Printer Proofs
/Here's a quick iPhone video I made about the printer proofs, just one step in the production process.
First Thursday: Help, please!
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It's the First Thursday of August! UPPERCASE and Art Central will be open until 9pm for festivities and activities.
I would really like your help: now that all the goodies such as the lucky bunny postcard, thread cards, fabric swatches, doily bits and vintage buttons are assembled, they all need to be inserted into the glassine envelopes and sealed with washi tape. It's fun and pretty to look at, I promise! Especially with more people helping out to make the work go quickly. UPPERCASE will be open from 3pm - 9pm... I hope to see you soon!
Doilies, doilies, doilies!
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Once again, eBay was my source for getting vintage en masse. I spent quite a lot of time searching for the best lot that would make including bits of vintage doilies in the book possible... My score was a lot of around 70 doilies and tableclothes that have been cut up, by the wonderful Janice (see post below), into little bits that will be included in the glassine envelope of goodies (for preordered copies only, while supplies last.)
Thanks to the anonymous granny who made these doilies. I'm sorry that your family sold them on eBay, but now they are going to many appreciative and crafty hands around the world!
dottie angel: doilies
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'To doilify' is one of Tif's expressions that is included in our book's dictionary.
thank you Janice & Papier Valise
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As you can see, we need an awful lot of thread cards! One in each book x print run = 3000! These photos are by Janice of the lovely blog Scissor Variations. Janice's online shop, Papier Valise, is THE place for vintage ephemera for scrapbooking and collage-making.
dottie angel: little string of happy
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Every dottie angel book comes with a card of dottie thread and swatch of vintage fabric with which you can make a 'little string of happy'.
Thank you to Kendra, Erin, Ana and Janice for winding the paper bobbins.
All of them!
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Tif is amazing to work with. She would send me surprise images such as this arrangement of all her chapter stitches!
Type Tuesday: dottie Chapter Dividers
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Some of the chapter dividers!
Type Tuesday: A Versatile Title
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Tif stitched the book title lettering on a decorative oval linen that she could then move and phtograph on different backgrounds, such as fabric or vintage wallpaper.
As a designer, I really appreciated the various options. Each one has its own mood, though my favourites are the one on white fabric and this one, above, with its bright seventies floral.
Type Tuesday: dottie angel style
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If you read the dottie angel blog, you will quickly be introduced to a quirky and endearing narrator. 'Perfectly perfect', 'peachy', 'crappity crap' and other fun turns-of-phrase are part of the dottie angel vocabulary. The book includes a handy and entertaining dictionary to explain these and other dottie angel terms.
The book includes a "Just Say it Like it is" how-to for creating this wall hanging:
lots and lots of buttons!
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An eight-pound lot purchased on eBay!
dottie angel: more buttons
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A button card from Tif's collection (above) and a detail of how she uses buttons as a design element.
dottie angel goodies: vintage buttons
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The dottie angel book is part biography, part storybook, part crafty how-to and entirely inspirational. Tif is so generous in spirit that readers will be motivated to pick up a needle and thread, hook and yarn and paper and scissors. dottie angel expounds on the "goodly and righteous path" of crafting and thrifting. So to get you on that path with ease, the book includes a glassine envelope of goodies:
• lucky bunny postcard
• dottie angel card of colourful thread
• swatch of vintage fabric (either pretty sheets or barkcloth)
• vintage button(s) (preorders will receive a vintage card of buttons, while supplies last)
• doily bits (preorders, while supplies last)
Here's a photograph of some of the button cards, composition inspired by Lisa Congdon, author of my other recently published book, A Collection a Day.
The Suitcase Series Volume 2: dottie angel
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I'm so excited that the dottie angel book is in the production stage at the printer! It is just a matter of weeks until the book is finished. This is always a bittersweet part of the process—for me as a designer and publisher, so much of the excitement and fun of a book is conceptualizing it... dreaming of its format, mood, special features. The design phase is a joy and privilege, especially with such amazing content and imagery from Tif Fussell. And now the book is at the stage where it leaves me and graduates into a real hold-it-in-your-hands book. And with all the special features and extra goodies I've planned, this book will really be a tactile delight.
Throughout the month, I'll be revealing sneak peeks at the book and its goodies. But first, let me introduce you to Tif, aka dottie angel, and her world at Mossy Shed...
(Thank you to everyone who has preordered so far—your support is much appreciated. And thank you for your patience—the book is a couple months later than originally planned; I'm still getting used to a new pace as I balance work and motherhood. The book will ship in late August. If you order it as part of the Book Bundle, you will receive The Elegant Cockroach, Work/Life 2 and A Collection a Day now, and dottie will be quick to follow.)
a summer adventure with dottie angel
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Join Tif aka dottie angel this summer for an "eclectic handmade workshop with a vintage vibe" with ACE camps. I wish I could go, but UPPERCASE will be at the Renegade fairs in San Francisco and Los Angeles. {The dottie angel suitcase series book is in progress - sneak peeks soon.}
We'll also be at the Brooklyn Renegade fair next month. Stay tuned for a post about Renegade and our call for helpers!
Where the time goes...
/Woah, things are busy around here! The past week has flown by, but not without a whole lot going on:
Last Thursday celebrated the release of issue #8 and the Letterpress Sampler — more pictures posted soon, I promise!
I'm reviewing the printer proofs of A Collection a Day, I got to see the printer proofs of the Shoegazing Notecard Set published by Chronicle Books later this year and Work/Life 2 is off to the printer in a matter of days.
