Blog Archives

Our Very Own Iron Handpress

by Sara McNally | May 9th, 2013

A few weeks ago, we took a road trip to the great white north (Vancouver) and brought home a new member of the Constellation family! Meet Wendy, our Washington-style Reliance iron handpress. She’s from the early 1900′s and in beautiful condition. (And possibly the coolest thing that’s ever been listed on Craigslist!) Her bed size is 16″ x 21″ and we are so excited about printing posters in house! We’re working on Wendy’s inaugural broadside, and will be sure to share it with you soon. Here are some photos of the big move: Continue reading  ☞

In Progress

by Sara McNally | April 22nd, 2013

The other day I was looking through our archive of photos and stumbled upon a folder titled “In Progress.” It had photos of our old studio, our press moves, refurbishing projects, etc. The photos made me feel rather nostalgic. Looking at them reminded me of our beginnings and how exciting (and scary!) every step of this journey has been. I’ve been feeling a bit discouraged, so it was a really sweet encouragement to look back and see how far we’ve come. We’ve made a ton of progress, and continue to forge onward. I didn’t share many of these photos when they were taken, but i’ll share them now. They’re an honest look at the messy side of things, and I really kind of like them right about now!


The epic 619 crack Continue reading  ☞

Sure & Steadfast Anchor

by Sara McNally | February 20th, 2013

Hello friends! I printed my first wood engraving last week, and i’m excited to share it with you! To see my progress getting to this point, check out these previous blog posts: Week One and Week Two. I finished the project off by printing it on Magnani’s Pescia, along with some lovely 30 pt. Century Nova Italic lead type that we bought from Jules Faye this summer. (And now it’s about to get real honest up in here – consider yourself warned encouraged to proceed.) Continue reading  ☞

Happy Vday 2013!

by Sara McNally | February 14th, 2013

Happy Valentine’s Day, friends! We’ve sent out lots and lots of You & Me prints this year, and I hope each and every one of you enjoy the words of love your sweetie picked out for you! Just in time for Vday shopping, we launched several new options on our Etsy store:


New You & Me prints on Crane’s 100% Cotton Lettra paper, both in Black Ink & Red Ink


New You & Me prints on 100% Recycled Kraft Paper in Bold Red Ink

Didn’t get one ordered in time? Never fear! Our friends over at Klondike Penny’s have the full collection available for purchase and will be open today from 12:30 – 9 pm!

Continue reading  ☞

Wood Engraving Class: Week 3

by Sara McNally | February 9th, 2013

Hello friends, here’s my weekly wood engraving class update! I’ve finished the engraving portion of my anchor print but haven’t had a chance to print it yet. It was a busy week with client work, events, etc. This coming week I’ll be setting type to go along with the image and getting it printed. I’ll be sure to share it with you when it’s finished. In the meantime, I started a new engraving during my class time with Carl this week: a sweet baby bear! Continue reading  ☞

Wood Engraving Class – Week 2

by Sara McNally | February 1st, 2013

Hello friends! I’m about to run off and do Friday night things, but I wanted to show you my wood engraving progress. I had another lovely morning in Carl’s studio – the natural light was lovely as the sun tried to make it’s way out from behind the clouds.  I had made some progress on clearing out the white background by hand for my “homework,” but today Carl introduced me to the dremel power tool and things went quite quickly from there. It felt like “high stakes” – I might twitch and clear straight through the printing area at any moment! (Thankfully I didn’t.) We made a first proof of my engraving today, which will help for clearing out and doing final touch ups. You can tell I made progress today because of all the “chips” in the photo. I think it looks like confetti – which is perfect because it’s Friday, and a weekend this badly needed is cause for celebration! It was a crazy week for me. How was your week?

While I go have a glass of wine and unwind, here’s a little something for you to do. I would love it if you folks reading the blog would comment – so, the first person to speak up and say hello (or anything for that matter) will receive a free card of their choice from our Etsy store!

Always Learning: Wood Engraving Classes!

by Sara McNally | January 28th, 2013

Hello friends! I had a really wonderful morning, and I want to tell you about it.

For my birthday a few weeks ago, Brad gave me unlimited wood engraving lessons with Carl Montford! Carl is absolutely a master of his craft, and I am honored to call him a friend. He was the “matchmaker” who brought us together with the seller of our first press, and he even helped us move the press into our studio (not an easy task). Carl is an absolute treasure of the letterpress community, and I am so excited to be learning from him!

