So long, farewell

Dear friends,

As many of you know, the fire that occurred in Dec 2012 left us displaced from our studio for much longer than we thought it would. We always assumed that one day we would return to resume our work.

our dutch door

But, we found out recently that our studio would be converted to a living space and we would no longer be going back. For this and other reasons we have made the difficult decision to close Dutch Door Press.

the very first card we made

The last eight years have been rewarding and special for us. We were able to do work that we loved and make beautiful things every day. 

We'll never forget the time we spent at our studio or the clients and customers who made all of our effort worthwhile. 

We appreciate all of the support you have given us over the years! 

We will be holding a big sale in our Etsy shop from now until the last of our inventory is gone. Use code BYEBYE for 50% off at check-out. 

Until we meet again, thank you THANK YOU!

xoxo, Anna & Mara

ask and you shall receive

We have had many, many requests for the state prints in a larger size.

At long last we present our California print in size 11" x 14". 

It's letterpress printed on the same lovely 100% cotton paper as the smaller version. 

Hope you're enjoying your summer!

handcraft studio school

We first met our good friend Marie a little over ten years ago when we all worked together at Paper Source on Fillmore Street in San Francisco. As we got to know her over the years, we witnessed her incredible artistic talent grow and evolve.

from dot a tote and towel craft night

About a year and a half ago, Marie and her friend Aleishall started hosting ladies craft nights every few months. These nights brought women together to socialize, learn a new skill, and walk away with something beautiful that they had made. It came as no surprise to us that Marie decided to open Handcraft Studio School this September in Emeryville, CA to continue on and expand upon this wonderful tradition of teaching, promoting and preserving handcrafts.

Marie (on the left) and Aleishall

from the kachina dolls craft night

September classes at Handcraft Studio School include flower arranging, pom pom making, into to letterpress, tiny piñata making, calligraphy, and much more!! To learn more & register for a class click here. 

To outfit her space and fund the first month of classes, Marie has started a Kickstarter campaign. She's currently halfway to her goal of $8500, and with five days to go we think she's going to make it! Please consider supporting this exciting project which will benefit so many people in so many ways all around the Bay Area. 

Click here to become a backer of Handcraft Studio School!

the making of a giant linoleum block print

Last autumn we were asked to be a featured artist in an event called Roadworks, a fund-raiser for the San Francisco Center for the Book-- the place where we learned to letterpress print!

This entailed creating an original design and carving it by hand into a 36" square linoleum block. At the event the block was inked up, placed on the street with a sheet of paper on top and run over by a steam roller. Yes- a steam roller!!

It's an exciting event that draws a great crowd and we were so honored to be asked to participate. 

Here's a little "behind the scenes" on how the print came to be. 

What started as a sketch became a digital illustration that was scaled from a 6" square to a 36" design printed in 6 inch blocks and assembled in a grid. 

The fully assembled grid was then transferred on to the linoleum using a very stinky liquid solvent. 

We carved the block one quadrant at a time using these Speedball carving tools. 

I inked it up and took a proof:

Five of the prints sold at Roadworks to benefit SFCB and we have just produced a pair of editions that are for sale NOW in our Etsy shop. We have a very small number of prints available- 17 in black ink and 21 in red. 

The image area is 36" x 36" and the paper size is 40" x 40. It was printed on a flatbed french etching press on archival 100% cotton Arches Rives BFK. 

A difficult day

Last Tuesday, December 4th, 2012, we had a difficult day at our studio. It started like any other day: making plates, shipping orders, printing. But at around 1:30 in the afternoon our workday was cut short. The sound of sirens drew us out from our workspace. We saw firefighters racing around to put out a fire that had started next door, but quickly spread to the roof of our building. We watched from across the street as a river of water flowed down the side of the building. At the time, we had no idea how deeply we would be impacted by what seemed to be a small, not so serious fire. 

KTVU coverage of the two-alarm fire

When we were finally allowed back in the building we discovered much of what we had been creating over the last six years was now drenched in smoky water. We lost our entire collection of greeting cards, holiday cards, and shelves of stored paper. 

Our beautiful, perfect card wall before ...

and after.

We have been walking around in shock and disbelief for a few days, but now we are determined to pick ourselves up and get back to work as soon as we can. We will need to leave our lovely light-filled studio while it's being renovated for a period of time and so now we are figuring out a temporary solution.  Thankfully we were able to salvage many things: some product, our presses and most importantly, Mara and I, along with the other tenants and owners of our building, are safe. We want to take this moment to express to you how grateful we are for your support over the years. We feel so fortunate to have been able to do this work that we love and we plan to continue on for years to come.

We have been walking around in shock and disbelief for a few days, but now we are determined to pick ourselves up and get back to work as soon as we can. We will need to leave our lovely light-filled studio while it's being renovated for a period of time and so now we are figuring out a temporary solution. 

Thankfully we were able to salvage many things: some product, our presses and most importantly, Mara and I, along with the other tenants and owners of our building, are safe. We want to take this moment to express to you how grateful we are for your support over the years. We feel so fortunate to have been able to do this work that we love and we plan to continue on for years to come. 

little dutch girl

in the spirit of dutch door press, mara's daughter dottie on halloween this year.

t-shirt for park life

Park Life asked us to create a t-shirt for their store. This is it!