Some call it snow… we’re just gunna call it Love. At this point I’d rather not think about the snow on the ground, and why would I??? There are so many other great things going on around here!

Being a sweet little papermill/letterpress studio/card shop, we just have to get excited about Valentine’s day. After all, it’s a great card giving holiday, and we happen to like cards! And if that isn’t enough, we’ve gone and created Love on the Run, which, in my opinion, is one of the best things to happen to Valentine’s day yet.  This fantastic event is only a week away and we couldn’t be more excited. Lots of work has gone into getting ready. Typewriters have been tested. Windows painted. Boxes made. Pink and red sparkly decor decorates the store. We just can’t wait.

In case you haven’t heard, Love on the Run is a free event, hosted at our little store at 1422 South Street. We have a collection of antique typewriters ready and waiting for you to come in and type out a note for someone special. After you have your thoughts in print, you’ll roll up your note, place it in a tiny bottle, and leave it with us (along with an address and phone number) so that we can deliver it for you on Valentine’s day. We’ll have the typewriters available next Friday the 12th from 11am-5pm and on Saturday you can stop by for an open house (10 am- 6pm) with treats, coffee, and live music.

What really makes this year special is the great collaboration that we were able to do with some other local businesses. Gorgeous posters have been designed by Ella of The Lichen and silk screened by Screen Ink and hung around town. This year we’ll have cookies provided by Kristin of The Cup, who also did our great Sweet 16 cake. Cafe Indigo will be donating Cultiva coffee, and a cheese plate will be donated by Hillis and Company.

Each year this event has grown and grown. Its been amazing to see the community response. People just can’t believe that we’re willing and able to do something so great for free! And for those of you that aren’t big fans of Valentine’s day, this event is not just for lovers. While there’s been a fair share of love notes from husbands and wives, boyfriends, fiancees, and the like; we’ve also had kids writing sweet notes to parents. Brothers, sisters, friends, co-workers have come  in and fill our store to share kind words in a simple and thoughtful way. It’s really quite awesome. If you haven’t been in, I encourage you to come and check it out.

Unfortunately we are only able to deliver within Lincoln city limits. Now, I know that many of you have sweeties abroad. Don’t fret, darlings we have THESE:

Sweet little valentine’s just like the ones you used to send in gradeschool! They’re fantastic! Thanks to Melanie of Lucky and Lovely for creating these great designs for us. The best part is, each card features a plantable paper heart so your sweetie can grow a mini garden full of wildflowers! They’re sold in packs of 8 (2 of each design) for $8. Perfect to send to all of your friends! We also have a fantastic selection of other greeting cards and stationery here in the store so stop by and check them out! Come in the week before Valentine’s day and save too! Starting Saturday, February 6th we’ll be offering 14% off all Valentine’s day cards until Saturday Feb 13th!!! Come on in! We’re sure to have the most unique cards in town!

See you soon! <3

Hello again, Porridgians!

The time has come for us to plan for our favorite event of the year! The 3rd annual Love on the Run will begin on Friday February 12th from 11am – 6pm when we will have our gorgeous antique typewriters available to put your best sonnets to print. If you can’t make it in on Friday, stop in on Saturday between 10am – 6pm and catch some live music, and pick up a free treat courtesy of The Cup. On Valentine’s day, February 14th, we’ll have several generous volunteers flying around town spreading love to boyfriends, wives, fiancees, moms, dads, aunts, and the like- all free of charge.

You’ll soon be seeing posters and fliers all around town featuring designs by Ella of the Lichen and screen printing by Jason over at Screen Ink.

So now you’re wondering how we do it! The past two years that we’ve put on this fantastic event, we’ve seen Lincoln’s community pull together in such amazing ways. Our response last year was overwhelming, and it’s sure to be even more so this year. Love on the Run is, and will always be a free way for the people of Lincoln to let each other know they’re loved with the help of Porridge Papers and other gracious volunteers.

