Hedge Society

Daily: Vinyl Pressing Plant/Memorable Tweet/Paper illustrations

Detroit's Last Vinyl Pressing Plant on the Hedge's Moving Pictures Tumblr

(also see our post in honor of Record Store Day)

Memorable Tweet: @paperedtogether

Paper Illustrations of Carlo Giovani :

Pictures from first The Great Paper Exchange

 

From @hedgesociety to @sinisterdaisy.

We sent her a sketchbook because we know she's good with a pencil.

The little stamp is from The Small Object.  We put it on a lot of our paper exchange packages.

Back to Beyond: Our paper exchange

As you may or may not know, The Hedge Society is a blog that carries over from Beyond magazine, a no-ads arts and culture mag that produced four issues around the themes of beauty, hope, sense of place, and small. We used the motto "taste the goodness" as we shared all kinds of things that drew our interest over the last few years. (Our Hedge Society name is taken from one of the editorials that was written for Beyond.)

Having moved on now, we thought it might be fun to tell some of the stories behind the layouts and ideas that appeared in each magazine. And we thought it would also be good to keep sharing Beyond here at the hedge, since it had very little time-dated material in it and is still a beautiful piece of papercraft.

Here's the scoop. Beyond was the little magazine about a lot of things. We operated as a portable art gallery - not big enough to require a building but not small enough to be written on a grain of rice. We worked with poets, writers, thinkers, artists, and readers to create a thought-provoking magazine that also contained a good dose of silliness. Or a dollop of silliness. Dose or dollop.

And we loved the connections that developed via the Beyond community, where readers and creators from all kinds of backgrounds met both inside and outside our pages. We hope to continue those connections here at The Hedge Society.

So jump on in and jump on over to get a bit o' Beyond. Since we're doing new things now, we're offering copies of the goodness for $6 per issue, which is 50% off our last cover price. And if you follow us on twitter, we're happy to offer tweeps all 4 issues for only $20. That's pages and pages of papery goodness to enjoy while asking "Is Spring here yet?"

So - send one to your dearest friend, your fiercest enemy, a complete stranger, or yourself. (Or maybe you ARE your dearest friend.) Any way you read it, it's about sharing the goodness.

The Great Paper Exchange Update.

From Satsuma Press. Sent to the Hedge Society by @Elle_Ann.

Over the next week, The Great Paper Exchange packages will be winging their way across North America and overseas. I'll be sending each participant a little extra something just for fun. We'll see how this round goes and maybe some of you can join in on round two. Up with paper! And fun mail!

Ideas for The Great Paper Exchange

Here are some ideas for our upcoming paper exchange:

K. says:

Old postcards, new postcards, middle-aged postcards, something you drew, something your kid drew, something your dog or pet chicken drew, paper airplanes (not life-size unless you have a big envelope), cards, sticky notes with quotes or pictures, a whole book or a piece of a book, an old or new magazine, a paper bag puppet (@glowsheep does well with these), paper boxes (@girlinthehedge makes great boxes), a piece of blank paper with accompanying pen, a doodle,your favorite letter or number, a handmade puzzle and some tape, origami, and so on and so on.

F. says:

A piece of paper with a recipe on it, an origami hedge creature, a paper snowflake (@hedgesociety isn't so good at these), a paper chain, a box full of papercuts for your dearest nemesis, an envelope of paper confetti with an appropriate "before opening" warning, a shredded piece of paper that has a message when it's put back together (no moralizing thank you very much), a collage of paper goodness from your recycled paper box,

and so on
and so forth.

The Great Paper Exchange

(otherwise known as the The Hedge Society Postage Stimulus Package)

Last week, I had a glorious mail day. There were no bills, no unwanted catalogues or offers for carpet cleanings. I had three pieces of mail that contained paper art - two letterpress pieces and one small illustration from @elle_ann, @msla, and @drilone. I'll take pictures when I am back in the office. Just one of these things would have made my day - that someone would pick something they liked or were proud of and take the time to put it in a real envelope, put on a stamp and send me an actual object in the mail. I'll be sending each one a paper treat in return.

So I propose The Great Paper Exchange in these long days of winter. Send a doodle from a sticky note on your desk, a quote in your own handwriting, a post card or a small book that you'd like someone to read. Send it to someone you like or if you'd prefer, a not-so-perfect stranger. If you'd like to send or receive something send a DM at our twitter (@hedgesociety) or an email to hedgesociety at gmail dot com and we'll match you with a giver or a takee.

I feel like we should shoot a starter's pistol. Or at the very least, sing the first few lines of "Everybody dance now..."

14: Daily

I'm getting ready to put out a big post to follow up F.'s response to people calling all manner of creative things "dead". But it's not quite done yet so I thought I'd post a few things that we either twittered or put up in our delicious links today. There's so many good things going on:

The Printmaking Bible: The Complete Guide to Printing Materials and Techniques

"Perennially popular, printmaking is enjoying a contemporary resurgence—but no comprehensive up-to date manual on the subject exists.

At over 400 pages and packed with 1,000 full-color photos and illustrations, The Printmaking Bible is the definitive resource to the ins-and-outs of every variety of serious printmaking technique practiced today."

PajamaProgram - Delivering Warm Sleepwear and Nurturing Books to Children in Need. (U.S. based - so far only one Canadian office). 

This reminds us of Sleeping Children Around the World. They deliver bedkits to hundreds of thousands of children with the goal of A world in which every child benefits from the comfort of a good night's sleep." One hundred percent of every bedkit donation goes to a child. They operate with zero overhead and this year they will deliver their millionth bedkit.

We have a few foodies as followers on our twitter and we think we'll have to do a foodie roundup one day and ask them some questions. They have great blogs. Here's one for today. Limes & Lycopene by @KathrynElliott of Sydney, Australia. Check out 31 Ways to a Better Diet.

Calendar 8: Field Guide Calendar

Why not look at imaginary birds all year round, courtesy of artist Sarah Utter? Sarah says, "I live in a cabin overlooking the Puget Sound with two dogs and two cats and one human. I walk in the woods everyday. I saw a whale in our inlet but nobody believes me. It took me 12 years to graduate from college. Go figure."

Each month shows the moon cycles of the moon.
And did you know that April 25, 2009 is World Penguin Day?
8.25"x11" folded, with drill hole for hanging.
$12.95, at buyolympia.com

Calendar 7: Red Prairie

Red Prairie Press put out this calendar for 2009. The Press is "a one woman (rachel bone) sweatshop, supported in part by a sometimes-bearded man (phil davis) and a cat the size of a small dog (mr. sammy)...currently based out of the cozy basement of our house in scenic Baltimore, MD. We are also based out of the kitchen, the bathtub, the living room, and the many nooks between all of that." Each handwritten calendar month features a gouache and ink painting by Rachel.

Limited edition 2009 Calendar
8.5" x 8.5", thin white spiral binding, drill hole for hanging.
$15

Calendar 5: Be Happy Now

"J" is for January.



This lovely calender is by Be Happy Now's Jenny-from-Israel, a freelance illustrator. She writes:
"I am a happy artist. I have:
1 cat,
1boyfriend
1 shop
2 yellow shoes."

It's true, yellow shoes do lend themselves to happiness.

2009 Calendar, by Jenny
medium size, $30, 11"x5.5", 12 cards

same calendar, smaller version
$17, 5"x2.5", 12 cards

And here's a different calendar by Jenny, in a different size
$35, 10"x7", A4