Mr. and Mrs. Tallerico

I hate to play favorites, but I must say that the top two reasons we are sad to leave Columbus are our friends Jamie and Amanda. Here are some photos of their recent wedding at the Athletic Club in Columbus. They put so much thought and care into every beautiful detail -- from the little matchbooks with their names on the tables to Amanda's gorgeous side swept hair. Most of all though, there was an incredible feeling in the room when these two read their vows to each other.

Jamie and Kirk met in Oklahoma over over 12 years ago. A bunch of their old buddies came to town for the wedding. Kirk was able to reconnect, and I had a wonderful time meeting all of them. It was great to finally be able to put a face with the names I've heard so many times over the years.

I Tip My Hat

Studio on Fire is doing some amazing work. These labels went through their letterpress 6 (!!!) times before being completed. They are masters at tight registration and at generally doing things that you might not normally attempt with the archaic technology of letterpress. I love how they detail it all on their blog, down to the stock they used and any issues they may have had while printing.

These labels were designed by Yael Miller for the Painted Pretzel. They fall under the category of something-I-would-buy-just-for-the-label.

(images via Studio on Fire)
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I am writing this on Friday, but when it posts Monday morning, we will hopefully be beginning our last day of driving our stuff cross-country. Worrywart that I am, I'm saying a little prayer that I don't open the door of the truck to find a broken press when we finally arrive.

Moving in the Morning

My mom got here Monday night, and she's been helping Kirk and I pack up the contents of our home / printshop. Tomorrow morning we'll see if it all fits into our 26' Penske truck.

Cross your fingers.

New (to this blog) Renegade Brooklyn 2009 Favorites: Part 4

I'm really into the idea of slowly replacing my inexpensive mass produced dishes with unique handmade and vintage pieces. These beautiful cups by Susannah Tisue of SKT are top on my list. The photo above and below I found on her blog, and the last two images I took at Renegade. SKT doesn't have an online shop yet, but you can contact Susannah through her blog if you are interested in owning one of her pieces. The image below is a ceramic painting from a show at the Greenwich Pottery House where she is an artist in residence.




Happy Owl Glassworks had one of the best signs - the art instructor in me loves the great use of negative space! I also love their sweet little nightlights.

Brainstorm is a husband and wife (Jason and Briana) team dedicated to making awesome limited edition screen prints. They're also really friendly/nice. Both the ski poster and the "don't pee in our pool because we don't swim in your toilet" poster both brought back fond/embarrassing childhood memories.


That's it (finally!) for my Renegade Brooklyn coverage this year. Let's hope we make it out from Utah for it next year.

New (to this blog) Renegade Brooklyn 2009 Favorites: Part 3

Photo above and below: Up in the Air Somewhere
Delicate looking earthenware and paper maché bowls, cups, vases, spoons, etc... Most are accented with gold leaf, yellow rubber, or hand painted stripes or gradations. So lovely.

Next 2 photos: Jewelweeds
Eco-friendly, hand printed and stitched pillows, onesies, and tea towels. I'm partial to poppies, so I really love that little hanging poppy sachet.


Below photo: Kindling
A brother/sister team make these sculptural faceted paper weights, bookends, votive holders, etc... I think they look great grouped together like a little rock garden.

Next 3 photos: Virginia.
I could hardly believe that this was Virginia's first craft fair. Her display alone looks like it came out of Anthropologie, and she applies the same attention to detail to every little item she sells along with its packaging. I really liked her small greeting cards with hand cut illustrations.



Next 2 photos: Astulabee
Such dear little soft sculptures of horses, deer, and birds. Oh my. These photos don't do justice to the intricacies and beautiful little touches of these creatures.

Giveaway Winner!

Commenter #5 - Laura Stewart - is the winner! Email me at info{at}sycamorestreetpress.com with your mailing address so we can get that sent out to you.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

New (to this blog) Renegade Brooklyn 2009 Favorites: Part 2

Image above and following two images: Rifle design
There was so much lovely hand drawn goodness at Rifle Design. Prints, recipe cards, and especially her delightful wedding invitations.


Next 3 images: Miss Natalie
These make me think of what I may find in a quality children's shop in Scandinavia. Natural materials, great modern design, primary colors combined with white and wood. If I have a baby any time soon, feel free to buy me some of Miss Natalie's goods.



Photo below: Warsaw
Well, I love the name and the logo. And I'm not much of a logo person. I also love the ruggedly stylish look of these bags.