The photo above is the progress of my first engraving project. I’m working on an anchor image and using a Resingrave block. I learned so much in just the first three hours. It’s so exciting to be learning a new skill from such an amazing artist. Cherish is taking classes as well, so I’ll see if I can get her to share her progress too. I’ll keep you posted as we progress!

What are you learning in this new year? Please comment. :)

Newbies Around the Shop

by Sara McNally | October 3rd, 2012

We’ve added some new “friends” to the shop recently, and are excited to show them off!

Jules of Stern & Faye recently sold the print farm and held an estate sale to share the pieces that wouldn’t fit in her new studio with the letterpress community. While it was really sad to be visiting the farm for the last time, we were also really excited to buy a full cabinet of beautiful type and a slant-top work surface (among other goodies). You really can’t beat a letterpress estate sale!

We’re been busy reorganizing the shop and babying our new type, but we’re working on a full catalog of print samples to show you – check back in for updates! Continue reading  ☞

Our 3rd Anniversary Printing Press

by Sara McNally | October 1st, 2012

Last month, Brad and I took a weekend trip to the Olympic Peninsula for our 3rd Anniversary. We had an amazing, restful adventure. In our opinion, that’s the best kind – a little bit of both! We rode the ferry, stayed in a castle, did a cider tasting, made sun prints, ate lots of delicious food, walked on the beach, and did some shopping. Continue reading  ☞

Introducing: “Organically Yours”

by Sara McNally | June 29th, 2012

We are proud to introduce Organically Yours, a series of letterpress greeting cards with corresponding seed packets, produced in collaboration with Seattle Seed Company! Sander, the owner of Seattle Seed Co., contacted us awhile back about some printing work, and it didn’t take us long to realize our companies were made to collaborate!

Continue reading  ☞

Vintage Finds: My Bike

by Sara McNally | June 19th, 2012

Summer has slowly made its way to Seattle, and for the first time since I was little, the warm weather means bike rides! A couple months ago (when spring was here and we were eagerly awaiting summer), we found the sweetest blue bike in the basement of an estate sale in our neighborhood. I had an instant crush on this bike. It’s everything a bike should be! We initially walked away from the house (we certainly hadn’t budgeted to get me a bike, nor did we bring enough cash), but I was really sad to leave it behind. I just kept thinking about the two of us riding bikes all summer…and it was too sweet a thought to give up! Brad (who loves me a ton) negotiated the seller down to a somewhat manageable price, and we took my new/old bike home! Continue reading  ☞

Hey, Cool! Print Jobs!

by Sara McNally | June 18th, 2012

So, we’ve gone back and forth on how we feel about print-only jobs. We love working with the talented designers in our city, but tend to get too busy too fast. But some cool things have been falling into place lately – new person, new press, more space…more info forthcoming! In light of these new circumstance, we’ve started taking on new print-only jobs on a limited basis.

Interested in having us print your design work? We’re getting ready to take on more print-only jobs: but for time & energy purposes, we want to choose our clients carefully. In order to best educate our designer clients on the magical world of letterpress printing, we will be offering one-day workshops (monthly or every other month, depending on interest) that will be a prerequisite for printing with us. Each workshop (for graphic designers only) will cover all the quirky specifics of design for letterpress printing, including: what works well for letterpress, how to prepare your files, color separations, printing press capabilities, do’s & don’ts, and more! The cost of the class will be $50, which we will credit back to your first print job with us. If you’re interested in taking the workshop, e-mail us (hello AT constellationco DOT com) and we will reply with additional info. The first workshop will be in August!

Note: These workshops will be on how to design for letterpress, not on how to print yourself. If you’re interested in learning how to print, check out the awesome classes at the School of Visual Concepts.

Too many words, not enough pictures? Check out these kick-arse print-only jobs we’ve done lately…these folks are rock stars!


Jen & Mike’s Save the Dates, Designed by Mike, the groom!

Continue reading  ☞

Where ya been, Sara?

by Sara McNally | June 15th, 2012

So, things got a bit insane around here after my St. Louis trip. While I was gone, work ground to a halt for a week and has been backed up ever since (nearly a month!) No complaints here, busy = business! We’ve been on press every day for weeks, and have quite a few new client projects in the works. We’ve hired a lovely and talented printmaker named Cherish to help out around the shop (official introduction soon) and assigned the beautiful and organized Holly to answering e-mails and setting up client meetings (she also makes wreaths). With our powers combined, work has continued on in a rapid pace and won’t stop next time i’m out of town! (Which will be in July for Renegade Craft Fair & San Francisco adventure, which i’m currently planning and very excited about!)

