Zeichen Press

Tag: letterpress blog

  • Farewell, No Coast OR Joy For Sale

    It’s hard to put a price tag on joy and laughter, but we did: $10.

    Actually, four cards for $10. This, and Jen not wearing a top, made our shoppers more giddy than usual.

    The Zeichen Press booth was a beacon of laughter bobbing in the sea of wrist-warmers, nose-rings, and ironic Christmas sweaters.

    no-coast-1 no-coast-2

    I hid behind our card racks for two days and talked to Jen about important things like iron lungs and Santa Clause while our customers snort-laughed (my favorite kind of laugh). There was even a gal that was laughing so hard she had to stamp her foot on the floor. Those responses made me feel like this:

    beaker

    And I think Jen felt like this:

    dr-bunsen

    Finally, a man came up to us and told us all about human exoskeletons. (See blog post #390: Freak-Magnet) Eventually, he rode away on a unicorn.

    What I guess I’m trying to say is that the No Coast Craft-O-Rama was, once again, awesome.

    PS: No show would be complete without a little danger and ours came in the form of an icy, yet beautiful, drive home.

    lakestreet-snow-carwash-sign lakestreet-snow-arbys-sign

  • Surrender and Acceptance

    Jen and I were trying to enjoy the wholesome spirit of the annual Book Arts festivalmcba-2011

    when Winter walked into the party, tracked snow on the floor, didn’t laugh at my jokes, and clogged the toilet. I wasn’t surprised.

    To keep up morale, I invented a pack-less backpack and inflatable underpants. For some reason, this reminded Jen to tell me my fortune. She made one of these:

    closed-fortune

    and filled it with “fortunes.” But I don’t really think they were fortunes.

    open-fortune-arrows-2

    Oh, Jen! You’re such a kidder!

  • Asylum-For-One

    Listen, I could break out of this place if I had some sturdy cornhusks, one tablespoon of vaseline, two steel springs, and a puppy.

    But do I really want to?

    Jen is printing a card

    This time of year fills me with greed. Letterpress printed on recycled paper. Comes with coordinating envelope and packaged in cellophane sleeve.

    in preparation for the MCBA Festival, not the Mutation Chinchilla Breeders Association—a real thing—but the Minnesota Center for Book Arts festival. It’s Saturday, November 19th and if you like celebrating books via buying book-like items (handmade paper, journals, our cards) you should totally go.

    My contribution to the show is this lovely display signage I designed:only-losers-santa

    See you there!

  • International Internetter

    The intern packed up her carpetbag and rode away. I felt like we should hug but we didn’t – hugs are best left out of print shops. She made this before she left:barns-print

    Go, my young grasshopper, go and use the life-skills I so generously shared with you.

    Fred photographed the new cards - here’s my favorite:She knew kids loved surprises and so she filled the piñata with real animal entrails. Letterpress printed on recycled paper. Comes with coordinating envelope and packaged in cellophane sleeve.

    That’s a true story.

    ALSO: Becki Iverson at Metro Magazine wrote a nice thing about us. I think we’ll keep giving out that photo until we are 60 years old.jen & fran june 2009 press kit smiling.cabinet

    Nobody needs to see a photo of us taken in February.

  • A Grateful Robot and a Ladies Night Out

    My grandma kept a drawer-full of greeting cards in her buffet. An entire drawer, devoted to spontaneous correspondence!

    What a woman.

    She also kept plastic on her sofa and carpet on her kitchen floor. She really wanted to protect her furniture and linoleum.

    The Thank-You Note is a classic greeting card and should be the foundation of any collection. Receiving a thank-you note in the mail is a little bit like finding money in last Winter’s coat or a good hat in a snowbank.

    Let’s write one together!

    First, choose a card:grateful-robotNow on to the writing… We’ll break it down into 5 easy steps:

    1) Begin with a greeting: Dear Aunt Shirley,

    She loves to hear her name because cats can’t talk.

