Behind the Curtain

Royal Society of Venturesome Parcels

So, I mentioned that Donovan and I were working on some new stationery. We in fact came-up with two new ones and are currently working on a few more. The first one is our R.S.V.P. stationery with the RSVP standing for "Royal Society of Venturesome Parcels." If you are more of a letter writer than a package maker, we also have one that says "Royal Society of Venturesome Post." It is a lined stationery and comes with unique side opening kraft envelopes. Oh yes, that is right, instead of the envelope opening being on the long side, it is on the short side. We love this style of envelope.

Our other new stationery is a bit of a silly one that we like to call the Blood Money set. The top of the stationery says "Your Blood Money is Enclosed." Hmmm...perhaps we have some repressed feelings towards certain people. Anyway, this stationery set also comes with the nifty side-opening kraft envelopes and has some wonderful detailing in the header.

 Both of these stationery sets are limited editions, when they are gone, they are gone! We hope you like our new additions and will enjoy the other ones we are currently cooking up.

Keeping me in good spirits...

Mail goodies have started to creep in at the new apartment. One of which was a crumpled letter from Nikki with a photo of an Everything Will Be OK piece and a photocopy of an article with wonderful stuff for my thesis. Everything a gal needs to keep her going in the last months of her masters program. She is the keenest.

Donovan also gifted me with a handmade letter portfolio for writing letters on the go. It is oh so very cool and even has a place for stamps. You can get your own at her Etsy shop. Donovan and I are also working on new stationery for 16 Sparrows. I think we will be unveiling a new line sometime next week.

In the move I rediscovered many things I forgot about or thought I lost. One of which is a honking ring that used to be my grandmother's. She gave it to me as a teen - it was made by an artist in Venezuela. I never wear rings anymore, but I'm giving this one a chance. It makes me feel like Renée Perle when I wear it. Also, the weather in Chicago has been very spring-like, making it very possible that spring may be coming soon...maybe?

Nookey Ration Card, Free Download

I saw this gag ration card made during WWII and knew I had to make a reproduction of it in pdf form. (Just in time for the romantic season!)

For those not up with your 30s and 40s slang: Nookey means *cough* sex, and "tearing one off" (a phrase seen in the card's text) also means the same. If you are interested in knowing more 30s and 40s slang, check out this website as well as this one.

Download Nookey Ration Card (1.1 MB)

Downloads elsewhere:
Geoff Stearns has downloads of two valentine cards from an episode of The Simpsons. Perhaps you remember a certain "I choo choo choose you" card? Well, he's got it, free to download! (Please note that the download is just of the .eps line art and that you would need to set it up as a card. Plus side is that you can change the colors to whatever you please.)

Love Pants & Bad-ass Robots

Two Valentine's day cards for your pleasure. One that so eloquently requests your special friend to "Take those damn pants off!" and the other verifies that together, you make two make a pretty bad ass robot.

The robot card was created with help from Wil Wheaton and Dillon Yothers and is perfect for anyone with a little bit of nerd in their heart. Especially recommended for those who have ever heard the words "just one more level" used more than once in an evening.

We hope you enjoy.

Renegade Fair & New Designs

We unveiled new designs for two cards from our Effin' Collection at the fair this weekend. Both Effin' Holidays and Effin' Birthday have new faces! These are our two most popular, so we rolled out the new look with these, but we will slowly be redesigning the entire Effin' Collection. Hope you guys like them!

Donovan & I really enjoyed meeting everyone this weekend and had lots of fun. As far as all the goodies I got at the fair, I can't really show them because they are all gifts, but here are the online shops of the places I purchased from or wish I did:
Cutie Cooties
Re-Conceived
Cursive Design
Pearl & Marmalade
Owly Shadow Puppets
Mile 44
Crosshair Silkscreen Design

New Holiday Cards

Two new cards for the holidays, sans the cursing, because we understand you can't send a card with the F-bomb on it to your grandma. For those of you with cursing grandmas, not to fear, we still have our Effin' Holiday cards.

LWA Gift Bag!

The LWA gift bag is finally here! If you were thinking of becoming a member or getting a membership for someone else, this is the perfect thing. It comes with oodles of writing paraphernalia and the brand new LWA member tote! Here's what you get:
• LWA membership, member card, LWA badge & welcome letter
• LWA stationery (set of 6 writing papers & envelopes)
• LWA Correspondence Flats (set of 8 flats & envelopes)
• LWA calling cards (set of 24 cards)
• LWA member tote bag

There is also an LWA gift bag special for LWA members and members can also get the tote bag separately. OK, enough talk, heres oodles of images of the many pockets and compartments of the new LWA tote.

That is all for now - I hope you all enjoyed the Vintage Style post yesterday and that you can use some of the tips for getting all dolled up today and the rest of the holiday season. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend!

Gift Certificates

Gift Certificates are available at 16 Sparrows again! This time we are all sorts of techy with them. You can do it all online and have the choice of the gift certificate being emailed to your lucky friend or you can print it out and give it in person. Great for the holidays when you are not sure what to get.

D + D

This image above was taken by my boyfriend at our friend's solo show this past weekend (more on that later). The sexy lady in red is none other than Miss Donovan, the brawn of 16 Sparrows. Check out the interview Jennicakes from The Sampler did with Donovan on her etsy shop and 16 Sparrows. She reveals how we accidentally became roommates, friends and business partners.

Donovan is also one of the winners of the Sew Useful Contest and did a little interview for that. This one was a phone interview, so if you would like to hear her talk about her inspiration for her envelope book, go here and scroll down a bit.

Also, my friend Dillon Yothers had a solo show at WOM space this past weekend. Due to my geography, I couldn't be there. But if you are in the Chicago area, check out his work. If not, both the gallery website and his portfolio website have a sampling of his work.

Renegade

So, as I said yesterday, 16 Sparrows is going to be at Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago this weekend. There will be a lot of items that you can't find online as well goodies exclusive to Renegade. Also, be sure to check out our little offer in the Renegade flyer!

Unfortunately, classes won't allow me to be there this year (which really makes me sad), but the ever awesome Donovan (business partner extraordinaire) will be manning booth 69 in the name of 16 Sparrows. So, if you're in Chicago, come down to Division and say hello!

Also, when I mentioned that rain storm I had to get through yesterday...my goodness it came down. A few streets got flooded and one had to be closed due to the high water. Good thing I have a trusty pair of galoshes and a love for puddles!

Hope everyone has a great weekend.