Handing the decorating reins to readers, the book, Hand-Printing Studio: A Visual Guide to Printing on Almost Anything, enables everyone's “inner artist” to flourish with step-by-step techniques to create home projects. With bright colors of pink, green and blue splayed across the cover, readers will be enticed simply to pick up the book. Inside the pages, Olmsted encouragingly tells her readers about different methods like block or screen printing and shows how virtually any surface can garner a design. Included are twelve ready-to-use patterns in Olmsted's thoughtful, sophisticated style.
As evidenced by both Olmsted’s intrinsic talent and her natural achievement in business, it's no wonder that she has bright ideas for the horizon as well. “I plan to expand the collection to include a more diverse range of items and designs including more wearables, pillow shapes and sizes, and geometric patterns,” says Olmsted. Aiming to grow into a “three to four employee company” and to publish more books are goals for the not-too-distant future. “My wheels are always turning with new book ideas,” she adds.
Whatever ventures Olmsted, a Lancaster-area native, conceives will likely triumph, even with her recent move to Saratoga Springs, New York, for her husband's work in green energy. Though a Lancaster girl at heart, “I have been very keen to the woodlands here−tall pines, birch trees and mosses that may show up in new designs.”
Back in Lancaster, Festoon's owner Kathy Frey carries the entire line with a staff that is “super educated” about the products and boasts a beautiful display to accompany the merchandise (www.shopfestoon.com).
Despite all her successes, at the end of the day, with two small children who also “love to paint and draw and collect curiosities as I did as a child,” Betsy Olmsted’s world will always be bright, whether in or out of the studio.
