Tag: Letterpress

  • Fortune Teller, Tell My Fortune

    Winter has been creeping in like a gas leak and I am always pleasantly surprised to find myself awake in the morning.It would not take long for the madness of Winter to descend upon the little house. Letterpress printed on recycled paper. Comes with coordinating envelope and packaged in cellophane sleeve.

    “That’s nice.”I say, as I stretch and crawl off my sofa-bed.Never one to miss nuance, I wonder why I’m not in my own bed.

    Good design sometimes requires getting into character – I’ve been dressing like a gypsy (not showering) for our latestTanekproject. A paper fortune teller is easier to mail than a crystal ball and some might argue – more accurate. Tanek will send 300 of these out to their dearest friends – I only hope they take the responsibility of predicting the future seriously:

    fortune-teller-1fortune-teller-5 fortune-teller-2 fortune-teller-3 fortune-teller-4fortune-teller-6

  • 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

    whenWinterwalked 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,nottheMutation Chinchilla Breeders Associationa real thingbut theMinnesota 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 anduse the life-skills I so generously shared with you.

    Fredphotographedthe new cards- here’s my favorite:She knew kids loved surprises and so she filled the piata 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 IversonatMetro Magazinewrote 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.

  • Doing Unspeakable Things With Type

    I regret not jumping into Lake Superior last week. I’m kidding, I don’t regret that. I regret not pushing that weird guy into Lake Superior last week. He was yelling, “the effing dog ate my pills! The effing dog ate my pills!” That poor wiener dog was trying to end its own sad life. Anyway, here’s a photo of Lucy and Jenny braving the frigid waters:

    jenny-lucy-superior

    Lake Superior is the poor man’s ocean, just like my Reprex

    reprex-crop

    (notice the vice grips)

    is the poor man’s Vandercook.

    vandercook2

    But I must make do.

    I must make do because that’s how I was programmed.The projectdu jouris a print involving lots of words. And because I’m a daredevil, I decided to lock up the type in a vertical formation.This is not for the faint of heart. The type and I both felt creepy when it was over and now we can’t even make eye contact.

    vertical-layout

    vertical-layout-close-up

    vertical-layout-super-close-up

  • Every Couple Wants Their Own Postmark

    I won’t try to fight it – and why should I?

    1helen-invite-rsvp-no-address

    My youngest sistermad-helen

    (why is she so angry all the time??) is getting married this weekend and I designed/Jen printed some invitations for the blessed event.

    The event will be very celebrity-heavy. By “celebrity” I mean “family.” It will be full of family. You can crash the wedding if you want – but no pictures. Just kidding. Take pictures – I can’t stop you.

    cathedral-polaroid

  • Goodbye Craftstravaganza 2011

    I was right in the middle of a dream where both of my eyeballs were, curiously, weeping blood. This was, of course, followed by an intense search for a public toilet and, AS USUAL, the only available toilet was in a high-traffic area of the Southdale Mall.

    Thank God Jen called and woke me up. But not before I reluctantly(why do I always do it??)sat my bare bottom on the toilet.

    If I’ve learned anything in my life it is how to be wrenched from a sound sleep and into a car in under 5 minutes.

    It’s not pretty but neither is childbirth.

    Jen and I stopped for our traditional latte at theMay Day Cafeand then it was onward to the State Fairgrounds. The Fine Arts Building was our cold and unwelcoming host, its huge doors left open to remind us that April can be just as cold as November.

    I’m sure the whole building was full of crafty-goodness but unless tables were set up on the way to the bathroom, I wasn’t going to see them. For eight hours, I did observe the folks running theBurlesque of North Americatable. They are screen printers – a craft that I have always had a crush on. Anyway, despite the sweetness of their prints, they were just as freezing as us.

    burlesque-worker-cold

    Poor thing!

    Our big experiment for this year’s fair involved a QR code

    qr-code-token

    that led to our latestWatch and Sharecard.

    It was successful. If you measure success in terms of wishes and smiles. Which I do.

    zp-craftstravaganza-booth-2011

  • Franstravaganza Part II

    “It is finished.” She gasped as she crumpled to the cold, concrete. It was, by all accounts, glorious. The work would outlast the artist and elevate the art form to new and dizzying heights.

    But she, exhausted and covered in ink, was oblivious. To her, this was nothing more than an exercise. A functional and fleeting piece, it would be handled roughly and discarded by Springtime.

    Um, so, that poster forCraftsravaganzais, like, done:

    craftstravaganza-poster

  • Franstravaganza!

    There are a couple of things going on around here:

    1) Our fax machine is spitting out orders faster than we (jen) can fill them.

    2) We (I) are (am) making the poster for this year’sCraftstravanganza.

    Just to make my load fair, I listen to a recording of screaming children while I work.

    I think it really shows:

    craftstravaganza-layout-export_1

    Today, I will put ink on that – it will be so spectacular there won’t be a dry eye in the room. (I’ll be the only one in the room.)