Thrill of the Chase Press is a woman-owned business located in the heart of Chicago. We print everything by hand on our 1880’s Golding Pearl Old Style 1 letterpress and mid-1900’s Linoscribe poster press.

Meet the Chief Presswoman

Over 10 years of experience and a passion for printing.

Thrill of the Chase Press is owned and operated by me, Lorraine Smigielski. After almost 10 years in the design and advertising industry, I started this adventure as a way to get back to doing more of what I love: creating beautiful handmade work and sharing my love of quality paper with clients.

Growing up in Kansas City, I was inspired to study graphic design after a school-sponsored visit to Hallmark Cards’ design department. Today, running Thrill of the Chase allows me to combine my background in product design and branding with my expertise in print design and printmaking. I love that stationery keeps friends and family in touch with each other, shares important events and news with the world, and brings brands to life.

Whether designing your wedding suite or creating a print for your home, I look forward to sharing my passion for printing with you.

10+ Years of Experience
With former clients, such as Hallmark Cards and Thermos lunch boxes, I bring over 10 years of design, illustration and branding experience to every project. Product and web design? We’ve got that covered, too!

Located in Chicago, Illinois
Although originally from Kansas City, I now call Chicago home. While many of my clients are local, I’ve worked with individuals and brands from across the country (and around the world).

Sources of Inspiration
My product lines are inspired by the books I read, the places I travel to and the music I like. But most of my inspiration stems from the growing collection of antique wood- and metaltype I have acquired along with vintage illustration cuts I have picked up along the way.

Meet Minnie, the Golding Pearl

The Little Lady is a little over 125 years old…and still printing!

When my father found Minnie (more commonly known as The Little Lady) at an auction, she had been languishing in a basement in the middle of Missouri. Covered in dust and ink, it took me a little over three years to restore her to working condition. Today, she prints like a dream, although I still long to repaint her original gold pin-striping.

Minnie is powered by a heart-shaped treadle, and together we truly print everything by hand: from setting type using my collection of antique wood and metal fonts to pulling each print off the press. Custom lettering and illustration? I start with sketches before moving on to linocuts or sending out for metal plates.

Minnie’s fun facts

• 125+ Years Old

  Every Golding Pearl press is stamped with a serial number into their platen. Minnie’s number is 1205, and she rolled off the assembly line back on March 17, 1890.

• 5 x 8” Chase

  A chase is the piece of the press that locks up your type for printing. The Little Lady’s chase is 5 x 8 inches: the perfect size for printing stationery, announcements and business cards. We partner with larger presses to letterpress print our bigger jobs.

• 100+ Impressions Per Minute

  Minnie is powered by a heart-shaped treadle, meaning that you crank her with your foot to print, much like an old-fashioned sewing machine. Together, we’ve reached speeds of over 100 prints in an hour.

Meet Paula, the Linoscribe

Small, but mighty hand-inked poster prints

Although the smaller of our two presses, Paula packs a lot of printing space into a small corner of our studio. A well-loved and appreciated engagement gift from a dear friend, we quickly put her to work printing all of our posters for the studio.

Paula takes printing by hand to a new level: each and every print is first set up on her pressbed before hand-inking. We then print each piece individually and re-ink for the next print.

Paula’s fun facts

• 50+ Years Old
  Paula is a Linoscribe and probably started her printing career by printing signage for a grocery store or small shop.

• 11 x 10” Pressbed
  As a table top cylinder press, Paula’s entire pressbed is able to be used as a surface for printing any and all of our posters.

• Hand inking
  No ink disc here! We use brayers to hand ink each and every print. I love the process of “painting on the ink” to create unique effects and one-of-a-kind prints.