Zeichen Press – Page 3 – Design & Letterpress for the people.

Step one:

Part of the World Domination Plan involves a complete Zeichen Press website redesign. Just imagine our new logo�in living, breathing, MOVING,�technicolor!�Oh, the anticipation dizzies me. My prop shopping list includes a wig and a man. …I guess my husband could be the man… Lord knows he’d love the attention. Especially the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

My friend�Fred�started photographing our product line. It’s a Fair Trade – just like when the Indians traded Manhattan for wampum.

PS: Did you know that�Zeichen Press cards can be delivered right to your door?�That’s right! You don’t even have to leave your house. Or your bed. Like me. What will they think of next??

February 10, 2010
As we descend into the bowels of that beast called Winter

It is February 1.

If anyone is left please contact me. I have locked myself in the furnace room and my rations are dwindling. I am eating�Panko�Japanese Style Breading�with a dirty popsicle stick and telling myself it’s Lik-A-Stix. Mmmmm, Lik-A-Stix…

Somehow, I was able to make this card:

February 1, 2010
Je m’appelle Fran�oise

If I were getting married I would design and letterpress print my own invitation.

What am I saying?? No, I wouldn’t. I don’t even send out the Christmas cards that I design and letterpress print. WHAT??!! I know. This is a blog post and a confession.

Anyway,�Minnesota Bride�included �one of our wedding invitations�in a nice little spread they called�”Vintage in Vogue.”

See?

2.�Inspired by the couple�s romantic first meeting in the city of love, designer Fran Shea blended imagery from Paris with a vintage postcard theme to create a classic yet distinctive invite. Using letterpress printing and a unique accordion layout, this design evokes an aura of chic French elegance.�Zeichen Press, 612.432.1943, zeichenpress.com

January 31, 2010
A roomful of Letterpress printers

It was everything I imagined. Except better, because of the chicken shots.�Yum!�

Mary Bruno�organized the event in honor of�Amos Kennedy’s�timely arrival. As far as I could tell, Amos is�not�related to THE Kennedy family. There were certain clues, like: He did not share that�distinctive/made up accent�or�that glamorous head of hair. Also, he is black.

Anyway, Amos was there and we hugged like old friends. There was much talk, naturally, of printing presses. Mary Bruno ended up breaking a beer bottle and using it as a weapon – apparently her “street cred” was at stake. Boy was�I glad to get out of there with only minor injuries. I wish I could say the same for Jen. Please send flowers and meals to our headquarters.

Two St. Paul printers showed up : Fred Petters of�Vandalia Street Press�and Bill Moran of�Blinc Publishing.�Bill was nice. Fred ate off of other people’s plates. I could go on and on but why should I when I have this amazing photograph that perfectly captured the evening?

January 26, 2010
And this is where Fran and Jen learn to use their new Heidelberg

Oh, the joy of leaning over a giant machine that has the potential to crush my hands�and�create such beauty!

I think I felt joy. Or�panic? In any case, I felt some sort of feeling while leaning over�the New Press.�Karl (the previous owner) had explained, really clearly, the 1,000 things to know – why couldn’t I remember them?? Knobs, pulls, blades, grippers, clutch levers, friskets, sucker bars, rollers, toggles, gears, pins, springs… they all seemed to get tangled up in my mind.

Oh, so tangled!

Just like a�rat king.

That’s what happens when the tail of one thought gets covered in feces and the tail of another thought gets stuck to it… and the tail of�another�thought gets stuck to the�other�thoughts. It’s all very messy and usually ends up in some Dutch chimney.

Anyway, here’s a snippet of our lesson:

January 18, 2010
Vintage Indie

This is Gabreial Wyatt —>

I think we would totally have been friends in high school. She would have called us “top-secret friends”. I was told (by my “top-secret friends”) that “top-secret friends” are better than regular friends. Sure, they don’t go anywhere in public with you, or sit next to you at lunch, or acknowledge your presence – but, that doesn’t mean anything.

Gabreial keeps a blog about all things vintage AND indie.�She interviewed me because we are such good “top-secret friends”.

Bless her heart.

January 13, 2010

Copy. Paste. Repeat. Copy. Paste. Repeat. Copy. Paste. Repeat. Copy. Paste. Repeat.

Have I mentioned how much Millie The Dog�barks at anything and everything within a 500 foot perimeter of our house? Mailman, delivery-person, solicitors, neighbors, guests, the kids, trick-or-treaters, my mom… We’ve talked a lot about it and she feels super responsible for alerting us – I told her that we really don’t need that kind of help, BUT WE DID. SHE WAS RIGHT.�SHE’S ALWAYS RIGHT.

SO, my driveway was full of a dumpster filled with bathroom remodel debris, Millie was having a staycation with a friend, AND SOME JERK CLIPPED THE LOCK ON OUR SHED AND STOLE MY BIKE.And he threw the lock in the dirt like some sort of criminal.

AND THEN, the loser (no judgment) tried to sell MY bike on a site called OfferUp.com.

But he is as slippery as an eel wrapped in a banana peel, and disappeared INTO THE NIGHT. Police have been alerted, prayers to St. Anthony have been said. I asked St. Anthony if he could forward my prayers onto the Patron Saint of Stolen Goods and he told me to go back to sleep and stop Googling�escutcheons�for the new bathroom.

FINE.

While I wait for my miracle, I spend days mindlessly migrating ALL of the content from the Zeichen Press site to THE NEW Zeichen Press site. DON’T WORRY, you won’t even be able to tell the difference because we wanted to spend a lot of money on something that nobody notices.

OH, and Jen got some new/old cutsso�I made a Father’s Day Card out of that little man.BACK TO MIGRATING/WEEPING.

