join me this sunday for SFCB’s biggest event of the year!!

Here in the bay area, summertime weather has been with us for the last three months or so (which is how it happens everywhere else, but not usually here.) If you’ve lived in SF for any amount of time, you’re probably missing what we San Franciscans refer to as the “June Gloom.” I mean, holy moley! It’s been warm around here.

This year has been anything but typical.

I’ve been whirl-winding all around the place, and I promise I’ll write more about that in a (near) future blog post. Lots of great, fantastic, amazing things have been falling into place with Red Handed Rubber Stamps (as well as a handful of my other artistic endeavors) so there’s a bunch to report from that part of the Red Letter Day-O-Sphere.

And since I mentioned rubber stamps just now, let me tell you this juicy tidbit of info: I’ll be sponsoring a table/creation station (alongside Neenah Paper) at this weekend’s Steamroller event at SFCB! WOWZA!!!

What does that mean? Stop by the “Capricious Correspondence Zone” and seek out everything you might need for your stationery, mail art, and letter writing needs! I’ll have Red Handed Rubber Stamps available for sale at the S.O.S (“Stamp your Own Stationery”) table, complete with a selection of “try before you buy” rubber. Neenah Paper is providing envelopes and paper; the only thing needed is your creativity and enthusiasm!

Other Correspondence Zone participants include Bell’occhio, who will be bringing a treasure trove of inks and calligraphy tools…

…as well as Special Guest Billy Hutchinson, who (as you may know) is a fabulous calligrapher and truly dapper gent.

Perhaps you’d like to shop other book-and-paper vendors? Gutwrench Press and Picky Pockets Press will be there, as well as other faves like Savior Faire Paper and Flax! It’s a day-long block party with plenty of fun and free things to see and do — truly a celebration of book arts, printing, and the community of people who help make it happen.

All that being said: I hope to see you there! 🙂

And a final bit of surprise: I’ll be previewing new rubber stamp designs for Late Summer 2015 — YIPPEE!!!

See you at Steamroller —

–JH

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SFZF 2015: a fun time was had by all!

So: SF Zine Fest has come and gone for another year. Always a whirlwind extravaganza, always an amazing visual feast. There’s something for everyone, and this year was no different. I present for you: a small wrap up of delicious items!

But first: LOOK AT THAT CROWD! It was like that all. darn. day. There was never an ebb and flow, just a steady stream of attendees who were revved up and ready to look at zines, small press books, and a variety of DIY goodies…

…which I was more than happy to have at my little slice of table! As you can see from the photo above, I had a selection of Red Handed Rubber, as well as issues of Red Letter Day 1-4. I had also put together copies of “Posted”, “Hello! My Name Is Mail Art!”, and “Penmanship” — y’know: the usual postal and letter writing bling.

I was sharing a table with Miz Happenstance, who had created two new AMAZING stamp sheets for her “Herstorical Women of Oakland” artistamp series (shown above)…

…as well as these “Cat Superpowers” badges, which were like CATNIP (see what I did there?) for zinesters of all ages (and a BARGAIN at five bucks!)

You may remember my write up of The Grand Newsstand from last week’s post; well, lucky me! Courtney was just to my right, vending lovely zines from locals.

And how clever is this?!?! The Newsstand crew had designed a SFZF 2015 bingo card! I can’t think of a better way to run around and meet people — a prize is always a good motivator.

Clint Marsh of Wonderella Publishing is putting out a wonderful new item: Fiddler’s Green. The masthead proclaims that this beauty is a “peculiar parish magazine” and I’d definitely agree — if you define peculiar as a beautiful, high production value publication with wonderfully written articles. (Take a look at that copper foil stamping on issue #2!)

Clint’s tablemate Andrew Reichart (Argawarga Press) had these little gems (above), which were irresistible. I brought home three and promptly devoured them before bedtime. (Which maybe wasn’t the best idea, as I had strangely tinged dreams all night long.)

And of course I took a moment to check in with Hope of Gutwrench Press. Her blank journals with postcard covers were literally flying off the table; she had fantastic examples of her “Keep Writing” project for people to look at. I was reminded of how much I love her aesthetic and her lovely self.