We’re anticipating a bigger and better Love on the Run this year, and we can’t do it without your help! If you would like to volunteer a bit of your time on Valentine’s day to help deliver love notes- or try to find another way to lend a hand, please attend our Love on the Run planning meeting, Saturday, February 6th from 2pm-3pm. We’ll be swapping ideas and signing people up for areas where we need help. By signing up, you’ll be supporting not only a few great local Lincoln businesses, but the Lincoln community, and good feelings abound!

We look forward to seeing you there!

Also, don’t forget to stop into the shop to pick up your awesome letterpress Valentine’s day card for friends, lovers, and family that might (sadly) be out of our delivery range. They need love too!

Cheers!

Samantha

t. 402.742.5415 p. 402.742.5411
a. 1422 south street, lincoln nebraska 68502

Hi again! Today’s blog brought to you by Blog Radio, featuring Brooklyn Vegan. Bringing sweet indie tunes to the ears, hearts, and minds of your favorite papermakers: Porridge Papers!

Now if you’ve been following us on Twitter or Facebook you probably already know that last Friday our doors were closed most of the day while we trekked over to the Durham Museum in Omaha to see the American Letterpress exhibit featuring Hatch Show Print. First of all, if you’ve never been to the Durham, go.  The museum is inside of an old railroad station and the entire thing is completely decked out in Art Deco designs. I was totally smitten. here’s a picture from directly underneath one of the amazing light fixtures:

Gorgeous!

Of course, if you’re going to have a museum inside of a railroad station, you have to have tons of fun train-related goodies in the gift shop. A conductor’s cap, for example:

There should also definitely be several bronze statues of railroad workers and passengers to give you an idea of what the station would have been like back in it’s glory days. Kim got a little smitten with one of the bronze soldiers.

Such a heartbreaker, that one.

Unfortunately we were unable to take any photos inside of the Hatch exhibit. Believe me, it was difficult not to. The layers of color and the textures of the enormous woodcuts was completely unbelievable. We definitely left feeling inspired and excited to try some new ideas and hunt for larger format presses.  We’ll see what the future holds. At the moment it feels like we have our hands full with so many other projects, such as the 3rd Annual Love on the Run. If you don’t know anything about our annual Love on the Run… you’re in for a treat! Keep your eyes peeled for details coming very soon!

Concluding our trip to Omaha, we went down into the Old Market and had lunch at Upstream Brewing Company. The beer and the food were incredible.  Then, we stopped off to visit our friends over at Bozell to drop off the first run of their new business cards. They loved the cards and it was great to see the inner workings of such a large design and marketing firm.

All in all I would say that was a pretty satisfying trip. We should find good excuses to do things like that more often.

Hey guys! Happy Monday to you! Many many things are in the works here (as usual) and right now my head is spinning too much to tell you about ALL of them! But while I’m getting all my fancy ducks in a row check out this project that we did for Kaelan Smith and Flatmancrooked!

Kaelan asked us to make him a paper with spruce tree seeds in it for his book cover. He’s going to be biking from Los Angeles to Boston to promote his book. All along the way he’s going to be stopping for signings and readings. His tour is going to take place this summer and he’ll be blogging about it along the way! Read more about him and his amazing project here.

More awesome to come!!! stay tuned!

Happy 2010 Porridgians!

I hope the holidays were warm and full of family and friends. And hopefully you had a moment or two to relax and energize yourself to get ready for the year ahead. I know that here in Nebraska it’s been hard just to get out of a warm bed in the mornings! The weather here seems to be making some kind of statement! Its as if every inch of snow that was supposed to fall in the last decade needed to come back- all at once for a last hoorah. What’s worse is that we’re supposed to get another huge storm on Wednesday! We’re doing our best to stay bundled and warm until spring… in the mean time at least ice and snow make for some pretty stunning sights. I took the camera out to catch some ice around the building this morning. So Pretty!

and here’s a shot of our sidewalks last week before we got hit with another few inches:

and there’s more on the way!

