Blue Canary Letterpress is owned and operated by me, Jodi Bortz, in the beautiful town of Chestertown on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. My parents met through the printing business and noow here I am, a 2nd generation printer, and I love it. I still use my dad’s ink knife for mixing all of my colors.
I started my printing career after winning a 1921 Chandler & Price letterpress through an auction with friends Robbi Behr and Matthew Swanson. That led to Haywire Letterpress, and you will see in the shop I still features some Haywire designs. In 2015 Robbi & Matthew had huge successes in their career as writer/illustrator, and so I branched off on my own because I love design and printing so much that I can’t stop doing it.
Blue Canary Letterpress specializes in custom creations for special events, businesses, and other art quality print needs. I love creating designs for those special days, or those special moments. I also really enjoy working with businesses to help them strengthen their brand image and perceived value through high quality letterpress labels, tags and business cards.
I have has been featured in Bethesda Magazine and in the Wide World of Craft feature of American Craft Magazine. All of Blue Canary Letterpress works are produced on my antique 1921 Chandler and Price platen press, which has been lovingly restored and maintained.
For more information or for a print design consultation, call 410-849-9862 or email [email protected].
American Craft Magazine Feature with friends and former partners in letterpress Robbi Behr and Matthew Swanson
Bethesda Magazine Feature (although the photo is at the old shop on Queen Street, not Book Plate. We love Book Plate anyway, and you can shop Blue Canary cards in person there! Say hi to Tom – the owner & Keke – the cat when you visit.)