Gocco Daily Fix from Cake+Milk Paperie

One, two, three, four.  Yep, exactly four things I love about Cake+Milk Paperie's Gocco Journals  I came across via Poppytalk Handmade.  One: moleskin.  Two: hand-drawn.  Three: white ink. Four: Gocco printed.  Darling.

Handmade Nation Nod to Print Gocco

If you haven't seen the opening sequence of the Handmade Nation Movie, please do so now. There's a sweet nod to print Gocco in the beginning.  Represent! (Sorry about that.)  I've probably watched this video 50 times so far.  Each time I see it, I think about how many hours of work went into each part.  The entire segment took 20 hours to film over two days.  I'm kicking myself for missing the premiere in Milwaukee last month.  Definitely going to try my hardest to catch the April 23rd showing in West Bend, Wisconsin.  Carpool anyone?  

Speaking of handmade movies, I'm sooo excited to see Coraline in 3D tomorrow at the Sundance Theatre in Madison.  I highly recommend watching the little preview films on the Coraline website before you go.  My favorite is the ity-bity-hand-knitted-sweater-lady.  The mini catwalk just kills me.  I can't wait to take in every little detail.   Sorry this has nothing to do with Gocco...I digress.  Go handmade!

Gocco Daily Fix from Circaceramics

Best accessorized with crema and a laptop.  Circaceramics' cappa cups are completely handmade and cleverly use Gocco for the yarn and needle image.   I've often read that Gocco can print on ceramics but have never tried it myself.  I'm imagining the stamp kit somewhere in this process? Regardless, it's hearted.  

Gocco Daily Fix from cutiepie company

I love it when someone takes a trend and twists it just right.  Cutiepie Company's moleskin: golden girl does just that.  The gold ink for this silhouette adds the perfect touch to a classic motif.  This is just the best little gift for that special gal who always has a notebook in her bag. Pure sugar.  

Tips and Tricks--Reusing Screens

"Whaaaaat?  You can't reuse gocco screens," you say.  "Sure you can," I say.  Maybe in the past, you were a bit lazy and careless with layouts on your masters.  You might have--say-- a full screen with just your business card on it.  You've got room for more on that master, mister! Now, of course you will have to say bye-bye to a few more beloved bulbs, but that's better than blowing the bulbs AND the screen, no?  Check out this image from  felt cafe's blog.  She's got plenty of room there for more stuff.   Just arrange foam blocker around what you want to print at the time and nobody will be the wiser.  By the way, that image is part of a great tutorial felt cafe did on how to print with the PG-5.  Read the whole shebang here.  Of note are her prints on felt.  Superb.  

I won, I won. G.E. #5 bulbs (on Ebay)

Uh, no Katie.  The correct term is actually: "purchased."  

I'm taking one for the team here and trying out these old school G.E. #5 flash bulbs.   I won them on ebay today.  The box contains 12 and with shipping came to $15.00.  It's going to be a sad day if my screen gets ruined but I couldn't find anyone who had actually done this test yet.  I know it might not seem to make a lot of sense to try some old bulbs that are probably harder to come by than the Riso bulbs.  I was thinking that G.E. might find a way to resurrect these from the dead if there is enough interest.  New petition anyone? I'll let everyone know how it goes as soon as I try them.  

I apologize if I ever "give away" anyone's Gocco secrets.  I really think the more information we have to work with, the better the chance that a non-Riso supplier will come along.  

For an update on how these worked, see this post. 

 

Gocco Daily Fix from heatherjeany

Nostalgia alert!  This mixtape remix stationery set makes my heart ache for times long gone. Extra credit goes to heatherjeany for printing light ink on dark paper.  So versatile- you can write your sentiment on the B-side label.  Birthday, Thank You, I heart you...endless possibilities really. 

I used to make the best mix tapes for my loves, complete with paint-pen artistry on both sides.  Oh man I really went the extra mile with the paint pens.  I wonder if any of my tapes are still out there.  Nate...Jon?  

