Apologies for our long silence, brought on by exceptional busy-ness in the studio over the summer, plus an overwhelmed feeling of too much happening on the world stage. In the foreground weather, politics and conflict bewilder, while on the horizon looms the civilisational threat of AI. Apparently artists and designers are going to be one of the first jobs to be made unnecessary by artificial intelligence and we need to “get ready”. On the other hand, we hear that the artisan will retain value, making something singular and non-reproducible, at least for now. Not quite sure into which category we fall, we’ve been revisiting a favourite design, and after a very long hiatus, have got back into the ceramics business, and produced some mugs. Notice here of both those projects, plus a calendar of events for the winter which you may want to put in your diary now.

Many years ago we created a design for Persephone Books. Many of you will know this excellent publisher of unjustly forgotten novels (but occasionally cookbooks and short stories), mostly early to mid-twentieth century (but some quite a bit older), mostly (but certainly not all) by women. Their remit is hard to pin down exactly but easy to recognise: every book a winner, and if you don’t know them then you should. The elegant design of the books is very much part of the pleasure: their livery is a soft grey cover and inside each book has a patterned endpaper which reproduces a fabric printed in the year the book was written.  At that time their lovely bookshop was in London, in Lamb’s Conduit Street, and the design we created had an appropriately Bloomsbury-ish feel to it. Persephone has remained one of our best-beloved patterns over the years and we’ve just printed it in this new Bright Olive and Cold Pink colour way.

One of the very first things Cambridge Imprint produced was a mug – or in fact about 30 different types of mug, because infinite variation on a theme is our particular weakness. They were particularly good mugs and we know those early customers who bought one (thank you!) loved them too because sometimes we get emails from people who have nursed a favourite mug for many years and have just broken it, asking if we have any left in a back room somewhere. Alas, we do not, and the company that made them for us has ceased manufacturing.  Ever since that sad day we have been looking for an alternative. At last we’ve found it. The old mug was creamware, elegant but also plain and capacious, the perfect size for tea. Our new mug is also creamware, very slightly smaller, and a touch more hand-made and rustic—but still with an elegant and simple design. We think it’s the absolutely perfect size and weight for coffee. The mugs are hand-made in Stoke-on-Trent, traditional heart of the UK potteries. We have learnt a little wisdom in the past decade and are launching it in just four of the Persephone colour ways in the first place, but with four more to follow.

As for our other other summer projects, we’ll let you know about those later in the autumn. Space is tight in this horribly overdue newsletter, so first, dates for your diary.

WINTER CALENDAR

For the first time we’re going to run a couple of workshops in our studio space in Cambridge in November. At the very end of November we’ll be at a lovely winter fair in St Mary’s, Marylebone in London. In December we have our annual sample sale. If any of those are of interest, read on for more details.

Christmas Paper Printing Workshop

Wednesday 20 November

We love the careful, deliberate and extremely satisfying process of hand block-printing wrapping paper and tags for Christmas, and picking out ribbons to match. For anyone local who would like to have a go at this pleasurable activity, we’ll be running a workshop on Wednesday 20 November from 7 to 9pm at our studio in central Cambridge. We’ll be printing with the full range of original Cambridge Imprint printing blocks. All our ink pads in their wide range of delicious colours will be available to use. Claerwen, Jane and Ali will demonstrate some of the possibilities and then everyone will jump in to exploring the incredibly effective use of simple repeats. We’ll end with seasonal refreshments and chat, and you’ll be going home with some sheets of hand block-printed wrapping paper of your own making, some cards and gift tags, plus a couple of printing blocks and an ink pad so that you can get going at home straight away.

There’ll be a small shop with a range of inks, blocks, plain cards and papers for printing on, and some of our lovely ribbons, in case you want to purchase extra supplies at the end.

Our studio is not a huge space so tickets are limited. We inhabit the first and second floors of an old building and unfortunately there is no step-free access. We do have some parking on site.

Christmas Star-Making Workshop

Wednesday 27 November

Every year we make a vast number of paper stars of various different kinds for decorative purposes. This year we’re running a workshop for anyone who would like a personal demonstration of some of our favourite techniques. The workshop will take place on Wednesday 27 November from 7 to 9pm at our studio in central Cambridge. We’ll be making three types of star: the huge comparatively simple pleated star for maximum visual impact; a more modestly-sized three-dimensional eight-pointed star; and finally, the small and fiendishly complicated but enormously pretty five-pointed origami star. Claerwen, Jane and Ali will demonstrate some of the possibilities and then everyone will get a chance to make a few different exemplars of each kind of star. We’ll be using a wide range of our patterned papers for construction, and you’ll be taking home a bag of paper stars that you have made in a variety of patterns and colours, and lots of ideas for future projects. Once again we’ll end with seasonal refreshments and chat, and there’ll be a little shop in case you want to buy extra paper or other supplies to take home.

Selvedge Winter Fair

Saturday 30 November

We’ll be at the Selvedge Winter Fair in London on Saturday 30 November. It’s taking place at  St Mary’s Church, Wyndham Place, York Street, W1H 1PQ from 11 am until 5 pm. We always look forward to this delicious mixture of vintage textiles, irresistible haberdashery supplies, wonderful clothes and other handmade treasures and do all our Christmas shopping there. We were very sorry to miss it last year and will be very happy to be back. Tickets can be bought online now from the Selvedge website.

Cambridge Imprint Studio Sale

Tuesday 10 December

Our annual sale of experiments, ends-of-lines, mildly damaged items, samples and other bits and pieces from the attic will take place at the Humanist Church Hall on Emmanuel Road in central Cambridge on Tuesday 10 December. We enjoy the twinkly lights, the mince pies and mulled wine, the jolly music and you, our lovely customers: the beginning of Christmas, for us. But I think it’s fair to say that last year’s sale was absolute pandemonium for the first hour or two. We are annexing some more space this year, with a separate area for payment so that the queue to pay doesn’t get tangled up with the people who are still browsing, and it will be all hands on deck: we’ll close the office for the day and every single Cambridge Imprint member of staff will be manning a checkout. The sale will run from noon to 5 pm. If you prefer a more peaceful experience, do consider coming in the middle of the afternoon, instead of right at the beginning. There are still plenty of bargains to be had, mulled wine will be flowing, chat is possible and the atmosphere is mellow.

No Tickets Required!