We’re getting hitched Friday!  Whoa.  Here is a super sneaky peak at the dress, necklace, and a few of the many pinwheel “flowers” I made this weekend.  I’m sure that this breaks some kind of wedding jinx… But, to be honest, Jon and I have broken pretty much all the wedding jinx/traditions/superstitions.  At this point, what’s one more?

One of my most favorite Etsy shops belongs to Wonderland Room.  When I need to stock up on washi tape, Japanese or Korean stationery, and other clever paper goods I always browse there.  Just look what I found this weekend– the Happy Postbox!  If only I knew enough Korean to know what the happy postbox is saying here:

What are all those postboxes doing out there in the woods?  I don’t know!  But soon, a yellow one is going to be my very own– I hope it doesn’t run off.  Or, if it does, that it returns to me full of postcards, letters, and other goodies from its sylvan adventures.

The first, and to date only, Kickstarter project I’ve donated to is the super-exciting LetterMPress app.  I purchased an iPad2 a few months ago and while I enjoy it as a consumption device, I’m excited to have an app that might encourage me to create just a bit more.  Plus, I suspect that for most folks this is as close as I’ll ever come to having my own real, live letterpress to play around with.

On one hand, I worry that making an iPad app that simulates Letterpress is a horrible bastardization of the whole printed-material experience.  On the other hand, you do seem to be able to set the type upside backwards, and there is ‘furniture’ and you do get to ‘mix’ your own inks…  Still, you certainly wont come away ink stained or peeved because you’re one small ‘e’ short of completing the piece.

I backed this project because I am a huge fan of letterpress but can’t a) own my own or b) take classes/rent studio time regularly…  The thought of having a way to ‘play’ at letterpress really appealed to me.  And, I’m thrilled to see so much interest in the preservation of wood type.  Now, though, I worry that the thing I like most about letterpress is the thing that cannot be captured by an iPad app, no matter how well designed– the feel and the time.  What are your thoughts on this?  Useful as a creative toy?  A way to get the ol’ juices flowing?

Some very dear friends will be married this August… Their save the dates are playful, charming, and a perfect summation of their equally playful and charming relationship.  I’m so proud to say that I consulted with them while they put together these save-the-dates!  They are deceptively simple to do: custom stamp, stayz-on ink, and a reasonably well-padded mailer.  I don’t think everyone got one, just their friends “cool enough” (or young enough) to know a) that Legos are awesome and b) to be willing to put together a small puzzle to learn about the wedding.

Rumor is, the wedding tables will have big bowls of Legos on them!  Personally, I think this is a brilliant idea to break the ice and give the more shy of their friends something to focus on.  Plus, how fun will it be to see what folks come up with?

I participated in a really great Swap-Bot swap for “A Nice Pair” of artistamps.  This swap was loads of fun, it gave me a lot to think about and an excuse to pull out some of my fake postage cancels, USPS stickers, etc.  What made me happiest, however, was this note I got from my swap-mate:

I got a note in my PO Box that I had an item waiting with 31-cents postage due. They were closed so I couldn’t go to the window. I left change in my box, hoping they’d figure it out.

When I went back a couple of days later, they were open. I told the clerk what I’d done and asked if he could check my box for me. He brought out your envelope (with the postcards inside) and a couple of other things not including my 31-cents.

It wasn’t until I was in the car, that I totaled up your postage: 98 cents. That sounds like plenty enough for what you sent. Then I noticed that the envelope said, ‘FAUX postage due 31′ cents.
Did you put that there? You must have!

On top of that there is another stamp that says “MN Roseville”, which is where the post office is, and a date: FEB 19 2011. That is probably an official USPS stamp. But, weird, what does it mean? The stamp doesn’t really say. Someone also hand-wrote “2-16″ on it.

One final mystery…your stamps are all hand “canceled” with a sharpie. There’s no normal postmark – just a weird squiggly line of black sharpie snaking across them.

I love stories like this (although I’m sorry my swap-mate is out 31 cents).  In fact, I intentionally added extra postage (a full 54 cents) to cover the potentially “confusing” envelope and the fact that it was a bit too think (I included some goodies along with the artistamp).

]]> http://www.bashfullydesigned.com/2011/02/22/artistamps-and-the-post-office/feed/ 1 http://www.bashfullydesigned.com/2011/01/17/a-very-late-holiday-gift-for-you/ http://www.bashfullydesigned.com/2011/01/17/a-very-late-holiday-gift-for-you/#comments Mon, 17 Jan 2011 11:52:35 +0000 ashleyb http://www.bashfullydesigned.com/?p=1249

This year, I didn’t send holiday cards.  Not because I suddenly decided that it’s arbitrary we send love in December (and not year round), not because I decided I was way into 2011, and not even really because I couldn’t do it.  Frankly, I just didn’t have any ideas for Christmas cards.  I soft of had an idea, but Christmas just left me uninspired this year.  I’m not a huge fan of red and green together and I ran a freaking marathion in December so, you know, I was kind of busy.