    2) This is the meat of the note and notice there is no appetizer. This is a “note” not a letter. Cut right to it: Thank you so much for the medical marijuana! If the gift from Aunt Shirley was cash, do not mention it. Speak instead of her “generosity.” Thank you for your generosity!

    3) Say a little bit about how you use or will use the gift: I smoke it everyday!

    4) Mention the last time you saw Aunt Shirley and hint at a future meeting: It was lovely to see you at Uncle Bob’s funeral, I hope to see you again before your funeral!

    5) And scene: Love, Fran

    Oh, and here’s another card that will be added to the line:the-only-rule

  • Goodbye 2010

    2010 has a short driveway and as we backed down it we (I) felt wistful. It seems like only last year we were freezing in Brainerd. Here we are again, eating thick-cut bacon and praying for the strength to survive round after round of Name That Tune. I don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions because the prisons are overcrowded as it is and also because the world isn’t ready for my style of leadership. (Deer-in-the-headlights.)

    deer

    This was a big year for Zeichen Press – and as I sit in my Fiberglass Insulated Cell, I feel gratitude. I also feel greasy from all of the bacon, but like the sparrow, I will take a sand-bath to freshen up when the time is right. A new website, a fleet of reps, prints in Room & Board, the dog’s wig:

    millie-wearing-a-wig

    Who wouldn’t be grateful? I believe Jen and I are coming up on The Five Year Anniversary of Our Zeichen Press Partnership – we will celebrate by not murdering each other in cold blood.

    Don’t worry, we’ll send out Save-The-Date cards.

  • Trading letterpress cards for cash

    The Big No-Coast show is only 5 days away.To prepare ourselves, Jen and I are watching hour after hour of training videos. We have found that the only way we can really get into the spirit of a craft show is with a Dolly Parton soundtrack. But I’m sure that’s true for everyone.

  • Alright, back to work

    Fran Shea’s résumé

    °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

    1988-1988 (Nov. 1-Dec 23) Lyndale Garden Center

    My first job. Silly me, I heard “making Christmas wreaths” and thought I’d be “making Christmas wreaths.” Pre-made wreaths were heaped onto a lunch table – my job was to choose the sprigs for the wreaths. “Sprigs” was an industry term for cheap Christmassy crap.

    *christmas_wreath
    1989-1989 (Sept. 1-Sept 15) Pearson’s Family Restaurant

    I bussed tables and was told to clear as much of the table as would fit in the gray bin. It would have been very satisfying if I were training to be a power-lifter. Two weeks was too long.

    1989-1990 (Oct. 1-March 1) Leeann Chin, Richfield

    As a server, I wore a little white hat and jacket. Like a chef. A disgruntled, panicked, 17-year-old chef.

    1990-1990 (June 1-Aug. 15) GJ’s SuperValu

    A block walk from my apartment above Ribizza – this job required speed and superhuman strength. Bagging groceries during a “rush” filled me with doubt and indecision – eggs before bread or bread before eggs?? Should I take my smoke break now??

    1990-1990 (Sept. 1-Nov. 1) Telemarketing for the Special Olympics

    I don’t even know how I found this job – it was in a bland office in a bland office building on University Avenue.  The script we were handed was written in the 1950?s and we were supposed to offer lots of garbage bags in exchange for donating to the Special Olympics. Our boss was, I think, Bob Saget.*sagetphoto04b
    1990-1991 (Nov. 15-Jan 15) Meyer’s Bakery

    A job that required cash register skills. I’d rather wash old peoples bottoms than use a cash register – I’d try to push customers into buying things that would result in even dollar amounts so I wouldn’t have to make difficult change. Three cookies? Why not four?… Two loaves of bread? Why not two loaves of bread AND a cookie??

    Fast Forward—>

    1993-1996 : Carney Studio

    The interview went something like this:

    “So, you want to be a graphic designer?”

    “A what?”

    “You’re hired.”

    1996-1997 : Odney Advertising

    This is where I learned about advertising. And stealing office supplies.

    1997-present : Stay At Home Mom

    This is where I learned about cleaning up poop.