Crazy busy Sara tends to mean no blog entries. But I’ve got lots of updates planning and coming soon! In the meantime, here’s a greatest hits line-up of our recent design/print work:


Tiny Newspaper for the ’57 Biscayne Open House

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We’re in the Seattle Times!

by Sara McNally | April 30th, 2012

We were so excited to zip down to our local bookstore and pick up Sunday’s paper – because look, it’s us! (Well, it’s our logo, Josephine the printing machine, and Sara…sweeping.) The Seattle Times has been in touch with us and our studio mates since before the big move, and it’s great to see the story finally come out.

If you missed the ink and newsprint version, you can read the article online here. There are also several more photos and an audio clip here. Continue reading  ☞

Updates: New Stores! Upcoming Events! Etcetera!

by Sara McNally | April 17th, 2012

We have been busy bees over here at Constellation & Co. (Hence the blog silence. “Update blog” is on my Teux Deux every day, but it tends to get neglected for other tasks.) But here I am, and here are some highlights.

Visit our new stores!

Our card & gift items are available for purchase in several new stores! It’s been a great month since we launched our wholesale catalog, and we’ve enjoyed seeing orders coming in from lovely shops in fun cities.


McNally Jackson Books, NYC

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Safety First!

by Sara McNally | December 16th, 2011

The following is an excerpt from the 1953 edition of Platen Press Operation by George J. Mills.
(More information on the book can be found here.)

Quotes from the book are italic and the other comments are my interjections/self-reminders.

The platen press is as dangerous or as safe as the operator makes it. Student operators should follow common sense safety practices until each becomes a habit. Continue reading  ☞

We’re Fab, too!

by Sara McNally | September 16th, 2011

We’re big fans of Fab (as you can tell from our gushy blog entry a few weeks ago). So, we’re proud and excited to announce that we’ll be a featured seller on Fab this coming week, September 20-23! (We’re super excited. Seriously.) We’ll be offering two of our letterpress art prints and several of our boxed card sets at a huge savings! Make sure you check out the sale and stock up!

If you still haven’t heard: Fab.com is “design online.” The Fab.com website offers daily design inspirations and sales 70% off retail. Membership is free but by invitation only. Members receive exclusive access to daily curated design sales featuring the world’s leading designers and manufacturers. And you can join by clicking here!

Wayzgoose 2011

by Sara McNally | August 30th, 2011

This weekend we participated in the 10th annual Wayzgoose event at the School of Visual Concepts. (For general Wayzgoose info/history, check out our previous blog post.) SVC is a great school with relevant classes on web topics, digital media, advertising, etc., as well as a full print shop, offering letterpress classes each quarter. (The best of both worlds, I’d say!) SVC is also the host of the Seattle Wayzgoose, and has been for 10 years!

Continue reading  ☞

Elevated Envelope

by Sara McNally | August 22nd, 2011

Tara, a local letterpress printer and owner of Ephemera, put together a super fun envelope exchange called “The Elevated Envelope.” The theme was “summer,” and the envelopes had to be mostly handmade and definitely creative. We decided to join in the fun, and signed up (before the giant move fiasco came to be). With all that’s going on, the deadline snuck up on me (why does this always happen to the fun stuff!?), so we put together a pretty restrained envelope. Had I more time,  it would have been much more elaborate – but instead of what i’d initially planned, I went with a theme that is the the theme of my life lately… Summer Time Flies! (And hey, sometimes restraint isn’t a bad thing.)

Continue reading  ☞

Print Jobs 2

by Sara McNally | August 19th, 2011

We really enjoy working with the talented designers in our city to produce great print pieces. However, our business & equipment are really not set up as a “job shop” or full service print shop. We’re a small operation, and it’s become more and more important for us to be specific about the kind of work we want to be doing. Otherwise, we say yes to everything and have time for nothing. (And trust me, that’s my tendency! I hate to turn down work, and I love to overfill my plate.) We’ve decided to narrow our focus – We will still be printing for designers in our network, but on a more limited basis. This shift will give us more time to pursue the things that we love: offering high quality, full service design & letterpress packages for weddings, business stationery, baby announcements, etc., as well as expanding our line of letterpress cards and gifts.

We are so thankful that local designers have used us for their letterpress projects. Here are a few of the great client projects that we’ve gotten to print lately.

Continue reading  ☞

Coming Soon!

by Sara McNally | August 17th, 2011

We are excited to announce that we’ll have a table in the letterpress marketplace for the 2011 Seattle Wayzgoose! We’ll be in good company with 20+ vendors, offering their best letterpress goodies for perusal and purchase.