The Elegant Cockroach by Deidre Martin and Stefanie Augustine made it to #3 on Calgary's Bestseller list! (hey locals, let's get it to #1!!! Check the book's page for local bookstores.)
Martha Stewart Living is hosting an amazing contest on their website, called Prized Collections, in collaboration with A Collection a Day:
"In the February 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living, we celebrated the collections of some of our favorite tastemakers. We were especially taken with Lisa Congdon, whose assortment of midcentury kitchenware only scratches the surface of her passion for collecting. An artist and illustrator, Lisa spent 2010 blogging a new collection every day; in spring 2011, Uppercase will publish her book, "A Collection a Day." Now it's your chance to share your collecting artistry with us. Upload photos of your prized possessions by March 28 for a chance to win one of three line drawings from Lisa, plus a copy of her new book. The finalists will be featured on MarthaStewart.com."
Tif Fussell's blog, dottie angel, got a nice mention in the current issue of the Australian magazine Inside Out. (Also exciting: the style director of the magazine will be featured in the next issue of UPPERCASE.) Tif has some really nice notebooks for sale in her shop. We also got some great news about the foreword to her book, but we'll save that reveal for later!
And on a personal note, at nearly 11 months old Finley is finally cutting his first tooth. Which means that I barely slept a wink last night, but at least he's feeling happy right now. He also began standing by himself this week.
A short film about dottie angel
/Dottie Angel's Once Upon a Time from Etsy on Vimeo.
I had the pleasure of visiting Tif Fussell this fall, to get to know her and to begin work on our book collaboration. I made a short film of introduction about Tif and her alter-ego dottie angel and we are thrilled that it is having its premiere today on Etsy's Storque.
Thank you to Beth and Eric at Etsy, and to my brother Marc Vangool who composed and performs the guitar music.
Here's an outtake scene from a trip to the local Value Village:
In honour of the occasion, Tif has stocked her Etsy shop with some marvelous items:
The Suitcase Series Volume 2: Dottie Angel is out this summer. Preorder it on its own or part of the book bundle!
Bundle up for Christmas!
/The UPPERCASE Book Bundle is a great Christmas gift!
Receive four beautiful and unique books over the course of the next few months.
The bundle begins right away with recently published The Elegant Cockroach, a beautifully illustrated tale of a stylish creature living in the big city. For booklovers (and lovers) it is a romantic story of love, longing and six legs. The book is hardcover with black cloth and copper foil title with a full colour jacket and black endpapers. Here's a look at a sample image from inside the book. (See a short book trailer film here.)
The Elegant Cockroach is followed by Work/Life 2: the UPPERCASE directory of illustration (international edition) to be published in February. Nearly 100 illustrators from around the globe are profiled, with peeks into their studios, sketchbooks and personal lives. You can take a look at the first edition of Work/Life to get a sense of the content and design of the next edition. (Limited numbers of the first edition are still available.)
Then in March, we send you A Collection a Day by Lisa Congdon. I am REALLY excited about this one. Throughout 2010, Lisa has been posting an image of one of her collections every day. It is an amazing project full of incredible objects and visual inspirations. It has existed as a blog for the year, but we are turning the project into something you can hold in your hands: a small but hefty 6.5" x 4.5" tome with over 400 pages at about 1.25" thick. The book itself will be packaged inside a collectible tin, in which you can store your small collections and precious treasures. The tin design is in progress and I'll be sharing it with you soon. When purchased as part of the Book Bundle or preorders, the special tin is included at no extra charge.
In June, we send you the icing on top of the cake: The Suitcase Series Volume 2: Dottie Angel. Tif Fussell is a prolific crafter and blogger. I've prepared a short film to introduce you to Tif and her alter ego Dottie Angel, but we will have to wait a few more weeks before it makes a very special premiere. The book will be around 192 pages full of Dottie wisdom, craft how-tos, anecdotes and ramblings, pretty pictures and ponderings... The design details are still in progress, but the book will include some very special touches such as actual sewing on the cover and the inclusion of vintage fabric swatches! When purchased as part of the Book Bundle or preorders, you will receive some special extra goodies with the book. (The first book in the series was about Camilla Engman; take a look here.)
All of these amazing books will be sent to you or your recipient as they are published—The Elegant Cockroach will be sent out now so there will be something to unwrap under the tree. We can also email a Christmas e-card to your recipient to let them know what they'll be receiving in the coming months.
The bundle is just $100 and you will save off the total cover prices plus get the special extras. You also save on shipping costs by purchasing the bundle rather than each book individually. To order the bundle, please click right here.
Do you want the UPPERCASE Book Bundle for Christmas? Let your Santa know by sending him this link: http://tinyurl.com/2vsr7nd
Packing my suitcase...
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I am off with my family to stay in the Mossy Shed for a few days. I am so looking forward to spending time with Tif as we work on her forthcoming book, Volume 2 in The Suitcase Series. I'm going to unplug from the blog and webshop for a week... thrifting, crocheting, book imagining and exploring Seattle are appealing passtimes that await. Of course it will all be happily documented; taking pictures away from home is always fun.
See you soon.
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For more details and to pre-order your copy visit our online shop. This book is also available in our UPPERCASE Book Bundle: get all four of our forthcoming publications as they are published, with special features, goodies and packaging and save! The Elegant Cockroach (October 2010), Work/Life 2: the UPPERCASE directory of international illustration (February 2011), A Collection a Day (March 2011) and The Suitcase Series Volume 2: Dottie Angel (June 2011).
Shop orders will ship the week of October 25.