Below: Enormous Champion
This is a card I came home with. Love it. I would have taken more photos of all their great letterpress cards and wooden animals, but I was enjoying chatting with them so much that I forgot! Click here to see more of their goods. These guys were also in the NSS, where they wowed everyone with their cork lined walls and amazing products.

Friday Giveaway: New Limited Edition Print by Ok Ikumi (aka Karl Jorgensen)

"Jörmungandr is a giant sea serpent that (if my sources are to be believed) will at some point in the future rise from the ocean, poison the sky, and fight Thor in a battle so intense that it basically destroys the world." - Ok Ikumi

Artist Bio: OK Ikumi is Karl Jorgensen. He makes electronic music and is currently unemployed and living in Salt Lake City. To hear his music, go to okikumi.com or myspace.com/okikumi.

I'm a big fan of Karl's art and music. (click here to see my interview with him last year.) Each beat, note, and line in his work is thoughtfully placed so that the end result is simple but so spot on. I love that this print refers to Norse Mythology, and Kirk loves that it kind of looks like a soccer ball at first glance. (I don't think Karl would mind that. He and Karl are both big soccer fans.)

So, for the giveaway, just leave a comment below, and I'll pick a winner at random next Monday at 5PM EST.

Don't forget that everything in the shop is 35% off with the code GOODBYECOLUMBUS until Monday at 5PM EST. After that the shop will be closed for at least a couple of weeks while we move and get our new letterpress goodies ready to go online.

* The Sycamore Club is our letterpress-print-of-the-month club. Each print is in a one time only limited edition of 100, and I hand print them on my letterpress with soy inks on 100% cotton paper. You can purchase an individual print in our shop, where you can also purchase a membership to the Sycamore Club and get a pretty new print in your mailbox every month. (Domestic shipping is free with memberships.)

Attention All Letterpressing, Screenprinting, and Cardmaking People Out There

****Sold!**** Thanks to everyone who contacted me.

I've decided to sell this tower of 110 lb. cardstock for $35 plus shipping.
It is cut and scored into about 1,000, mint condition, A2 size cards (4.25 x 5.5" when folded). This is a standard size and you can easily find envelopes to fit. There are 4 colors: mustard yellow, olive green, pumpkin orange, and shimmery light blue. All are recycled except for the blue.

Most of this is from the French Paper Co. To buy this much card stock on their website is $49.75 plus shipping. But, even then it wouldn't come all cut and scored into cards and in a variety of colors like I am offering...so to go out and buy different colors like this and have them all cut and scored could easily come out to be $100.

Email me at info{at}sycamorestreetpress{dot}com if you or someone you know would like to purchase them. Oh - and I also have a dehumidifier w/ 5 gallon bucket in excellent condition. Make me an offer. Thanks!

Sorry to anyone I gave a higher quote to earlier in the week for the card stock. Turns out I was in a hurry and did the math wrong! But this time it's sound. I've double and triple checked.
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FYI: For those of you in Columbus, we'll be setting up shop at the South Drive-In Flea Market next Wednesday morning, June 17th, weather permitting. We'll be selling lots of art supplies, milkglass and pyrex type dishes, fabric, books, clothes, records, and other household goods.

Paper People Q&A No. 7 with Susan Connor of Susy*Jack

I love the clean lines, crisp colors, and well-thought out packaging of Susy*Jack Contemporary Paper. Susan Connor, the owner and principal designer, also has an impeccably edited blog called Hey Susy. I'm addicted to the design finds she posts... even if all I ever do is drool over them for 30 seconds before going back to work.

I got to meet Susan at the NSS this year, and she was all smiles and full of sound business advice. She even stopped by our booth to say hi this past weekend at Renegade. Truly - she is one classy lady.

p.s. Sorry for the small type. Blogger is freaking out on me.

How did you get into paper?

I began designing for paper via graphic design. I went to school for design, and after that, my first job involved setting up files to print...so, that's how I learned the technical aspects. But, as far as actually creating design for paper products, I came to that via art, drawing, and painting. I really like to work with 2 Dimensional media and materials.

What’s inspiring you these days?

The things that inspire me really don't change...I just sort of run across them and somehow they work themselves in. I tend to create my patterns out of process, and I don't use very much reference, but I try and stop when I think something feels like it's in the right place. Probably, if I had to guess, I'm usually more inspired by materials than any particular shape, style, or color. I get inspired by things like....cardboard. I know that sounds weird. But it's true.

Tell us about something you’ve made or done lately.