As we mentioned before, we were hustling and bustling around here over the holidays to get out some last-minute holiday orders. for the last few weeks there has been paper EVERYWHERE! The dust is finally starting to settle and things are looking normal again. Its nice not to be buried neck-deep in stacks of paper. Here’s a glimpse of the holiday mayhem:

Now that the holiday season is over time to make room and start planning for what has become one of my favorite holidays – Valentine’s day. I was never really a big fan of this holiday, not until moving to Lincoln and doing Love on the Run every year. I honestly can’t help getting excited about this. I’ve been waiting for months to put some of my ideas into action! Its amazing to see the turnout that we’ve had. More and more people get involved every year, and this year we’re even branching out and trying to include some local businesses and designers. I’ll post more details as we get the kinks worked out but you can look forward to plenty of fantastic goodies! so much to do!!! First thing’s first:

SALE!!!

If you’re in the Lincoln area, stop by to say hello and pick up some of our clearance holiday cards and stationery for next year. Stock up and pack them with your holiday decorations and tree, then you’ll be one step ahead on your cards! We also have some great winter wrapping paper and a couple of fantastic 2010 calendars left! Come by this week and save 40% on our holiday items! The sale will last until Saturday.

This Friday, January 8th we’ll be closed for our late employee holiday party. Christopher is taking us all on a field trip to visit the American  Letterpress exhibit that is currently on display at the Durham museum in Omaha! It’s sure to be a treat for any paper or letterpress lover. If you’re in the area you should check it out! The exhibit is on display until January 24th.

for the last week we have been neglecting our blog, instead we have been wrapping up last minute projects and spending time with our families. we hope that you are all enjoying the end of a wonderful year. 2009 was filled with many ups and downs for all of us! here at porridge papers we were blessed with lots of work, new clients and exciting projects. we made new friends, celebrated our 16th year in business, finished up our largest order to date (2 million pieces of plantable paper),re branded ourself with a new logo followed by updating our websites, expanding our studio, re painting our building (inside and out), buying a 10lb hollander beater and so much more. all in all i say it was one of the busiest years to date! for those of you that were apart of it, i want to say thanks! thanks so much for keeping my dream alive. with out my fans, clients, friends, family, local community and employees none of this would be possible. i am so excited for what the new year has in store for all of us! as usual it will be a roller coaster ride and i for one can not wait to see where it takes us!

will see you in the new year!!

christopher

Happy Monday everyone! (no, Monday is NOT a holiday… well sometimes it is, depending… oh  you know what I mean!) I hope everyone is finding more and more excitement as the year is coming to an end. Holiday cheer is a tricky thing to muster up sometimes. Fortunately for those of us in Lincoln, we’ve got plenty of snow to remind us just what time of year it is. Even on the most hectic an stressful day, walking outside to quiet white blankets of snow and sparkling lights on houses makes you smile just a little bit. Then again, there’s the ice on the windows of your car in the morning… *sigh*

Anyhow, I just wanted to post a quick note regarding our Holiday hours this season. We bill be closed on December 24th-27th to observe the Christmas holiday. We’ll be back to our normal business hours (10-6) on Monday, December 28th. On New Year’s Eve (December 31st) we’ll be closing early at 1pm and will be closed January 1st do observe New Year’s Day. Saturday December 2nd we’ll be open for normal hours from 10am – 3pm.

And what would Holiday hours be without Holiday Sales?!?!?! Come in next week to save a little extra on those last minute Holiday cards and stationery! From December 21st – January 9th take 20% off of any holiday item in the store! Whether you’re stocking up for next year, or just running a little late- you can still have the most unique holiday cards around!

The year may be coming to an end, but great things are always just beginning here in our little papermill. Christopher has officially put a deposit on our very own 10lb Hollander beater! Thats TEN POUNDS of paper goodness. Before you know it we’ll be mixing up all kinds of paper-flavored trouble! Our new beauty is being custom built and shipped to us all the way from New Zealand! We really can’t wait to say hello to our newest family member, and what’s more, we can’t wait to explore new possibilities in our papermaking! I’ll try to keep posting pictures of the progress as Mark gets her built!

