Invitations & Announcements

I have two things for you (very late) this Wednesday evening, an announcement of new things and zine invitation to extend. So, which one first? Lets go backwards and start with our brand new, mac friendly, storefront.

Seeing beautiful Mav’s new store for her always enchanting letterpress cards and prints couldn’t have come at a more fortuitous time for Louise and I as we searched for a new shop system, one that was of clean appearance and simple to operate. As keen Card Society members, we, like many, find both Mav’s blog and her work completely inspiring (to say the very least), so to find big cartel with its fussy freeness through Mav seemed like a pile of chestnuts to a squirrel; super appealing and almost too good to be true. With Mav’s okay, we jumped across to big cartel, and haven’t cast our square eyes back since.

So, without further wordy ado, I pronounce our new store OPEN! Completed this afternoon, we marked the occasion with celebratory serves of thickly sliced watermelon, our first of the season tasted and enjoyed (purchased from the local greengrocers, not, I might add, home grown).

In our new store you shall find a couple of Thelma’s stuffies (under All things sewn), artists’ proofs (see Works on paper), 11.5 fossils (resting naturally in Zines), and all of our recent cards are far from resting on their laurels (filed under Paper goods). Along the way you will spot, if lucky, a Silver Stag, and (hopefully) other delights.

If you would like to be added to our mailing list please leave either a message in the comments section or via email with “Please add me to your little wolves in the know mailing list” in the subject line in order to receive updates on hammer & daisy, Thelma’s, and zines, and all things closely or loosely related.

{Our etsy store is still very much in action, and unlike our new store, it shows the prices in US dollars.}

{Name: Mum, Dad & I | Vehicle: MG YB | Date: Mid seventies | Street/Suburb: The Avenue, Belmont | Country: Australia}

Now, to something a little more fun. I would very much love for you to be a part of a new collaborative zine I am putting together operating under the shoddy working title, Have Wheels, Will Go. A zine all about vehicles and modes of transportation; a zine harking back to the days when people posed alongside their set of wheels, a proud expression etched across their face; a zine made up of photographs of you or someone you know, or your cat or dog, or a relative stranger on the street. Anyone really. Anyone posing alongside an automobile of your/their choice.

It was Hayley (back in July of last year) who, equipped with needle and thread, proceeded to sew this idea into my skull. On a post featuring a photo of my parents and I by our green MG, Hayley commented “My parents have a stack of old photos of them, in front of cars they thought were cool [though they never owned one]. Most the pictures look exactly like yours, except mom has frizzy red hair, and my dad with a pipe in his mouth. Even my grandparents have photos like that too. Do people take pictures like that anymore, standing proudly in front of a great car?”

{Name: Gracia | Vehicle: A yellow car I really like | Date: 10/10/07 | Street/Suburb: Carlton North | Country: Australia}

Pressing on, to the zine particulars and what you need to do:

Send me a photo of yourself leaning up against or standing alongside your dream car. Or perhaps you might be a tad keener on propping up alongside a car you’d never fancy yourself driving. You could ask a dear friend or neighbour or acquaintance to pose whilst you stay behind the camera lens, it’s really up to you.

Pets, small children, big children, an Uncle in glasses, a friend in overalls, a whole bunch of people, a complete stranger or your good self, anyone posed, arranged, limbs artfully draped alongside a vehicle. I’m not fussed as to how you go about it or how many you submit; I’m just interested in pulling together a collaborative zine made up of photographs of living beings by cars. Naturally, I advise strongly against lolling across the bonnet of a stranger’s car and setting off their car alarm.

Bend the rules and pose by a scooter, or send me a copy of an old family photo already in your possession that you feel fits the bill, just be sure to send me a little something.

Please include as much or as little of the following as you’d like:
Name
Vehicle
Date
Street/Suburb
Country

You can email your photos to me at: gracialouise{AT}optusnet.com.au
Or if you’d prefer, you can send something by post.

All submissions are required by the 15th of November, 2007

Format: 9cm (H) X 13cm (W) approximately. RGB, 300 dpi, jpeg.
(This measurement is a guide only. Your file should be around 4.67 MB in size.)

{Name: Louise | Vehicle: A stranger's dirt bike | Date: 10/10/07 | Street/Suburb: Elizabeth Street, Melbourne | Country: Australia}

The end result:
I hope to make this into a printed zine, and if all goes to plan, one online too, so please only submit information you are happy to share.

As a general rule...
Crude, yes; lewd, no.

All submissions will be published, though of course, if by some miracle I receive a great deal, some may end up (by financial necessity only) on the web version rather than both.

All folk happy to participate will receive a free printed zine, and if you’d like a few copies to give to chums I can also organize mates rates.

Please email me (or leave a message in the comments below) to let me know if you are in and I’ll make sure to leave space for you.

This zine is open to all so please feel free to pass it on to all and sundry.

I look forward to seeing your wheels.

