• Tater Tots, Kings Wine Bar, Letterpress, Deer John,

    Let’s talk about the kitchen in my first apartment: A room the size of an airplane galley* with the bonus feature of a countertop hinged to the wall. If that countertop was not in the lift and stow position (just like an airplane tray-table) it wasn’t possible to open the refrigerator or the oven.

    This was great incentive (for my roommate) to do the dishes. I preferred moving the dirty dishes to the living room. *I’ve peeked in an airplane galley – it’s usually hidden behind a curtain (that matches the drapes) – the flight attendant works mechanically, loading up that cumbersome cart to roll down the aisle.

    The delicacies that came out of that first apartment kitchen included (and were limited to) chicken pot-pies and tater tots. The crisper drawer in my refrigerator contained a large amount of an herb – but that was none of my business.

    Oh, but the tater tots!

    Straight from the freezer and onto my cast-iron skillet: washed down with an Old Milwaukee and a Camel Lights cigarette.*camel-lights-34110Whew! Did I mention I had 18 by the balls? ALSO, if I had a hankering for ribs OR pizza, I only had to walk down the stairs. That’s right, the one and only Ribizza fulfilled that strange combination requirement for Uptown, Minneapolis.

    Exactly five minutes West of my house is Kings Wine Bar - a newish (rhymes with Jewish) little neighborhood restaurant. They serve tater tots but with sauces far fancier than ketchup.  I was there last night and there didn’t seem to be any Old Milwaukee or Camel cigarettes on the menu but somehow, after we ate our tater tots, our table was magically covered with candy.

    This doesn’t have anything to do with the card I wrote/designed last night. Or does it?Deer-John-June-13

    June 13, 2010
  • Letterpress in Minneapolis

    Sunday: The Corpus Christi procession brought oodles of the Devout through Loring Park – all busses were rerouted and the Minneapolis Police department was on high alert for any shenanigans. Still, I couldn’t help but feel a little emotional as the church bell solemnly rang out and I watched Barb perform CPR on my husband.

    Tuesday: Our new intern (Andrea Sanow) showed up with the enthusiasm of a 22 year old girl. We love her – and we’re not just saying that because she reads the blog and is, like, the strangest mix of a Type A Personality and totally laid back. What?! It’s true. Thanks to her, I got so much done: Here are the Room & Board prints in color:

    room-and-board-in-color-on-piano

     

    June 9, 2010
  • Black ink can be so nice

    It’s unofficially Summer around here and to celebrate I’m going to make some more prints for Room & Board. People always ask me (no, they don’t) if I feel lonely or maybe a little afraid working out in the studio/shop/time warp at night. But how could I feel lonely or afraid out there when I have all of those cabinets of cold, lead type and Mark Wheat‘s voice coming from the plastic radio?

    newest-room-board-print-450x440

    June 2, 2010
  • More letterpress for Room & Board??!

    I hit my head on the asphalt yesterday and when I snapped out of that familiar concussive daze, I thought to myself: Again? And: That wasn’t as bad as running into the tree. Or the windshield. Or the Christmas tree-stand. Or the windshield. 

    Walking my bicycle and openly weeping, I made it home just in time to work on the new Room & Board project:

    r-and-b-4-450x439 r-and-b-3-450x439 r-and-b-2-450x439 r-and-b-1-450x439r-and-b-layout-450x439

    Thanks MADGE for introducing me to the Polaroid app for my iPhone!!

    May 27, 2010
  • A Typical Day for Zeichen Press (Minneapolis Design and Letterpress Studio At Large)

    “Yeah, you should wear the wig.”

    May 22, 2010
  • Achieving perfect balance

    People always ask me, “Fran, how do you balance everything so well?? Zeichen Press, kids, marriage, hypochondria, facebook, animal-taming, daydreaming – It doesn’t even seem possible!” I wish I had some fluffy (Oprah-approved) secret to share but it’s really much more simple: Evil twin. What?! Yes. You’d be surprised by how many people actually have evil twins.

    This has been a regular rat king of a week: The big Tanek party is tomorrow and Jen and I have been planning the whole thing – From venue to letterpress printed coaster to life-jackets. One of my favorite things is the Tanek 10 Year CD - a music mix and letterpress printed sleeve/party favor/door prize. My playlist skills were honed as a teenager – hour after hour spent with the dual cassette player… see, mom?? I told you it was more important than algebra.

    Tanek 10 Year Party CD Sleeve
    Tanek 10 Year Party CD Sleeve

     

    Tanek 10 Year Party CD Sleeve

    As soon as this party is done I can get rid of that mannequin.

    lucy-and-other-mother

    May 19, 2010
←Previous Page
1 … 57 58 59 60 61 … 79
Next Page→
  • Leather and Milk and Meat

    Every few weeks Paper Source orders the same poopy cards from us.sleep-eat-poop-orangecrapThis makes us happy because there is no faster way to evangelize than through a chain of shops that snakes its way through the country.