Hm. Well, I have been working on the calendar a little earlier this year. I hope to have it ready really soon. That's probably the main thing I've been working on. Also, I've been playing around with some new ideas for my next round of products, which is always really fun...probably what I love most about doing paper!

Is there anything else we should know about you?

Let's see...there's not much I can think of, there. I guess I should probably mention my blog, hey susy, and my website, where I have some new items up!

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Thanks Susan!
I'm really loving the new worklife reminder magnets. It makes me want to get a huge magnet board to hang over my desk so I can stick the appropriate papers to it with the appropriate magnets. Hmm...I am setting up a new office space soon:)

HUGE SALE FOR 5 DAYS ONLY

In an effort to lighten our load for our cross-country move, and also to help make some room for the 21 new products we'll be introducing, we are offering 35% off everything in our online shop starting today at noon EST. Just enter in the code GOODBYECOLUMBUS at checkout to claim the discount.

But hurry! The sale ends Monday, June 15th at 5PM EST. (Ha ha -- that sounded so much like those silly commercials on TV.) At that time, we'll be closing the shops (the one attached to our website and our Etsy shop) for at least a couple of weeks while we pack up, move out to Utah, and get situated in our new place.

When we reopen the shops in July, there will be 21 new letterpress goodies available, in addition to our old favorites. You may have seen images of some of the new items on design*sponge, poppytalk, or at the NSS or craft fairs we've been doing. We've sold out of several of them already, without them ever being available online, so we're looking forward to being able to reprint them and offer them over the internet to a wider audience.

p.s. I got the name of the promo code from a 1969 film by the same name starring Ali MacGraw. I didn't like the film, but I did love MacGraw's style and the name seemed fitting.

New (to this blog) Renegade Brooklyn 2009 Favorites: Part 1

A booth that really stood out to me at Renegade Brooklyn this year belonged to first time exhibitors Gold Teeth. Jesse and Emily draw all the designs by hand and them screenprint them onto gorgeous thick cotton paper. They even tear the cards down one at a time to give the edges that soft, handmade look. Sets of cards are packaged in sturdy yellow boxes and tied with pretty cotton ribbon. Simple yet playful designs, luxurious materials, attention to detail -- all these add up to make each of their cards and prints a piece of art.

Maybe one other small reason that I like them is that I love the gold tooth that my sister gave me last year. And I mean that in the most literal way possible. She's a dentist.


The two photos below are of Nate Duval and Jen Skelley's work. Nate told me that they work together, so I'm not sure exactly which is his and which is hers, but I think all their screen printed posters go together quite nicely! I especially love the technicolor field of flowers one.


Below are some images of Miniature Rhino's work. I love the swiss cross buttons and all the little samplers she (Jessica Marquez) stitches. She takes custom orders if you'd like your name embroidered next to your sweetheart's like in the bottom image. What a perfect wedding or anniversary gift.



Stay tuned for more!

The Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn

We left from our friends' wedding Friday evening and drove through the night to get to McCarren Park in Williamsburg (Brooklyn) just in time to set up for the fair. This year was much better than last year because 1) there wasn't a crazy scary thunderstorm and 2) instead of being crammed into an emptied out, stifling pool, we were spread out among the trees and grass in the park. We loved taking little breaks to watch the soccer and baseball players for a bit, or to check out the other vendors and chat with new and old friends and aquaintances. It's so much more relaxed than the National Stationery Show -- which I admit, was a nice change.

Since we drove Friday night and Sunday night, we were only in the city for one night. We ended up finding a good rate through Hotwire for a hotel in Long Island City, which was just 10 minutes away from the park. When we showed up, we were a little worried. The hotel's "neighborhood" lay beneath elevated train tracks and was full of abandoned looking buildings. The below photo is of a garbage dump directly across the street from the hotel! But the room was clean and comfortable, and the hotel was full of regular seeming travellers. All we wanted to do was to order some pizza and sleep for 10 hours straight...so we did.








We're trying to figure out a way to get back to this fair next year. The fact that it will be a 3 day drive from Utah puts a damper on things. However, we did find out that quite a few of the East Coast and Midwest based vendors will be traveling out to California in July for Renegade LA and SF. If they can get all the way out to the West Coast, we should be able to make it back to the East Coast, right?

Wrapped Up in Books

So, I'm going through my books in an ongoing attempt to edit the contents of our entire home and printshop to fit into our 26 foot Penske moving truck. (I'm actually pretty worried that we won't fit! More on that later.)