{A big thank you, Hayley, thank you, Mav… for two things in this post not possible without either of you. A big thank you to Misprinted type for the font lettering above.}

Comments

[Wendy]

“Please add me to your little wolves in the know mailing list”
The new shop looks wonderful.

[shari]

ooh! congrats on the new shop. and yay for a new zine. love this idea. t and i are in! xoxo

[Erika]

Congrats on the new shop! It looks great :) I think the zine sounds wonderful- and will keep my eye out for a car i dream of to send to you :)

[marsha]

i can hardly wait to try and find the car of my dreams...how fun!

[Brydie]

I'm In! I'm In.... please if there is a spot for me?! I will delve into the albums and box of photos, or alternatively, fabricate a new scenario. Very exciting about the new store! I'll have to check it out.

[shona]

If I can catch the guy in my town who drives the same model Volvo my mother had when I was born + brought me home from the hospital in...I'm in! I see him driving around + always smile, I hope he does not think I'm flirting with him.

[risa]

congrats on the new store! it's lovely.
and i'll start looking out for a great car. i have a bunch of car shots i took in buenos aires, but unfortunately none of them include me. maybe i can photoshop myself in???

[cd&m]

Going to have a look at your store now, right now, congratualtions and good luck.

[cruststation]

Hooray, how exciting and fun! Congrats on your new shop, it's fantastic! Of course I am 'in' for this fabulous project (love the 70s photo of you and your parents + your jacket is too cool in the photo below) and please add me to the shop mailing list too :) Yay!

[julie]

Congratulations on the new shop - also a fan of the clean look filled with many treasures to choose from...and talking of which, i received mine yesterday and LOVE them - thank you so much for them and the extra :)
Love this idea of a zine and it reminds me of picks of my parents next to cars or motorbikes..xxx

[sally james]

Love your new store. So many wonderful things. It looks so tempting! Well done.

[amisha]

congratulations on the beautiful new shop! a perfect space.
and i'm very excited about the new zine... e requested multiple snaps of him with minis this summer so one of those will be on the way soon :)
xo

[elaine haby]

Count me in, honey-bun.... e

[maditi]

congrats on the beautiful new shop - looks really great!!
and please add me to your mailing list too.
the new zine idea is fabulous :)

[mav]

you are both a real inspiration. XX

[hannah]

yay! i am so in. i'll send you a bunch and you pick!!

[Erin Lang Norris]

OH! What a GREAT idea for a zine!!!!!!! I'm so in...I can't wait to see the end result!

[Tiffany]

Okay, that is one nifty spifty idea for a zine, I must say! You will certainly be finding some picts from me e-winging your way (the rhyming was unintentional).

:^)

Tiff*

[Veronica TM]

so many good news!! i LOVE this new project and now that i think about it, there are at least two photographs i would like to send you {from two very distant places too}.
those two cars are great!
thank you for the invitation to participate in the zine, gracia!

[Veronica TM]

oh, and add me to the mailing list, please.

[lisa s]

oh man! the store... the photos [you and l are the CUTEST - meant to say that on your blog too louise... so darn cute]

and duh - mailing list of course!!!!
xo

[anna b]

A fabulous idea. Please count me in for the zine! Mailing list of course for me as well!

[fliss]

Please add me to your wolves in the know ...the shop looks fantastic! I am in with the zine too...great idea!

[Marieke]

What a great new store! I am almost through my set of cards, which all recipients loved, so I might place an order quite soon. Ah, the car! I must set up a photoshoot for yellow bambino and moi. Hope you are well, my friend :-) x

[Jenna]

Ooo - count me in!

[kate]

I'd love to be added to your mailing list. And please count me in on the automobile zine. I must have several photos somewhere ... if not, well, I'll take one!

I couldn't believe that you were standing in front of the same model of car that I spent hours in with my very first boyfriend. I have many fond memories of that car although my friend's car was blue with a white top (I'm nearly 50 - yes, an ancient fossilised specimen)!

[shell]

The new shop is wonderful! SO many great goodies in there. I saw the owls in a shop in Brisbane recently - they get around, huh?

And I love the zine idea - I'd participate but I don't drive. I think that if I come across a snazzy vehicle in the next few weeks I'll have to get someone to snap a picture of myself in front it. Fun, fun, fun!

[Les]

Congratiolations with the new store! It looks so great! Like your weblog! How did you find mine? I'm so glad I have a new weblog to visit! It looks great. I'm going to give it a closer look now, good luck wih the store! And thank you for your comment on my blog! xxxx Les

[gracia]

Ah, what can I say? I am so happy that you are all so keen to play along with this new zine. So happy! And that, my friends, is quite the understatement.

To those of you playing along - welcome aboard (to mix my ships with cars and cars with ships). I can't wait to see your wheels.

(Find behind the scenes moments captured here: http://gracialouise.typepad.com/high_up_in_the_trees/2007/10/ever-forward-1.html ... and a few questions as to what to submit, answered.)

take care, g
xo

[Anastasia]

i love that photo! your zine is a FAB idea!Im going to go hunt for a vintage family photo ...Id love to be on your mailing list if Im not already...