You can also keep your eye on us for fantastically new fun colors of plantable paper, and new letterpressed cards and ephemera to be sold in our store and online! As always, if there’s something in particular you’d like to see us order or whip up, don’t be afraid to ask! We’re always looking for new ideas and challenges to keep us on our toes!

Keep the wonder in your winterland, Porridgians!

I guess when I said “let it snow” the winter weather heard me and took me quite seriously! Boy did it snow! and snow… and snow… and snow! I have been lucky enough to spend the last couple of days stuck at home with my kiddo. Yesterday Porridge Papers was completely closed down. Tuesday Blayne, Kim, and Christopher braved the weather and got a little work done. Now that most of the roads are cleared, we’re all back and trying to get work done. I find that the more time I’m given to spend at home, the more things I can think of that I want to do there. I could have very easily started a number of craft projects that would have kept me busy well into next week! Instead, though, I settled for getting some of my holiday baking out of the way and scrubbing my bathroom. Yesterday was spent lounging around at Christopher and his wife, Ellen’s lovely house while the munchkins played in a HUGE igloo in the backyard. (Note to those with play domes: tarp + snow = brilliant igloo). Here are a couple of pictures of our fun day in the snow!

Hooray! There’s finally snow on the ground! I know for some people that’s less of a blessing and more of a curse… but at least it looks and feels like December now. Though, lately my mind has still been filled with daydreams of camping in July. *sigh* We’ll folks, we’re in this together and there’s a LOT going on between now and camping season… let’s focus on that, shall we?

First of all, thanks so much to those of you that came by this Saturday for the Pitter-Patter of Little Printmakers event! We had a great turnout and some amazing prints were created by young and old alike! Here are a few photos of the day’s festivities:

You can check out other great photos on our Flickr page. What fun! We really need to have more little workshops like this. It’s such a great way for the local community to come in and play around with paper and projects that they might not get to explore otherwise. We’re looking for more ideas and suggestions for other similar workshops that you might be interested in. If you have any ideas please give us a shout! You can always e-mail us, or find us on Facebook or Twitter to give us your ideas an opinions. If you were lucky enough to join us on Saturday, what did you think of the activities? We’d love to hear from you!

We also have a lot of other ideas and projects under way. We’re expanding our stock line of plantable papers to include more fun, bright colors, We’ve even started talking about Valentine’s day already! There are some great ideas in the works for the 3rd annual Love on the Run. We’re really trying to get a jump on things this year. Each year this event has grown and grown. We’re anticipating this being the biggest Love on the Run yet! And we’ve got some great collaborative projects lined up to make it even better!

Some exciting things are shaping up for next year. I can’t wait to make it all happen! So much to do!!!

Hey there! Hopefully all of our wonderful readers had a fantastic holiday weekend! We sure did! And just like that… November has vanished. Funny how that happens. Oh well, time to really get into the Holiday swing! Christopher and Kim spent Friday and Saturday sprucing up the place and putting all of our fabulous holiday goodies on display. Stop by and check out the festive decor!

And clear your calendars for Saturday afternoon! We’re hosting our first ever Pitter-Patter of Little Printmakers event. We will be hosting a printmaking party for children.Bring them by and let them draw their design on printmaking foam and ink it up! Use some of our great handmade paper for great gift ideas! This workshop is free, though donations are welcome. Don’t miss it! We all know that kids make some of the best art! Be sure to tell friends and family that you think would appreciate the workshop! Space is limited so try to RSVP or call with questions. 742.5415

Don’t forget Wednesday either! We’re havig a little get-together to kickoff the holiday season in style. Stop in for our Holly Jolly Jinglebell Jubilee this Wednesday, December 2nd for home-made eggnog and cinnamon rolls. Get your holiday card and some gift shopping done and get 20% off your purchase! This will also be the last day to submit any orders for custom letterpress holiday cards. Check out the great design options below!

If you would like to be the first of your friends to know about our little events, make sure you’re signed up for our mailing list here. Can’t wait to see you there!