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!

Renegade Craft Fair San Francisco

Hot off the press!

Alright, we are really gettin’ the ball moving now that the blog is FINALLY up! The past two years have been a disorganized mess around here. First, I started with a web domain that I wasn’t quite sure about. Decision making happens well into the night when my brain is functioning at about 15%, so the name did not dawn on me until later. “But I wanted paperparasolpress, no paperparasol.net!” When I realized I no longer wanted this web domain I already wanted to redesign the website anyhow. Then, it was getting a line together – as I teetered back and forth between screen printing and letterpress printing. Being a pretty lousy screen printer, I chose the later.

A little background: I tend to gravitate towards things that seem to be going out of fashion (or, a revival among certain groups) or are not the most conventional ways to make a living.  “That is a dying art – study graphic design,” “Is it really worth it? All that work?” Was it worth majoring in Illustration and going to an art school? Was it worth buying an 80-year old, one ton machine? Yes, because I am able to combine the two things I love: illustration and letterpress. The two make a happy marriage and with the technology of making polymer plates, I am able to translate my illustrations to the press without much complaint.

I hope to share my love of both letterpress and illustration on this blog. It can’t wait to pack it with inspiration, process, ideas, and even a little frustation when need be, but for the most part, there is already enough negative stuff out there, so this will act as a happy place. Visit back for art giveaways as well! If you cant’ wait ’till then, visit our online shop.

cheers and thanks for reading!