You know what that means…

Love On The Run!!!

What is this you ask? Well here are the details…

Is this era of Facebook, Twitter, computer generated greeting cards, and cell phone texts, we are giving lovers a chance to say “Happy Valentine’s Day” with old-school methods and delivered in an unforgettable way!

We invite anyone to stop by Porridge Papers Friday, Saturday or Sunday to type up a note on our antique typewriters. Then they are rolled up and placed in small bottles which are put into handmade paper bags embedded with wildflower seeds. They are  then delivered FREE of charge on Valentine’s Day within Lincoln city limits.  The hour of events are -

Friday, February 11^th, 5-9 p.m.                                   Hors D’oeuvres & live music

Saturday, February 12^th, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.                   Cupcakes and savory snacks

Sunday, February 13^th, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.                     Cinnamon rolls, coffee & juice

We will also have a photo booth set up so you can include a picture as well!

We are always looking for volunteers so call ahead if you want to help out.

Why do we do this? Well this is our way of giving back to Lincoln! This is such a great community and we wanted to share the love we have with all of you. This year we have had an out pouring of help from local businesses, we would like to thank -

Thé Cup
Screen Ink
Studio Orange Photography
Hillis & Co.
Bread & Cup
The Lichen
Caleb Bailey
Signature Bindery
Cuts Floral
The Leekers
Pepe’s

Hey there, Paper People!  I wanted to let you know about our Stocking Sale. Starting tomorrow, Deceber 15th through Saturday December 18th you can bring in your Christmas Stocking and pack it with goodies from our Holiday clearance section and any of our Paper-by-the-Ounce. Fit up to a pound of paper goodies for only $15! We stuffed a stocking yesterday and added up our pound, almost $30 worth of goodies! Awesome!

In other Holiday related news: our Holiday hours are as follows:

We will remain open for our regular hours (Monday-Friday from 10am 6 pm and Saturdays from 10am – 3pm) until the 23rd. We will be closed December 23rd – 25th and re-open on Monday the 26th.  We’ll close again December 30th through January 2nd and re-open with regular hours on January 3rd.

Keep your eyes on us during the next couple of weeks! We have plans to offer you guys some HUGE savings in the store! We’re also EXPANDING into the space next door with Signature Bindery! This means that in the very near future we’ll have even MORE space for fantastic paper-related goodies in the shop!

Here’s the tricky part: We need YOUR feedback! What other kinds of stationery/gifts/paper goodies would you like to see us carry? Is there something you wish we had a bigger selection of? More imported papers? More journals? Invitation embellishments such as strings, ribbons, twine, etc? What about wax seals? Now’s your chance! Let us know by responding to this post OR e-mailing us here!

While we’re taking your suggestions and ideas, we’ll also be brainstorming on collaborative workshops that include bookbinding/letterpress/handmade paper arts, as well as new and interesting products to produce. So much promise to be found in the coming year! Snuggle up and stay warm, Porridgians!

We’re doing a few things to keep our holiday Spirit alive til Santa comes. First of all we’re featuring a Holiday card of the day every day on our Facebook page. We really bulked up on the greeting cards this year and the quality and creativity of our selection just can’t be beat!

We’re also featuring a Gift Item of the day every day. Keep your eyes on this one, as every day the featured item is 15% off! Its a great way to discover new and fabulous goodies that we have here in the shop!

Yesterday, we did a great Facebook giveaway where we asked our fans outside Lincoln about their obscure holiday traditions. We got a few great responses, but my favorite –  by far- was the tradition sent in by Michelle. Her tradition is this:

“My husband’s family has a mannequin bodice and head, named Ima Vixen, that gets gifted to someone else each year. The receiver of Ima, will have her for the year and on Christmas she is revealed with a new addition (over the years she has received hair, ears, glasses, crazy stuff, etc.) The person that has had Ima, also writes a poem commemorating her year and the new addition. The next reciever of Ima reads the past 3 years poems and then the most recent one. Ima Vixen is quite the sight to see! ”

Michelle was even Kind enough to send in a photo of Ima Vixen. Check her out!

Awesome! She really is quite the sight! What a fantastic (and hysterical) tradition! Thanks again to all of our fantastic Facebook fans for sharing!

