Sky's the Limit for a Baby-to-Be

Spring is approaching, and with it, adorably big-eyed and chubby-cheeked babies, and the baby shower invitations they rode in on.

Since my success in painting with wine (not to mention the sheer fun of My Dunk Valentine), I've been branching out from the consumable and experimenting more with actual paint-based watercolours. I have also been spending more time taking on digital print orders, which have been a lot of fun (InDesign and Google Analytics will have to battle it out for my heart). Put them together and what do you get? Bibbidi-bobbidi-beautiful digital watercolour flat cards. Now all I need are jolly blue robes to wear so I don't look silly while I saunter around the "shop". . . 

To get that image out of your head, take a gander at the finished products, below! 

Little Mr.

Watercolour base pages: The sky may have been done with paint, but old habits die hard, and I couldn't get enough of the naturally antiquated colour of tea, so I went pinkies up for the banner. The next step was to scan these pages in and pull them together digitally. Then, I could set the type to follow the curve of the banner, and by inserting negative space, I used the lack of colour to bring out the textured paper and make clouds (see below).

 Next came the army of hand-cut, antiquated paper planes: For consistency, I got the image the way I wanted it, mirrored it (so that the printed line would be on the back of the paper and still face the direction I needed), and then printed a sheet of them onto red card stock. I also did myself a favour and bought a new pack of blades, and replaced them each time the very tip broke off--which, for the record, happened about every seven planes. Using a clean edge really made all the difference in the quality of the cut, and the quality of my sanity by the end of it.

I brought it all together by attaching the little prop plane to the invitation with a mounting square, so that it would be raised up from the paper, and sewed a link of embroidery thread (also in the running as my one-true-love. . . now that I think about it, my heart seems to be a little slutty) between the end of the banner and the plane, to give it some texture and an movement. Lastly, I whipped up some custom return address labels, featuring "A Special Delivery From" in the official USPS font, and the same little red plane to tie the envelope and the invitation together. As a bonus, I threw in some vintage air mail stickers that I pulled together from some images online.

One of my favourite parts of finishing a custom order is being able to wrap each bundle up with a personalized band, featuring the names of the recipients. For these announcements I decided to showcase the first names of the parents-to-be on either side of their baby-to-be's.

Little Miss

Watercolour base pages: Painting an elephant becomes all the more difficult when you first have to teach yourself how to draw one, but I was really pleased with how the little stuffed-animal-esque illustration came out. Then, just like before, I scanned the pages in and pulled them together digitally.

For something a little extra, and to make use of the freedom that digital allowed me, I curved the text to fit the curve of the balloon.

 And once again, before no time at all, the invitations were printed, cut, and I'd reached my favourite part, and this time with the baby-to-be's full name.

My Drunk Valentine

For Valentine's day, Warren Tales is bringing you a D.I.Y. tutorial on how to make three alcohol-based greeting cards. Rather than a succinct and cleverly edited video--and thanks to my own computer illiteracy (potentially encouraged, in part, by the fact that I spent all day drinking)--however, I humbly offer you two jovially written reports, and the only portion of a day's filming that has any functioning audio or general usability. And so, without further ado, I hope you enjoy this 35 minutes of delightful and bewildering banter as you, too, tipsily paint and craft your way to being My Drunk Valentine.

Número Uno: Tequila y Amor (Possibly More of One Than the Other)

The first card of the occasion was executed as a postcard, painted with an 1800 Tequila and Pomegranate & Lime juice combo. The Pomegranate & Lime juice, being mostly pear juice, however (funny what you discover when you read the ingredients of food products), lead it to paint on far too light, so I had to get my food colouring on. But a solid serving of what was probably more than a healthy dose of red dye later, and I was sitting pretty.

First, I drew a grid of hearts in pencil, leaving two squares blank near the bottom in favour of two trusty letters, "I" and "U". Next, I burst out of my kindergarten-trained box and painted outside of lines. Felt good. Admittedly, so did the cocktail. Finally, as I wrapped up my first card, I added some pizazz by going back over my pencil lines with a red LePen and a gold gel pen, as per the image below.

In retrospect, rather than breaking out of kindergarten, it would appear that I momentarily returned to it. Good times.

Nummer Zwei: Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dark (Easier to Drink Than Say)

If I was born in the United States, it's possible that this video would eliminate my possibility of running for political office... Enjoy!

My Drunk Valentine from Warren Tales on Vimeo.

Opa, Cheers, and Wa Hey!

Numéro trois: Cabernet Sauvignon (This Wine Can Speak About as Much French as I Can)

My third, and last, card was the one I was actually looking forward to making the most (plus, I was in a curiously good mood at this point, and just happy to be raising another glass, hmm). For this card, I got to return to one of my favourite new tricks: wine watercolours.

