Slow mail

I think the ongoing demise of the handwritten letter & the ‘snail mail’ posting of cards or notes to mark occasions (special or otherwise) is rather sad. A txt msg or email will never be a good substitute for receiving an interesting piece of post – you can’t beat the excitement and anticipation of finding an intriguing envelope waiting for you in your letterbox! And what about penmanship?! Do the kids still handwrite… you know, with ink and actual pens?

I love this postcard, found a couple of years ago at the wonderful (but now sadly closed down update: open again! see comments :) Bowne & Co. Stationers in the South Street Seaport area of Lower Manhattan
(postcard © John Derian Company, Inc)

As I appear to be a confirmed (and grumpy!) Luddite when it comes to the ubiquity of digital communications I’m very happy to have some of my work included in the screen printing and papercutting sections of this nifty new book by Charlotte Rivers (published earlier this month):

‘A wolf and a bear in a winter wood’ – screen printed cards

papercut ‘snowflake’ cards

And I’m delighted to find myself sharing its pages with a super-talented friend…

Jesse Breytenbach, Cape Town, South Africa (letterpress & block printing)

… and a whole host of other great, old-school stationery practitioners. The book is divided into eight sections: hand-drawn illustration, screen printing, letterpress printing, block printing, digital illustration, calligraphy, papercutting and collage/3-D/sewn, and includes brief but informative descriptions of each technique followed by inspirational examples from around the globe. Here are some of my favourite discoveries from the book:

MrYen, Leeds, UK (papercutting)

Sesame Letterpress, New York, USA (letterpress printing)

Winged Wheel, Tokyo, Japan (letterpress printing)

Karolin Schnoor, London, UK (hand-drawn illustration)

Katharine Watson, Washington DC, USA (block printing)

If you’re looking for some inspirational stationery eye-candy the book can be found online here (Amazon UK) or here (Amazon US) >

Festive furry friends

I have just finished packaging up a big order of the ‘Panthera Pair’ cards I made a while ago, and while doing so I was reminded that I quite forgot to mention them here! So, here goes… ‘Panthera Pair’ greeting cards are currently available in my shop.

The message I hoped to convey with the motif of a leopard and a tiger in peaceful repose is one of restfulness, peace and harmony… all good things to aim for at this time of year, and for always, methinks.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has purchased one of my limited edition ‘Panthera Pair’ prints in aid of the Panthera wild cat conservation group – I’m grateful to you, and so far we have together been able to donate $225 to Panthera! I still have some prints available, and I think they’d make excellent gifts or stocking-fillers for your animal-loving, conservation-minded friends and family (they receive a limited edition print and the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from knowing that 100% of the purchase price has been donated to a very worthwhile, much-needed conservation effort).

Place your orders for cards or limited edition prints by 11am (GMT) tomorrow (Tuesday 6 December) and I’ll make sure they’re in the post to you tomorrow afternoon for Christmas delivery *

The cards and limited edition prints are available in the bright orange/yellow colourways illustrated above, but also in crisp, minimalist black and white:

* international postal services willing!

Updated 6 Dec 2011, midday: there are some ‘Panthera Pair’ cards & prints still available in the shop, but postal delivery in time for Christmas (to destinations beyond Europe) can no longer be guaranteed…

Dutch Design Week

I’m thrilled to have some of my work represented by Etsy (thanks, Etsy!) at Dutch Design Week, which starts in Eindhoven today (22 October) and runs until 30 October 2011.

I’m up to my eyeballs in work at the moment so won’t be able to make the trip to attend any of the exhibitions or events, but if you’re near Eindhoven in the next week pop along to DDW – it looks like there will be a lot of good stuff happening. Here’s a taster…

from top to bottom:

> Haak Aan! (‘Get Hooked’ urban knitting/yarn bombing exhibit)
> *SMD – Living Data (graphic design)

> Anne Varekamp (“CupCakeCup”, ceramics)
> Architecture.ehv (graduate work from TU/e‘s Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning)

> Duurzaam en Ecologisch Viltwerk (ecologically sustainable/animal friendly feltwork by Beatrice Waanders)
> Tim van Cromvoirt ‘Thermophores’ (work by recent graduates from The Academy of Art & Design, AKV|St.Joost University of Applied Sciences)

Naming the animals

I’m very excited to have this little accordion fold book I made, entitled “13 Wonders from a Cabinet of Curiosities”, included in an exhibition organised by Curious Matter in Jersey City and Proteus Gowanus in Brooklyn.