    2006-present : Owner of Zeichen Press

    The culmination of a life-long set of painfully acquired skills.

  • -33° in Brainerd

    That’s where I am. Will I ever be able to get back to Minneapolis? Stay tuned.

    And, just because I’m a little obsessed with the weather, I gathered some very important figures. - Record low temperatures in The United States of America:

    State Temp. Date Station Elevation
    Alabama -27 Jan. 30, 1966 New Market 760
    Alaska -80 Jan. 23, 1971 Prospect Creek 1,100
    Arizona -40 Jan.  7, 1971 Hawley Lake 8,180
    Arkansas -29 Feb. 13, 1905 Pond 1,250
    California -45 Jan. 20, 1937 Boca 5,532
    Colorado -61 Feb.  1, 1985 Maybell 5,920
    Connecticut -32 Feb. 16, 1943 Falls Village 585
    Delaware -17 Jan. 17, 1893 Millsboro 20
    Florida – 2 Feb. 13, 1899 Tallahassee 193
    Georgia -17 Jan. 27, 1940 Mauna Kea 13,770
    Idaho -60 Jan. 18, 1943 Island Park Dam 6,285
    Illinois -36 Jan.  5, 1999 Congerville 722
    Indiana -36 Jan. 19, 1994 New Whiteland 785
    Iowa -47 Feb.  3, 1996* Elkader 770
    Kansas -40 Feb. 13, 1905 Lebanon 1,812
    Kentucky -37 Jan. 19, 1994 Shelbyville 730
    Louisiana -16 Feb. 13, 1899 Minden 194
    Maine -48 Jan. 19, 1925 Van Buren 458
    Maryland -40 Jan. 13, 1912 Oakland 2,461
    Massachusetts -35 Jan. 12, 1981 Chester 640
    Michigan -51 Feb.  9, 1934 Vanderbilt 785
    Minnesota -60 Feb.  2, 1996 Tower 1,430
    Mississippi -19 Jan. 30, 1966 Corinth 420
    Missouri -40 Feb. 13, 1905 Warsaw 700
    Montana -70 Jan. 20, 1954 Rogers Pass 5,470
    Nebraska -47 Feb. 12, 1899 Camp Clarke 3,700
    Nevada -50 Jan.  8, 1937 San Jacinto 5,200
    New Hampshire -47 Jan. 29, 1934 Mt. Washington 6,288
    New Jersey -34 Jan.  5, 1904 River Vale 70
    New Mexico -50 Feb.  1, 1951 Gavilan 7,350
    New York -52 Feb. 18, 1979* Old Forge 1,720
    North Carolina -34 Jan. 21, 1985 Mt. Mitchell 6,525
    North Dakota -60 Feb. 15, 1936 Parshall 1,929
    Ohio -39 Feb. 10, 1899 Milligan 800
    Oklahoma -27 Jan. 18, 1930 Watts 958
    Oregon -54 Feb. 10, 1933* Seneca 4,700
    Pennsylvania -42 Jan.  5, 1904 Smethport est. 1,500
    Rhode Island -25 Feb.  5, 1996 Greene 425
    South Carolina -19 Jan. 21, 1985 Caesars Head 3,100
    South Dakota -58 Feb. 17, 1936 McIntosh 2,277
    Tennessee -32 Dec. 30, 1917 Mountain City 2,471
    Texas -23 Feb.  8, 1933* Seminole 3,275
    Utah -69 Feb.  1, 1985 Peter’s Sink 8,092
    Vermont -50 Dec. 30, 1933 Bloomfield 915
    Virginia -30 Jan. 22, 1985 Mountain Lake 3,870
    Washington -48 Dec. 30, 1968 Mazama 2,120
    West Virginia -37 Dec. 30, 1917 Lewisburg 2,200
    Wisconsin -55 Feb.4,   1996 Couderay 1,300
    Wyoming -66 Feb.  9, 1933 Riverside 6,650

    AND before we start killing and eating each other, we are entertaining ourselves by throwing boiling water into the cold air.

    rob-turns-water-to-steam