End of Summer, wish I went everywhere!

Well, maybe not everywhere... 

but there are definitely some places that I'd love to visit! click here to enjoy some fun letterpress postcards from all over by Ladies of Letterpress.  

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh has only been "home" for about a year (we hail from the lovely Portland, Oregon and as I type this my musical memory says thank you to Loretta Lynn) but despite missing the peculiar charms of the NW, this town built of iron and molybdenum has been welcoming with perogies, hills, salads made of french fries and a language all of its own.  Here are some things you may not have known herald from the land of the three rivers:

Ferris Wheel 

Mr Yuk

Big Mac

Zippo Lighter

Daylights Savings Time

Mr Rogers

and a household staple (at least in this region)...Heinz Ketchup

So why not try printing with something a little local?  I printed these post cards using my letterpress and a bottle of Heinz ketchup.   

The only thing missing is a french fry.  If there is anyone feeling regionally jilted or disappointed that Hunt's wasn't used, let me know and I'd be glad to give it a squirt.

Foam Printer

Thanks for sharing Printeresting!

communication is a funny one

We all love communication.  

Lately I have become more interested in posters and postcards, more so than I ever thought I would.  But what a fun way to say something concisely with words but also have the chance to say that concisely something with imagery and composition as well.  A well known letterpress outfit, Hatch Show Print, has had some luck doing just that.  This is a nice little video on their history and process if you are inclined to take a peek.  

Being hungry most of the time, it pleased my mind and stomach to stumble across these posters also printed up at Hatch Show Prints for 4505 meats and for someone as hungry for food and language humor as I am!

     

http://www.4505meats.com/shop/index.html#Posters

And it isn't easy to replicate those subtleties of well crafted and fun ways of saying something simple like hello, goodbye or are you hungry? Its fun to think about the syntax of our synapses; what your particles are telling your other particles and how exactly they go about saying whatever it is they need or want to say.  I find this much easier to do if you can imagine it done with sounds like pings and zooms and zaps.  Any language, indeed, is a funny thing.

Happy Trails!

Friday Spry-day

Happy Friday.  Friday afternoons in the fall always seem to be particularly frisky.  They have that edgy bombilation that just builds up until the early evening when everything becomes revelous.  The best part to me though, is Friday morning where your energy is still in the orbit of predictable productivity but maybe just with an extra boost of whimsy and wit.  So with that in mind, I thought I'd share a little something that I have been working on for a little someone else.
I am a preservationist by nature.  All things canned, dried, fermented, stored, pickled and cured capture my intrigue and hold it hostage until I have figured out how the process works and ultimately how it tastes in the end.  So, our house always has something funky hiding in the cupboards or shelves, most of the time bubbling with life and giving your nose something to work with.  Being Fall where it is now comfortable to actually use the oven, our newest endeavor has been to make a whole lot of beef jerky.  But these days, when ever I see any type of material (edible or not) my mind immediately jumps to "How can I print with this?" and off on a tangent, or tangerine, I go.
While this has clearly made it's rounds on the internet, www.meatcards.com, I'd love to bring it around again.  Particularly since it is a frisky Friday and communication is what we do best here.  What better way to tell a little special someone that nothing they can do will diminish the euphoria you find in your little everyday routines and snippets of life?  And give them a serving of protein while you are at it?

This weeks project:  BITE ME cards letterpressed on handmade jerky.  Yum and Fun!  Have a great weekend and if you have any kosher sayings that you'd like to see printed on a dried slab of beef, drop me a line!

Dear World, meet Strongbad, my right-handed man.

Hello!   I'd like to start this first post by introducing you to Strongbad, my little Kelsey table top press and my partner in letterpress crime.  He can be a bit cranky, takes time to adjust and has really dark sense humor but all in all, he makes pretty good company in the basement studio.  Its funny that we ended up together, he wasn't really my type (excuse the puns please, I had a couple of really good cups of coffee this morning) but I'd say we have bonded.  We usually share a good stong cup of coffee together in the mornings.  Today its pretty somnolent here in Pittsburgh, so he has the morning off while I get some prep work done for upcoming projects but here is evidence from a recent contrivance to show you what we have been up to while the rest, well, sleep!

                           

lamb chop linen napkins

                                                                                   

beef steak napkins

bbq pork placemats