Letterpress Openhouse — Saturday, July 11th!!!

Starshaped Press is hosting a letterpress open house!

Saturday, July 11, 2009
11:00am - 5:00pm
starshaped press
4636 N. Ravenswood #103
(on the west side of Ravenswood)
Chicago, IL

Come check out (and purchase) letterpress work from a handful of Chicago's talented ladies!

Printers include....
Starshaped Press
a. favorite design
Rar Rar Press
Shimmer Studio
Cindy Tomczyk (Paper Parasol)

with sweet treats by Sugarkist

and Starshaped Press will have the studio open for folks to see how printing works

inspirations

I'm lucky to live in a city like Chicago that has some very inspiring architectural details. Above are a few that have caught my eye this winter. I took them with my iPhone so they are not my best photos. I hope to take my camera out many times this summer and focus on more architectural details around the city.

A little bit of Green (in the Chicago River)

In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, which is March 17th, but will be celebrated tomorrow in Downtown Chicago with the annual dyeing green of the Chicago River and a parade, I thought I would post a snapshot from a few years ago (of the River, not the parade). Unfortunately my photo does not really do the color justice. Imagine if you see it in real life as more of a neon green — a freaky bright green.

Here's a link to a cool time lapse YouTube video on the dyeing of the river. And this link gives a little bit of background history on the tradition.

I'll be thinking of the green river as I head out of downtown to take a look at a letterpress and letterpress goodies. Woo Hoo!

Love my Cindy Tomczyk painting!

This painting is by my very talented friend Cindy Tomczyk and it is titled "Spending Her Time." I love this little painting so much and it makes me very happy to look at every day! I love every sinlge little detail. She is very talented and an amazing painter and artist. You can purchase a print of this painting from Cindy here. Cindy also sells stationery products under the name Paper Parasol and they are gorgeous!

If you are in Chicago this weekend Cindy will be at the Bucktown Bazaar, November 29 : 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. + November 30 : 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. This is at the Holstein Park Fieldhouse.

DIY Trunkshow pics

Here are a few pictures from my table at the DIY Trunkshow. It was a great show! I had a lot of fun and met great people! That was my one and only holiday show this year. Please visit my etsy shop if you would like anything. If you don't see the design you want please email me anytime! I will be adding a lot more to my etsy shop in the next couple of weeks.

Speaking of adding to my etsy shop. I designed a new poster and a sneak peak is pictured below. That will be going up in the etsy shop tomorrow. It is a limited edition letterpress print of 32 and it is printed on creamy white card stock. It is a Tina Fey quote from her guest appearance on Weekend Update on SNL this year (before all the great spots of her as SP).


Like I said DIY Trunkshow was my one and only holiday show this year but there are lots and lots more great shows coming up in Chicago. So if you have some free time check out these: the Bucktown Bazaar, the One of a Kind Show, the Renegade Holiday Sale, and many more! Metromix is a pretty good place to search for holiday happenings around town.

And I know this is not a handmade show but I just love this crazy little German Christmas town (christkindlmarket chicago) the city does from Thanksgiving through Christmas in Daley Plaza. Mmmmm... mulled wine and strudel!

news: DIY Trunkshow: Saturday: Chicago: Please come!

Hello, Hello! WOW, winter certainly has blown into Chicago and trees and holiday decor are going up around town. And even better Shimmer Studio will be at one of the first holiday handmade shopping extravaganzas — The DIY Trunkshow (woo hoo!). I'm really excited and I have been trimming cards feverishly all week. I will also be debuting my first letterpress poster design (it's a little poster but it's a lot of letterpress). There will also be some new pocket mirrors, buttons and, of course, HOLIDAY CARDS! The DIY Trunkshow is this Saturday, November 22nd from 10am until 5pm at the Pulaski Park Auditorium (1419 W. Blackhawk, Chicago, IL 60622). Shimmer Studio is Booth #11 in Gym 2. Please check out the DIY Trunkshow website and take a peek at all the great vendors!

some yummy local food & produce!

Here's a just discovered happy thing. I just read about Chicago's Downtown Farmstand from a local Daily Candy email and I almost immediately ran out (in the rain) to get some veggies that I could turn into a dinner. My fridge is perpetually under stocked. At any rate Chicago's Downtown Farmstand carries produce grown within 250 miles of the city and to my extreme happiness they carry a few local favorites including Frontera chips and salsa, the Old Town Spice House's spices (seriosuly, if you are in Chicago or ever visit this is a must stop!). And even better there were pies, quiches, soups and full meals from First Slice! I love First Slice! They have a pie cafe at the Lill Street Art Center which is where I take silkscreen classes. There is nothing better than art and good food (ok maybe some wine too).

