It’s here!  It’s finally here.  This past weekend, Jeffrey and I woke up very early Saturday morning and made the trek out to Letterpress Things to pick up the tabletop press I had on hold from John Barrett.  John was great and explained all that I need to know to operate and keep good care of my new cast iron friend.  After picking up the press and a few accessories, we loaded everything into the car (thank god for a hatchback) and visited two consecutive family birthday parties before bringing the letterpress loot home (thank you Jeff for carrying everything in the house at midnight).  I still don’t have a table ready, but I might be working with a friend who can build a custom one for me.

After unpacking everything and setting up the press on it’s temporary stand, I stood back and looked at it… against the pale, pink walls that took me what seemed like forever to paint, it hit me…  it’s here.  Finally (it had not dawned on me before, even though Jeff kept asking, “Are you excited?  I’m excited!”).  I cannot explain in words the path that I’ve traveled from taking my first letterpress class to having my own press, realizing in that moment that all those weeks and months of simply wishing and thinking “someday it will happen,” to now having that goal actually materialize into becoming real.  Sure, there’s a lot more I need to buy and a lot more I need to do, but this can finally be crossed off my long term goals list.  So I stood there, quietly smiling with warm contentment, knowing how much it meant to me.  It’s been a long time coming, but my press is finally here.

{for more of my photos, check out my Flickr}