Paper | The Fancy

Category: Paper

“Dear You”

November 4th, 2009 — 10:18pm

dearyou

I found this perfect-for-all-occasions card at the H-Mart gift store this morning while indulging in their little known $2 morning latte special.

Comment » | Paper

Collectibles

August 19th, 2009 — 10:07pm

Here are a few things I was really excited about picking up in LA:

choedolls

Choegal, bought at GR2

I’ve been coveting this doll from artist David Choe since his Obama cover for Giant Robot and the video of his signing/opening at GR2 kind of hyped it all up. It’s his first full scale toy, made from all wooden mechanical parts with three faces (sad – angry – happy in the photo above) that you can turn with the knob on the top of her hat. I don’t collect toys, really, but this handpainted (albeit by a Chinese factory, not Choe) beauty was too hard to resist.

1 comment » | Ephemera, Paper, Souvenirs, Travel

Printing press needs owner

December 21st, 2008 — 7:32pm

I am a huge fan of letterpress. It makes me a sucker for collecting any letterpress stationary or greeting cards that cross my path, and I intermittently scan the classified ads at Briar Press, hoping that a one-armed bandit will become available in my vicinity (it’s all I could even dream of fitting into our house…even a small letterpress can weigh literally half a ton). So far no luck.

In my otherwise fruitless browsing, I came across an ad for a press in Brooklyn that’s for sale:

* For sale or trade in Brooklyn NY
* Posted on 14 Dec 08 (17:08)

The Hennington Press in Brooklyn is for sale. It includes everything needed to run a substantial business. See video below. Please inquire.

The link to the video, which I’ve added below, turned out to be a very moving radio story done on the closing of Hennington Press done by WNYC (New York Public Radio). It’s a sad situation – there must be someone out there who can take over this press?

It’s just a matter of finding the right person, right? Someone who can move to Brooklyn, learn how to operate vintage printing press machinery, and has enough business savvy to make a go of a printing business in this day and age. I guess it’s a lot to ask but this printing press needs an owner, fast!

There are lots of small presses around that are doing great work that seem to be successful. If you’ve never considered letterpress cards you should – most of them do custom work and they can turn your annual family cards into little works of art. I’ve linked to some great small presses below.

clockwise from image at the top of the page: (top left) Penguin card by B Design, letterpress medallion by Jonathan Wright Company, fawn card by Hello, Lucky, (top right) reindeer card by Jonathan Wright Company, (middle) historical photo of Hennington Press, (bottom left) Merry New Year card by Paper + Cup , last photo is of a letterpress printer from Briar Press.

3 comments » | Paper

Autumn cards!

October 11th, 2008 — 7:04pm

For the first time in a while we dug out the old gocco print machine and made some cards, as a favour for a friend’s wedding this weekend. We used to design and silkscreen cards more often but kind of let it fall by the wayside, as we are getting old and lazy. It was pretty easy and quick because we managed to find a place online that sells recycled paper and envelopes, which cut down on having to measure and cut all the paper ourselves.

Joe came up with the design, which was inspired by some washi paper we had seen, and the idea that the wedding’s colours were brown-orange-gold for fall.

Gocco printing is a fairly simple, fun way to print – we’ve found it to be a lot easier than full-on silk-screening…

Comment » | Japan, Paper