December Holiday Giveaway No. 3

Our third December '09 giveaway this month from 9SpotMonk Letterpress is all about skulls. You guys know who you are, you got skull shower curtains, skull socks, skull panties... Now you can add skull coasters and skull notebooks to your collection.


9SpotMonk Letterpress Skull Coasters and 100% Recycled Skull Notebooks

What you will win:
- 2 sets of letterpress printed skull coasters, each set comes in a box of 12 assorted colours
- 3 100% recycled letterpress printed notebooks. Two lined (yes, the lines are letterpress printed) and one blank
- total retail value US$50, we pick up the continental USA ground shipping

How to enter:
1. Become a follower on the 9SpotMonk blog
2. Comment on the post with an answer to this:
Q: What is the most interesting/quirkiest thing you own that has skulls on it? (You must leave a valid email address in the comment form for your entry to qualify.)
3. Double your chances to win by following us on Facebook.com/9SpotMonk

When does the contest end?
- Skulls contest ends, December 23, 2009 at 12:00 am EST

I'm the winner, what's next?
- One winner will be randomly selected and notified via email.

Good luck!

December Holiday Giveaway No. 2

9SpotMonk Letterpress 100% Recycled Mini Notebooks

The #2 series in our December '09 Giveaway!

What you will win:
- 2 each of our super popular and convenient Mini Notebooks in styles "Meet", "Research", "Grocery" and "Cash Log". One set to keep and one set to give!
- total retail value US$30, we pick up the continental USA ground shipping

How to enter:
1. Become a follower on the 9SpotMonk blog
2. Comment on the post with an answer to this:
Q: Do you think writing everything down would make your daily life more efficient? (You must leave a valid email address in the comment form for your entry to qualify.)
3. Double your chances to win by following us on Facebook.com/9SpotMonk

When does the contest end?
- Mini notebooks contest ends, December 18, 2009 at 11:59 am EST

I'm the winner, what's next?
- One winner will be randomly selected and notified via email.

Good luck!

[Custom Design] Hand Drawn + Letterpress

One of the few times where I am my own client. Birthday party invite for our daughter, theme was magic, show was complete with magician and the fattest bunny I have ever seen.

I only had a day to come up with the design, so I ended up doing hand lettering which was faster than laying out type or so I thought. Did the initial drawing on regular paper and then cleaned up areas that need more or less space or bigger or smaller letters. Final version before I whipped out the Sharpie to trace it was 7 separate pieces of tracing paper all taped to the light box.

Printed the invite letterpress on the Windmill with ink I had on the press from a previous job, PMS 200U red. Was a very easy job to print, no issues really. Got a nice deep impression without going through the back, which is key for me. I'm a fan of a deep impression but not a fan of it showing through the back.

[photo credit: 9SpotMonk]

Holiday Giveaway Part 1 - adding more!

We're doing a 4 part series of giveaways of 9SpotMonk product this month!

This week, we're giving away a half dozen holiday cards to each new follower of our blog!

What you'll get:
2 cards each of the designs you see in the photo, all snow flakes to celebrate the little snow fall we just had

The rules:
1. Subscribe to become a 9SpotMonk blog follower
2. Tweet: Hello @9SpotMonk I'm following your blog #giveaway

First 20 people who sign up for the blog and sends a tweet will win.
**We're adding 30 more for a total of 50 giveaways!!**

Giveaway ends Saturday night at midnight EST.

Good luck!

Santa's Early Christmas Gift

Our press mechanic John called one late afternoon last week said he had a gift for us, a Chandler and Price 10 by 15, complete with motor. I've been wanting a press like this for a while. Thought it would be nice to have a semi automated press in the studio for when jobs come in that demand less than what the Windmills have to give.

I'll be honest, we're not excited to clean this bad boy up - gloves, naval jelly, Simple Green, steel wool, etc. It'll need a major cleaning, it's got inches of dust and grime on it. Hopefully, after the holidays it will be clean and wired to electricity and then we can start testing the press.

Thank you John for the wonderful gift.

[photo credit: 9SpotMonk]
[tags: Chandler and Price, C&P, letterpress, press clean up]

GIVEAWAY: 9SpotMonk + Wantist

9SpotMonk and one of our favorite sites Wantist is doing a holiday cards giveaway. To enter, visit Wantist. And don't forget to check out the Wantist | 75 Gifts for Picky People

(Not so super sweet) Holiday Sentiments

Our newest holiday cards, 100% recycled and will give your recipient a smile 100% guaranteed. For the full collection, visit our 9SpotMonk site.

We're also having our first Fire Sale on Cyber Monday. Enjoy a 50% discount on all things eco-friendly, cool and letterpress on the site. Use code CYBERMONDAY at checkout. Sale ends at midnight tonight, 11/30/09 EST. Free shipping for orders over $50!










For the full collection, visit our 9SpotMonk site.

[photos: 9SpotMonk]

Win 9SpotMonk ecoModern Letterpress Invitations

Emley invitation from the 9SpotMonk ecoModern® Custom Wedding Collection

After much anticipation, we're excited to announce the launch of our newest custom wedding album - 100% letterpress and 100% eco friendly.

Oh So Beautiful Paper is celebrating their first year blog anniversary and we're doing a wonderful give away! Enter for a chance to win 100% custom letterpress invitations from the ecoModern® wedding collection! The designs are fresh and modern and 100% eco friendly. Visit Oh So Beautiful Paper for details. You have until 11:59 p.m. EST tomorrow, September 11, to enter.

Good luck!

- Vivian

[In the News] Cookie Magazine's Daily Find

Check out our Daily Find on Cookie Magazine!

New York International Gift Fair - here we come!

9SpotMonk will be returning to the NYIGF this summer, August 16th through the 20th, 2009 at Jacob Javits Convention Center. Tif and I look forward to doing the shows, it's lots of fun, we get to see old friends and meet new ones too.

We'll be doing a three part posting, for setup, and show recaps... stay tuned!

- Vivian

Hello Giggle + Give Away

We're excited to let everyone know 9SpotMonk is in one of my favorite kids stores - Giggle. Since our first daughter was born, we've been going down to the Wooster St. NYC store to stock up on all things modern, cool and baby. Everytime we're in town, we visit their store. The kids love the great toys and books they have and we love all the great clothes and baby gear they offer. And now they carry 9Spotmonk kids stuff too. Take a little coffee break and visit Giggle today! Not near one of their 9 locations? Giggle.com

I'm doing a give away to celebrate!

We're going to give away 9SpotMonk Colour in Cards (you pick 5 of your favorites) and a set each of boy and girl place mats. We're going to randomly select 2 winners.

Give away ends on Wednesday, July 23. Good luck!

Rules:
1. visit the 9SpotMonk site and comment on your 5 favorite kids colour in cards, what you pick, if you are the winner, we'll send to you along with a set of boy and girl placemats
2. check back on July 23rd to see if you are the lucky winner, then send us an email to hello@9spotmonk.com and we'll get it out to you! Continental USA residents only.
3. Good luck!

We have winners! Thanks to everyone who emailed us.

Sarah H. and Penelope M. will be receiving their goodies soon!



Letterpress Boy Placemats on 100% recycled paper from 9SpotMonk


Letterpress Girl Placemats on 100% recycled paper from 9SpotMonk

The Modern Tooth Fairy

My little kids are still a few years away from a visit from the tooth fairy but I thought as a prepared mom I might as well research now and be stocked with some cool letterpress tooth fairy keepsakes...

The Official Tooth Fairy Kit by Notion Farm

[photos: Notion Farm]

Tooth Fairy Pouch by That Sky Blue

[photo: That Sky Blue]

Free Father's Day Card Post Closing Soon!

Thanks to everyone who commented for the most practical gift to give for Father's Day. This post will officially close at 2:00 P.M., EST, as we're going to the post office to send all the complimentary cards out!

Send us an image of the coloured in Father's Day card! We'd love to share with our readers and followers the creative work of little artists! Kids or grown-ups, it will be nice to see how 1 colour in card is interpreted by folks of different ages.

Feel free to pose with your card as well!

Send your images, no larger than 500K please, to hello [at] 9spotmonk.com. Please include the following:

Name
email (we won't abuse or share)
age (if you are a grown up, it's optional)
mailing address (see below for why we need this)

First 10 photos we receive, we'll send out a little gift to you!

Thanks again!

- Katie

A free Father's Day card!

Father's Day is approaching fast and furious! We're planning an informal bbq at our place to celebrate all the wonderful dads in our lives. The kids are feverishly making cards and gifts for my husband and I'm feverishly thinking on what to get my dad, the man who claims he has everything.

For everyone who's celebrating everything "DAD" on the 21st, we're doing a give away!

Respond to this post on the most practical gift that any dad would love, we'll send our Father's Day Colour in card to you, with our compliments! Color it in, and give it to dad, it will be one of the best gifts ever ;)

*please be sure to also email us at studio [at] 9spotmonk.com so we have your mailing address after you submit your comment. Emails need to be in by Sunday, June 14th. We're mailing everything out first thing Monday.

We look forward to all the gift ideas!!

Renegade Craft Fair - recap

Our first visit to the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn, NY. Sunday was a beautiful day, hot as hell. Tiffany and our little studio assistant Kasie came along to see all things cool and handmade at McCarren Park.


First things first - Italian Ice


Felt Hair Clips by Murdock Design

Kasie spotted these super neat hair clips made out of felt by Murdock Design. They also have an Etsy store, which I'm glad because Kasie has been wearing her hair clips every hour of the day since we got them on Sunday. She even wore them to sleep sleep one night... that's love.


The final selection.


Murdock also makes these great bunny friends. Love the blue bunny.



Letterpress Goodies from Albertine Press

Nice to see Shelley and her family at the fair. I love babies and her and her husband have the cutest little girl, Sadie. I'm sure in 15 years, Sadie is going to be running one of those presses at Albertine.



May Day Studio letterpress cards and hand bound books.

Shelley introduced us to her friend and tent neighbor May Day Studio. All I can say is wow. Kelly's hand bound journals and books blew-me-away. They were amazing. I'm a fan. I'm going to Esty that Bingo Photo Album so fast... I think these would make super amazing birthday gifts (Tiffo, take note).


Fleur Tile BINGO Book by May Day Studio


Folksy Floral Photo Album by May Day Studio


Deluxe Bingo Photo Album



Food charms and jewelry by Inedible Jewelry


Bacon and Eggs Necklace by Inedible Jewelry

Jessica and Susan Partain, run Inedible Jewelry. This is the first time I've seen food jewelry that was so cool. Kasie was wowed by how small the pieces were. She wanted to buy it all but... I think the pieces are too delicate for her right now. So we'll get the book Jessica and Susan wrote and make some of our own, in a larger size.


The Polymer Clay Cookbook by Jessica and Susan Partain.



Kyle and her friend at the Power & Light Press and Blue Barnhouse tent.

Kyle and Brandon came by the studio last week for a visit and 28 second tour of the printshop. Nice to see you guys again!



The Locations Collection by Andy Pratt Design

I'm a big fan of illustrators and Andy Pratt Designs is my new favorite. His illustrations are quirky, lovely, and just downright cool. This collection would make anyone give up their keyboard for 2 minutes and write a friend a quick note. I wonder if Andy would do an illustration of Glen Rock, NJ?



Letterpress cards by Enormous Champion

Enormous Champion's cards first caught my eye at the National Stationery Show back in May. Tif and I saw some really cool work. We never made it to the booth to browse and chat but glad we got to talk a little at Renegade. We look forward to seeing them again at the next show.

Renegade was a blast. We left exhausted and hungry.


Big Wong Restaurant at 67 Mott Street, NYC (photo: yelp.com)

Made a quick trip to Chinatown for some super yummy roast pork and rice at Big Wong (check out the Zagat reviews, and then go eat) on 67 Mott Street in NYC.


The traffic never ends in NYC. Here's a photo I took while on Mott Street - we were stuck in traffic right there for almost 1/2 an hour. Go NYC on a Sunday afternoon ;/

Thanks for reading the post! We're busy at the studio working on some new projects, will keep y'all posting on all things cool and new!

- Vivian

2009 National Stationery Show

2009 NSS 9SpotMonk Booth

We had a new location this year, it was fun to create a new booth and put up our work. Tif and I love doing the shows. Set up is always a combination of stress, headaches, painting, hauling, etc. But when it's all done and we've had enough of mediocre Japanese food delivery, we're usually psyched to start the show.



Feverishly painting away once the walls were up.


Our new ecoModer® letterpress custom wedding album, set up and ready to go.


Orange wall full of new product.

Show's over, we're back at the studio feverishly packaging up orders. Show was much smaller than latter years but still a great turnout despite the economy. A big thank you to our 50 new stores and we're on to the next project - new holiday cards for the NYIGF in August. We'll be posting sneak peaks soon.

Check out our newest products at 9SpotMonk!

Thanks for reading!

- Vivian

ICFF and NSS Rap UP

Hi. I'm excited to be guest blogging for the 9SpotMonk girls today! Viv and Tiff were busy at their booth showing off their new EcoFabulous wedding line so they asked me to wander ICFF and NSS and pull together some things that made me gasp and smile.

GOT WOOD!
Jack Larimore stools made of reclaimed wood near his PA studio defy gravity and are stunning. Uhuru table with mint green metal detail. Night Owl Paper Goods and Twig and Fig wood veneer cards rock Koi Designs stunning room divider Catherine Hammerton wood shingle wallpaper
Daisuke Hiraiwa's Toothpick light. He glued the mass of toothpicks across the bottom so it is flexible and can mold around a light bulb. Reminds me of a porcupine doing yoga. CARDBOARD
Graypants lights Sukmo Koo light made of egg cartons as part of the Pratt "design for a dollar" student exhibit. reminds me of an white chocolate covered alligator pretzel. Chun Wei Liao created modular lights and side tables. They come flat packed and you can place the pyramid shaped pieces in infinite configurations. Also customizable with your own designs. WALLPAPER
I actually gasped when I saw these wallpaper designs from Tracy Kendall. Puzzle pieces, sequins, paillettes, silver alphabet, etc. attached with a tagging gun. I am so going to steal this idea for my blank wall. VELCRO
I think this actually premiered at last year's show but I was in awe of Rachel O'Neil's pendant lights all made with colorful frilled velcro. THE RECESSION CAN BE FUNNY... Design Glut's It's OK To Cry Hankie and candle holder 9Spotmonk's new recession letterpress line
LASER CUTTING
Dining Agenda's book of tear-out place mats with usable laser cut fork and knife conveniently located on the cover
AMH Design's DIY needlepoint notebook kit with laser cut holes.
GRAFFITI
I love these lamp shades from Resurface
9SpotMonk graffiti cards

and finally...
I saw a bunch on ingenious rings at the show.
Nervous System's rings are 3d printed by SLS (selective laser sinteting) in a hard nylon material.
I bought 2 of these Timothy Liles crayon rings.


"Inner Message" rings from Yoon Jung Yun leave an imprint on your finger that say "Marry Me" and "Always". love hurts!
Now I'm off to create