Attention Ladies + Gents – It is time for a Holiday Art Giveaway!
We are in the cusps of the holiday season. In light of the colder weather, lights and decorations, holiday parties, and shopping, I am doing a little art giveaway on Friday November 27th, Black Friday. I won’t be leaving the house on that day, that’s for sure.

Here’s the deal: I am going to make you work for this one!

1st Prize : Guitar Wycinanki letterpress print on 5 x 7 paper (shown above) and a 6 pack pack of holiday cards of your choice – Peace Doves, Hello Holidays, or Nesting Doll cards (shown below).

2nd Prize : Guitar Wycinanki letterpress print on 5 x 7 piece of paper made from renewable energy sources and one of each from the Holiday card line (3 cards total: Peace Doves, Hello Holidays, and Nesting Dolls.)

3rd Prize : Guitar Wycinanki 5 x 7 letterpress print

Here’s how to go about entering
1.) Become a fan of Paper Parasol Press on our Face Book page.
2.) Make a comment below confirming that you are a fan with you lovely name.
3.) Twitter about this post -and link your twitter below in the comments.
4.) Or, blog about this entry and post link below.

Names will be drawn on Friday, November 27th at noon central standard time.

Ready…. set… go!

(Also, I am in love with Vietnamese coffee. My friend brought me back a bag of coffee beans from Vietnam and we have been brewing it their way – yum! Read more here !)

I’ve been hiding out lately painting for an opening this Friday at Flourish Studio on Lincoln Ave in Chicago. It’s been fun preparing for this show and a reminder that I should paint more. Here are the details:

Please stop by and say hello. They have a great space at Flourish.

Things have been non-stop and I am so thankful for the energy I’ve had lately. Drew and I keep talking about taking a big trip next year. We have in mind a place out of the norm (perhaps stranger than Iceland) and I am using this trip as motivation to get me to that point. There is still so much work ahead and now that my show is going up, I am going to put most of my energy into the National Stationery Show.

Amber from a. favorite design had an amazing open house this past weekend. Not only is Amber one of the most talented printers around, but she is super sweet to boot. A month or so ago, she let me do a run on her press, Willamina, to get me warmed up. Besides accidentally printing on her tympan (oops!) when I forgot to put the press in trip, Willie was pretty kind to me. Amber has a rockin’ holiday card line up here in her etsy shop. Check her goodies out and photos from her open house above. The party was a carnival theme packed with taffy, candy, and even candy cigarettes! (Nostalgic for me, being 12 and buying those.) Everything was perfect and we rode our bikes down Ravenswood to check out her new digs, which is nothing short of amazing. I like how the el goes right past her windows. On some days, I get a flash of the turquoise blue paint from the inside and it makes me happy.

Thanks, Amber and congratulations on all your success!

I’ll never forget the moment I discovered a business card of a man who used to be the VP of NBC tucked away in between the book pages of a hardcover in a vintage store in Manhattan. (I bet he had a mini bar in his office!) It came home with me in my coat pocket all the way back to Chicago. Or the chills I got while reading a love note in perfect penmanship on the inside cover of a book from a man living in the late 1800s. Oh, how badly I wanted to tuck the book into my coat and give it a better home, but I left it in that cold barn to be destroyed by the elements. Mostly because the owner was right there. Blast.

Anyway, it’s always nice coming across old flash cards, letters, and postcards. I usually only buy the ones that hold some personal connection too, otherwise, I’d be coming home with boxes of old postcards. You can imagine my delight finding this lovely little etsy shop – Found Paper Co . This wonderful shop pairs pieces of found goodies into creative little bundles – like the Vintage Game Paper Pack or the Found Paper Pack – Edition 2. These little kits would be prefect to break out on a fall day.

{top} Found Paper Pack – Edition 2 (25 Piece Ephemera Set for $8.00
{bottom} Vintage Game Paper Pack – Edition 2, 60 Pieces for $6.00
photo c/o Found Paper Co.

I currently have an entire set of vintage French flashcards my friend Holly discovered for me and a thrift store. I love that the first 1/3 of the pack is worn out by use. You can tell how far they took their French before stopping! I haven’t figured out what to do with them yet. The paper is a thicker card stock, perfect for letterpress printing, but silkscreen would also work nicely. We’ll see.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Today I am taking the Metra train out for a little adventure up north to visit Kelly from Paper Stories one of my booth partners for the NSS.

Olga – she is my one ton, 12 X 18, New Series Chandler + Price letterpress gal. She’s my go-to gal, or will soon be. We are learning to work with each other and our rhythms. It’s mostly me learning to work with her, as she is a bit stronger than I .

Why the name Olga, you may ask? Why give an American-made machine from Cleveland, Ohio such a strong Eastern European name?

Well, she’s actually named after a walrus. Meet the late Olga. Olga was my favorite zoo animal at Brookfield Zoo. Upon her death, my parents actually woke me (I was 7, she passed in 1988 ) to tell me the bad news. I was crushed. I also had a very vivid dream as a child with a walrus swimming around my room, which I illustrated in college. That’s somewhere…hmmm.

