Yee-Haw Industries appreciation

On the one semi-nice day this week I took a walk to Greenwich Letterpress on my lunch break in search of a Mother's Day card. Well, that was more of the excuse I came up with for going--a trip there is always just as much for me as it is for the people I'm shopping for.

They had a pretty good selection of Mother's Day cards but none of them seemed right for my own mom. Then I saw this card, a simple image of a lily, and immediately knew it was the one. (By the way, if anyone is worried that I am ruining the surprise for my mother, I'm not sure that she even knows what a blog is, never mind that I have one.)

Then I spotted this ampersand print and was instantly smitten, so I picked up a little something for myself too. It's only fair.

Later on I noticed that both of the cards were made by Yee-Haw Industries, a print shop in Knoxville, Tennessee, whose work I've been coveting for some time. So I thought I'd post a few of my favorite selections from their etsy store (where they are selling hundreds of beautiful paper products that I must exercise strong willpower to resist spending all my money on).

I am in love with this poster from an exhibit at the Knoxville Museum of Art, hand typeset from hundreds of metal letterpress dingbats and icons. The amount of detail is astonishing.

I kind of wish I'd seen this calendar earlier on in the year. It's pretty great. Not that the calendar I did buy isn't great too--it just doesn't quite have the same intensity.


Some lovely farmer's market cards (quite similar to the lily card I bought). I love the tiny strawberry.

In addition to the antique wood type aesthetic they also have a lot of folk art inspired prints made from woodcuts. Pretty impressive considering this thing had to be carved as a mirror image, and the subject matter is perfect for the medium and style.

And really, who wouldn't want these valentines?

Yes, I do think I see more Yee-Haw Industries products in my future. I just need to conjure more wall space.

I choo-choo-choose you!

For Valentine's Day this year Dave gave me a particularly inspired gift:

A giant mug filled with craft supplies. Since I can't take wrap-around photos (obviously), you probably can't tell that it says CRAFTER MUG. And on the bottom: "Crafter MugTM is a limited edition 2009 Valentines Day production. Davey Hyde, Ltd." It was drawn on with a special paint marker that can be used on ceramics, metal, glass, and so on. You just have to bake it in the oven after it's done drying. We tried this once before and the result was pretty good but the design I drew has been getting scraped off bit by bit after washing. Maybe you can't use ceramics with a glaze. But I digress.

(Note: I'm sort of regretting not waiting to clean up before taking the picture, as I've revealed that we are slobs.)


There's also a little tutorial on how to make a valentine, in case you weren't sure (hint: it involves a paper heart, scissors, ink, and stamps). Funny enough, neither of us gave the other something like this.


Inside the mug were some typewriter font rubber stamps, inkpads, xacto blades (papercutting, here I come!), mod podge, and foam brushes. All very useful things.

(Not pictured but also sticking out of the mug--sort of--was a reissue of the Beyond the Implode single. Sadly, my favorite song is not on it. But still a good gift!)


In hindsight I decided it wasn't quite apparent enough just how big the crafter mug is, so here it is next to a regular size mug. That would hold a lot of hot chocolate.


I went the more traditional Valentine's Day route of cards and treats: truffles from Jacques Torres (which is conveniently across the street from where I work), seltzer (Dave's favorite), and mulled cider spices.


This is the second year in a row that I made a card, and then happened to see one in a store that I couldn't resist--who could turn down squirrels in love? (For those interested, while I bought the card at Greenwich Letterpress, it can also be purchased online at the Enormous Champion etsy store.)

I've never actually made hot apple cider but I saw these mulled cider sachets on etsy, and thought that cuddling with (or maybe just while drinking) cider sounded like a nice thing to do on Valentine's Day. I really like the little pouch.


For the handmade card I experimented with sewing on paper. It came out kind of messy looking (hey, it was my first attempt), but then again I sort of like the drawn-by-a-little-kid aesthetic. I'd also like to practice more and eventually make something that looks a bit neater, but I thought this was a good start.


I love secret messages.

New day, new month, new calendar page.

I got this lovely letterpress calendar from The Paper Thieves (looks like there's still one in stock here as of this moment). I've never had a tear-off calendar before, so this morning when I realized it was February 1st, I got very excited.


The suspense builds...


Almost there...


It's February! (Okay, okay, I guess it's been February for about 13 hours now, but it's fun to imagine that my peeling off the calendar sheet is actually ringing in the new month.)

I also feel compelled to mention the letterpress tray that so perfectly complements the calendar. I bought the tray at a flea market awhile back (the same day I bought those keys I mentioned yesterday) and it sat leaning against the wall until a few weeks ago when I finally bought some sawtooth picture hangers, which I then nailed into the back. At first I was thinking that I needed to find some small items to display in it, but I also like it just the way it is.