Finally managed to print those tanks cards today. The print areas were so large that they turned out with a little bit of distress but I really like what it adds to the image. It makes it look more military-industrial complex with a hint of hand-printed propaganda. Sweet. (**Update: They’re up in the shop now.)
Today’s instruction: make something that shows gratitude.
Your inspiration for today comes from Jeff Rudell’s ingenious client-getting nutshell book. Enjoy and be thankful.
Today I printed 112 “I love you…even more than bacon” cards for Valentine’s Day. I’ve made these before, but this time I decided to try them at a smaller size which required burning a whole new screen. I also tried a new rougher, recycled brown bag paper. I wish they were a bit sturdier, but I like the more “rustic” feel they have now. After all, bacon ultimately comes from the farm, right?
I’ve finally managed to get the process down so that I can afford to wholesale these now, so I may approach some local vendors this week about consigning. If you’d like one for yourself, they’re available in the Sweet Meats Etsy Shop.
Today’s instruction is: make a personal, handcrafted valentine for someone you love.
Your inspiration for today is this embroidered love note on looseleaf “paper.” There are many examples of these on the web, but I like how this one also shows gratitude. By Flickr use kristenaderrick.
I’ve been missing my friends. So many of them are on the east coast now. They moved away from San Francisco in three waves this summer, and many of them ended up in and around New York. In order to ensure that they all come back someday, I thought I’d make them something to remind them of all the love that’s waiting here for them.
Friday’s thing-a-day was this stencil:
I meant it in the way that says “a lot of people in San Francisco love you,” but the more I looked at it, the more I realized, San Francisco really is a city that loves you back. In all the ways that New York tries to keep you out, San Francisco invites you in. From the weather to housing (rent control!) to the entrepreneurial spirit, San Francisco makes it really easy to live well on your own terms. New York requires you fight everyone else with sticks to get your own little piece of anything.
So to stick it to New York a little, I decided to change the stencil lettering to look like the “I heart New York” logo. I used the first stencil to cut out the skyline, and then used this stencil to carve out the letters:
Yesterday I made three stickers for my girls with the Xyron and a security envelope, as well as some stickers from the removed letters, which I put up in my very spare Etsy shop. Doing these San Francisco love projects has given me some great ideas for much larger projects that focus on the Bay Bridge.
Saturday night was a long night. I vended at the Chillin’ Productions Anniversary Show at the Mezzanine, which went from 8pm-2am. Though the event was packed, my location was hard to get to, so sales were just so-so. I didn’t pay a booth fee, though, so I really can’t complain. By the time I packed everything up and got it back home it was close to 3, but A. was sick and didn’t come to bed until 5, and then our downstairs neighbor started in with the electric guitar at 9:30, so like I said, it was a long night.
I finally crawled out of bed at around 12:45 and only had the energy to make one more reader/writer set and try out my new Xyron. Turns out, the 510 doesn’t handle shapes of less than 1″ particular well because the roller starts so far from the “feed tray.” I’m working on a little mod right now to extend the tray to just before the roller. The whole reason I bought the Xyron, after all, is because it’s a pain to use a glue stick on tiny, intricate pieces.
Anyway, here’s the scan of set number 2. I used a security envelope this time. It’s kind of nice on the light blue stock, but I think I like the Air Mail stripes better. They look so worldly and sophisticated. I also changed the time on the clock to four. What do you think? I’m torn.
Today our media diet is officially over, but I still haven’t broken it yet because today is a very busy day. I have to fulfill a custom order, pay my quarterly taxes, do the laundry, and start working on a plush monster prototype (if I get all the drawings). I also haven’t done my books in almost a month and my sales taxes are due on July 1st, so I need to get back to that.
Biz Miss 