We believe in beautiful paper, stunning design, and a lasting impression.
Meet Carissa
Artist, printer, plant whisperer, and the only person Claude fully trusts.
Carissa has been making things with her hands for as long as she can remember and she has the Fine Arts degree in Printmaking to prove it. The real turning point came during a college internship at Bell'INVITO, one of Dallas' most beloved letterpress studios, where she fell completely and irreversibly in love with the press. The smell of the ink, the weight of the paper, the satisfying thunk of a deep impression. She never stood a chance. Claude came home with her from a small printing business in Minnesota that was closing its doors, a 1940s cast iron press that had clearly spent decades developing opinions. These days, the two of them have an understanding: she keeps him inked and happy, and he produces some of the most beautiful letterpress work in McKinney.
When she's not at the press, you'll find Carissa in her kitchen garden, knitting a sweater, or being followed around the studio by Rosie, her devoted dog and unofficial quality control inspector. She started Heyday Press because she believes art should be shared, every project she takes on, whether it's a wedding suite or a box of business cards, gets the same care, the same hands, and the same cast iron press. Nothing automated. Nothing generic. Just Carissa, Claude, and cotton paper.
Meet Claude
A 1940s cast iron press with a work ethic, a personality, and absolutely no interest in doing things the easy way.
Claude was born sometime around 1943 on a factory floor built for a world that took its time, and he hasn't changed his standards since. He came home to Heyday Press fully functional, fully opinionated, and completely in charge, with feelings about ink viscosity, thoughts about paper weight, and a firm policy about mornings. Carissa spent months learning to work with him rather than around him, and it paid off. On a good day, and there are many, he presses ink deep into cotton paper with a weight and precision that no digital machine can fake. You can feel every letter. Every impression has depth you can run your thumb across.
On a bad day, he chews paper, refuses to move before noon, and expresses his feelings about humidity in ways that keep things interesting. He is eighty-something years old, made of cast iron, and completely irreplaceable, and every piece that leaves Heyday Press has gone through his rollers, earned his approval, and carries a little bit of his story with it. We wouldn't have it any other way.
Follow Us on Social