Another great tradition that you may or may not have heard of is the sprinkling of Magical Reindeer Dust out in the yard on Christmas Eve. For those of you that haven’t heard, here’s the rundown of things. Magical Reindeer Dust is mixed and scattered in the yard by children on Christmas eve. This special dust attracts the reindeer to ensure they don’t pass your house, and helps them fly faster and higher for speedy deliveries to all kids! According to Santa, it’s also one of the reindeers’ favorite treats!

Fresh out of Magical Reindeer Dust? Not to worry, Porridge Papers is happy to help your kids mix up the magic stuff themselves in our Magical Reindeer Dust Workshop this Saturday, December 11th! Bring your kids in from 2-4 pm to make their very own Reindeer dust! We will have hot cocoa and treats. But parents, there is more to it, just don’t tell the munchkins.

While they are very carefully mixing the magical reindeer dust, our elves will be printing out a personal letter addressed to your kids on Santa Claus’s own personal stationery thanking your kids for the magical dust and for being good this year! We will quietly give it to you in a very special envelope for you to hang on to and put out on Christmas Eve after they have gone to bed! How fun is that! Few things are as heartwarming as children’s excitement for Santa each year.  Bring them in and see their eyes glow with wonder!

Speaking of wonder, what could be more WONDERFUL than saving some cash at your favorite papermill when you buy your Holiday cards and gifts?! Nothing. So while you’re here for the Magical Reindeer Dust Workshop, get some shopping done and save 25% off all regularly priced items! All day THIS Saturday!

Don’t worry, that won’t be ALL for this Holiday season. We’ve got some other fanciful fun in the works, just keep your eyes peeled!  Until then, stay warm and bright, paper people!

The time has come for things of a spooky and scary nature! You know, ghosts, goblins, zombies, creepy spiders, and the like. And to celebrate these creepy crawly things that go BOO in the night, Porridge Papers is hosting a PIY event of the haunted kind. That’s right! Stop in tomorrow from 4-7pm for ghost stories, courtesy of Indigo Bridge Books, creepy treats, and limited edition masks that were designed by fantastic graphic design geniuses, Bennett Holzworth and Eric Nyffeler. When you come in, you’ll get to pull your own letterpress printed mask on our Vandercook all by yourself for only $5! wow! For more information on this festive, creepy, fun time, check out the Porridge Papers Facebook event! We’ve even got the studio all spookified! Check out these pictures:

You’ll also get to see Jarvis, the “strange-but-true” pulp monster! Created by our newest addition to the family, Allie!

EEEEkkk!

Speaking of Allie, our fabulous new employee, we’ve had her write a bit of an introduction for our fans. Here’s what she has to say about herself (in the 3rd person, of course):

“One word to describe Alley would be, “spooktastic”. When she’s not squishing paper pulp into marvelous sheets of paper, Alley spends her time writing stories, sewing whimsiful dresses, oscillating wildly, doing special effects zombie makeup, and practicing Misfits songs on her harp, Skullcrusher. She’s got a jangley walk, a mumbly talk, a feral tongue, and often keeps her charm set to Stun. Originally from the Pocono Mountains of Northeast Pennsylvania, Alley misses the mountains and the rivers of home and is still getting used to the Midwest.”

We think she’s getting along just fine! Stop by and welcome her to the family!

Can’t wait to see you all tomorrow! Again, that’s at Porridge Papers- 1422 South Street from 4-7 pm! Til then, keep it real, paper people!

I simply can NOT wait til this display is finished. It is going to look FANTASTIC! Does the tree look familiar?? If it does, you’d know that it was inspired by the amazing tree inside of Indigo Bridge Books. Which is no coincidence considering that we’re pairing up with Indigo Bridge for this month’s PIY event! October’s PIY event will be October 23rd from 4-7 pm. We’re going to be featuring pull-it-yourself letterpressed masks, designed by local letterpress masterminds, Bennet Holzworth, and Eric Nyffeler. We’ll also have munchkin-friendly ghost stories being read from 4:30-5:30 pm and super scary stories for adults read from 6-7 pm- courtesy of the fine folks at Indigo Bridge Books! There will also be light refreshments and snacks so don’t miss it!

