original receipt for the letterpress that tif smith saved - click to find out more
There is a true sense of joy that we feel when we are creating something from scratch. It’s the feel of it and the way that finished product looks when it is complete. It is something that all creators feel.
But sometimes we don’t need to create something new to feel that, we just need to find something that needs our love and attention to bring it back to life. A big part of crafting is in finding a new purpose or renewing life to something.
We as creative people have the vision and the ability to create and restore things so that they are both beautiful and useful.
Sometimes we can call on our community when we find these special objects that need our love and attention to ask for their support and assistance to help make these things the powerful and beautiful objects they were once before. Letterpresses are one kind of object that are often found right at the moment that they need to be saved from scratch. It is an art form that is both beautiful and functional and deserves to be saved.
Tif Smith, a graphic designer and lover of all things print, found a letterpress that was just one week from being turned into scrap metal and she knew instantly that she needed to do whatever it took to save that machine. She and her husband have formed Stubborn Press & Co to turn that machine back into a working press.
There is something about handmade that just cannot be reproduced through mass production; it has its own magical quality.
That is something that Tif is hoping to create with her old letterpress. Letterpress is something that we love to touch and something that allows us to feel connected to the way things were. She is working to restore it to its former glory and is hoping, with some community assistance via a Kickstarter project, that she will be able to make that dream a reality and to bring more beautiful letterpress into this world.
I truly think that a piece of machinery like this is worth saving. It’s a piece of history and something that led to how the world is today. I love to feel a connection to our past and to feel a community coming together to save something that deserves to be saved.
Do you feel that way, too?
The Kickstarter project has just started. You can find out more about this awesome machine and donate to the project here.
Dannielle Cresp is a creative direction enabler and web designer, creating a handmade friendly world through mindful living. Learn how you can too at her 
Thanks so much for writing about Stubborn Press & Company! I am so annoyed that Kickstarter changed their policies just yesterday and have not approved my already-approved project a second time. I was not grandfathered into their new policy, and so I will have to come post a link to my LIVE Kickstarter once they decide to approve my project (again).
So frustrating! Everything was ready to launch today (it’s Leap Day!!!!), and then things don’t work out.
Hang in there, everyone who’s nice enough to read this and be interested, for our project will be live very soon and I’ll be back here to let you know!
I added your first quote to my notebook of inspiring things. Nice post. I’m on my way to Kickstarter to see the project.
Lou
I’m still waiting to hear back from Kickstarter, but hopefully it will be later today!
Thanks for bringing attention to the need to REuse! Great idea Tiffany. I hope that Kickstarter is being lame. I love the idea of “taking the leap” on leap day and am crossing my fingers it works out for you.
-Lauren
Hi Everyone!
The Kickstarter project is now live and the link in the post is working! Sorry for any confusion earlier! Sometimes glitches and delays happen!
Thanks
Dannielle
I agree. The desire to re-purpose and renew, was what lead me to follow my muse JunkArta. “Giving the vintage, forgotten and discarded new life.”
I look at everything including curbside junk, with the mindset “how can I give that new life”.
Shelley Novotny
https://www.facebook.com/MyJunkArta
http://xeeme.com/ShelleyNovotny