Well, it’s that time of year again – time for the Renegade Craft Fair! I am exhausted, but the fact that I will be on the West Coast is keeping me going. If you are in San Francisco, please swing by the booth! I have to finish with some odds and ends, so I am out! Ciao!
Sure, I am Polish, (Can you tell by the last name?) but how incredible is Polish design? One of my favorite design blogs, Pan Tu Mie Stał (You were not standing here) is jam packed with great design and illustration – especially the vintage stuff. It also comes in an English version! Let us take a moment to just swooooon. In fact, I cannot wait for my Cześź t-shirt to arrive to the States! (Yeah, I couldn’t help myself; I am a sucker for condensed fonts and Polish characters.)
Let’s look a little more at this lovely blog, shall well?
Yes please on the vinyl!
With so much turmoil in the country’s history, Poland has shown strength with visual design – a mix of Modern, metaphors, simplicity, the past, and keeping ahead of the curve. When I came across this vintage Polish stamp collection, it was like unearthing a visual treasure! Here are some of my favorites.
Polish stamp with CCCP space program imagery. Check out that 60’s rocket blasting into orbit
These basketball ones from 1963 are nothing short of amazing. The figure hardly looks like any silhouette of a basketball player, but it has a nice graceful feminine quality to it.
How wonderful is this one with Laika, the first dog the Russians sent into space? Unfortunately, she was sent up there with the known fact she would not return. Despite this, her image has graced Soviet stamps and posters. There is also a monument of her in Moscow.
A small and beautifully designed mid-century stamp. My font love for this little guy is IMMENSE
more classical and Soviet inspired designs.
Folk inspired stamps
1964 Tokyo’s Olympics.
Fun illustrations with the stamps. What about those amazing mushrooms and that cat meowing… maybe crying?
For more Polish stamps, visit my vintage section on Flickr. I am hoping to pay homage to Warsaw’s Wilanów Poster Museum in October. Has anyone ever been there? It looks like a place I could easily spend hours in. I think a trip to Polska is far overdue. I need some old-fashion root-searchin’ and art inspiration.
Cheers and hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Well, looks like Olga, my 12×18 Chandler and Price has a new friend – a Vandercook #3 from the 1950s inspected by a H.L. Keller and made right here in Chicago, Illinois! She seems very Americana too me – so, her name is Ellie Mae. Yes, I now have a hometown-er in the studio! Moving was a ran smoothly for the most part. The hardest was getting the 800lb press on these two piano dollies and rolling the press down the ramp into the truck. Once we got to my studio the challenge was rolling her up the ramp to the dock – phew. My heart was holding its place both times! Luckily, I have some pretty wonderful men in my life who helped – My dad, Drew, and my Dziadz (my grandfather). Yes, my amazing grandfather helped! Once we got back to the apartment, Drew and I needed a nap. I knew my Dziadz would be right back at work at his house in the burbs. I called him today to check up on him and it was no surprise that he did outdoor chores after the big move! As he put it, “Every day is a good day!” Which proves, that if you stay busy and young at heart, life is so much more rewarding!
Here are some photos of the move:
left from right: The press in her downtown location in the West Loop, putting the press on the dolly, the carriage all taped up and ready to go, moving down the ramp.
The new press, at home in the studio on Ravenswood, Avenue, Chicago, Illinois
Last week I finished a huge custom order 175 two color invites, R.S.V.P. cards, and reception cards for an upcoming wedding in September. This was also the first custom job I printed on my 12×18″ Chandler and Price letterpress. It was good taking on the challenge because I learned how to work with the press Also, working with handwriting can be a bit tricky. I took a scan and cleaned it up as much as possible in Adobe Photoshop. I then brought the file into Adobe Illustrator, as I prefer vector over raster for fonts, and after using live trace I resorted to the smooth tool and pen tool to clean it up. Overall, a lot of work, but worth the final piece. Using a handwriting instead of a standard font really adds character and uniqueness to a piece.
Two color letterpress print on 220lb Lettra paper
Printing was a lot of work, but I loved the way they turned out! 220lb paper is like butter!
I told myself last year, I would not overdo it with shows this summer, but in typical fashion – I signed up for the ones that looked amazing and got in.