I used a pencil and a stencil (and made further rhymes by investigating some tinsel) to faintly trace out an ampersand in the middle of my card, and painted the heart from the wine in my glass over the outline. Once the wine had dried, several people braced themselves and I proceeded to cut out the positive pieces of my design with a craft knife. Et voila!

So, somehow, over a day of increased alcoholic consumption (A.K.A. "Gettin' Krunk"), I managed to produce the best product last. Riddle me that.

***

And there you have it: three cards that you yourself can make, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow...to celebrate (and entertain) the people in your life.

I'd like to extend a big thank you to my roommate, Jack, for letting me borrow his computer after mine gracelessly ceased to fulfill it's primary function as my robot slave; the friendly man at the liquor store, for recommending a delicious beer (the very one you witnessed); the ever-intoxicated--but well fed--Hannah Hart, of My Drunk Kitchen, for inspiring the madness (I should send her a card); and all those who encouraged me to get drunk and publicly post it to the world wide web--so many! How curious...

Party on, Warren.

Post Holiday Wrap-Up

The problem with having loving and supporting friends and family, is that you can't talk about what you're working on until after the holiday season is over! I know, tough break, right? Geez.

And so, well after Christmas and the wintry sort are behind us, and now that Boston weather is bringing us bizarrely toward an early spring, I give you a look into my season, and how a variety of projects worked out:

Detachable [Post]Cards

This is the first year in a long time that I've sent out holiday cards, and ones that I made myself, at that. I had been playing around with a detachable postcard idea for a long time, but hadn't been able to settle on a design. So, building off the hand-carved paper-snowflake card idea that I had created for a client the month previous, I got to realize that concept.

The first thing I wanted to do was add some embossing to the original stamping method. As I was using pigment ink pads--rather than oil-based printing ink--to stamp my design, I was concerned for the durability of the stamp, and its potential for the ink to transfer when in contact with other paper (a particular issue given that the front half of this card was going to have to go through the jungle of mail sorting twice: once in an envelope, yes, but then again on its own as a postcard). Embossing the stamp would take away something that seemed "natural" about the weathering that automatically occurred with the Speedball rubber, but would preserve it as an intended design element. Et voila, happy compromise (with a pinch of life-lesson).

My perforating tool is one of my absolute favourite gadgets and never fails to make me irrationally giddy (giddy effect may vary depending on the potency of one's inner dork). It's easy and effective, is incredibly lightweight and small, runs at only around $3, and can be used for all sorts of fun projects other than just cheesy coupon books. You will be subjected to further gushing and proclamations of perforated love in future projects. To the point: I used the perforator and a ruler to run a line along the top of the designed half of the card; then, to detach, the recipient simply folds along the line and tears apart.

On the inside of each card, I included a postcard stamp, so that it was ready to send when the recipient was done enjoying their greeting, and wanted to pass a greeting of their own along to someone else.

Above are examples of the four colours I chose to use (from front to back: Moss, Harbor, Scarlet, and Eggplant), which all paired with corresponding envelopes.

Each envelope was addressed with a fun "Support Snails Send Mail" address label, and included a snail mail insert which read, "I hope you will enjoy this card and send the thought along, in support of the Unites States Postal Service. Fold and tear along the perforated line to remove your pre-stamped postcard."

Over all, the cards were a great success, and I look forward to working more with that detachable format in the future.

All Play and No Work

The following are some fun things I put together for my office coworkers. 

"Snowigami" paper crane ornaments (I know, I'm too much...really, I should stop...and yet I don't), with stamped and mounted gift-tags that each had a personal holiday message.

Up-cycled letterpress calendar picture frames. These were taken from a beautiful letterpressed desktop calendar, and I simply cut the calendar portion out to create a photo mat for either a frame, bulletin board, or fridge. Each "page" was different and made for a nice addition to our cubicles.

I also bound a few single-signature notebooks using mostly up-cycled materials. The "B" features laminated Boston street/subway map endpapers, "L" uses illustrated book pages, and "V" uses a heavy stock book page for it's endpapers as well as a small branch for it's spine. Each uses paper taken from the office recycling bins, and features a letter corresponding to the recipient's name.

'Tis the Season to be Crafty

For my parents, who spend half their time on a surfer's/cattle ranch on the Central Coast of California, I crafted a ceramic cow mug in my pottery class.

Having never sculpted a cow before, nor having a picture of a cow to look at at the time, I'm proud, yes, but significantly more flabbergasted that it actually came out even remotely resembling what it was supposed to! A few of the spots came off in the kiln, but the naturally uneven "oatmeal" glaze certainly made up for the loss. And, when I went to collect it from the classroom, I found this note from another ceramics teacher (so nice!):

Another crafty experiment was the baby onesy I made for one of my best friends, who's expecting.

