Last Friday night I had the pleasure of attending the Opening Party for the Small Showroom, at the Co-Prosperity Sphere in Bridgeport.  The Small Showroom is a temporary department store showcasing the works and crafts of members of the SMALL MANUFACTURING ALLIANCE, a group that fosters awareness of products handmade in the Chicago Metropolitan area, emphasizing that sustainable businesses are the key to our community’s economic well-being.

Steel Petal Press is a proud member of SMALL, and some of my cards, journals and posters are for sale at the Small Showroom for the month of May.

I was hugely impressed with the level of work on display there, and how professionally everything was set up.  There was large array of gorgeous handmade furniture, house wares, art and clothing.  The opening party featured free food from local vendors, beer and whiskey samples and DJs.

If you’re in Chicago I would definitely recommend checking it out.

The SMALL Showroom will be open  from May 4th  to May 27, 2012.

SMALL Showroom
3219 S Morgan Street

Hours:
Thursday & Friday: 5-9pm
Saturday & Sunday: Noon to 5pm

1)  First you need an EMPLOYEE IDENTIFICATION # which you can apply for online through the IRS website. This takes about 1 month to process and you’ll get your ID# in the mail.

2) Next you need a Certificate of Assumed Name (aka Doing Business As / DBA) which is a multi-step process in itself and varies from state to state.  These are the rules for Chicago, Illinois
a)  Fill out Application have it notarized.
b) Mail the application, the Legal Notice to be Published AND a check for $50 to the Cook County Clerk,
c) The clerk processess all your info (the application, notice to be published and the check) and mails you back a certificate, with an official seal and a stamped date.  (This takes about another 2-4 weeks)
d) You have FIFTEEN days (from the stamped date on the certificate) to contact a weekly periodical and have your legal notice published over the next three weeks.
e) I contacted the Chicago Reader (Classifieds/Legal Notices Representative)  and they had me email them a copy of the certificate AND pay another $100 for the ad to be published 3 weeks in a row.  (I barely made the 15 day deadline too.  Which, if you publish AFTER 15 days, your application is void)
f)  Another 3 weeks later… I receive an official certificate of publication from the Chicago Reader, which was also sent to the County Clerk.
g)  Finally another TWO weeks later I receive my Assumed Name Certificate with the Certificate # that they need to open up a bank account.

 3)  Finally, take your Assumed Name Certificate AND your Employee ID# to the bank. and voila!

Charcoal Study 1997

Last week while cleaning out my home studio I re-discovered all my old charcoal drawings and art I have been creating over the last 15 years.  It was quite a nostalgic trip down memory lane that I wanted to share.

To give you some background: My home studio had one little window that faced a brick wall and was super tiny which always made me feel claustrophobic.  Needless to say I *hated* being in there, and it mostly acted as a storage room for my art supplies, paper and old art work over the last few years.

Last January I moved into a glorious new studio space in south Pilsen with tons of room, lots of big windows, and practically endless amounts of space.   After making the transition to the new space my home studio just became a dumping ground / storage room for extra stuff.  At some point I decided the room could be put to much better use, and I set out to re-organize and de-clutter.

I went through everything that had been accumulating over the last 4 years in Chicago, dumped a LOT of old crap (like dried up glue from when I worked at an art supply store in LA in 2001.. yea, that’s 11 year old glue), decided what to keep, bought new shelves for organization, AND most importantly dug through all my art from over the years.

Looking back at all my old work, it seems as though I’ve had 9 lives when it comes to making art.  Starting with charcoal drawings and photography from high school; moving on to figure drawings from my freshman year drawing class as a painting major at Wash U; to sophomore year collage studies and prints;  Rebel Ruth in Los Angeles; automatic writings at San Francisco Art Institute; book arts and paper making at Women’s Studio Workshop;  letterpress, paper and community gardens at Columbia College Center for Book and Paper Art; And finally finding my groove with Steel Petal Press.  I’ve even had 3 different websites over the years:  2005, 2008, 2010.

While looking through all my old work, I found myself most connected to my earliest charcoal drawings.  There is an innocence and purity living in those drawings made by a younger me, not yet educated or overly academic.  It was a time when the only thing I knew was I that loved to draw and make pretty things.  Starting Freshman year in high school, the transition was pretty difficult for me.  I felt lost and rebellious.  Art class was the only place where I could  be myself and find myself.  I didn’t think too hard about it, I just got lost in it.  I would sit and draw for hours… all the time.  As I grew older, I went to art school, took art history classes, learned critical theory and learned how to think clearly and contextually about art.  I totally appreciate all my art education, and I’m glad I have it, but I still feel a twinge of nostalgia for the young, innocent-yet-rebellious high school girl who didn’t think too much, just loved to draw.

The tree drawing at the top of the page is from 1997.  I remember getting lots of compliments from my fellow classmates, feeling proud and thinking to myself “this is something I could actually do for my life”

Below are some more figure drawing I unearthed from 1998-1999, my freshman year at art school.  I know anyone else who sees these will not have the same emotional reaction that I have but either way, I wanted to share who I was and how far I’ve come.

xo, Shayna

]]> http://steelpetalpress.com/2012/05/studio-clean-out/feed/ 0 http://steelpetalpress.com/2012/04/newest-letterpress-invitations-and-save-the-dates/ http://steelpetalpress.com/2012/04/newest-letterpress-invitations-and-save-the-dates/#comments Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:05:17 +0000 shayna http://steelpetalpress.com/?p=1579 Wedding Season is here and I’ve been really busy working on several fun letterpress Save the Dates AND custom letterpress wedding invitations.  Below are two of my more recent projects.