Wayzgoose is a tradition in the printing world that goes back to the days of working by candlelight. Each year on or around St. Bartholomew’s Day (the 24th of August), a wayzgoose would be given by the master printer to mark the end of summer and the start of the darker winter season of working by candlelight.

Continue reading  ☞

The Dream

by Sara McNally | August 8th, 2011

The Dream is a series of 24 letterpress prints sized 5 1/2 inches square. Each print is one of a kind – only one final print of each piece exists, and each one is signed and framed. Brad and I designed and printed this series in collaboration, using our collection of wood type and vintage printer’s blocks, along with original linoleum carvings. It was one of the first major print projects we took on together, and we had so much fun dreaming them up (puns!) and putting them together.

Continue reading  ☞

619 Western

by Sara McNally | July 20th, 2011

Constellation & Co. moved into the 619 Western Artist’s building in January of 2011 – 101 years after the building was built in Pioneer Square.

619 was built in 1910 during an economic boom after the Alaskan gold rush. The building was used as a multipurpose warehouse and was the site of light manufacturing. Fishing nets, coffee beans and tavern punch cards are a few of the products that have been stored & made on the premises. In the late 1970′s, the first artists moved their studios into the building. Currently, more than 100 artists have studios in all six stories of this historic building. For more information on 619′s history, please visit the official 619 site.


The first Thursday of every month, the 619 Building is open for the Pioneer Square Art Walk which brings crowds of art lovers to the neighborhood. The 619 building has long been considered the epicenter of this monthly event, with the largest concentration of artists’ studios and gallery spaces in one building.

Continue reading  ☞

Public Service Announcement

by Sara McNally | July 18th, 2011

The letterpress revival has been thriving in Seattle for some time – but there are definitely parts of the country that haven’t experienced it. Recently, my family took a road trip through the south, on an antiquing expedition. After asking around in lots of small towns about printing presses and printer’s blocks, my family was given the number of a gentleman who was a retired printer. They called him up and asked about his printing supplies, and specifically his collection of wood type. The gentleman was shocked that anyone would be interested in letterpress things – and told them that he threw away his large collection of wood type years ago! It breaks my heart to think about all of that history and craftsmanship thrown out with the trash. Here’s a public service announcement: If you or anyone you know (uncles, grandparents, elderly friends) were a printer and have wood type, printing presses, or printer’s blocks – PLEASE contact me, and I will purchase them from you, or find someone who will. These items are valuable and important – historically, and monetarily. Please don’t throw them away!

Meet the Presses: Annabelle

by Sara McNally | July 15th, 2011

Annabelle is a Chicago Printing Press No. 11, made by the Sigwalt Company in the late 1800’s & early 1900’s. These presses were built on exactly the same principals as the large presses of the same era that we use to produce all of our products – this one is just miniaturized! (For example: our Chandler & Price press weighs 1,200 pounds, and this press weighs 8 pounds!) This particular style of press was often used by schools, offices, pharmacists, churches and hobbyists in the way a label maker or desktop computer would be used today. This size & style of press originally sold for $12.00, complete with type, ink, rollers, tweezers, paper, and more!

Continue reading  ☞

Meet the Presses: Jefferson

by Sara McNally | July 7th, 2011

A few months ago, we walked into a very dark and cluttered antique store in Tacoma, WA. In true American Pickers fashion, we looked high & low, under things & over things, sifting through boxes and piles of unnameable old things. After some searching, Brad moved a pile of bicycle wheels aside and found something that made us both gasp. In that odd place, we found an 1880′s era Galley Proof Press by the Chandler & Price company (the same company that made our large platen press).

An iphone photo from the day we found the press.

Continue reading  ☞

Letterpress Finds: Kelsey Press Company Catalog

by Sara McNally | June 22nd, 2011

We took a trip to Fairlook Antiques on our lunch break this week. While perusing their large catalog section, we found this absolute gem.

The Kelsey Press Company was established in 1872 in Meriden, Connecticut. Kelsey produced small printing presses and supplies for hobby printers. This particular catalog is from the early 1930′s, and displays presses, supplies, and typefaces for sale from Kelsey.

Continue reading  ☞

Print Jobs

by Sara McNally | May 16th, 2011

We make a big deal about our custom design & print work – each piece becomes our new baby, watching it grow from idea to finished print. But we also do letterpress print work for other designers – bringing their “idea baby” to life on paper. These pieces don’t typically make it into our portfolio, because it gets confusing for clients to have to double check to see what we’ve designed and what we haven’t. Nevertheless, here are a few print pieces we’ve worked on lately.

