business cards for yourself, that’s what! The other half of the Papillon Press team, illustrator Joel Kimmel, needed a business card to attend a conference so of course he designed and printed a fancy one, featuring his own illustrations and big, bold type.

 Specs: Design Joel Kimmel | Paper Crane Lettra, 600 gsm, flo white | Size 3.5×2″ | Ink Colour Turquoise & PMS Black

Cowan birth announcement

Did you know you can customize Papillon Press cards? If you find one of our greeting cards would make a great birth announcement, party invitation, family Christmas card, business thank you card, etc. we can absolutely print an inside greeting in our cards to personalize it just for you (minimum quantities apply, obviously). 

Westport parents Megan and Seamus thought our Baby Triceratops card would make a great birth announcement for their son Sam, so we printed a one colour greeting inside the card in a matching style. 

If you’re interested in personalizing on of our letterpress greeting cards,go ahead and get an estimate.

Specs:  Paper Legion Bamboo, 265 gsm, soft white | Size A6 folded (4.5×6.25″ | Ink Colour Turquoise & Blue

Personalized Baby Triceratops card.