It was a crazy-busy day and the time seemed to run away. In a jiffy, Miz Happenstance and I had called it a day and were off to our favorite Japanese restaurant in the neighborhood! Believe me: there are very few things better than Japanese comfort food and an ice cold Sapporo at the end of a long work day. We’d definitely earned it!

More news to come — I’ll be participating in another fun event at the end of the month, here in San Francisco! Details following soon and RLD readers will be the first to know — I promise!

–JH

PS: I was interviewed by San Francisco’s online local mag Hoodline about SF Zine Fest, mail art, and what zines in general have to do with sending wacky stuff through the mail — take a look!

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up and coming: SFZF 2015!

It’s that time of year again: San Francisco Zine Fest time! Taking place September 6^th, 2015 at the SF County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park, this year’s DIY extravaganza is gearing up to be something else.

Just like last year, Miz Happenstance and I will be sharing a table! And also (just like last year) I can pretty much guarantee that I’ll have a riot of rubber stamps, postal mayhem, and brightly colored goodies for you to look through!

I’ve managed to put together full sets of issues 1-4 of Red Letter Day…

…as well as some new copies of Posted (a zine all about artistamps and why I make them.)

(I’ve got a couple new things I’m hoping to get put together before the event.)

I’ll also have a selection of Red Handed Rubber Stamps on the table for your delight and consideration! Pro tip: it’s NEVER too late to consider your rubber needs for Halloween and the holidays. Interested in a placing a “special order” and picking up at the Fest? Get in touch (redhandedrubber@gmail.com) and let me know what I can bring to SFZF especially for YOU!

Alrighty: it’s back to the studio for me – of course I’m burning the midnight oil for the next two weeks!

–JH

PS: details about SFZF 2015 can be found at their website: www.sfzinefest.org. Two items of note: 1) SFZF2015 is a ONE DAY EVENT this year and 2) BART will not be running the weekend of September 5^th and 6^th. You’ve been warned!

 

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a new year, some new goals, and a couple changes (for the better, I think!)

(warning: the following post is filled with a heapin’ helpin’ of words and is pretty low on visuals. But don’t worry: I promise LOTS and LOTS of beautiful eye candy in future posts!)

2014 has wrapped up and I have to say that it was one of the most interesting, educational, and inspired years in recent memory. Things started out with a bang: Ex Postal Facto seemed to be the pace car, setting the bar high for mail art interactions and postal socializing (postalizing?) From there, I jumped headlong into Red Handed Rubber Stamps and all the details a new business requires: sourcing, purchasing, designing, phone calling, marketing, and a thousand-and-one other niggling details that keep a girl awake at night.

That was May 2014. Sure there was a trip to NYC and a completed artist book as well as an interview with the USPS, but for the most part I kept my head down here in San Francisco, working on a handful of pet projects that had been put aside since 2013. By the time summer arrived, I was neck-deep putting together SF Zine Fest. My fellow organizers — an incredibly talented group of writers, illustrators, and zinesters — are some of the hardest working folks I know, with a refreshing take on the DIY scene (and small press publishing in general.) It was a pleasure to work with them (once again) in 2014.

SFZF always marks the beginning of autumn for me. The event takes place on Labor Day weekend, traditionally a time associated with the end of summer and the beginning of the fall teaching semester. Just like every other year, the last few months of 2014 were booked solid: SF Correspondence Co-op meetings, workshops at SF Center for the Book, teaching in the Printmaking Department at the Academy of Art. Recently, I’ve been completely buried (once again), hard at work putting together another artist book edition for the upcoming Dig show at Central Booking in NYC (but I’ll talk about that in a different blog post.)

Looking at the above paragraphs, it’s no wonder I haven’t had much of a chance to update the RLD blog! My time has been spent getting together with other artists, working in the studio, creating things with my hands  — activities which make all the (other) hard work worth it. Meeting people face-to-face is a far different interaction than sitting solitary behind a screen; 2014 showed me that I sometimes need more of one than the other, and that’s just fine.

So what does that mean for the RLD blog? Well, a bit of a re-tooling for starters — but nothing too too drastic, I promise! I’ll be trying a few things out, to see what you guys are interested in. Instead of my usual, super-wordy blog posts (do people even read that much these days?!) I’ll be posting more photos of mail art and postal related things: an occasional piece of mail, inspiring articles from around the ‘net, projects I’m working on. I’m hoping this will be a new direction of interest to all RLD readers, regardless of which side of the screen we’re sitting at.