Design by Jessie Orvidas

Continue reading  ☞

At Long Last…

by Sara McNally | May 9th, 2011

It occurred to me while preparing for this month’s art walk that we’ve neglected to show photos of our shop all put together. Just like the process of refurbishing our press, the studio needed a lot of love when we moved in at the beginning of the year. We scrubbed and painted before we moved the press in, and have spent the last couple of months collecting, decorating, and organizing (when we’re not printing, of course). It took us some time to figure out where everything should go, but I think we’re finally happy with the results. So at long last, here are some progress photos, and that glorious “taaaa daaaa” moment.

Continue reading  ☞

Open House!

by Sara McNally | March 1st, 2011

Hello Friends! We’re preparing for an Open House at our new studio in a few weeks, and you’re invited! If you’re in Seattle (or willing to travel), we’d love to see you there. Come see where we work, what we do, and enjoy an evening with us. We genuinely believe in an open door, open heart policy – we want you to know us, and we want to get to know you. This is an opportunity to celebrate this new step for the company with old friends, and make new friends!

If you’d like to receive your own limited edition letterpress invitation postcard, e-mail us your address: hello AT constellationco.com

I <3 Weddings

by Sara McNally | February 1st, 2011

Two of our dearest friends are getting married in March, and Brad and I have not only had the honor of designing & printing their wedding invitations, but we’re in the wedding party! Above are photos of elements from their wedding suite, and bridesmaid finery. I can’t wait to see how the wedding comes together in the next month, and i’m so glad we get to be a part of it!

Our Shop!

by Sara McNally | January 28th, 2011

We are very excited to announce that we’ve found a space, bought a press, and set up our own letterpress shop! It was a major new year’s resolution for us, and we’re so excited that it’s come to fruition. We’ve spent January scrubbing, painting, renting equipment, and taking daily trips to Home Depot for wire brushes, steel wool, and WD40. Here are a few before & after shots of our new baby, Josephine the Printing Machine! We’re still doing the finishing touches on the shop, but we have a big open house planned for the first Thursday in March. We’ll send out a formal invite once the details are in place. Put it on your calendar, we’d love to see you there!

Continue reading  ☞

We’re a Great Find!

by Sara McNally | September 3rd, 2010

We are excited and pleased to have our cards featured at Lucca Great Finds! Lucca is located in the historic Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. It features a ceiling full of chandeliers, an enchanting garden, a great selection of vintage inspired home goods, and a wonderful room full of cards, ribbon, wrapping paper, etc. Lucca is one of our most favorite Seattle shops – there’s always something new to discover. And now, you can discover us! Come by and check it out – and tell them we sent you!

Continue reading  ☞

Books = <3

by Sara McNally | September 2nd, 2010

Brad and I are both starting new books this week. This is a very exciting thing for us. We’ve been saving them, so that we have lots of thrilling pages to read while on our anniversary road trip! (We haven’t had a weekend together in almost 6 months, so this is a big deal.) Brad is reading A Game of Thrones and i’m reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. No spoilers, please!

In honor of the first crisp, enigmatic page of a new book, here are some new book themed cards just for you! Paste one in an old favorite, or send one to someone you like.

Vintage handset lead type, printed on genuine library checkout cards. The book illustration is by an old favorite, Johnny Gruelle (the creator of Raggedy Ann), and printed with a photopolymer plate.

Can I borrow you?

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Wayzgoose 2010

by Sara McNally | September 1st, 2010

Last weekend, we had the great fortune of participating in the School of Visual Concepts’ Letterpress Wayzgoose!

Wayzgoose was traditionally a day given by a master printer to his workmen each year on or about St. Bartholomew’s Day, August 24th. This day marked the end of summer and the point at which the season of working by candlelight began. (Think tiny pieces of lead and no light…) Ironically enough, this week got dark and rainy – fall has been ushered in, and it came riding a steamroller.

The festivities included an equipment swap, a letterpress marketplace, shop tours, printing demos, and the Steamroller Smackdown! The smackdown consisted of several teams (made up of some of the best design firms & organizations in the city), a 2 ton steamroller, and giant linoleum carvings.

We shared a booth with the lovely Rebecca Mullins of Myrtle Alley Press, and Bethany Sahlberg of Sugabug. Here are some photos of our booth & smackdown poster – we had a blast!

Continue reading  ☞