We sure love paper here! Here’s some of our cotton and bamboo papers. We have 1-ply, 2-ply, ivory, white and other kinds too. Becky is in the background. She does stand behind her work.
by Carrie Valenzuela, letterpress printer. 2:30 p.m.
Here at Boxcar Press we are dedicated to making the world a better place and providing our customers with the finest quality letterpress stationery items. Recently we’ve been able to combine our two loves on a couple of special projects. (We’re sure other letterpress shops are out there supporting causes they believe in too. Post a comment and tell us what you’re doing, or email us at info@boxcarpress.com so we can promote you in future blog posts.)
If you follow this blog regularly, you may recall that we donated the printing for this Tara Hogan (of Ink + Wit)-designed card earlier this year. The sanctuary “provides shelter to cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, sheep and goats who have been rescued from cases of abuse, neglect and abandonment.” It promotes the respectful, humane treatment of animals and the benefits of a vegan lifestyle. Learn more by visiting their website:www.woodstocksanctuary.org.
Our friends at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary liked the cards so much they called and asked if they could buy more! We were happy to do the job (who doesn’t love cows and pigs and sheep?) and extend them a discount in recognition of the great work they do. To learn more about the Sanctuary see our January 24th blog post.
(Boxcar Kids* modeling the tee shirts sent as a thoughtful thank you from the kind folks at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary.)
We recently received this message from Greta Gladney, Executive Director of the Renaissance Project: “I cannot begin to tell you how much pride we take in using our new stationery. We appreciate Boxcar’s craftsmanship, commitment to sustainability and support of our work.”
“The mission of the Renaissance Project is poverty alleviation and improving the quality of life in New Orleans’ low-income African American communities by implementing programs and supporting partnerships in the areas of food access,education, economic development and the arts.” (from the mission statement of The Renaissance Project)
We printed their letterhead, envelopes and business cards at a discount. The identity package was designed by the talented folks at Big Tada in New Orleans.
The letterhead is letterpress printed in silver and navy ink on the front and features a map offset printed in silver on the back. The same navy and silver are used on both sides of the letterpress business cards. Crane Lettra Fluorescent White papers and envelopes served as the canvas for this handsome identity suite.
by Mary Raymond, Client Coordinator.
This is the cutter that Becky uses to trim large parent sheets into smaller pieces that the printing presses will run.
by Carrie Valenzuela, letterpress printer. 2:22 p.m.
Electric purple ink swirled on table waiting to be pressed into a cushy paper bed.
by Carrie Valenzuela, letterpress printer. 11:01 a.m.
Our practice of donating letterpress paper to local art programs and schools has become one of the most rewarding things we do, and it never goes unappreciated by the kids who benefit. Recently, we received a visit from a local teacher whose students used the donated paper to create books that they then read to children in the local area. The visit was a happy reminder of why we do what we do to help the kids in and around Syracuse.
As show of their appreciation for our recent donation, the seventh grade students at Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse made us our own book full of their praise and thanks. Each student wrote us a personal, heartfelt and touching letter. The book is absolutely one of the coolest things we’ve ever seen. It’s awesome for us to know that our donation touched these kids and that, in turn, the stories they wrote, the books they made and the time they spent with younger students, touched even more kids in a positive way.
One student wrote, “Dear Boxcar Press, Thank you for letting us use your paper. We got to touch many hearts with the books we provided for the children…”
Thank you, to the students of Jenny Albicelli’s seventh grade English class. We are so happy you enjoyed the paper and so grateful for your gift to us.
Several times a year, Boxcar Press donates some of our letterpress paper to the local public schools & local art teachers. It’s one of our favorite days ever, where we get to help out cool local teachers dedicated to art & children….so when we received this email message and photos about our paper donation — well, it just made our year.
“Thank you so very much for all of the supplies your company donated to MOYA, The Museum of Young Art and also to Chestnut Hill Elementary School. Attached are photos of the museum space and the artwork created on your papers and cardstock. The photo of the young girl working on the McCaw is a fourth grader from Chestnut Hilll. The oil pastel rendering of the chair was created at MOYA from Boxcar’s cover stock and is hanging as a permanent piece, the first in our collection. One man’s trash is another artists’ treasure! We appreciate all of your generosity, more than you could know. Happy Holidays to all at Boxcar and a heart felt thanks.” — Susan M. Fix, Executive Director, MOYA and Art Teacher at Chestnut Hill.
This is one of our favorite days of the year…..
A few times a year, public school art teachers come to Boxcar Press to pick up our overstocked paper, offcuts, excess envelopes, cool boxes, and other odds and ends that can be transformed by students into art. The supplies we donate are met with such enthusiasm from the art teachers….though art budgets vary from school to school, we’re told by some teachers that they only have about $.70 to spend per student on art supplies for the year(!). We love our little community of Syracuse, and we love doing things like this that help us feel connected to where we work and live. Also, though recycling is good, reusing materials is even better…..we hope this will spark some good donation ideas for other letterpress shops. If you have other cool ideas about how to re-use your extra letterpress Stuff, we’d love to hear about it! (Our great neighbors Partners for Arts Education help organize all of this….thanks, Partners!) (photos by Carol, our operations manager. Thanks, Carol!)