Farmin’ With Brett :: Planting Corn
May 15th, 2012
We sure have been working hard inside our studio lately, but it’s nothing compared to what’s been going on outside. Â It’s spring, and that means it’s corn planting season here on the farm! Â For the past week or so this is what we’ve been seeing right outside our window. Â The guys have been busy working the soil and planting all those little kernels of corn. Â That’s my cousin Brett driving the big blue New Holland tractor pulling the big sixteen row planter.
And this is my dad and my brother, Mike. Â They’re getting ready to take off with those field cultivators to work the soil and prep it for planting so Brett can follow behind with the planter. Â It takes a lot of hours, and a lot of trips back and forth across the fields to work the ground and put in the crop for the year.
I decided to take a break from the printing press the other day took a little trip out to the field to see how things were going. Â I caught Brett at the end of a row and hopped in the tractor for a ride.
This was my view from the cab of the tractor. Â Look at those rows! Â Straight as an arrow. Â That’s right.
The field right behind the barn where we have our studio is one of the largest fields that we farm. Â Some of the rows are a mile and a quarter long! Â Brett and I calculated that since the planter drops a kernel every 6 inches that there are roughly 13,200 kernels planted per row. Â I said roughly. Â Don’t check our math.
And look at this! Â There are some real high tech things going on inside this tractor. Â I mean, really, this tractor could plant the field on its own. Â Brett just rides along to make sure nothing goes haywire. Â That’s the truth.
Do you want to see what I mean? Â Of course you do. Â That’s why I took along my video camera! Â Get ready for an education…it’s time for another episode of Farmin’ with Brett!
Here we go!
:: Carrie ::
1canoe2 on Today
May 13th, 2012Well, look at this! Â 1canoe2 Letterpress was on the Today Show!!
That’s right. Â Two of our prints, and one of our coaster sets were featured in a Today Show segment on Monday about great gifts for teachers! Â It was definitely the highlight of our week! Â It was a little bit surreal, but mostly awesome, to see Natalie Morales and Elizabeth Mayhew talking about our work on national television.
We met Elizabeth Mayhew at the New York International Gift Fair back in January in NYC. Â She was very nice, and very complimentary of our work. Â So, when she contacted us last week about featuring us in her segment on Today we were thrilled! Â It’s pretty hard to beat exposure like that!
And, in case you missed it, click here to watch the acutal segment.
:: Carrie ::
The Little House
May 5th, 2012
I’ve talked before about where we get ideas for new designs, and what inspires us, but sometimes it sneaks up and surprises me. Â This is a new card that we just designed and finished printing, and obviously you can see that it has a lot of similarities to the cover of “The Little House.” Â The funny thing is, I wasn’t really even thinking about this book cover at all when I did the drawing. Â It wasn’t until the card was all done that I actually realized how similar it is to the image on the cover of the book. Â When I put the two side by side I couldn’t stop looking at them. Â It’s like this image was just sitting in my subconscious and found it’s way out.
“The Little House” is a children’s book from the 1940′s, and yes I own this copy, and yes I do love the story and the illustrations. Â I used this book a bunch in my classroom when I was still teaching.
It’s a story about a little house in the country. Â Slowly over time, other houses and buildings are build up around it until the little house is smack dab in the middle of a big city. Â The little house is so sad and depressed until the great-great-granddaughter of the man who built the little house finds it and moves it back to the country where it belongs. Â It’s pretty great – a classic.
:: Carrie ::
The Apprentice
April 25th, 2012
I think we may have a future business tycoon on our hands.
Yesterday Natalie (Karen’s 5 year old daughter, my niece) paid me a visit while I was working in the studio. Â The first thing she did was excitedly hand over her newest creation. Â ”Aunt Carrie, I made you some new business cards!” Â Yes she did.
I would say they are kind of perfect. Â Simple, yet designed well. Â Our business name, 1canoe2, and our website address, 1canoe2.com. Â That’s really all the information you need to know. Â The orange diamond pattern in the background is right up our alley, and of course she remembered the blue canoe, our signature image. Â She topped it all off by putting one of us in the canoe – I’m not sure exactly who that is, but they seem to be having a really great time!
We are needing some more business cards, and are planning on designing some new ones very soon. Â Maybe Natalie has already done it.
I’m going to start calling her “the apprentice.”
:: Carrie ::
{green}
April 23rd, 2012
This Week in the Studio…
April 13th, 2012
I spent a little time reacquainting myself with my watercolors. Â Experimenting with some new ideas for some new products.
We had a photo shoot. Â What? Â That’s right. Â Some grown-up new head shots for our fancy-pants website that’s coming soon. Â A big thanks to the girls at Silverbox Photography. Â We can’t wait to see how good you’ve made us look!
Lots and lots of printing. Â Lots.
