Typewriter 2!

 Well, we went and did it. We went and bought ourselves a small compact 1970s typewriter so we could have one to use when we are in Scotland. 

Decadence. Indulgence. Whatever it is, it is nevertheless fabulous to have this wee one with us now and I couldn't wait to get started using it! Here it is all primed to go on my multi-purpose studio bench.

I had so much fun remembering the little quirks of a typewriter, setting tabs and line spacing; and loving the ding when I had room for just a few more characters in my line. I tied it on the usual 80gsm bond paper and that fed through really well. 

The ribbon is brand new so it was quite inky in places. This image also shows how easy it is to make typos; and how you can't readily remove them by simply backspacing or deleting. I like the honesty of the work.

I can't yet tell that ghost effect is me thumping the keys too hard because maybe the typewriter is too high on the bench; or if there is a setting I need to get sorted that will change it.

For the time being I don't mind it - perfection is not the goal - but it would be good to be able to understand what is going on.

As is my want, I then went and picked up all sorts of papers I had lying around - Japanese papers; lightweight tracing paper; used teabags; heavier art paper; and card; and checked to see if they would go through and if the keys would work on them.

I popped the tea bag onto a piece of copier paper and held it down with washi tape, then fed it through. All good.

The 'ghost print' equivalent on the copier paper was a bit of a bonus!

So I can see a lot of fun happening here.

We went away for a couple of days through the week - taking my Dad to see some of his favourite old haunts and some new ones. Here are a couple of shots from our road trip.