Here are a couple that seemed relevant considering that we are moving to the Mountain West state of Utah... I also happen to love their 60's institutional design. (I always look for books from the Life Science and Nature Libraries when I'm at thrift stores.)

Do you collect a certain series of books?

Come see us this weekend in Brooklyn!

Please stop in and say hi.
We have new posters and cards that aren't even in our online shop yet.
And we'll have some discontinued items marked way down.

Warning: Kirk and I are driving through the night to get there, so we will be operating on little to no sleep tomorrow. We might be drowsy, but hopefully in a happy sort of way. It's our favorite craft fair of the year!

Paper goodness at the NSS / Printshop moving sale

One of my favorite parts of the NSS was seeing all the creative and good looking business cards and handouts floating around. Here are just a few bits of paper goodness that I gathered.

Clockwise from upper left: Product Superior, Birddog Press, Oscar and Emma Design, Anna Beckman Calligraphy, Mohawk Paper (buttons), Fugu Fugu Press, Gus and Ruby Letterpress, Dutch Door Press.
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Also, I'm selling the below paper cutter before we move. It can cut through a stack of letter size paper. If you are interested, let me know, and I'll give you a good deal. I also have stacks of colored recycled stock that's already cut and scored into A2 cards, and a few other odds and ends from the printshop that I'm selling.

For the love of Food.

Although overall, I do think that there are more delicious affordable, locally owned food options in the SLC/Provo area of Utah than there are in the Columbus area, there are some fantastic spots that we will really miss when we move:

+ Northstar Cafe for the best veggie burger ever... and pretty much everything on their menu.
+ El Arepazo for great Venezuelan food like patacon and arepas.
+ The North Market for all the delicious local eateries and markets under one roof.
+ The Indian Oven for one its tasty and affordable lunch buffets.
+ Katzinger's Deli for its cranberry pecan bread, pecan sticky rolls, and the chicken artichoke salad.
+ Figlio for its Caesar salad and authentic Italian style pizza.
+ Jeni's Ice Cream for my favorite flavors: Gravel Road (salted caramel with smoked almonds) and Lime Cardamom.

Hmmm.... we've been trying to find creative ways to eat everything that's left in our pantry, but maybe we should try to hit all these places instead!

Our Soon-to-be-Studio

Many of you probably don't know that I flew straight from NYC and the National Stationery Show out to Utah to look for a studio. We're moving cross country in less than three weeks, so we were down to the wire, and I was nervous that I wouldn't find something suitable in our price range.

I looked at a lot of places around the Heber Valley with the help of my mom and siblings, but when I saw this one, it just felt right. Not only is it airy and light and big, it's also the same price as all the smaller, depressing, often dirty and windowless units I had seen before it. The owner, Lori, is super nice, and is actually giving us a great deal because 1) the space has been vacant for a while, and 2) she liked us and was excited to have a letterpress printer in the building. (She's an art teacher and her husband is an athletic shoe designer.)

It's basically one big open room with 7 windows, and a little separate bathroom and kitchenette area. (It's the right hand side of the building you see in the middle photo.) The raised beds in the bottom photos are Lori's vegetable garden on the other side of the parking lot. She was busy planting tomatoes when we arrived to look at the space. Oh - she also let us see the climbing wall in her studio. So cool!

Lately, I've been a little sad thinking that we'll be leaving Columbus so soon. But when I was in Heber, surrounded by the gorgeous Wasatch mountains, open green fields, and all the deer that walk so nonchalantly around the hill where my parents live, I felt pretty excited to be there again.

p.s. Sorry to all my family and friends that I didn't get to see while I was in Utah :(. Finding a space / catching up with work on my laptop took most of my time, and I also didn't have a car to use on my own. Plus - we'll be back for good in just a few weeks, so we'll see you then. Can't wait!

Paper Stories Print Swap

above, L to R: Hijirk Studio and Bon Vivant
below, clockwise from left: Green Chair Press, Paper Stories, and Night Owl Papergoods

above, L to R: See Saw Designs (Trent), See Saw Designs (Angela)
below, L to R: Bespoke Press and 12Fifteen

Kelly over at Paper Stories organized a letterpress limited edition print swap with 38 different printmakers. I sent her a bunch of my Blue Patterned Garden prints a while back, and in return, I got a box full of beautiful little works of art. It felt like Christmas! These images are some of my favorites...it was hard to narrow it down, though. There were plenty of others that I thought were great, too.