Unfortunately I won’t be able to make it to the opening(s) [being some 5870 kilometres away!] but if you’re in the area pop on over to Curious Matter (from 3 April) or Proteus Gowanus (from 16 April) to see, what I am certain will be, two fascinating exhibitions.

In case the text in the above image isn’t sufficiently legible, here are the dates, times and locations again:

Please join us for two artist receptions
to celebrate our special two-part exhibition

NAMING THE ANIMALS
Curious Matter, April 3 to May 15, 2011
Proteus Gowanus, April 16 to July 17, 2011

Sunday, April 3, 2011
3:00 to 6:00 pm
at CURIOUS MATTER
272 Fifth Street, Jersey City, NJ
&
Saturday, April 16, 2011
7:00 to 10:00 pm
at PROTEUS GOWANUS for Paradise III
& Naming the Animals
543 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY

A PDF version of the exhibition catalogue can be viewed here.

My book will be on display at the Proteus Gowanus venue in Brooklyn.

Snowflakes

My annual, end-of-another-year, festive greeting card production-line has been in full swing. I’m officially addicted to cutting paper snowflakes!

This year I thought I’d include a ‘how to’ (of sorts) because they were fun & simple to make and you might like to make some for your friends and family too (everyone likes receiving a handmade card, right?). I’ve also made a few more than I’ll use this year and they’re available now in my etsy shop. Edit: no longer available!

Spoiler alert: If we’re “friends & family” and you don’t want anything to do with these cards until one lands in your letterbox, then scroll no further :-)

Papercut snowflake cards ‘how to’:

What you’ll need:

• blank cards
• mulberry tissue paper (or something similarly lightweight, translucent, and interestingly fibrous – the fibres running through the paper look beautiful when backlit)
• pencil
• eraser
• scalpel / blade (this one works a treat)
• ruler
• bone folder
• scissors
• double-sided tape

(1) Start with a blank card (a square format works well with the circular snowflakes).

(2) Make a stencil on stiff-ish card for the ‘petal’/'wreath’/'rosette’ motif that will be cut out of the front of the card (I’m not sure what to call it… let’s go with ‘petal’).
[Useful tip, courtesy of trial and error: Make sure the inner and outer diameters of this motif and its placement on the card are not such that your petals, when folded out, extend beyond any of the edges of the card - if they do it'll be impossible to get the cards into the matching envelopes you bought!].

(3) Place the stencil in the desired position on the front of the card (it’s useful to hold it in place at this stage with removable tape) and (4) lightly trace your motif with a soft pencil.

(5) Using the pencil lines as a guide cut your motif out of the card with a scalpel. Use an eraser to gently remove any pencil marks that may be left on the card after cutting out the motif.

(6) Score the base of each petal with the bone folder (if you don’t have a bone folder any bluntly pointed tool would do here – like the tip of a butter knife, or knitting needle tip if not too pointy!).

(7) Cut circles from your lightweight (mulberry) paper, ensuring the diameter of the circle is slightly larger than the diameter of the motif you’ve cut out of the front of the card. (This is a very handy tool for cutting paper circles).

(8) Fold the circles into eighths (fold in half, in half again, and in half a third time), and cut some paper snowflakes. I deliberately tried to include a few heart shapes in each snowflake (‘spreading the love’ and all that) but you can cut any shapes that take your fancy.

(9) As already mentioned it’s addicitive, so you’ll have no trouble cutting lots…

(10) … and lots.

(11) Stick small pieces of double-sided tape on to the outer ‘scalloped’ edges of a paper snowflake. Remove the tape’s backing.

(12) Place the snowflake in the centre of the card motif and press down to secure.

(13) Gently fold out the petals of your card motif. The scored lines made earlier (in step 6) make this a breeze.

(14) And you’re done!

(15) The paper snowflake looks purdy on the inside of the card too.

(16) Make some more…

Happy card making!

scalpel / blade (this one works a treat)