Half Empty Press news & announcements

New Listings!

2009-09-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

There are two new cards for sale in the Half Empty Press etsy shop! A Posse Ad Esse (from possibility to reality) was designed for a friend who just graduated from a nurse practitioner program this summer. Now that her big day has passed, the beautiful Gocco-printed cards that she used as graduation announcements are available for others to purchase.

The other new card is a New Year's card that I've been meaning to print for more than a year...and isn't it cute? Letterpress printed, and in my favorite size--the tiny 4-bar. I have lots, so you might want to order enough for all your holiday card needs.

Holidays Hit the Aisles

2008-10-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

Whew, it's only October, but the Christmas aisle in the grocery store is already set up right next to the Halloween aisle. Let this be a reminder to us all that we should buy handmade! Don't give in to the temptation to buy some piece of mass-produced plastic crap when you can instead proudly purchase something unique. Support an individual artist or crafter instead of supporting a huge, soulless corporation.

I started school this fall and it's taking up all my free time...so much for new card designs! I will try and get at least one new card out by Christmas, and I need to list some other gifty things that I make as well...anyone need an exceptionally nice coptic-bound journal tucked inside the cover of a cool old book? I've got several.

Also here in the Half Empty sphere, my typewriter collection is increasing...I got three new typewriters, one of which has an awesome sans serif font. Now I just need a way to display them all. Suggestions?

Well, heartbreak always seems to happen around the holidays, so you might want to stock up on "I've Moved On" cards so you'll be prepared. Bye for now...it's time for more studying!

Half Empty Press at Portland Zine Symposium

2008-08-26T21:44:00.001-07:00

So I used to organize the Portland Zine Symposium, but I didn't this year or last year. But I went on Sunday, and checked out all the tables...

I really liked some other etsy sellers who I met there: Aijung Kim and SomaVenus. I also appreciated SteamPunk Magazine's Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse. It had a lot of practical suggestions on how to build a house out of old tires filled with gravel and so on. Which sounds like I'm making fun, but actually, I really want to make a planter out of a big pole with paint cans of soil hanging from it.

A fun thing about the Zine Symposium was that I traded my cards for a lot of zines, and almost everyone had seen my cards before--either on etsy, or at a friend's house taped to the fridge, or in a store, or at last year's Zine Symposium. I felt famous.

Coming soon: on Tuesday, October 13th, I will be leading a Gocco workshop at the IPRC. Sign up now!

Burn your Bridges

2008-07-04T16:45:00.000-07:00

Happy Fourth of July! I re-printed "I've Moved On" burning bridge cards today, so I will have plenty on hand when I get back from traveling. The Half Empty Press etsy shop will be closed from July 16th through August 16th while my girlfriend and I visit the Netherlands and Germany...so no orders will be filled during that time.

The bridge featured on the "I've Moved On" cards is the Hawthorne Bridge in Portland, Oregon, and that's where I'm going to be tonight--watching fireworks from my bike. The bombs-bursting-in-air aspect of the Fourth of July is not my cup of tea from a political perspective, but I sure do love fireworks.

Get-A-Letter Kits are Awesome

2008-05-30T22:52:00.000-07:00

I know that I'm the one who makes them, but still, I think the get-a-letter kits are great. I spend so much time making them, it's like I'm actually putting together a cool package to send to a friend. So I think the people who buy them are getting something really special. Something almost exactly like an exciting letter from a friend!

P.S. I always write a personal note to everyone who buys something. So technically, you ARE getting a letter. And I'm pretty friendly, in my own antisocial way.

Gocco Workshops from Half Empty Press

2008-05-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

Hello Portland Friends:

Did you know I'm quitting my full-time job on June 14th to spend the summer having fun and spending more time on art? As part of this, I'll be offering more than my usual quota of Print Gocco classes. Print Gocco is a magical, amazing, simple printmaking method using a Japanese-designed machine that creates mini silkscreens AND acts as a tiny printing press. It's tons of fun and many of my cards are made with this method.

