Zeichen Press

Category: True Story

  • Best Greeting Cards

    So says Minnesota Monthly.

    And my mom.

    Jen and I went to the Best Of 2013 party and dazzled the crowd with our Double Dream Hands routine. 

    Best Greeting Cards?

    More like, Best Moves.

  • Easily Distracted In Class

    I think that box was checked on my elementary school progress reports… But who could be bothered with such details??

    Not me. NOT ME. And that’s why I secured a blank progress report, checked the best boxes, and brought it to my parents.

    See? I wasn’t that easily distracted.

    °°

    I am busy taking photographs of the new cardswater-vodka-2but not too busy to document some pretty fascinating activity:

    Aren’t you glad you watched that??

    I know I’m supposed to be doing something… Oh, that’s right, putting hungry vegetables on a card.eat-your-veggies-2No??

    It’ll come to me after I stare out the window and pet that cat.

  • Why I’m Such A Catch

    Foraging for low-tide treasure is my third favorite thing to do.

    But what are your top two favorite things to do?

    Nerf Ping Pong

    nerf ping pong

    and smashing piñatas.

    What about your top TEN?

    Glad you asked.

    Cat midwifery,

    cracking glow sticks, raising tadpoles, Belgian beer, letterpress printing, Breaking Bad,breaking badand yoga (just kidding). Number ten is turtle-hunting.

    I know what you’re thinking.

    What a lady!

    Whoa. WHOA. Hands off the merchandise.

    Remember when I was talking about low-tide?

    Here’s a card that features one of my favorite low-tide critters.nice houseWouldn’t you love to get this card with a nice bottle of wine??

    And by “you”, I mean “I”.

  • A Dream, Realized AND So Much More

    Everyone knows that St. Helena has The Best Fall Festival, this side of the Mississippi.

    I did hear that Nativity in St. Paul has a snake pit and a freak-show…

    But Saint Helena has rides and games and prizes — prizes like t-shirts that Jen and I made for the Duck Shoot!lucky ducky pinkand redYeehaw!!

    Give a kid a cork gun, step back (STEP BACK), and watch the magic!duck shootJen is DUCKing.

  • Summit of Greeting Cards

    After spending $80,000 on climbing gear and an entourage of Sherpas in Nepal,

    Shriya Shah-Klorfine (foreground), of Toronto, is shown at the summit of Mount Everest. The body of the Canadian woman who died while returning from the summit of Mount Everest is one step closer to being evacuated from the mountain. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ho-Utmost Adventure Trekking Pvt. Ltd.
    the Canadian woman reached the Summit of Mount Everest.

    I’m sure it was glorious.

    The relief, the pride, the joy!

    BUT, she forgot one teeny-tiny thing: enough oxygen for her descent. With temperatures hovering around -30° and an altitude of 22,000 ft., she laid her body down on the side of the mountain. 

    And died.

    everest1Lesson??

    Never trust a Sherpa.

    Zeichen Press reached a summit too! We’ve been climbing Mount Greeting Card for a looong time and we finally reached the tippity-top: Urban Outfitters.

    …But now I’ll have to set a new goal… Suggestions?

    Urban Outfitters bought this card — but just to be fancy, it will be printed with a bright blue ink:LetsDoThisLet’s do this, indeed.

  • First, Poison The Ants

    An ANTfestation in the shop required aggressive use of insecticide. Two waves of spray-on poison were needed to completely wipe out the colony hiding behind the Great Wall Of Cards.shop-shelvesWe murdered thousands of antsantsbefore Jen and I had an important meeting to decide which cards should be included in our next release.

    Wait, after the genocide, but before the important meeting, Classic Pam got ahold of another baby rabbit. (See blog post: Fear and Dread) There was some backyard bedlam involving the dog and five kids chasing the cat… I got caught up in the chase but ended up somehow kicking the hopping baby rabbit. Don’t ask me how that happened.

    DON’T ASK.

    And without further adieu… the moment you’ve all been waiting for… OUR… NEW… CARDS!!!

    applause-sign-1forgive-me-fatherlet-us-not-dwell-2 sometimes-i-cry ruled-his-kingdom count-the-rings-2 happy-birthday-gandhi-no-image clown-card-orange this-too-shall-pass-meanwhile raise-the-roof water-vodka-2 i-cant-thank-you-enough evil-twin-2 

  • Life Is But A Dream

    “We’re Creek People now, mom… We’re Creek People…”creek-photoWhat began as an optimistic, joy-filled journey down Minnehaha Creek turned into a somber, personal purgatory.

    The creek didn’t mean to be a metaphor for life, but it was.

    IT WAS.

    We made it out alive and I’m so glad, I didn’t want to have to eat one, or more, of my children.raise-the-roofDid you know it’s Jen’s birthday today?? She celebrated by printing cards for Paper Source in our studio-turned-Easy-Bake Oven. She treated herself with a fan pointed at her back.

    Tradition dictates that I make her a card. So, I did.gandhi

  • Steel Perfing Rule And You

    I’ve had so many (one) requests for bookplates!

    Maybe you have a book that you don’t want someone (your mother) to “borrow” and “forget” to return? Maybe you need a bald man to protect your book?

    You do??

    I just made something for you AND because I’m generous (TO A FAULT), there are TWO bookplates on one piece of paper. 

    Using radical letterpress technology (steel perfing rule) I was able to lay out TWO bald men PLUS a message in lead, that can be neatly separated and pasted into a beloved book.this-book-belongs-toNo, no… it’s not a miracle. Just one woman’s attempt to make the world a better place.

    And on that note, here’s a card that touches on a preeetty sensitive subject:

    hide-and-seek-champion

  • Fear and Dread

    I’m not afraid of heights or clowns or rats or bats or cemeteries or sharks. But I AM afraid of centipedes.centipede7

    Once upon a time, I vacuumed up a centipede that was wearing Bill Cosby’s sweater.

    bill_cosby_and_sweaters-copy

    But enough of that!

    It’s August and time to dread Winter.

    My research shows that Hell is being trapped in a snow cave with 1,000 centipedes. And here’s a card for Christmas.

    WHAT?!beginning-to-look-a-lot-like-christmas-2

  • And Classic Pam Taketh Away

    Jen held the garbage-pail lid and I swung the hammer, it is our shop gong and is ceremoniously banged when we receive an order over $1,000.

    We bang it one thousand times and then Jen gets to printing.

    Paper Source ordered a new (for them) card:what-the-duckOh, what do I do after the gong show? I chase and scold the cat.

    Classic Pam has single-pawedly wiped out an entire rabbit family.

    Tsk, tsk!

    This one survived…bunnyuntil it peed and died in my hands.

    ALSO, Urban Outfitters (a real mom and pop joint) wants samples of some of our cards.high-fiveSettle down. SETTLE DOWN. They’ve led us on before — I’m not going to fashion a wooden stool into a potty chair so that I can sit by the phone day and night.

    I’m not. I’M NOT.