Gocco Daily Fix from psychedelovely

Whoooo is ready for spring?  I'm loving this Springtime Owl Poster by Psychedelovely.  He is part of a series of seasonal owl prints by the same artist.  I adore prints that use color overlay.  Partly because I, myself am very lazy and don't like to do advanced registration.  The colors are to die for.  Mustard yellow and baby blue is my new favorite color combination.  So fresh for spring.  

Save Gocco Campaign Update

Ok, so....I'm sure if you care enough to read this blog you already know that Riso has said bye-bye to Gocco.  You may see elsewhere that Riso is continuing on with supplies for a few years but unfortunately, those few years have expired.  I had a chat with David Murphy, Riso's Vice President of Marketing last week via email.   He had this to say: "Riso empathizes with all of our loyal Gocco customers who have shown such passionate commitment to saving this fine product.  Unfortunately, we have discontinued production of the product and its supplies and there is no consideration or plan for selling its patent.  Thank you again for your interest and we wish you the best."  

Hold your horses.  There is still hope.  It has not been officially confirmed yet but I've heard through the grapevine that Guenther Paneka of patch workshop is working on making a reasonably priced bulb-free exposure unit for the Print Gocco.  He is also planning to produce frames which will fit Print Gocco and hold the thermofax screen mesh which can be bought by the roll.  Good news, but I'm still waiting for someone to say they can reproduce the bulbs and screens here in the good 'ole U.S. of A.  I'm no patent lawyer but if Gocco came out in the '70's the patent should have expired by now anyway.  Who's up for the challenge?     Thanks to Liz Plummer for the hot tip.

Gocco Daily Fix from Jannine Peregrine

Sweet. Sweet. Sweet.  I love the artwork of Jannine Peregrine.  I've seen her work show up repeatedly on the Flickr front.  This print was made with a Gocco then hand-colored with chalk and colored pencils.  I love how Tree Girl's hair is blowing from right to left and I could die for those striped stockings.  Only $18.00 for a true original.  So fun. 

Using Squeegee with Gocco

This is a great tutorial by Queenbeamy of Amyb13 on how to use a squeegee with Gocco. This is great for those of us who have ever tried to print more than 4" down on your paper. Amy says: you're welcome.

Gocco Daily Fix from Cheap Therapy

Fabulous.  This handmade pillow from cheaptherapy would quench my thirst for 2 loves: home-goods and typography.  Marie, the shop owner is a seamstress and her workmanship is obviously top notch. Did I mention this pillow would be perfect for the beach cottage of my dreams?  Enjoy.

Gocco Daily Fix from Natalie Perkins

Flickr find! These business cards are so sweet. They are by and of Natalie Perkins of Austrailia. You can find her blog here. I love Flickr because you get a little peek into the hows and who's sometimes. In the description, Natalie describes how she came to the finished product: "I drew the frame and lace border, and created a repeat from a hand drawn fishnet pattern, and then compiled the design in InDesign. Then I printed the cards with my Gocco, sliced and diced, then used my corner stamp to create the rounded corners".   Genius.

Helpful U-tube video for beginners

In two weeks I will be teaching my first ever "how to gocco" class.  I found this little U-tube demo to send to my students to help them understand a bit about what we will be doing.  When I took my first class, I remember being somewhat overwhelmed at first and struggling to figure out what kind of image to bring to class.  I think this little tutorial will help my students prepare.  

Gocco Daily Fix from Treetop Studio

I love this print from Treetop Studio's etsy store.  In grade school my favorite crayola color combo was grass green and sky blue. It's still a favorite duo of mine.  I can't get enough of pods and stylized botanicals in general.  Love.

Tribute to Jill Bliss: Save Gocco Website founder

For my first ever post I can think of nothing better than a tribute to the infamous Jill Bliss who started the campaign to save Gocco in 2005. Although the petition is no more, her efforts did not go unnoticed. The word spread across this great land that gocco was in trouble. People didn't just sign the petition, they poured out their heartfelt love for Gocco in signature after signature. So thank you, Jill. If Gocco is ever officially saved, we will owe thanks to you.