Bicycle Notecards - The Rainbow Pack

My bicycle notecards are my biggest seller at the moment.  Earlier this summer, I printed a batch in tangerine ink.  Those cards are almost all sold out now, so the time came to print new ones, but I decided to change things up a bit.

Gocco Printed Bicycle Notecards

This set of six flat note cards comes with six plain kraft envelopes.

I also printed matching envelopes which are packaged and sold separately. 

Rainbow Bicycle Envelopes

I hope customers appreciate the variety.  Who doesn't love rainbows?

The beginnings of a new idea

I started thinking yesterday about possibly designing a 2011 gocco printed calendar.  Anyone familiar with the rising costs of gocco supplies knows that this is just crazy talk.  Anyhow, I'm imagining a desk calendar that would consist of twelve 5"x7" prints that are separate sheets rather than bound together.

Here is an example of the type of calendar I am describing:

Stelie Designs

Some come with a little jewel case like this one or sometimes people pin up each month as the the time comes.  My idea is to have Mr. CP design a wooden block with a slot that the cards can stand in.  It seems a little more substantial and natural than clear plastic.  I've also seen some small easels that might work, but they might be a tad short for a 5"x7" print.

Each month's print would be a different color and contain a theme related to that month.  I also toyed around with having the colors relate to birthstones as well.  All this would require a minimum of 12 screens and 24 bulbs though....ouch.  And if I am going to have these ready for people to purchase by the gift-giving season, I'd have to get started pronto!

New Butterfly Notecards

This past weekend, I designed and printed my new Butterfly flat notecards.  I took a butterfly silhouette and masked it with an interesting art deco pattern to create this delicate design.  The butterflies were then printed on my Gocco in rose petal pearl ink on white matte and natural matte cardstock. 

Available at ChunkyPineapple on Etsy.

The butterflies are printed in the upper right-hand corner to leave ample space for notes and all types of correspondence.

Welcome, Little One

Last night I finally completed my Welcome, Little One greeting card.  Since this is my first baby card, I wanted to make a design that could be used to welcome both baby boys and baby girls.  I also wanted the design to be pretty and expressive while staying clean and simple.  This is what I came up with...

Flowers symbolize nature, life and beauty and I just love how the "baby" flower is a chip off of the old block.
These cards come in light blue and purple pearl.  You can find these cards (and more photos) here.

So, what exactly is a Gocco?

A Gocco is a Japanese invention that allows you to screenprint on your desktop.  Similar to silkscreening, an image is burned onto a screen and ink is then pushed through the screen to print images on just about anything, though paper and cloth seem to be the most popular applications.  Although at one time it was very popular in Japan, as the prices of color printers came down, the popularity of the Gocco decreased and the Gocco device was discontinued back in 2008. 

I first read about the Gocco on wedding blogs such as weddingbee.com when I was planning my wedding back in 2008.  I though tot myself that these brides are crazy!  There were some complaints expressing extreme frustration with the slightly unpredictable nature of the Gocco technology.  It seemed crazy to me that brides would want to add to the stress of wedding planning by buying one of these devices and printing all of their invitations themselves so I skipped that idea and the thought was cataloged way in the back of my brain.  About a year later, I stumbled upon Etsy and the many wonderful Gocco-printed designs sold on the site which renewed my curiosity and inspired me to do a little more research into the machine and the supplies.  Just as I had given up, discouraged by the common complaints that supplies were becoming difficult to find and that prices for the supplies, if you could find them, had increased 30% in one year, Mr. ChunkyPineapple surprised me with my very own Gocco PG-10 Super for Christmas!  Sure, the Gocco involves a learning curve and requires your patience.  There will probably be some mishaps along the way too, but I LOVE it.  =)

So how does it work?  The screens are coated in an emulsion like substance so they're ready to go right out of the package.  Images are burned onto a screen with 2 flashbulbs which produce a lot of heat.  In fact, the bulbs melt in the process and can only be used once.

Once an image is burned onto a screen, the screen cannot be re-coated and burned again.

After the image is burned onto the screen you apply the ink of your choice into the screen and place it back into the device.

Unlike silkscreening, there is no squeegee involved.  You simply press down on the device which squeezes the ink onto your printing surface.  So, the process is actually sort of a hybrid between silkscreening and stamping. .

I've read that some people can print over 50 prints with one inking.  I've only been printing in small batches, so I haven't tried to print quite so many at one time.  Depending on how large the image is and how thick your ink is (theoretically they should be uniform, but I have found that isn't really the case), you may need to re-ink more often.

So where can you get supplies?
Many brick and mortar stores sold out of machines and supplies a long time ago.  Paper Source only has a few colors of ink left.  I get all my supplies online.  Ebay and Etsy seem to have a decent number of listings but be aware of the shipping costs and where the seller is located.  Sellers that are located in Japan have to add a hefty shipping cost to send things to the U.S.  Other than Ebay, the stores that I have purchased from in the U.S. are MarleneWatson.com and Welsh Products.  I also sell screens, bulbs, ink and a few used machines that I have collected at GoccoShop.

Printed here are the beginnings of my new Welcome Little One cards, which I hope to finish tonight. I can't wait to show them to you!

Two Monkeys in Love

Recently, I've had some requests to design greeting cards for congratulating newly married couples and to welcome newborns.  I figured it was a good idea to get a few of those designs completed now before I become fully dedicated to the craziness of preparing cards for the holiday season.

Two weeks ago, Mr. ChunkyPineapple and I worked together to design our first wedding card.  We did so with a specific couple in mind.  Our friends' wedding invitation theme was "Two Monkeys in Love".  They're a pretty casual, fun-loving pair, so I decided that a hand-drawn design would be most appropriate for them.   That's where Mr. ChunkyPineapple and his drawing skills came in.  I explained my general concept and made a couple rough drawings and a few hours later, we were ready to scan the drawing into pdf format for editing with Adobe Illustrator 4.  Then, I used my Gocco to flash the screens and I chose to print the monkeys in brown with a bold orange for the greetings.

Don't they look happy?  =)

If you know a couple of goofy or quirky monkeys that you would like to congratulate, you can find these cards (and more photos) here.