I love this photo of the lady herself celebrating her 23rd birthday: ( image c/o the Chicago Tribune )

I found my Olga, near the Brookfield area and it just seemed most fitting. I’ve always wanted my own walrus friend, and she will just have to be close enough.

Also, big news – I will attending the National Stationery Show this year. I love doing wholesale and hope to take it a step further. Of course, I am excited and nervous at the same time – I will write more about this later. Currently, I am sketching and designing as much as possible – paying close attention to colors, shapes, images, and staying ahead of the curve. I spent the entire weekend designing. Being in font of a computer all day kind of bums me out – - – but, on a side note, it’s fun having a computer science nerd in the house because he is usually picking apart and developing code all day in front of his machine. Cabin fever kicks in really hard for me when I do this all day. I usually drag the boy down with me and by the end of the day we just run back and forth distracting each other until we both give in to a walk. It has been fantastic autumn weather for a fall walk lately!

Today is an extremely busy day – so, I am off! Happy Monday.

Two new cards in the Paper Parasol Press shop – “Hello Little One” for the new little guys and a thank you card. I’ll be saying “thank you,” to my umbrella a lot in the next few days by the look of the forecast. Both were printed on a Vandercook Universal I on paper made from 100% renewable energy. I will be in the letterpress studio the next two nights working my arm off reprinted holiday designs.

I am so restless all the time. I wonder if I will ever get over it. There always needs to be a departure in the itinerary. Such lifestyles are only for the charmed and I have a hard time realizing this. With that in mind, time to get to work!

Guitar Wycinanki

I did a second version of this, as I am gearing up for the holiday season and running low on the 1st round. He’s now up in the shop. A little bit European folk meets American grassroots.

It’s actually feeling more like fall and less like winter in Chicago today – thank goodness!

The other morning, I took a visit to a local thrift store. I found a great retro purse for a buck and this amazing wood golf trophy, in the shape of Illinois. The actual trophy part ( a lady golfing) is mounted on the wood die cut of my little state, but I am going to remove her. (more on that later!)

Anyway, one of my favorite stops in any thrift store is at the vinyl section. Drew and I have a record player hooked up to his computer and he’s got a pretty nice collection. I like to keep any eye out for anything he may fancy, or stuff I may like. The stuff I fancy is more visual though. Check out these great records and fonts/illustrations! It makes me wish I was born a bit earlier. Here are a few favorites:

The Music Man This little piece came out in 1962. “Original Broadway Cast” looks like it’s in Jefferson Gothic, drawn by Sol Hess in 1916. It seems to be a font ahead of it’s time and one of my favorite characters. I tend to like all uppercase or lowercase characters in a font. We all know where the terms “uppercase” and “lowercase” come from right? Uppercase and lowercase originate from the type drawers that house movable type. (I just had to throw a letterpress bit in there, huh?) The rest of the type looks hand drawn. And how about those illustrations? *gasp* They are beautiful.

I also liked these little sailors. I didn’t get a good shot of the illustrations of the women also on the cover – obviously, lusting the sailors into their jumping frenzy. I love the use of Stymie, which gives it a fun and modern look. Gilbert and Sullivan is in a Western font of some type, always a favorite. It’s an interesting choice for an Opera that opened in 1885, yet it works so well here. I am gathering, this version of The Mikado also came out in the 60s. The 60s almost seem like they threw a lot of traditional standards out the window, which is fine by me, because in turn, you get this distinct design and illustration style.

Ok, this Shish Kabob packaging is beyond amazing. Check out that font – the happy homemaker! This has to come from the 1970s. Of course, Risk in Craw Modern.

And now, time to dream about fonts.

Getting hitched? Thinking about popping the question? Planning on running off to Vegas? Are you a design-conscious, eco friendly bride or groom-to-be looking to put a different spin on your special day? Well, my friend, Indie Wed may be for you! Indie Wed will be held in Chicago on January 30th at the Showroom at the Ravenswood Event Center.

I am going to be giving away two tickets for this event to a lucky couple! Each ticket covers one person and both tickets will be going to one winner- so that you can bring the significant other along. Paper Parasol Press will be there with a table along with many other wonderful vendors. Check out the line up here.

Kindly, leave your name below on a comment and on Friday, October 23rd, I will draw the name. Please make sure, you are local or planning on being in the Chicago area for this unique event.

Indie Wed Info:
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
from 11am-5pm
at the Showroom at the Ravenswood Event Center
4025 N. Ravenswood Ave
Chicago Illinois

thank you for gracing the world with you art.

It’s no surprise, that my favorite photos of his were of Lisa Fonssagrives, his wife of 42 years. Her profile was amazing and her grace and elegance timeless – his photos captured her so well. He could take a gloved hand and turn it into completely something breathtaking and new.