First one is this weekend in the beautiful suburb of Berwyn called the Constructor Craft Fair. If you’ve never ventured out of the city to Berwyn, it’s worth the trip. The streets are lined with beautiful, old brick buildings and lots of charm. I am excited because Magnolia Photo Booth Co from Louisville, KY will be there. They usually have a photobooth at the Renegade Craft Fairs and we tend to go a little crazy with photos! Plus, their photo quality is pretty good – a huge improvement from those cheesy photobooth photos in the mall! I am a huge fan of old school photobooths and Magnolia does a superb job.
Next weekend I wil be getting into a car and driving to INDIEana Handicraft Exchange. And if you happen to know me personally, you know I don’t drive. I drove both ways of the entire country last year and happened to luck out driving in the most remote states – Nebraska and Nevada. This is open road, straight ahead driving… So, yes, I will be driving again one year later. Bring it. I am looking forward to this show and for the mini road trip!
INDIEana Handicraft Exchange
Date: Saturday, June 12
Time:12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Location: Harrison Center for the Arts
1505 N. Delaware St.
Indianapolis, IN 46202
When we are full swing into summer, I will be traveling to San Francisco for the Renegade Craft Fair. I am very excited to be participating in the show for the second year in a row mostly because everyone is so darn sweet out there, I have a good core group of friends in Cali, and it’s a stunning world out there.
Renegade Craft Fair San Francisco
Date: July 31st + August 1st
Time: 11am -7pm
Location: Fort Mason Center Festival Pavilion
Hope to see some old friends on these adventures and meet new ones!
I survived my very first The National Stationery Show. (eeek?) Alright, it was not as bad as I had always imagined it to be. In fact, thanks to my wonderful boothmates, everything ran smoothly. I even got to meet some of my favorite store owners and new ones! I am very happy with the stores I did pick up! I just mailed two orders out with Father’s Day cards to Broadway Paper in Milwaukee and Aldea Home in San Francisco – both amazing cities and stores!
Our booth set up
booth cupcakes for my birthday! What a wonderful way to say hello to 28!
Thanks to my boothmates, Kelly/Paper Stories, Ali/BirdDogPress, Robin/Robin Beth Designs, Laurie/Lucky Bee Press, and Amy and to our New York/Brooklyner friends who helped celebrate my birthday – Meredith, Rachel, Bill, Robin, + Tristan!
Stay tuned, because we are going to be busy all year round with our Let {Her} Press collective! Alright, blog, you were a lovely distraction for the time being, but I have to get back to orders! Cheers!
Ahhh… almost National Stationery Show time. Wait, let’s try this again: AHHH!!!
This is the last weekend before the show, which officially starts Sunday May 16th and runs until Wednesday May 19th. This is Paper Parasol Press’ freshman year at the show. I’ve always wanted to go and actually walk the show, but I am known to just jump in with two feet. I am lucky enough to be sharing a booth with a few veterans in the Let {Her} Press collective. Firstly, I am very honored to be part of this talented pool of ladies and secondly, I probably could not have done this without their guidance. There are so many details to think of – from ordering the walls and electricity to bringing a mini stapler (I got one with orange staples – Yessss.) We also had to coordinate between all of us on show details. So, taking something as big as the NSS and making it manageable works really well! With this economy, it’s really feasible.
We did get into Stationery Trend Magazine!
Who are the ladies of Letterpress? Check it out:
Paper Stories | Grayslake, Illinois
Robin Beth Designs | Haworth, New Jersey
BirdDogPress | Lyons, Colorado
Lucky Bee Press | Santa Cruz, California
Looking forward to the show next weekend – safe travels to everyone attending!
With that, see ya’ll in New York City!
it’s really Mother’s and Father’s Day every day, or should be at least. I can only get you one card a year though, so the love better make up for it.
New Mother’s and Father’s Day cards in the shop.
never hurt anyone – especially if it happens to be mounted on the wall.
Know someone who has game? Why not send them this thank you card for all their kindness. These guys will soon be up on the shop, but I have to work out some odds and ends before any major updates.
I love coming across old index cards, yellowed by age or these alphabetical index cards in a lovely little case. One day, I will figure out to do with my French cards, index cards, and graph paper.