Note To Self – a hand-printed postcard series

husssh … the critical inner voice.
Be kind. Be gentle. To You.
Encourage and support your Self as your would someone you Love.

I have had in mind for a number of years a postcard series sharing some of the ‘note to self’ statements that help get me from one day to one project through one drama to the next and out the other side.

Most of them are statements with only 3 little words … but 3 little words that can pack a pretty big punch when you need them most!

And I think 3 little words that we all need to hear at one time or another 🙂

Each postcard card is hand printed

The cards are hand-printed, front and back – hand-printed with a sense of fun, joy, love and hope that the person holding the card enjoys their own ‘note to self’ moment to get them to the next step or space along their own way.

The coloured and textured backgrounds on the front of each card are gelatin plate monoprints. I’ve used plant materials from my garden, and some collected and saved from my runaway from home week late last year. I had so much fun printing these.

They have all been printed at size – not trimmed out of larger sheets. Every single one of them is different – the nature of the monoprinting process. I loved playing with colour and layers while printing these up. And given the nature and subject of the cards, I worked with a muted palette of colour. Over the years I have grown comfy with bright colours, but have to admit that soft subtle shifts in a muted colour range is my favourite place to be with colour.

For the postcard fronts I inked up the rollers on my little Adana 8″x5″ letterpress printer, rummaged and sorted through my lead type collection then hand-printed the ‘note to self’ sentiment on the front of each card, over the background monoprints.

I have been collecting lead (and wood) type for several years. I used some of my type collection in a letterpress printed artist book a couple of years ago – I am loving getting my hands on it again and using it. Some of it is brand new, other type sets are in excess of 100 years old. So much history. And too special to be stuck in a draw and not used.

The back of each card has also been letterpress printed. I bought a sweet ‘Postcard’ block on eBay a few years ago (with this project in mind) that I’ve used on the back of each card. Oh how I wish I know the provenance of this sweet little block.

The Postcard Series

The card series will make its debut at my Open Studio coming up 20-21-22 March. After the Open Studios weekend I will add them to my online shop.

There are initially 12 ‘note to self’ sentiments in the series, with another 30+ waiting in the wings ready to print.

The postcards will be available as individuals cards, as well as sets of 12 cards. Each set is bundled and packaged in a hand-printed self-wrapping box. The paper boxes are also hand-printed gel plate monoprints, making each one unique. I love the idea that each set is as unique as the individual they are meant for.

The cards can be posted to friends and loved ones who maybe need a little ‘note to self’ love, or keep them for yourself as you own ‘note to self’ reminder.

My intention when creating them is to bring warmth, love, encouragement and/or support to the holder of each card. They will all mean something different to each of us … and whatever that is, is perfect.

It is exciting to realise an idea that has been ruminating in my mind for a while now. I am so excited to finally printing these cards and sharing them with you. I hope you love them as much as I do 🙂