    Our message? 

    Isn’t it obvious by now? Spread (our idea of) letterpress goodness and joy like spackle into every dark crevice on this planet.

    No big deal.

    This card:u-r-useful-and-delichas nothing to do with fecal matter and so we were surprised (and delighted) to see it on our latest Paper Source order.

    Perhaps the following dream was a premonition?:

    There were no toilets — but there was a shower scene. The light over the C&Pc-and-p-shop-2012had become a shower head and I had become naked. I prayed that nobody would walk through (why didn’t I just lock it?) the shop door while I took my unnecessary (and might I add: gratuitous?) shower next to my printing press.

    But someone did walk in.

    subway-ghost

    I guess his name is Vincent Schiavelli. He was hiding behind the Heidelbergheidelberg-winter-2012with his cow. He wasn’t smiling. I woke up.

    The End

    August 5, 2012
  • We want to be more than just friends with: Yankee Ingenuity (Chatham)

    Yankee Ingenuity -> 525 Main Chatham, MA 02633

    ANOTHER profile in that special series dedicated to bringing our readers biased reviews of shops that carry our goods.

    I love a Main Street.

    Someday, I will criss-cross this great nation in my (fictional) pick-up with my (fictional) Pocket Pomeranian and my (fictional)) beat-up Polaroid — snapping photos, capturing the quirkiness, the uniqueness, of each Main Street. These will make a great coffee-table book. A companion to my (fictional) Public Bathrooms Across America Book.

    The Queen of Main Streets is in Chatham, Massachusetts. Cape Cod. New England’s Main Streets look like movie sets and Chatham’s Main Street is so adorable it should be wrapped in a blanket and burped.chatham-main-street-map

    Yankee Ingenuity carries Zeichen Press cards, so it seemed polite to pay them a visit.yankee-ingenuity-andy(Notice my friend, Andy. Notice his t-shirt.)

    Once inside, my Attention Deficit Disorder became acute and I put on my horse blinders.

    I made my way to the counter and had a nice chat with the owner — she told me that her husband (an amputee) LOVES:i-miss-youI bet because of the tricorn hat.

    There were so many delightful treasures — here are a few that jumped out at me:yankee-ingenuity-food-face

    I would like a set of eight.

     

    yankee-ingenuity-puppetsA shark puppet would help me work through my fears.

    yankee-ingenuity-banksThese little banks would help me save for my criss-crossing America road-trip.

    That was fun. I mean, that was hard work. Do I have to hate something to write it off as a business expense?

    July 28, 2012
  • Unseasoned Traveler

    There were three things needed for airplane travel with a group of (Shea) children (in the 1970’s):

    1) Hubba Bubba

    2) Mad Magazine

    3) Air Sickness Bags

    I don’t think there was ever a flight that didn’t involve one (or more) of us vomiting. Because of this, we quickly located our air-sickness bags in the front seat pockets before seat belts were even fastened.

    My parents pretended they didn’t know us.

    It was shameful (and a relief) to hand your vomit-filled bag to the stewardess. In those days, the airline logo was proudly emblazoned on each bag. But no more. Today, the bag is white! Who wants to throw-up in a white bag?

    Not me.

    I designed a bag that I can’t wait to get in front of the bigwigs at SunCountry. They’ll love it.

    instruction-yes-no-use-this

    Our #1 Fan just joined us on The Capefran-andy-cape-cod-smallerand I’m so glad he’s not a serial killer. He’ll be here for a few days and then we’ll have to say goodbye. I really, really hate saying goodbye. I hate it so much, I made a card:purple-goodbye

    July 20, 2012
  • Shaaawwwp Chedahhh

    Well, here I am, back on The Cape for some Rest & Relaxation. Sharks are the big news out here

    shark-on-cape-kayak

    (sorry, Andy) so I sent the kids right out into the ocean.sitting-ducksI told them that we need to make clam chowder and clams don’t clam themselves — so get to work.

    I believe the following card captures the feeling of every citizen on our planet:i-am-disturbed-and-yet-intriguedWhy would I send that card/who would want to receive a card like that?

    Um, I don’t know your friends and I’m guessing we all have at least one unabomber in our lives.

    July 14, 2012
  • Is This Party Time?

    If Zeichen Press were a train, Jen would be the rails. She keeps the train going smoothly down the track, she keeps it from careening off  — plowing into innocent townspeople. This analogy makes me the conductor — sweaty, with a cheek full of chewing tobacky and a headful of dreams.

    Every Summer, Jen dumps her two boys off at Camp — she makes a thorough list.jen-list

    But this year was going to be extra-special! SHE was going to dump the boys and hop on a plane for her very own vacation. I’m sure her list was thorough and her suitcase was packed perfectly. I’m sure she left nothing out and measured all liquids to meet TSA requirements.

    She forgot one thing:

    oops-jen-suitcase

    But this year was going to be extra-special! SHE was going to dump the boys and hop on a plane for her very own vacation. I’m sure her list was thorough and her suitcase was packed perfectly. I’m sure she left nothing out and measured all liquids to meet TSA requirements.

    She forgot one thing:

    July 10, 2012
  • iFran 1.0

    Twice a year Zeichen Press releases a batch of new cards. Twice a year Jen and I hold a top-secret meeting in the Zeichen Press Headquarters and discuss which cards should be included in the release. Decisions are made, tears are shed, hair is pulled.

    Printing took place this week and, luckily, the temperature hovered around 97°. Jen loves printing in a sauna. I stayed in the shop while she printed, it was an act of solidarity and I’m sure it did not go unnoticed. I sat on one of the metal stools because I wanted to experience what it was like to sit on a stove-top.

    There are more top-secret meetings/fist-fights during the printing process. We need to decide which color paper to print the card on and (hold onto your hats) which color envelope to pair with the card.card-compare

    Should it be a Green Apple envelope or a Berrylicious envelope?? These are tough decisions but we have to make them.

    And don’t think that you could just do what we do, it takes nerves of steel and hearts of gold.

    Here are the new cards: These are so amazing, they may melt your faces:new-cards-garage-2012

    July 6, 2012
  • Not Writing a Card About a Seahorse

    Nothing against seahorses — I’ll get around to writing about them one of these days. But for now, here is a card about a Victorian mermaid.victorian-mermaid-seafoam

    I think it could be used as a thank-you note? I don’t know… you will have to make that decision. These mermaids were less common than the typical topless mermaids.

    June 29, 2012
  • Pssst: This is a Secret

    While filling out the application for a small business grant from Chase and Living Social, something occurred to me:

    Zeichen Press Headquarters is located exactly behind my house in a building some might call a “garage.” google-maps-4504-17th-markerThere. I’ve said it. I feel so much better. 

    It is 360 square feet of letterpress goodness. It is 10 tons of letterpress finery. BUT, IF we got that grant (would it be in the form of a giant, novelty cheque? I will accept nothing less.) we could expand … We could punch another hole in the leather belt of our business! We’d be that much closer to World Dominance.

    We are in over 500 shops around the world. We have dozens of reps. We have distributors in New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom. BUT, what if we were able to operate from a larger venue? … What if we could hire a big, hairy man to operate our presses?mission-small-business-logo

    Step 1) Go to missionsmallbusiness.com and click ‘Log In & Support’ and log in using Facebook.

    Step 2) Type “Zeichen Press” in the search field.

    Step 3) Click on the blue Vote button next to our business name.

    Step 4) Weep, openly.

    We need 250 votes (what?! That’s all??) to be CONSIDERED for the grant. How much is the grant?

    $250,000.

    Or whatever.

    NO BIG DEAL.

    Please vote — I’ve been starving myself so I would take up less space in the shop. I’m so hungry.

    June 25, 2012
  • Well, It’s You Girl

    There was a canopy bed in my bf’s bedroom with a Holly Hobby theme. There was a room covered in pink carpeting, but not entirely covered in pink carpeting — one wall featured a mural of a day-glo leopard — when the “black light” came on, it was party-time. There were, at least, four fireplaces — a bronze peacock guarded one of them. In that room, there was an off-limits record collection. Ziggy Stardust confused and intrigued me. An indoor pool in the basement? Yes. Sauna? Check.

    This was the Mary Tyler Moore house, circa 1980. AKA: Heaven.mtm-house-outside

    You know, Mary Tyler Moore?! Once Laura Petrie, reborn as herself and the star of her very own situation comedy set in my fair city?mtm-help-meI haven’t been back to the MTM House since my friend’s family moved out, BUT one of my spies was just there (it’s on the market for a cool $3,620,000) and saw our Room and Board prints hanging on two walls. Now, I know: Not as cool as a day-glo leopard mural, but as Miley Cyrus would say, “still pretty cool.”2-r-and-b-mtm-house

    June 21, 2012
  • The Dream of the Nineties

    The Zeichen Press shop has a concrete slab for a floor and this — magically — keeps the room from feeling like a sauna until mid-July. Surrounded by all things letterpress, the air thick with a healthy wi-fi signal, and the temperature hovering around a tolerable°, I streamed some Netflix.

    And while watching reruns of Portlandia, I bumped into this:powells-booksPowell’s Books.

    I paused.

    Could it be? Yes, it is! That little bookstore carries Zeichen Press cards!

    We’re famous-ish!

    June 20, 2012
←Previous Page
1 … 23 24 25 26 27 … 48
Next Page→

Notifications