The first is based on a hand drawing of the house where the couple will be married.  I do so much work on the computer it’s always fun to give my hands a little practice with pen and ink.  Below is the photograph of the house from which I based my sketch:

and this is a picture of the final invitation incorporating my hand drawing of the house.  The couple wanted a minimal and gestural line drawing that was accurate but not 100% literal.  I went through a few different iterations before landing on this final one:

The next project I worked on was a lovely Save the Date using a vintage map of Richmond Virginia.  The invitation included rounded corners and a navy envelope liner.  I always have so much fun rounded corners (and they look sooo nice!) I really wish all my invitations had them

I have several more projects lined up over the next few months, which I will continue to share as they reach completion… Until next time, happy weekend!!

Penelope the Chandler Price model-n

We are looking for another Letterpress Intern / Studio Assistant one day a week, starting anytime in the month or May.

Position is unpaid but can train you on the press / trade for press time. I need help trimming, packaging, shipping, mixing ink, printing and general studio maintenance… possibly other administrative assistance.Letterpress, printing experience, book binding or other detail oriented and meticulous hands on experience very helpful but not required.

contact me if you’re interested!
Shayna

The first is a two color, standard size card printed on 110 lbs paper for an architectural historian.  I used an old architecture drawing for the background and some clean san-serf fonts for the type. (Bebas and Futura, two of my go-to modern fonts)

The next is a 1 color printed, square card on recycled craft paper.  Amanda  did her own drawing of the cats-cradle to incorporate into the design of the card.  (I love it!) But, you ask, what IS an ‘interdisciplinary librarian’ ?  See what she has to say on the subject: http://amandameeks.com/

Below are some photos I took of the printing process.  I printed the business cards on Kimberly‘s Vandercook, so I could print 6 at a time (more time and cost effective). Below is the polymer plate on the press printing the first grey color layer for Dayl’s card.

And this is the first color layer printed.. one sheet at a time..

After I finish printing the grey color layer,  I clean the press, mix the ink for the brown text and print each sheet again.  Finally I trim the paper on ‘Jaws’ (the challenge lever paper cutter, pictured below)  She’s SHARP and STRONG and can easily chomp through 50 sheets of paper at a time.

"Jaws" the 1950s challenge lever paper cutter

Best Mom Ever

Mom, you rock

]]> http://steelpetalpress.com/2012/04/new-mothers-day-cards/feed/ 0 http://steelpetalpress.com/2012/04/my-own-farm-wedding/ http://steelpetalpress.com/2012/04/my-own-farm-wedding/#comments Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:57:27 +0000 shayna http://steelpetalpress.com/?p=1463 Below are a few photos from my own wedding two years ago.  We had a very casual farm wedding in western Illinois (near the border of Iowa) with lawn games and barbecue.  Thank goodness it didn’t rain! It was a lot of work and stress planning, but in the end I’m so glad we were able to create and share the event with our loved ones.

Even though I experienced the day as a huge blur, I still love looking back on the photographs and feeling the joy and happiness of the event.

I am so unbelievably grateful to have the extra helping hands in the studio and the good company too.  My hours working are starting to feel a bit more manageable (I only feel overwhelmed and overworked 20% of the time instead of 99% of the time) and I’m able to focus some of my energies on other aspects of running a business that had previously been neglected.  (Like opening a Steel Petal Press bank account)  In exchange for their help I’m teaching them how to print and maintain a press and providing them with hands-on print shop experience.

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 Lisa Radecki received her BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2009 with an emphasis in visual communications and printmaking. She has a passion for designing artist books and in 2009 received the BFA Fred A. Hillbruner Artists’ Book Fellowship from SAIC. After graduating she taught at the Oxbow School, a semester art program for high school students, in Napa Valley as well as Marwen, an after school non-profit art program in Chicago. Along with working at Steel Petal Press Lisa designs for 826Chicago a non-profit writing and tutoring center.

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Breanna White currently attends The Illinois Institute of Art with an expected graduation date of September 24^th, 2012. She has also earned international credits from The Basel School of Design located in Basel, Switzerland. In her spare time she indulges in cocoa and experiments with letterforms. She is tactile in her creation process with the ability to design and construct packaging as well as publications. As an intern at Steel Petal Press, she continues to gain hands on training in the technique and practice of letterpress; an appropriate pair being that she has an allergy to technology. She is relieved to learn that being ridiculously meticulous is not a disorder but a skill to be shown.

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Welcome!!  and THANK YOU!

I was also SUPER excited to print coasters for the first time! (see image below)  I ordered the blank heavy weight coasters in bulk from Katz and was just waiting for a good excuse to use them.  A bride I had printed wedding invitations for approached me about advice coasters for her wedding… the perfect project!  Once I got going I just decided to print a few extra to sell. … and now I have SO MANY ideas of fun coasters to print!  (whenever I get some free time.. ha! So many ideas, never enough time…)  They are available for sale in my etsy shop!  8 for $14 or 50 for $65 !