• Life is really going to change

    No more casual afternoons at Starbucks. No more sidewalk cafes. No more days at the park with the kids. No more walking down the sidewalk with a kid on my shoulders while sipping a Starbucks Latte while going to the sidewalk cafe from the park.

    Not any more. Because we’re celebrities. I know, I know – don’t worry – I’ll still make me-time.

    If you are living in a well, you might not have heard that Zeichen Press was proclaimed Best of Show by -my new favorite- magazine: Do It Yourself 

    do-it-yourself-cover-winter

    With the magazine in her hands and a cart full of groceries, Jen called me. She called me over the loudspeaker. I was in the frozen foods section and she ordered me to get myself to Lane 7. I did as I was told and Thank God because Jen was being dragged away by security – I got there in the nick of time, explaining that we were on a “living on your own” outing and I’d be taking her right back to the group home as soon as we bagged her groceries.

    Phew!

    Okay, here’s a sneak peak into the magazine – go and get your very own copy and don’t forget to buy some of our goddamn holiday cards.

    printed-and-pressed-diy-art

    October 16, 2009
  • Will I win the Nobel Peace Prize?

    Maybe. Oh, who am I kidding? I can’t broker peace between nations. I’m no Dalai Lama. I’m no Barack Obama. I’m just kidding about that second one  -  I just wanted something to rhyme with Dalai Lama. Wait, what? Barack Obama really did win the Nobel Peace Prize? Oops. My bad. It’s hard, toiling away, day after day – trying to make this crazy planet just a little bit cheerier. Ghandi knows how I feel.

    *alfred-nobel

    Alfred “Alfie” Nobel

    What would Fran do?

     •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

     ANYWAY. I wrote some new cards. Perhaps, one day, they will bring peace to war-torn countries…

    •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••  *two-old-men-talking

    PSST, is this my birthday party or my funeral

    ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• *gifts-dont-count

    The gifts don’t count       themselves.
    ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

    *of-course-be-eaten

    The strong would survive the winter. The weak would, of course, be eaten.
    ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

    *im-christmas-stalking-you

    I’m Christmas Stalking you.
    ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

    *piano-lesson
    The Christmas concert would be her chance for revenge.

    •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

    *lounging-women

    I’ll celebrate Christmas however I damn well please.

    •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

    *man_wrapping-package-18_lg

    I hope she likes thoughts that count.

    •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

    *bra-ad2

    Thank you for your support.
    •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

    *lovebirds_14525

    Great. My parents just got home.

    ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

    October 15, 2009
  • Wishes DO come true!

    It’s no secret that I have always wanted 300 feet of bubble wrap.

    Somebody (Jen) had it delivered to our headquarters – it’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen on my doorstep. Although… the Sunday paper is nice to see when I open the door…or girl scouts selling cookies. Hmm, one of my stalkers once left a skinned, boiled squirrel on my doorstep… that was strange – and I still don’t get the  message – was it: “Love me back, or I’ll boil and skin you” or was it “I am capable of providing small game for your meals.”

    Oh, I guess I’ll never know.

    bubble-wrap-delivery

    October 7, 2009
  • ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

    Done.

    a-z-type-room-and-board

    Do not worry. IF you can’t get your sad self to the Room and Board nearest you, you can shop online!

     It’s true. But not yet. NOT YET. The ink isn’t even dry.

    Did I mention that I will be the lunchmeat between the bread named Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol? What a strange, virtual sandwich. Speaking of sandwiches: I decided to take a break from printing to do some printing and I made this:

    does-this-sandwich-make-me-450x337

     

    October 5, 2009
  • Freak Show

    There were two parts to the Freak Show – two tents – one contained The Fat Lady and the other was filled with the usual freakish-fare. I didn’t really want to pay to see the Fat Lady so I poked my head under the tent – it seemed silly to pay to see a fat lady but this was before the days of google searches and voyeuristic television masquerading as health and human interest stories. Before the days of shows actually called, World’s Fattest Woman.

    So I poked my head under the tent. A pit had been dug in the dirt in the center of the tent – she, all 600 pounds of her, sat in the pit in a teeny weeny bikini. The paying public stared and stared while she thumbed through the pages of a paperback.