If you can’t make it in for the PIY series, but are DYING to get your hands inky, don’t forget that we have WORKSHOPS! Check out the dates and availability of our letterpress workshops by visiting the website here and e-mailing to sign up. These workshops are SUPER small which means more quality time for you and the Vandercook!!

Also, if you’re in Brownville this coming weekend, be sure to check out the Paint Brownville Autumn event on October 9th and 10th. There will be a Civil War reenactment, a first-rate quilt show, trolley and pony rides, a live concert on Saturday night, and more! Of course, we’ll be there with the shop doors open, so stop by and say hello! For more information on Brownville and it’s treasures visit the website here.

Lastly, I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome the newest member of the Porridge Papers family, Allison Getz. Alley started interning with us several weeks back and did such a good job making paper that we decided to actually pay her to do it! If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and welcome her to the crew!

Speaking of chai, thanks to those that came out for our PIY Mehndi event and enjoyed chai and snickerdoodles while getting henna tattoos and pulling their leterpress prints! I hope that you all thought the prints came out beautifully, I know I sure did! Here’s a quick shot of the finished print:

So pretty! If you like what you see here, just wait! I’m sure our other PIY posters will be just as fantastic! For those of you that attended September’s event, bring in the coupon portion of your print for that discount on your shopping til the end of October!

October’s PIY event is sure to be tons of fun too! On October 16th from 4-7 (tentatively) we’re going to have spooky ghost stories and ghoulish treats. For the printing portion, we’ll have letterpressed masks that you get to print yourself! Keep your eyes on our blog and the Facebook page for more details!

Other Autumn events that we’ll be participating in is the Paint Brownville Autumn event on October 9th and 10th. There will be a Civil War reenactment, a first-rate quilt show, trolley and pony rides, a live concert on Saturday night, and more! Of course, we’ll be there with the shop doors open, so stop by and say hello! For more information on Brownville and it’s treasures visit the website here.

We’ll also be getting more and more great items in both of our shops for the holidays. Stop in through the coming couple of months to check out our new selection of imported papers, stationery, and greeting cards! We just placed a HUGE order for imported paper to be used in invitations, personal stationery sets, and sold by the sheet. The selection is going to be fantastic, I can’t wait till they arrive!

Those of you that live in the Nebraska area, may have already seen the feature on Porridge Papers in the Lance’s Journal segment of the 10/11 news, but for those farther away, we thought you should see it too! Check the video below to watch! Lance did a great job on the piece and it was really great having him in the store. He seemed to have a great time spending the afternoon here and we have already had several people come in after seeing the feature. Thanks, Lance!

Now I know the reason that most of you may be reading this post is because of the mention of WORKSHOPS! We’ve finally nailed down all of the details to offer Letterpress workshops!!! Wheeeeee! You can see the dates and details of the workshops from this page on our website.  As always, if you have any additional questions or ideas, please feel free to contact us! We’d really love to make sure these classes suit those that are interested and feedback is always welcome! I can’t wait to get the first class rollin!

See you soon, paper people!

Happy Monday, paper people!

As you may know, we have some fun things going on right now at your favorite papermill. For example, we’re still having our $5 sack sale until this Saturday, so stop on by and stock up on some cute cards and oodles of paper scraps to suit your every paper crafting whim!

This Saturday, we’ll also be having our first event in the The PIY Series from 2-4 pm. The PIY Series this month will feature a Mehndi art print for you to print with *your own two hands* on our Vandercook letterpress! We’ll also have cookies and chai for refreshments and a brief history and henna tattoos by Samantha. So come in, mingle, shop, get decorated, become a pressman for a minute, and be happy! See you there!

We’re really excited about the PIY series, and we’ve brainstormed and started working on themes for the next few months. Ideally, we’d like to have an event every month that features and cooperates with a local movement, art, craft, or some other such awesome idea. Future workshops to look forward to will include: PIY masks, handwritten thank you notes, make your own reindeer dust for the holidays, wine tasting, flower arrangements, bicycle tuneups, and many many more! As always, we love hearing your ideas so if you have any brilliant ideas or themes for one of our workshops or a PIY event don’t hesitate to e-mail us at pulp@porridgepapers.com! These events are about our community so we’d love to know what you want to see!