September 22, 2016
Hygiene Tester

I�did the math�and figured�out that two�toilets MINUS one toilet EQUALS one�toilet. And one shower MINUS one shower EQUALS zero showers.

I desperately yelled that equation to the boys during my bathroom demo, but they pretended not to hear me.I only gave birth to them to provide me with free manual labor. Ha! Who’s laughing now, boys??

Anyway, who needs a shower??OR a bath??I barely do.

And as soon as all of my family and friends get back from being out of town for a month, they’ll tell you the same.

Here’s a new birthday card/fantasy:

September 5, 2016
Jenmas Eve!

Everyone celebrates Jenmas Eve differently.*I*�like to go to�Hot Plate�SANS�Jen to eat a Mexican Omelet surrounded by a gallery of�paint-by-number masterpieces.

YEARS AGO, Jen (carefully) slaved away over *her* masterpiece and it sits atop a shelf of knick-knacks in Cape Cod.�

She was so dedicated!�

I bet she knew that someday I’d repay her in birthday cards.

August 25, 2016
Will Design 4… White Italian Cararra Marble Hexagon Tile

The Art Licensor (RSVP) asked us for some birthday cards and because I love to work/need money, I made nine. I won’t bore you with the details/need to get back to listening to my new podcast (My Favorite Murder).

Here are a few… Will they choose any???

Stay tuned.

Thank you, Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. I can’t wait until�Alexis Stewart�and I meet you in person!

August 16, 2016
Minnehahahahahahahaha Creek

“What street is this??”�I yelled up to the boy watching us float past him. He told me that we were just about to enter the Ninth Circle of Hell.

PHEW!�Almost done!

Three hours to travel 2.5 miles…�Could we have walked faster than the creek carried us?�Oh, THAT’S the point my kids were making when they got out of their tubes and dragged them the last four blocks!�Oh, kids! So subtle!

I didn’t get a photograph of them on our adventure, BUT a giant spider landed on my belly! AND who needs a picture of all three when�one�of them modeled for the company that made our tubes?

(Grip those handles! Safety first, Dylan!)

I only thought the creek-pollution caused blindness one time and I only lost my sunglasses one time — I’d call that a win!

Here’s a card, maybe inspired by laughter-induced bladder incontinence. MAYBE NOT.

August 11, 2016
Roadhouse and Tea Towels and Poop Sandwiches

My life is one big Sexy Action Thriller. And being a bouncer at the Double Deuce in Missouri when I was only ten years old was pretty intense. Sure, I had great hair and sure I had a winning smile, and sure I always made breaking up bar fights and drinking black coffee look sexy.�That’s just who I am.

Truth is, practicing tai chi in your brother’s�sweatpants and running a letterpress design studio with cards�SOLD AROUND THE WORLD, takes discipline and dedication.

Live Wires,�our New Zealand distributor,�knows this and sent us a token of appreciation.

I think they’re supposed to be for tea but I already used mine for sopping up blood from a letterpress-related (packing tape dispenser) injury.�Thanks Helen Harvey!

After I bandaged my wound, I made this:

July 31, 2016
As The World Turns

My little sister�had baby #2 last week, she gave birth at home but, strangely, didn’t ask me to participate.

Despite my lack of presence,�the birth went off without a hitch because anyone can boil water and get towels. (SORRY MOM.)

I will give her this card the next time I break in to her house:

ALSO, I made this because I am so into politics:So, you don’t need to watch the news tonight. You’re welcome.

July 21, 2016
I Dreamed a Dream

Dinah told me about her crazy dream!

She�said we�left her for two weeks with�Tib�and Jen so we could go to Cape Cod, and she had a fever and�hair-balls. She said it was actually more like a nightmare � poor thing!

I didn’t have the heart to tell her that her nightmare was real… that we�did�leave her for two weeks with Tib and Jen.

But she isn’t alone.�When she reads the blog, she’ll find out about our scary flight home. The airline warned us, but people just do whatever they want.The other passengers made calls on their flip-phones,�watched who-knows-what on portable televisions,�drove their remote-controlled cars up and down the aisle, talked to each other on walkie-talkies, and blasted music on transistor radios! Meanwhile�we,�The Law-Abiding,�were�stuck in the teeny-tiny bathroom, forced to take hysterical selfies.BUT, we managed to land safely, no thanks to all of that recklessness. I will NOT be giving them my latest Thank You Card.

July 13, 2016
02630

Cape Cod 2016 is (so far) drama AND cage-free. Wait, we�did�lose one member of the party searching for the water shut-off valve in the cellar.

He was brave and will be missed.

More importantly, we never found that shut-off valve!�One life wasted.

But we must carry on, he would have wanted it that way.The very next day was filled with so much splashing and laughter and sunscreen, I’m sure Ben was looking down on us and giggling! Oh, how he’d giggle!AND here’s a little thing from The Boston Globe about�Millennials’�loving PAPER greeting cards.�DUH.

July 1, 2016
Mystery Solving and Scapegoating and Huge Fans

This�isn’t the first time�I blamed The Cats for a crime they didn’t commit.

Nor will it be the last.�The odor of rotten animal is unforgettable and like the odor of rotting potato, it is embedded in the brain. But sometimes the brain jumbles the smell of decomposing rodent with the smell of a blanket of maggots coating the bottom of the garbage can.

And that is where my story begins…

The Summer Breeze gently wafted through the upstairs windows. It was pleasant, until an occasional repulsive odor stung my nostrils. I blamed The Cats for hunting, killing, and hiding their prey somewhere on my second floor.

But a search for a body was in vain and a garbage can investigation led me to the real suspect: that damn�blanket of maggots coating the bottom of the garbage can!

Mea culpa, Tib!��When will I ever trust you again??

Speaking of breezes (and puns??)… Here’s a new thank you/congratulations card.

June 18, 2016