Egg Press video

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Egg Press Letterpress Video from Pressing Letters on Vimeo.

"As part of our ongoing tenth anniverary celebration, we bring you our smashing new video, “Egg Press Work and Whirl.” Shot on location in our charming studio in Portland by acclaimed local filmaker Rob Tyler (who also directed and edited), and with music by the renowned Danny Seim, it shows an up close, behind the scenes view of the design and printing process and captures the sense of fun and creative energy that make up the daily inner workings of Egg Press."

EggPress.com

One of a Kind weekend & Thanksgiving special

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Hey, Vancouver! Head on over to the One of a Kind Show this weekend. UPPERCASE has a booth and we're selling handmade Eclecto notebooks, pocket mirrors, books and issue three of UPPERCASE magazine with a special show price and subscription offer. Say "hi" to Deidre and Jenny and tell them Janine and her blog post sent you and we'll give you a special gift.

Can't make it to the show? Email Janine by Sunday morning and she'll mail back a Thanksgiving weekend coupon for 10% off purchases of $50 or more in the online shop, including magazine subscriptions! info (at) uppercasegallery (dot) ca. (You can always purchase a subscription as a gift - just fill in your recipient's name for the shipping address and your name and info for the billing address.)

Here are some of the other talented craftspeople you'll find at the show: Kari Woo (our neighbour here in Art Central, her jewellery pictured above).


Julie Sinden, handmade hats: perfect for the cold weather.

Ella Pederson, Little Red Caboose, stitched Matryoshka dolls.

Tressa Brotsky, Dress Me Up, organic soft toys

To all our Canadian readers, have a happy Thanksgiving weekend. And THANK YOU ALL for your tremendous support of the magazine and all that we do here.

w.i.p.s. Herzensart by Sandra Monat

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Our current fall issue features German crafting entrepreneur Sandra Monat in our Works-in-Progress Society spotlight. Through her company Herzensart, you will find a marvelous world of vikings, centaurs and other adventurous spirits. Playful softies with exceptional textural details, charming collages and now melamine plates that keep you company while you eat... take a visit to Herzensart to find the right companion for you.

Purl Soho

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I am so pleased to welcome Purl Soho in New York as a stockist of UPPERCASE magazine! One of their lovely advertisements will also be gracing the pages of our winter issue. {please note that all our wholesale shipments are currently in transit; call the stockists first to see whether issue 3 has arrived to their destination yet.}

Make sure you visit their very active blog, The Purl Bee: full of projects, how-to and inspiration!

{If you'd like to advertise your business, no matter how big or small, we'd love to hear from you. Ads start at just $72 Canadian.}

Kids Trunk Show at The Workroom

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I would love to pop by The Workroom, but alas no trips to Toronto are in the near future. If you're lucky enough to be in their neighbourhood this Sunday, they're hosting a Kid's Trunk Show. "While the show is themed for kids (complete with cupcake decorating, button making, and lots of kid-focused crafty things to buy), there will definitely be something for everyone," says Karyn. Looks like fun!

Type Tuesday: Asya Palatova

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We love to hear from our subscribers, to see what they do and what inspires them. This morning Asya Palatova introduced herself via email. In visiting her portfolio, I realized that I am very familiar with her work! She has art directed numerous books, Martha Stewart's Living and Body & Soul magazines, and created the memorable logo for Purl, among many other things. I invite you to visit Studio Palatova to view more of her design skills.

Asya also makes lovely ceramics, adorned with simple typographic accents and flourishes. {Available in her etsy shop.} Her blog, My Mama's Table, chronicles her ceramic works-in-progress and documents her visual and culinary inspirations. Thanks, Asya!

Button-making in Banff: Little art, big fun.

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I'll be Banff this Saturday afternoon, so if you're in the mood for making 1-inch pins in a camper trailer in the mountains (for free), then I'll see you there!

Saturday, August 8, 2009: 11am - 3pm
Banff Avenue Square

This summer the Walter Philips Gallery in Banff will work again with TRUCK Artist-Run Centre for the Banff Culture Walk event presenting an all-ages button-making studio. Make 1-inch button pins from art created with found images, drawing, dry-transfer lettering and typewriters. The workshop is led by Calgary-based designer Janine Vangool. Through her company and gallery, UPPERCASE, Janine publishes books and magazines on visual culture and makes unique handmade papergoods. Playing with Banff National Park’s international draw for outdoor recreation and leisure, the workshop will be hosted out of TRUCK’s Contemporary Art Mobile Public Exhibition Rig, aka CAMPER, a refurbished RV that brings art workshops and artists’ projects to outdoor festivals.

Crafty T-shirts

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If you're looking for a cool gift for guys, I highly recommend Mike Perry's fun and fabulous book of Iron Me On fabric transfers. I gave this set to my 8-year old nephew Eddie. He loved it and looks smashing in his newly crafted cobra t-shirt. The squishy band-aid pictured below also made the cut.

We carry two of Perry's popular books: Hand Job: A Catalogue of Type and  Over and Over: A Collection of Hand Drawn Patterns in our on line shop.

Urban Source

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Urban Source is a few blocks away from The Assembly of Text and it was a fun discovery. Offering bits and bobs from various sources such as industrial offcuts, overstock and all variety of remnants and scraps, this is the ultimate in creative recycling. I coveted the empty movie film canisters; lined with some tissue paper or fabric remnants they'd make a cool package for a gift of cookies or candies.

Project Room Preparations

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Last week I opened The UPPERCASE Project Room, a space in Art Central's Art Loop on the lower level. It is a "mini warehouse" to store all the boxes of our publications and projects, and the other half is a space available for creative projects.

I wanted to adorn the wall of the room with some lettering, so I had some fun with these peel and stick letters I bought a few years ago from a dollar store clear-out sale. Many letters were missing, so I created the missing letterforms by cutting up numbers and extra "donor" letters.

The first activity in The Project Room was complimentary button-making last First Thursday evening. More details about renting the space and equipment will be posted in the next couple weeks (first on my to-do list is get issue 2 finished and off to print in mere days!)

Natalie Gerber

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Similar in spirit to my Eclecto notebooks, Natalie Gerber's unique purses, clutches and apparel use vintage and reclaimed fabrics.

"In a society of consumers where low cost, mass-market companies thrive to produce cheap, fast fashion, Natalie Gerber exemplifies eco-chic in her accessories, apparel and homewares made in Canada from reclaimed (recycled) materials and aged souvenirs. By using reclaimed materials she infuses sustainability into all her products from the start and through keeping the production local she lessens the carbon footprint of the company with lower transportation needs. Furthermore, with local production Natalie Gerber can ensure that her products are made sweat-shop free, in a healthy and fair working environment."

Her products are beautiful and useful, well-made and one-of-a-kind. {available in her online boutique and in Collage Gallery, Art Central}