• 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?

    river run tube w dylans head.2(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.

    LIFE spare underpants

    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.

    FLAT.Fifth Grade Fran in front of the Double Deuce Roadhouse

    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.

    live wires tea towel

    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:

    sorry poop sandwich

    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:

    I NEED ALL THE ATTENTIONALSO, I made this because I am so into politics:black white pirateSo, 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.DO NOT USE - allThe 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.FRAN SCARED PLANE look at doorBUT, we managed to land safely, no thanks to all of that recklessness. I will NOT be giving them my latest Thank You Card.grass see ass

    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.

    Cellar doorBen in 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.Rocky and ApolloThe 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!Edmund and Steve MarconiAND 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. tib mugshotThe 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.really big fan

    June 18, 2016
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  • Vultures and Wood Type and Birthdays

    I won’t even speak of the weather BECAUSE IT’S UNSPEAKABLE.

    You can’t break me, Weather.

    You’ll never break me.

    Everyone knows that the only cure for the cold is wood type. And alcohol. western wood type case

    Jen and I have been having a debate about the next birthday card. And by debate, I mean she is, like, “I don’t care.” Doesn’t she know the dangers of Not Caring??

    ANYWAY, here’s the card. BTW, that’s a vulture, waiting for you to die.

    look good for your age.new size

    April 22, 2015
  • Merry Franmas!

    Whew! This birthday was a doozy!

    Yes, we played 221B Baker Street.221B Baker StreetYES, we ate ham & swiss sandwiches.

    Here’s a new birthday card… that girl and pig look familiar…farmer birthday cake

    April 13, 2015
  • Garbage Uncovered In the Backyard and Other Signs of Spring

    Oh, another Spring is here!

    Should I have photographically documented the first card printed for our Spring Release?

    Probably.

    But I was pretty busy having a Nurse Jackie marathon.

    I DID write/design these:oh cute reeal cuteegg instructionsSee how I give and give and give??

    April 7, 2015
  • Childhood/Parenthood

    Growing up one block South of Lake Calhoun in the 1970’s meant two things:

    1) Over-charging for watered-down Kool-Aid on the boulevard

    2) Wearing a neighbor’s pilly-bottomed blue leotard for a swimsuitHeefners&Steph&Fran&AndyLike little ducklings, we’d follow my mom down the block for a day at Thomas Beach; she’d stand ankle-deep in the water, hands on hips, plotting. And staring at the only skyscraper in the Minneapolis skyline.parenthood.like a hangover

    March 28, 2015
  • Out Like An Impolite Lamb

    Just when I thought it was safe to burn my foot-shaped Smartwool socks, Spring decided to retreat.smartwool standing 2At least I have feet.

    Am I right?? Although, I’d be grateful for stump-shaped Smartwool socks.

    I WOULD.

    Here’s a card:let go of the old bad memoriesOh, and Jen and I chose the cards for The Spring Release!*revised.vert.devoured by wolves*christmas miracle.dog antlers*new.blackmail revenge*dear snow*vert.success failures*vert.like like you*your love.defib.vert*BETTER DAYS AHEAD*LIFE.You better wear a nut cup*getting old*heaven is a castle*heaven is

    March 21, 2015
  • Selling Out

    WHAT??

    Who am I to deprive the masses of their Zeichen Press cards??

    Zeichen Press “art” was “punched up”, PDF’s were emailed to art licensing companies, and virtual hugs and kisses were exchanged. Look (soon) for some of our cards (NOT letterpress printed) in Big Box stores across the country.

    And by look, I mean buy.

    IF you don’t have some cute independent store near you. OR if you don’t care about letterpress printing. OR if you refuse to shop in our store. OR you are already buying a stroller and paper towels and light bulbs and ground beef and toilet paper and shampoo.

    A teaser:*rsvp.still young in dog years.revised

    March 15, 2015
  • Countdown or Tally

    Is Spring really here?

    Not sure…

    Let’s pretend it is. Let’s let me live in a world filled with hope! My obsessive weather-tracking (hourly checking my weather app) has proven to be successful.

    It won’t be long before smartwool socks are shed and (my) legs are shorn.

    Stay tuned…

    Here are a couple cards I made instead of penning a suicide note.

    (Graduation)you mathed so hard(Encouragement)shit creek grab

    March 8, 2015
  • Same (expletive), Same Day

    As I said goodbye to yet another kitten from our cat ranch,all kittens and dinah white chairI thought to myself, “I bet this is exactly how Beyoncé feels when she drops an album.” And then I thought, “My skin is so dry.”

    I wish I could travel back in time… back to the 1970’s when there were environmental chambers built into the walls of health club locker rooms… (I think this is a real memory and that I’m not just pasting a false memory on top of a traumatic childhood locker room incident… those topless moms blow-drying their hair… Wait, am I?? Omg… Beep beep boop: Tropical Rainforest?? Yes, please!)

    NO MATTER, here’s a new card!NOW the party can start

    February 27, 2015
  • No Surprise!

    Some things are predictable – and thank goodness! It’s important to have things to count on… runny noses in February, militant-radical beheadings, and birthdays.birthday tickles revisedThe kittens just stole the strand of toilet paper that I was using to wipe my runny nose… ISIS militants cover their faces in black balaclavas… and I write birthday cards.

    OH, LIFE.

    February 20, 2015
  • Send Cheese

    My grandpa’s battleship was bombed and he had to tread water for 13 hours WHILE he kept his unconscious buddy afloat. That was just like the time in 2009 that I swam out to meet the seal.

    SPEAKING OF TREADING WATER.

    It’s mid-February in Minnesota.*LIFE.You better wear a nut cup

    February 15, 2015
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