For those of you that are just itching to know the details on our Letterpress classes, you’ll be pleased to know that the schedule, pricing, sign-up, and guidelines will all be available on our website for you to download and print out by this Wednesday! If you follow us on Facebook, keep your eye out there. I’ll also post a link in the blog so you can get the press rolling!

As always, we do our best to keep it fresh! We can’t wait to see what you folks think of all of our great events and ideas!

Until next time!

Hopefully you had a great weekend! The summer is winding down and the days are starting to cool off (finally) and school is starting back up again. Which can only mean it’s time for a Back to School Sale! Stop in any time from September 1st through the 18th and enjoy oodles of savings on our scrap papers and discontinued letterpress cards! We’ll have 2 sizes of bags to fill; a large bag for you to stuff as much scrap paper into as possible for only $5! Smaller bags will also be available to stuff cards and envelopes into for $5!!

You can also save some cash on Red Saturdays when everything red in the store is 20% off! Come on by Saturdays from September-November when the Nebraska Cornhuskers are playing a game to take advantage of these red-hot savings! ^.~

Some of our Facebook Fans may have seen this photo already, but we’re posting it again because we’re *super* excited to have our new intern, Alley with us! Alley will be joining us 2 days a week to learn whatever she can from us. So far she’s turning out to be quite the papermaker! She’s got a knack for it and made her first post on day 1! Its always fun to have a fresh new face in the papermill for a while and it’ll be a blast including her on some of the Porridge Papers antics around here!

Go, Alley Go!

You Facebook fans may have also seen our Jotter giveaway last week. We’ve been a little crazy over notebooks and jotters lately and we’re excited to be offering recycled chipboard box jotters and journals very soon! We also did a teeny giveaway for 4 lucky people that submitted their logos to be printed on some Plantable jotter covers! I’ll post pics as soon as they’re on the press! Congrats to our winners!

If you would like to get in on the giveaways, find us on Facebook and keep your eyes peeled! We often get the itch to spread the love to our fans and we usually have our winners within moments! It’s always such a blast to interact with you guys like that so keep it comin! If you have any ideas or questions, or if you just wanna share some Porridge Love, don’t be afraid to let us know! As always, you guys are the best!

The first thing I’d like to announce is our huge Sack Sale! This sale will be running from September 1st through the 18th! Come on by the store and fill a sack with paper goodies to save some cash! We’ll have 2 different sacks; a larger sack for you to cram full of our paper scraps (normally $1.00/ounce) . Fit as much as you can for only $5!!! There will also be a smaller sack for you to cram with as many select cards and envelopes as you can fit, also for only $5!!! So stop on by for splendid scrap savings!!!

Also coming soon is the first in our PIY series of letterpress events! The PIY (Pull It Yourself) series will be a unique pairing of letterpress and another art form as selected by the folks and fans of Porridge Papers. Our first event will feature the exquisitely intricate ancient art of Mehndi with a presentation and henna tattoos by yours truly! We’ll be selling prints of original art which you get to pull yourself using our Vandercook letterpress! This event is scheduled to take place on September 18th so stay tuned for more details!

Future PIY events will feature masks, wine, chocolate and more! If you have an idea for a PIY event, please e-mail us at hello@porridgepapers.com or let us know on our Facebook page!

Now,  I can’t even begin to tell you how long we’ve been trying to get together Letterpress workshops and classes. We’ve had countless people ask when they could sign up, and we FINALLY have our ducks in a row (mostly). Beginning Saturday October 2nd we’ll be offering small letterpress workshops!! HOORAY!!!! If you’re in Lincoln and you’re interested in learning Letterpress, please stay tuned for more information on the class times and fees. We’re very excited to get the ball rolling with these workshops. Our goal has been to share the Letterpress love with Lincolnites since we moved back 4 years ago!

We’ve also got a TON of recycled notebooks, journals, and jotters on their way to hit our online shops and our Etsy store! so say tuned for those! These will all have recycled covers from boxes donated by fans of Porridge Papers! They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are perfect for oodles of uses! Keep your eye out. Here’s a preview: