Update and the Great Printing Party preview, prelude? pre-something...

Where I am
Let's see, last time I mentioned that I had ordered a few sheets of paper to savor and sample before I decided which to choose for printing. Well, the boxes arrived and I really meant to take a peek inside but first I had to clear my work tables.
That, of course required that I finish unpacking the remaining city blocks on hand, photograph them, wrapped them back up, logged them and placed them in their "wait-boxes".
I am happy to say I have caught up on all the photographing and the blog will be very busy from now until all the blocks are published!

All that accomplished, I now have a clear table on which to spread the paper, touch and feel every sheet and then decide the winner for the city project. And I will get to that this weekend.

To do list
Next on the list is chasing down the stragglers. I am elated to report that at this writing I have only 12 blocks missing! This means that for certain there will be 101 participants.
I now have an extra clean block on hand to cut any substitutes I might need.
In the next two weeks I hope that I get at least half of those missing blocks back with carvings. If you are one of those stragglers, please think about just scratching a few lines on your block and sending it back! Or just send it back to save me work? Please Please Please

Here is my list of things to do on this project:

-Finish pics - done except for the ones that are not here

-Assemble Puzzle (oh boy!)

-Update spreadsheet

-Colophon start building

-Email stragglers (bad!)

-Carve outline

-Cut substitutes

-Order paper

-Start ordering mailing tubes from USPS

And of course, the Printing Party!
Preliminary scheming for the great printing party has begun. For those of you who would like to join in the fun, the sketchy plans right now are to get together in the Great Northwest city of Vancouver Washington, very near Portland Oregon.

My fellow scheme leader Sharri LaPierre is in the process of securing a printmaking studio with several presses. Another secret plotter, Barbara Mason, is planning on attending with her previous experience in this mad plot.
The tentative plan is somewhere on or around the second week of April. I hope to have everything ready to go as I arrive with a truck full of 600 sheets of paper, 5 large woodblocks composed of 110 little woodblocks, several cans of ink and a rather large roller. Good thing I have a truck.

I'm thinking the printing party will probably take about three days minimum, maybe four or five depending on how many hapless "aprentices" (ahem) we can seduce into helping out.

If you would like to attend, send me an email and keep in touch with the blog. All details detailed in more detail at a later date so stay tuned.