I'm doing Gocco workshop at Muse Art & Design on Hawthorne on Sunday, June 15th, if anyone's interested or has a friend who wants to go...it's $35, 2 hours, limited to six participants, and everyone gets to make their own Gocco screen. It's going to be cool, especially because it's three blocks from my house. And another 2-hour Basic Gocco workshop at the IPRC later on this summer...it looks like it will be Wednesday, June 25th, in the evening--$20 IPRC members, $30 non-members. Both of them also have an $8 materials fee.

Be there?

Orders sent out:

2008-02-18T16:15:00.000-08:00

This week I mailed out postcard orders to Talya and Carolyn...and also a trade to Uleen!

Orders!

2008-02-12T21:40:00.001-08:00

Sent out this week:

Wholesale order to MixtGoods...all the free PIF cards I gave away...and a burning bridge card for Carolyn!

I'm reprinting "Sorry Isn't Good Enough".

And I'd love for the weather to stay warm so the seeds I planted in my backyard will come up! There's a good chance I'll be building myself a studio out there fairly soon so I can move my letterpress out of the dining room. Won't that be great?

Favorite Shops and More Orders Sent Out!

2008-02-05T13:34:00.000-08:00

I want to recognize a few shops I've discovered lately and REALLY like. These are other card shops and they've got great stuff! Check them out:

afavorite.etsy.com has letterpress and gocco cards, and her cards are well designed, well printed, clever, and leaning towards wry humor...

jeanfrancisbean.etsy.com is where I got my awesome 80's Valentines this year. Combining favorite song lyrics, a style that takes you back to the painful days of elementary school Valentine's day, and direct red-white-and-black graphics, these Valentines are some of the best I've ever seen.

paperstories.etsy.com It doesn't get much better than this--classically beautiful letterpressed cards with the cruel words you wish you'd said. So perfect!

And of course there's MY shop, halfempty.etsy.com...I have to say, I really like my own designs!

Orders sent out today:

Danielle's burning bridge postcards, and a big wholesale order for mixtgoods.com, which is one of the places you can buy my cards!

More orders sent out!

2008-02-04T22:24:00.000-08:00

In the mail today:

Ashley's "poop" card;

Liz's airplanes safer sex sack;

Katrin's cards;

and Mary's tragically overdue sperm cell.

The Gocco workshop at the IPRC was a great success--people brought perfect designs in this time! I loved the "Some Bunny Loves You" cards made by Amy...maybe if we're lucky she'll list some in her shop! I'm leading another Print Gocco Basics workshop there on March 2nd, Sunday, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. I think there are still a couple spaces left in that class...so sign up!

Orders sent out:

2008-01-28T16:01:00.000-08:00

a sweet baby-blue Giant Sperm Cell was mailed to Liska today.

Also, Gillian will be leading two workshops at the IPRC on Sunday, February 3rd. Youth Bookbinding (ages 8-18) will be from 3-5PM and costs $5-$10; Print Gocco Basics is from 5:30-7:30 and is $20 plus a materials fee. Sign up now!

Now open!

2008-01-27T17:41:00.000-08:00

Now that Half Empty Press has been around for a year, it seems like it's time to have a blog to talk about what's new and how things are going.

New this month: "Sorry Isn't Good Enough" cards--I thought of this as a sympathy card for an especially sarcastic friend who died of cancer. Never got up the guts to send it to his family, as I wasn't sure they would appreciate it. But from me to him, here it is. And from me to you--I'm sure you can think of ways to use it! Let someone know you're not going to accept their apology. Or use it to let someone know that words can't express the depths of your regret. It's not often that one card can hold two nearly opposite meanings at the same time.

Reprinted this month: "Dinner Party" invitations--I made the design for this card with help from Jessica Jewel several years ago (for my own party!) and this is the first time it's been available for sale. My mom loves this card. Maybe you will too.