Buffalo Small Press Book Fair!

Save the date for March 19 and make plans to attend the 5th Annual Buffalo Small Press Book Fair! The event is FREE and open to the public with workshops and tons of unique goods from small presses, book artists, poets, comic book artists, crafters and more.

This will be my second year participating and I can't wait!

For more information, visit http://www.buffalosmallpress.org/

UBCON 2010

Greetings! Today is another exciting day for me as I prepare to head to this year's UBCON convention at the University of Buffalo. I'm thrilled to have a vendor table and will be selling stationary, greeting cards, coasters plus my newly screen printed Greeting Towels and Squee! Shirts.

Squee! Shirts 

Wish friends & family a happy Towel Day.

Buffalo Small Press Book Fair

If there's one event that I'm really excited about this month, it's the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair at Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum on March 27, 2010 from noon to 6 p.m. This one-day event brings together some of the best local talent from bookmakers to authors to small presses, zinesters, poets and more. Best of all the event is FREE and open to the public.

For more information visit the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair website at http://www.buffalosmallpress.org/.

Happy Groundhog's Day!

As I work my way towards some fun new letterpress cards, I wanted to stop for a minute and wish everyone a very happy Groundhog's Day!

Groundhog's Day is one of my favorite holidays of the year. If groundhogs could lay Cadbury Eggs, it would be shear perfection.

This year I decided to try my hand at something different and make some block printed cards. After a few rounds of sketches, I finalized my groundhog and lettering. Then, both images were carved out of linoleum.

I chose an oil based block printing ink and printed on Strathmore's pre-cut Sugar Cane Cards. It's one of Strathmore's earth friendly options*, made from 50% sugar cane and 50% post-consumer waste fiber. The paper has a nice smooth, feel to it and a creamy ivory texture. It also has flecks of color from some of the visible paper fibers. It was really fun stock to work with. Although, I'm not sure the flecks in the paper added much to this particular project.

So without further ado...here's the final print.

Happy Groundhog's Day!

*Strathmore also has hemp and bamboo papers which I plan to test out soon!

WNYBAC Holiday Marketplace Update

The WNYBAC's Holiday Marketplace was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who came out and supported it and a big thanks to the WNYBAC for organizing it. I'm already ruminating on some ideas for next year's merchandise!

Last Minute Panic Holiday Marketplace at the WNYBAC

Looking for some unique holiday gifts? Join me at the Western New York Book Arts Center's (WNYBAC) Last Minute Panic Holiday Marketplace this Friday, December 11 from 4-8 p.m. and Saturday, December 12 from 12-6 p.m.. Click here to see all the details on the WNYBAC website. It's sure to be a fun time and a great place to find one-of-a-kind gifts made by local artisans.

Halloween Doodles!

Happy Halloween! In honor of the creepiest holiday of the year, I've decided to share some of the more ghoulish entries from my personal sketch book and encourage all of you to pick up a pencil and craft your own spooktacular drawings. Cheers!

FYI...At Halloween time I can't help combining my love of rabbits and zombie movies!

Part of a Vintage Breakfast

I was getting groceries the other day and noticed the fun, limited edition, vintage Raisin Bran boxes. Now mind you, it's been years since I've indulged in the crunchy flakes and two scoops of raisin goodness, but I couldn't resist buying a box. They're as tasty as I remember and I can't wait to eat my way to the "valuable savings coupon inside". (My inner design geek really hopes the coupon has a vintage look too!)

I wanted to post this for a reason. And no, it's not because I plan to make a habit of informing you of what I had for breakfast. (Although the other day I made some delicious french toast!) I decided to post this as a reminder of how powerful good graphic design can be.

One hears the terms "vintage" and "retro" a lot in the design world and honestly they can be rather ambiguous. Often times they refer to anything that imitates an older trend as opposed to the current fad. And when the current fad is vintage/retro, we see an influx of throw-back designs that don't really speak to a products brand, but simply try to fit in and look cool.

In the case of the Raisin Bran box, it looks cool, but there's more to it than that. What I really love about the box is the sense of nostalgia it invokes. Not only did the design make it stand out from the other cereal boxes, but it made me think back to when I was a kid eating Raisin Bran in my pajamas. The memories of the crunchy flakes and sweet gooey raisins made me turn around and purchase a box. It's a perfect example of effective design at work.

It's French Paper Friday!

Whoohoo! I'm declaring today French Paper Friday in the shop because today, I'm going to peruse my stack of paper sample books and order some envelopes. Looking at sample books and seeing all the textures and colors is always fun, but French Paper has such wonderfully designed books—it's an extra treat!