    The other tent promised a variety of oddities and I handed my tickets to the dusty man guarding the flap-door. In this tent there was a stage and on the stage there was a sign and on the sign were the words, “World’s Fattest Man”

    The crowd – and I was in the crowd now – stared at the sign and waited for the man. He hobbled out using two canes – those canes that have the four baby canes on the bottom. He reached the center of the stage and lowered himself into a reinforced chair, spoke to the crowd about his thyroid disorder, and asked if we wanted to see him attach a bucket of bolts to his tongue.

    Ugh. I wanted my tickets back.

    Why can’t things be the way they’re supposed to be? And why can’t freaks just enjoy their exploitation? If I were a freak (if) I’d love it. I’d use my freakish power for the good of mankind.

    I’d love to have one super long arm. A Super Arm. I could take seemingly candid pictures of myself even more easily!fran-working

    Do you see that?

    It’s like someone else is taking the picture. But what a struggle! 

    If I had Super Arm my whole life would change!

    fran-super-arm

    September 28, 2009
  • Cary Grant’s Tie, A Pile of Rocks, Dandelions

    Cary Grant’s tie is the perfect shade of gray.cary-grant-nxnw-450x327

    It’s not like I’m obsessed with shades of gray because of this project I’m working on. I don’t get obsessed. I wasn’t obsessed with pulling out (and counting) all of the dandelions in my front yard (689). I wasn’t. I also wasn’t obsessed with collecting and transporting rocks halfway across the country to surround my little tree.rock-star-450x337

    I’m not obsessed with letterpress.

    And I don’t just sit around waiting for the sun to be in the perfect spot.sun-perfectly-behind-lampos

    Doesn’t this gray look just like Cary Grant’s tie? :room-and-board-fresh-print

    WELL?! It does, doesn’t it. Won’t it look lovely decking the halls of Room and Board?

    Sigh.

    1/3 of the project done.

    September 27, 2009
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  • 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 

    September 2, 2013
  • 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

    August 26, 2013
  • 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

    August 21, 2013
  • 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

    August 12, 2013
  • Bionic Fran Goes To the Post Office

    The much-anticipated matchup between Bionic Fran and Wonder Woman is finally here! bionic-woman-vs-wonder-womanTickets are available by our back gate and the fight will be held in the driveway.

    Come early and pick an unripened tomato to throw at the loser.

    The event takes place as soon as Jen finds her way out of the mountains — I know her pockets were stuffed with breadcrumbs, so I’m sure she’ll be fine.

    I’ve been pretty busy while she’s been gone… The intern and I talked a lot, I picked up two dead birds and one dead baby rabbit… I brought orders to the post office… I made this birthday card…count-the-rings-2

    July 24, 2013
  • Ampersands And Counting Skills

    Counting is not as easy as it looks. The intern and I had to count cards (we love to gamble) for a big Kate’s Paperie order.

    Holiday cards in June?are-we-there-yetMy life is an endless sacrifice.

    All of that counting tasted terrible, and so to cleanse her palette, the intern put a lot of ampersands together. That looked exactly like this:ampersandsAnd because I need attention, I made this:is-there-an-app-for-thisSee, it’s a profound cultural statement? DO YOU SEE?!

    July 20, 2013
  • 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.

    July 15, 2013
  • Vacation Drama

    Jen has been toiling away at Zeichen Press Headquarters and I have been thinking about her toiling away at Zeichen Press Headquarters.

    It’s hard for me to think about that when I am so busy staring at the ocean.shore-sandwich

    kids-ocean-wellfleetthis-too-shall-pass-meanwhileI also took the time to create this:

    (I’m a giver.)

    But I did make her a card.

    (I hope she doesn’t really want me to help though.)real-dry-horseshoe-crab-copySo I think that makes us even.

    July 11, 2013
  • Pilgrimage Part XXXI (Return to Brigadoon)

    The pilgrimage to Cape Cod was like a lil’ slice of Purgatory and I wept with joy as we pulled into the driveway. I also wept when we discovered the house-mascot had been murdered in cold blood.mouse-ratWho would do such a thing?

    Don’t worry, everything else was in order:

    The boats are in the harbor.

    lucy-millwayThe hydrangeas are blue enough.hydrangeas-and-rosesAnd the dead people are still dead.cemeteryPHEW!

    wish-you-were-here

    July 2, 2013
  • Monkeys On Pogo-Sticks

    My application for Mensa included a $20 bill and a film.

    I hope they accept me — I want that laminated membership card.

    I also incuded a couple of my own cards:usually-unusualfitting-metaphor

    June 12, 2013
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