That being said, my email inbox is always open (and my PO box too!) I love hearing your feedback, dear readers — your ideas help make a good blog even better! Back in 2009, when I started the RLD blog, it was a way for me to reach out to readers of Good Mail Day and connect with the mail art community on a deeper level. Today, I count that as a goal which has come to pass, and generated incredible interactions with each of you, on so many different levels. Together, with each letter/postcard/artwork sent and received, you and I are creating a new wave of postal Networkers. Our shared love of bonding via words, art, and writing is something I give thanks for every day.

Viva le Mail Art! (and happy new year to all!)

–JH

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you like rubber stamps…don’t you?

Over at the Red Handed Rubber Stamp blog, I mentioned that October 2014 has been a month (so far) of pumpkin pie, production, and non-stop creativity. October (for me) always seems to be chock full of things-going-on, but somehow this particular October has been exceptional.

I’ve been whittling away on Mt. Correspondence and am happy to report that mail from Ex Postal Facto seems to be caught up — believe it or not! There were postal gems to be found at the bottom of that mountain and I’ve finally managed to return-reply to every single one (as far as I know!)

The “production” part of late September/early October has consisted of full-speed-ahead work for Red Handed Rubber. Halloween is currently a smashing success and — what can I say? — Christmas is right around the corner. (ho ho ho, indeed!) Right now, every spare thought is crammed full of sugar plum fairies, striped stockings, and dancing candy canes. Keep your eye on the RHR blog, as that’s where I’ll be posting new designs.

However: we’re still in October and Halloween (my favorite) looms on the horizon. For you, dear RLD readers, I have something that’s all treats (no tricks!); I’d like to invite each and every single one of you to:

That’s right! Join Yellow Owl Workshop, Leavenworth Jackson, and Red Handed Rubber (that’s me!) — among others — this coming Saturday at Flax in San Francisco for a rubber stamp-o-rama! I have it on good authority that there will be demos and make-n-takes, as well as a whole lot of stamp-y goodness — free for everyone. Come get your fingers inky — I’ll have special Halloween themed postcards for you to stamp up!

(details about the event can be found here.)

Hope to see you there —

–JH

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SF Zine Fest 2014: this weekend!

This weekend I’m excited to be part of SF’s annual Zine Fest! It’s an event I’ve participated in for many years, and I always have a great time, meet fantastic people, and hear some wonderful stories.

Two exciting pieces of news: 1) I’ll be sharing a table with Maureen Forys of Happenstance Type-O-Rama (OMG, you have to see the “Herstory of Oakland” artistamp sheets she’s putting together…they’re AMAZING!) And 2) I’ll be debuting my new rubber stamp project called Red Handed Rubber Stamps.

For a RLD post-in-the-near-future, I’ll be writing in-depth about how Red Handed came into existence; I’ve been hard at work on this project for over a year! I know that many of you share my love for deep etched, red rubber, so of course you’ll understand that creating a line of rubber stamps seemed like a natural transition. At this moment in time, RHR is a wholesale only business. However, you can “get caught Red Handed” in the following places: The Ink Pad (NYC), Stampa Fe/Guadalupe’s Fun Rubber Stamps (Santa Fe), and Flax Art and Design (SF).

But back to this weekend, and SF Zine Fest! For those who are interested, I will have rubber stamps for sale at my table. RHR designs not currently stocked by Flax will be available. This is a special “one weekend only” opportunity to purchase directly from the source! Supplies are limited, so be sure to stop by early. I’ll be vending under the moniker of Red Letter Day at table #137.

I look forward to hearing what you think about the new rubber stamps and seeing what the mail art, rubber stamping, and paper crafting communities create using Red Handed Rubber. If you stamp up something using RHR stamps, send me a photo (or send to my mailbox!) I’ll be sure to post it on the Red Handed blog as a “Red Handed Gallery” post.

That being said, I’ll sign off for now! I hope to see some of you this weekend at the Fest; if we don’t cross paths in person, I’ll see you in the mail!

–JH

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