I used a machine-made onesy as a pattern, but just kind of held it up and drew around to get the dimensions (I can not recommend using an actual pattern for sewing enough haha gestimating was a pain). For this one I used a (new) Hanes white t-shirt that I had in my drawer, which worked pretty well in a pinch. I hand sewed everything using embroidery thread and doubled up my stitching, but using a sewing machine would probably give the stitching more stretch (and wouldn't take many hours). Instead of snaps, I reinforced some holes with an extra layer of material and a heavy dose of threading to prevent it from stretching or tearing, and used some cute red buttons. Then I free-handed a little elephant on the *coughbackwoopscough* (an embroidery hoop will stretch out the fabric so that it doesn't wrinkle, and a fabric store open at 5am in my neighborhood could have sold me one, but alas, no such hours of operation) and wrapped it up in a gift box.

Certainly an experiment, and a good first try, but I think I'll need to sort out the hiccups before I go too baby crazy. Luckily the soon-to-be mother gave me an A for effort.

Wedding Portfolio

Finally, we have a wedding present to a wonderful couple--high school sweethearts--that tied the proverbial knot in June.

The portfolio box is made from sturdy book board and picture matting, and is covered with a handmade Indian Lotka paper, and a handmade Japanese Yuzen paper. It measures 9" x 11" x 1".

The couple's names are typewritten on the Lotka paper and inset on the lid of the portfolio.

The ribbon weaves in and out of the box, through incisions in the book board, connecting the lid to the base, and tying in the front with the other end.

Inside is a photo mat and mounted wedding photograph, and will be joined by the various wedding keepsakes of the bride and groom.


A lasting happy new year to everyone, and thank you for supporting Warren Tales!

I Resolve To Support You Supporting Snails (And Sending Mail)

As a New Year treat to keep you going while I compile my Holiday Wrap-Up, I give you your very own printable Support Snails Send Mail mailing address labels.

The PDF prints ten 2x4 address labels, compatible with Avery®5163/8163, or any corresponding generic brand, and it is yours for the snail-mailing via Scribd, right here.

Happy New Year!

I get the feeling 2012 will be a good one. . .

The Meaning of Mail

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to announce Warren Tales' latest published interview!

Check out the December 2011 issue of Postal Record (Vol.124/No.12 with the National Association of Letter Carriers) for "The Meaning of Mail." A beautifully written article by Rick Hodges, about the tradition and contemporary necessity of snail mail, and the impact many people and organizations have made through their relationship with the USPS. The article includes an interview with, and work by Warren Tales, among others such as savesnailmail, AnySoldier, and The Society for the Prevention of Empty Mailboxes.

Hodges' great writing makes for great reading, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

(see JPEGs below, or download a PDF of the article here)

 

 

 

 

 

 

As Baby Steps Approach A Mile Stone

In human life terms, Warren Tales can now take a few steps and address it's parents in two-syllable, repetitive phrases. In business terms, it can design, peak the interest and respect of a growing support base, and sell original and affordable custom products.

This month of December marks the first birthday of Warren Tales, and so--following the traditional gift cycle of (albeit wedding) anniversaries--I bring you paper!

(No change there of course, but it was a lovely coincidence.)

Being a very busy month for production and gift-giving, Warren Tales has been working through many-a-night over the last few weeks in order to get everything done: from a coworker Christmas, to cards, to orders, to food, and to family. So look out for brown paper packages tied up with the melodies of Julie Andrews in the coming days, because Warren Tales is coming to town, and celebrating a beautiful first year by giving something back to those who have inspired me the most.

Thank you, always, to the wonderful people who support small and/or local businesses, snail mail, and Warren Tales, all at once.

And so, I eat a minced pie in celebration, and continue to burn the midnight power-cable. . .




Stay tuned for next week's "The Christmas Bunny: A Holiday Wrap-Up," and an extensive break down of all of the month's homemade gifts! Extending, but not limited to, a nervous and yet pretty successful attempt at sewing a baby onesy by hand:

Jet Setting and Trend Begetting (Because How Often Do You Get to Use the Word "Begetting")

Back in September, I gave a big slobbery thank you to all the Warren Tales supporters around the world, and set up a special offer for custom City Cards. Since then, I have continued to extend my gratitude by updating the cities listed as visitors on Google Analytics--making them not only the hometowns of lovely people, but also eligible for the aforementioned special offer--regularly, if not daily.

You may have even noticed my latest addition to the Warren Tales blog (a sidebar on the bottom right, entitled "Credit Where Credit is Due"), in which case, I hope you have seen your own location appear in thanks.

Above are 3 pieces of a 6-piece set of London, England cards that I'm very proud to have created. The order has been a pleasure to work on, and I look forward to passing them over to their new owners.

In the next few days, I will be heading back across the pond to the Motherland to attend a funeral service, and returning to the hometown of not only this person, but also myself. And so, given the sad nature of my trip, perhaps I will take the opportunity to hand-deliver their package, and hope to see them smile.

Have a good week.