• If your parents REALLY loved you

    they would have me design a super sweet invitation for an important event in your life. IF they REALLY loved you they would call me on the phone and say, “Hey, Fran! My name is Mr. Blee-Blah-Blah! I would like to demonstrate my love for my child by paying you to artistically interpret an upcoming event.  Your design savoir faire is the ONLY match for the depth of love I have for my child. They have a (insert important event) coming up. Let’s do this.” 

    CLICK.

    I’m just saying.

    We created the following Bat Mitzvah invitation for a family that clearly knows how to express their love:

    Testify!

    March 31, 2009
  • Room & Board & Me & Jen & Kangaroo Meat

    Ding! Round two!

    Meeting with Room & Board this afternoon. If all goes according to my master-plan* R&B will bite the inside of their cheeks to stifle their sobs of awe when I reveal The Prints. To diffuse the awesome aura, I will hand out sunglasses. Personally, I think inked antique type is as delicious as kangaroo meat from First Course.

    YES. kangaroo meat. 

    Round one for Room & Board ended up being a creative exercise – I know, I know. My Reward Will Be In Heaven. I produced some cutey cutes for Children’s Rooms. I dug down deep into that soft part of my heart – it was under a layer of small pebbles – and found these: I call them Franimals:

    franimals

    *master-plan: do not get lost driving to Room & Board HQ.

    March 26, 2009
  • fancy-talk

    Dahhhhhhhhhhhhhling!

    You simply must see the latest thing! Diamonds are so last week and pearls are so last century. Resin and metal is H-O-T! I hate to muddle-up the Natural Order of the Universe (no, I don’t) but we simply couldn’t say no to Ampersand Designs suggestion of collaboration!

    We already sat side-by-side in the Oscar Luncheon gift bags – and – although opening the gift bags caused a face-melting scene ala Raiders of the Lost Ark, we decided to combine our chocolate with their peanut butter for a super-sweet fashion-statement.

    Buy one or ten today!

    DO NOT EAT THIS.

    March 18, 2009
  • I ? NE + Downtown + Scott Parkin + Stephen Lynch + Rod Cone + David Josefsberg

    Dear Diary,

    Last night was ever so much fun! I went to a party and got a lock of everyone’s hair for my scrapbook. My art was hot glue-gunned to the wall by Jen.

    Jen at work - note the ever-present bottle of beer that is always within arms reach of her arm.

    Oh, Jen… will she ever settle down? She wore a short little dress and MOTORCYCLE BOOTS!! She’s trouble. See her little tiny head?:

    I see you, Jen!

    The young man that sold me my dress failed to tell me that it also doubled as a shirt.

    I blame him for the indecent length.

    Before wine.

    I also blame him for climate change, hiccoughs, Christopher Reeve’s “accident”, and my parents break-up.

    ~

    There were so many tasty bits about that party. Jocelyn’s food and drink was dee. lish.us.

     Scott Parkin‘s street-level office was cooler (and cleaner) than anything I will ever own.

    Maybe that’s why he asked me to stand by the door.

    And sit in a highchair.

    Studio on Fire displayed their goodness on the West Wall. And by that I mean, Ben Levitz stood nude on a chair in front of the West Wall. It wasn’t the least bit uncomfortable. Something about the beard made him seem fully dressed.

    Part II of the evening was jam-packed full of comedy. Stephen Lynch was gracious enough to give us front row seats to his show. Um, I don’t think I’ve laughed this hard since he came to town last year. AND did you know that The Hilton grills up Steak Bites for hungry travelers after midnight? Well, they do. We ate them and laughed at Rod Cone.

    Rod Cone posing so pretty at the Hilton

    Or was it the other way around?

    BUT there was one thing we all could agree on: It would be better to lose an arm than have your face chewed off by a chimp.

    AND never wrestle a Praying Mantis. 

    Ready, Wrestle!

    Oh, and somehow during the course of the evening, this happened:

    Me with two purses - on stage at the State Theater

    Oh, Diary… what will tomorrow bring?!

    March 14, 2009
  • You crazy kids and your YouTube!

    I know everyone is DYING to see me operating my big-ass press.

    Will wonders never cease? I love you, Internet.

    March 14, 2009
  • COME-N-GIT YER LETTERPRESS

    Shu-OOT!! It’s a letterpress extravatacularasm!! This Freitag is gonna be all monster-truck-jam but with no trucks, no face-tattoos, and no NASCAR jackets. WHAT?! How can THAT be any fun?! Don’t tell Scott Parkin but I’m planning to ride in through the double doors and right over his conference table on my pimped-out ATV. It’s gonna kick so much ass. 

    So, it’ll be ME, JEN, MR. BEN LEVITZ … and I’m sure he’s got some sort of gun-toting design gang. I’ll be wearing a full Kevlar dress, so I’m not even worried. The thing about Kevlar is that it’s light and airy. Just like me.

    So, pack your saddle-bags with hard-tack and whiskey, shave your legs, and kiss yer ma’ goodbye – you’re goin to Northeast Minneapolis. Oh, Northeast Minneapolis… so… artsy, so… much… like… Uptown… wishes… it… were… still…

    ::The Dirty Details::

    March 10, 2009
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  • I Think I Can, I Think I Can

    Jen’s in Austria because she loves gazebos.Sound of Music GazeboThe Intern (Madge) is in Italy because she loves dreamy landscapes.dreamy landscape.MadgeAnd I am here because I love the smell of flooded basements. basement floor.2016Is that asbestos tile??

    Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. See how we just throw caution to the wind over here?? I almost forgot what the floor looked like under 1,000 lbs of soaked carpet! And that was my lesson about not taking things for granted.

    Between all that lesson-learnin’, I made a new card.bad back uselessDon’t hurry home guys!

    June 16, 2016
  • Being A Better Person

    Tib knows it’s summer because the screens are on.

    *tib screen window 2016And *I* know it’s summer for other, more important, reasons.swimsuit season is upon usBut I’m trying to be a better person/less into body-sculpting, so I decided to read a book. It was written by The Intern’s daughter, Nora McInerny Purmot.*Its Okay To LaughChapter 25 was especially fun to read because Madge is so near and dear to my heart and I could relate to the notion of elder-abuse.madge chapter 25Except my mom has made it very clear that she wants to be euthanized via pillow-suffocation, pre-elder-abuse.

    Oh, mom!

    June 2, 2016
  • Semi-Casual Observer

    Wait a sec… This ice cream truck drives slowly by the house/Zeichen Press HQ every day,ice cream truck window 2016but I have never really studied it…

    Zoom… Enhance…ice cream truck cropAnd again…

    …

    …

    …

    …

    …read my face typeI KNEW IT.

    May 26, 2016
  • Art Licensing Part X

    RSVP wanted MORE greeting card submissions. And having a wet towel for a brain makes it so much easier to wring.rsvp.3.choosersvp.high five graduationrsvp golf.better

    rsvp.dear god with PS

    May 13, 2016
  • Behold, I Make All Things New

    Remember last year when my lung collapsed and my mom had to sleep on a cot in my dingy bedroom so she could walk me to the bathroom in the middle of the night?collapsed lung discharge papersAnd EMTs had to come to that same dingy bedroom, on that very same night, because we thought my chest-tube had fallen out?

    No?

    I know you’re wondering if the EMTs were cute and why my bedroom was so dingy. Um, my mom volunteered to be their Resusci Annie doll and I’ve been a little too busy building the Zeichen Press Empire to focus on home-making frivolity.

    But, between choosing paper/envelopes for the Spring Release and conquering territories, I did refresh my bedroom. And now I see no reason to ever leave it.new roomChoosing paint color is just like choosing ink color. But with less Jen and more anxiety.

    Speaking of self-medicating (was I?) here’s a Spring Release teaser (see/buy ALL 12 from the shop!):use.app for this

    May 4, 2016
  • Around The World In A Day

    1985 : Minneapolis

    One 13 year old girl (me) biked to Calhoun Square in Uptown to buy a record for her friend’s birthday and almost kept it for herself (myself).

    I might have forgotten to ask to borrow the bike from my sister. And might have forgotten to ask permission from my mom to bike there. And I might have not brought a bike lock. And the bike might have been stolen from the entrance where it was super-discreetly parked behind the Calhoun Square signage. AND I might have had to walk home. 

    But how could I not risk everything (being grounded) to get that album when I was pretty sure Prince wrote Paisley Park about me??:

    Colorful people whose hair

    On 1 side is swept back

    Sigh.thanks for all the things purple

    April 24, 2016
  • Franmas 2016!

    After coughing the web of mucus from my throat, it was time to choose paper and envelope colors for the Spring Release.Dinah crazy love cardDinah told me later that she was plotting my murder while I took this photo.

    Oh, Dinah! What will make you snap?!

    Wait, tell us more about the web of mucus!

    No! No more. Onto more important things.

    Like frogs im Deutschland.darling danke schonWho needs pants when you have legs like that? Amiright??

    April 12, 2016
  • Throwback Thursday (#TBT)

    Miss Sherman was our 5th grade music teacher and aside from corporeal punishment and unruly hair, she was perfect. Every week, students were encouraged to bring in their favorite record album. And because lessons are best learned through repeated humiliation (read about First Picture Day at my new school), I brought in my favorite album.muppet movie album

    …I wonder what the other kids brought! This is SO much fun!

    …Wait…

    Michael Jackson, Off The Wall…

    The Cars, Panorama??…

    Oh, Kermit! Nobody understands us/Miss Sherman forgot to call on me/oh look, this record barely sticks out between my stack of books/these darn Fall allergies make my eyes water!

    I wouldn’t tell my mom about this while I stood by the piano as she played folk songs and I sang my little heart out. I WOULDN’T.

    What I’m trying to say is that Jen and I picked cards for our Spring Release.

    Here’s a teaser:is there an app for this.vert.

    March 31, 2016
  • BIG plans vs. reality

    One of our many cats had chronic diarrhea. We kept her around because she produced litter after litter of adorable white kittens.

    And because coming home was always a surprise – where would we find her poop today?? In the mitten-bin… in the laundry basket… under my daughter’s pillow??

    Life is so full of surprises!

    Like, when the vet called to say she died after he removed her ovaries. SURPRISE! Oh, but now she doesn’t send us on poop-hunts, because she’s buried in a shallow grave in the backyard.

    First life zigs, and then it zags!gonna start juicing

    March 18, 2016
  • Let the healing begin!

    Chickenpox?lucy pox 2016Broken femur?Anthony hospitalSERIOUSLY???FEEL BETTER

    March 8, 2016
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