Back to Chicago's Downtown Farmstand — for dinner we purchased a bacon and onion quiche and a vegetable chowder soup all by First Slice. They were wonderful! Best quiche I have had in a long time and it was the best veggie anything soup I have ever had. Yummy!

Chicago's Downtown Farmstand is only supposed to be open until December. Go support them and maybe we can convince them to stay open all year long. I will be back for more goodies and produce!

yes we can!

I am so happy for President Elect Barack Obama!!! That is all I have to say. The city of Chicago looks lovely too!!! Ok now I am done.

RedBall Project by artist Kurt Perschke

It's big and Red and roving the streets of Chicago until September 25th. What did I do on my birthday? I went to see a giant red ball. Here's the link to where the RedBall by Kurt Perschke will be next. I love the interactive nature of this sculpture. On September 1st it was at Millennium Park near Pritzker Pavilion and in order to continue forward you had to walk around the big art installation blocking your path. I can't wait to see it in some of the other locations.

walkabout

It is such a beautiful day today that I decided to take my camera for a little walk. Above are some of the things I saw today that inspire me and are just beautiful. I absolutely love sculptures and one of the great things about Chicago is that they sometimes just appear randomly although the two sculptures I photographed today have been around for a little while. My new favorite sculpture is the one of the woman on the left side (I call her the faerie) and her lower section is a trellis for the vines to grow up. She is by Congress and Michigan Avenue. I absolutely love this sculpture. I have not been able to find any information on her on the internet but I will keep looking. The other sculpture in the collage is at the Art Institute and is titled "Large Interior Form" by Henry Moore. The photo directly below the Henry Moore sculpture is a close-up macro shot of the one of the Lions in front of the Art Institute. The Lions are Bronze and the aged patina is a beautiful color. It is so interesting to see humans artistic mark on the world alongside nature. Then the sculpture almost becomes a part of nature because it is then subjected to the natural world and will age on her terms.

I love all types of sculptures. Maybe it's because I don't think in 3D — I think and visualize in 2D. My most successful attempt at sculpture was eaten by my dog in High School (it had a milk patina and my doggie loved milk so there you go... don't soak artwork in your dog's favorite treat). The flowers are from Millennium Park and along Michigan Avenue. I love the colors in the flowers — purple, pink and orange. It was a great day to be outside and take a little walk.

oh Lolla!

pictures: TOP - Lolla entrance. MIDDLE - Radiohead, BOTTOM - Jack White of the Raconteurs and the White Stripes

Well we did it again this year... we went to Lollapalooza here in Chicago. We said we weren't going to do it this year but then Radiohead headlined the Friday of Lolla weekend. We only went to Friday and it was of course hot and humid. Every year the Lolla peeps do something slightly different and this year the changes were kinda stupid. First it took us forever to get into the show because they were putting wristbands on people at the gate instead of, like in years past, when you had to get your own wristbands before the thing starts and put it on yourself. The second thing they did is lower the main stages a little??? I could not see a single stick figure dancing around on stage! My favorite Lollapaloozas are my first one back in the day at Pine Knob (Michigan) and the first Lolla they did here in Chicago when it started back up again.

Following are some of the bands we saw at Lolla 2008. The smaller BMI stage was the best overall stage and we liked every band we saw and the sound was always spot-on, the bands were; The Parlor Mob, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, and Your Vegas. Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears were phenomenal!!! They are my favorite discovery this year! Rock, Soul, and Blues all in one.

On one of the main stages we saw The Black Keys who I really like but their sound was terrible this year (sound consistency and quality are a problem at Lolla). I saw them the first year at Lolla Chicago and they are an amazing live band. Too bad about the sound this year. On the same stage we also saw the Raconteurs and they were awesome and their sound was fantastic even though at some point they blew an amp (according to Jack White—I couldn't tell)!

After the Raconteurs we journeyed all the way to the other end to see Radiohead. In the middle I stopped and snapped a quick photo of Buckingham Fountain (below). This was the first time I saw Radiohead and they were amazing but the Lolla crowd was kookie. People talked through the entire show and we could hear the chatter over Radiohead until we went and stood by a speaker. They played songs from all their albums and I hope I have an opportunity to see them again with a crowd that can appreciate their music.

All in all I think I'm done with Lollapalooza for so many varied reasons. I have gone to all four of the Chicago Lollas and I think I need a break. I've had fun and it's been a good run! Next year you will see me wandering around Grant Park just outside Lolla soaking in some free sounds.

I leave you with this question... Who talks during a Radiohead show?