Anyway, I did send New Year’s cards.  Now that (I think) everyone I sent them to has received them, I can share the design with you all.  I riffed on the little slips that UPS leaves when they try to deliver a package and you’re not home. For example, the slips require “joy upon delivery” and payment in artistamps.

Inside, the message is, “May 2011 deliver all you’ve dreamed of and more.” I used a number of my fake postage cancels and delivery stamps on the envelope.  I’m really pleased with how they came out– truly the message I wanted to deliver to my friends, family, and pen pals but not cliche (and/or red and green).

Want to play with your own mail arty package delivery slips?  You can download the image above as a reasonably high quality jpg by clicking here.

Yes, it’s been a long time.  I know.  But lookie here, I do indeed still make things!  Above, a set of monogrammed note cards I put together for a friend who moved out to California.  I’m pleased with how they came out, especially since I used two different fonts for the R and W.  This felt like a real rebellion, let me tell you, so the fact that they hang together is a huge relief.

I’ve got a few more monograms I’m putting together for holiday gifts this year.  Names without loops in the letters (J, T, and I for example) are much harder to deal with than the rest… I’m putting the less loopy names off.  Hopefully this will end well and not with a late night, frustrating graphic design session.

Who knew that glue could be so elegant?!  Several years ago I went through a serious rubber cement phase– mostly because I loved (needed) it’s ability to adhere paper without causing bubbles.  This was, of course, before I discovered Xyron’s adhesive runners, now my adhesive of choice for most projects.   Anyway, this glue stick…  Can I tell you that it makes me absurdly giddy that not only can you refill this bottle but you can even replace the parts should they wear out!  I’m also a sucker for this particular genre and era of German design.

And this one, the Coccoina Paper Glue, is an Italian glue made from potato starch.  Apparently, it’s been the same formula since the 1920s.  Love that you can store the brush in that hole in the middle of the paste pot– so clever (and useful)!

Both glues are available from Manufactum, a German site, so you’ll be paying in Euros.  Sadly, since the Euro is still about $1.25 I can’t quite justify buying rubber cement for $10 plus shipping.  Even if it is beautiful and comes in glass.  I, a self-professed paper and crafty bits addict, have limits and I think paying more than $8 for a tube of rubber cement might be that limit.

(Thanks to Martha Stewart Living’s current issue for turning me onto Manufactum).

One of my cousins is getting married!  We’ve sent him and his soon-to-be wife some art for their new home, a letterpress print I made way back in 2006.  It features a this quote from William Saroyan:

Standing at the edge of our city,
a man could feel that we had made
this place of streets and dwellings
in the stillness of the desert, and
that we had done a brave thing.

Or a man could feel that we had
made this city in the desert and
that it was a fake thing and that
our lives were empty lives, and
that we were the contemporaries
of the jack rabbits.

I was worried this might be a bit… drab for a wedding gift.  So I mounted it on some acid free patterned paper and stuck it in a glass frame.  I think that makes it chipper(er) but doesn’t really detract from the print itself.

You, dear readers, can purchase an unframed version of this print in my Etsy shop!  It’s just $20.00 for an unframed print.  I assure you that it’s lovely and looks delightful on walls and desks.

My apologies re: the photography– I’ve really struggled with it.  Since I don’t have a DSLR it’s tough to get close-ups of something as small as text.  I assure you that the print is quite crisp and the paper is French Paper company’s “cement blue”– a tough color for a digital camera to “read.”

The folks behind “Meet Me at Mikes,” a craft blog based in Australia, are hosting an interactive window project.  They’re asking for crafty bits and vintage items in an envelope.  At the end of the project, one lucky person will win ALL the stuff that they received in envelopes from all over the world!  Also, the instructions are “Make sure you keep your postage cheap, so don’t be all extravagant.  Just be cute.”  Cute, not extravagant– I can get down with that.

They’ve already received almost 200 entries and the project goes until mid-July.  My parcel (pictured above) will be there soon!  Here is the address for this project:

Meet Me at Mike’s
63 Brunswick Street
Fitzroy 3065
Victoria, Australia

Also, I’ve started chatting via the post with the gentleman behind the You’ve Got Mail Project (Facebook login required).  To participate in this project to preserve the post, write to:

Your Pal Carl
P.O. Box 10401
Austin, TX 78766.

He writes back very quickly and with thoughtful replies to your notes.

What are you waiting for?!  Get posting!