We’ve got a whole bunch of new cards rolling off the press right now. Â I put a big dent in the “things to print” list, but there’s much more to come. Â I wish I knew the last time I re-set the fancy “counting machine” function on our antique letterpress. Â It’s been a while. Â I’ve been watching those numbers slowly creep up and up and up. Â Well, today it finally got to 99,999 and all of the numbers clicked back over to zero and we started counting again.
What a busy week! Â These are just a few of the things I’ve had my hand in. Â Karen and Beth are working their tails off as well. Â We have SO much going on right now. Â I think we all feel like we are being pulled in three different directions all the time, but we just keep rolling right along. Â Only one more month until the National Stationery Show! Â O-ma-gosh.
:: Carrie ::
Ushering in a new 1canoe2 logo
April 7th, 2012Where we were:
Back in 2008 when Carrie and I thought it would be a fun little adventure to start an Etsy shop, we had no idea that 1canoe2 would grow to consume both of our fulltime jobs, sell to Anthropologie, and take us to New York 3 times a year.
We debated back and forth about our name, and then I drew up a little logo, and it stuck. End of story. Â It went like this: I drew up the logo during a meeting at work, e-mailed it to Carrie (I was still living in Nashville), and it was done.
So now that our business is a little more grown-up, we decided to give our logo a little shot of maturity as well.
Designing a logo for yourself is very hard, but at the same time, we couldn’t see ourselves having someone else draw our canoe or the lettering for us. I mean, it’s kinda what we do. Â So after several unsuccessful attempts over e-mail, Carrie and I sat down for a marathon session of drawing, designing, and hand-wringing, and got it done.
Here it is on some of our collateral material (what we send with Etsy packages and the like).
I should take this opportunity to say that we are working on a BRAND NEW WEBSITE as well. We are so excited! It’s going to have a shop, and a fancy new look that is all about 1canoe2 and you! Â We’ll share more about that as it gets closer to launch day in a month or so.
~BethLiving off the Land
April 2nd, 2012
I don’t know about where you live, but spring seems to have come early here in Missouri this year. Â Actually, the last few days have felt more like summer. Â We took advantage of the great weather this weekend to head out into the woods to go hunting for mushrooms. Â Â If you live in the midwest, you know what I’m talking about. Â It’s that small window of opportunity, when you hope the conditions have been perfect, to find the elusive morel mushroom.
They’re a midwest delicacy. Â When you find one, it’s unmistakable. Â Here’s what they look like…
Hopes are always high. Â Some years there are a few, some years there are none. Â We headed out to an undisclosed location (it’s a secret!) to see what we could find. Â This year I guess the conditions were perfect, and we picked the right day, because it was a bumper crop!
Four bags full. Â And, we could have brought home more, but we ran out of room. Â Successful hunt!
Not only were the mushrooms plentiful this weekend, but the fish were biting too. Â On Sunday afternoon Natalie and I spent a little time fishing from the dock on our lake.
We pulled in at least fifteen fish in a little over an hour! Â That makes for a fun fishing trip for a five year old.
Toby was loving it too.
Sunday night dinner was fried morel mushrooms and fresh caught crappie.
Can’t beat that.
:: Carrie ::
Things We Love :: Instagram
March 27th, 2012
Say hello to our latest obsession…Instagram.
Beth and I both became iPhone converts within the last year and have fallen in love with snapping photos of all kinds of things. Â Those iPhone cameras really take great pictures! Â Â For those of you who don’t live in the iPhone world, Instagram is a photo sharing app, where you can take a photo, edit it, and share it with friends. Â Yeah, it’s one of those social networking things, but it’s so fun! Â We’ve found that as a business tool we’re able to share with our customers and retail shops little details of things going on in the 1canoe2 world. Â And, it makes our photos so PRETTY. Â We like that. Â You can find Beth’s instagram feed at @1canoe2beth, and Carrie is @1canoe2letterpress. Â Follow us!
Here is a little sample of some of our favorites…
:: Carrie ::
Congrats Eva!
March 22nd, 2012
A big CONGRATULATIONS goes out to my good friend Eva, who is getting married this weekend. Â In Amsterdam!!
We were thrilled to design and print Eva and Theo’s invitations – two versions, actually. Â One in English and one in Dutch! Â We think they’re pretty sharp, even if we can’t read them.
I wish I could be at the wedding, but instead I’ll be up E A R L Y on Saturday morning to watch Eva and Theo tie the knot through video streaming via the world wide web. Â Isn’t that cool!? Â Thanks for thinking of all of us back home, Eva! Â And, I promise, I’m dressing up. Â Wearing my pearls.
Maybe.
Miss you, and our fun times together! Â I’m praying for sunny skies in the Netherlands on Saturday!
♥ Carrie
©2012 OneCanoeTwo