Erinzam News

In January, my younger brother and only sibling, Brett, died in a single car accident. He was an amazing person and an extremely talented musician. He is missed so, so much.

“HAYS — Brett Anthony Zamrzla, age 24 of Hays, died Tuesday, January 22, 2008, the result of an automobile accident. He was born March 21, 1983, in Salina, Kansas the son of Bruce Anthony and Jeanette M. (Gustafson) Zamrzla.

Brett was a 2002 graduate of Chapman High School and attended school in Sylvan Grove through his sophomore year. He attended Fort Hays State University, where he was involved in many music activities. His love of music led him to be a part of music activities in the Hays, Ellis County and Dickinson County communities. Brett was a member of regional and local bands and he gave percussion music lessons. He was also a personal assistant for DSNWK in Victoria.

He is survived by his mother, Jeanette M. Zamrzla, of Hays; a sister, Erin L. Zamrzla and husband Ben Schlitter of Santa Monica, Calif.; grandparents, James and Eleanor (Clark) Gustafson of Smolan, Kan.; one uncle, Larry Zamrzla and wife Shirley of Salina; and two aunts, Virginia Clapp of Hays and Rhonda Toal of Hillsboro, Kan.

He was preceded in death by his father, Bruce A. Zamrzla; paternal grandparents, Anthony and Edith Zamrzla; and one uncle, Gene Clapp.

Memorial services will be 10 a.m. Friday, January 25, 2008, at the Covenant Church, 102 S. Washington in Lindsborg. Inurnment will follow the services at the Rose Hill Cemetery, rural Lindsborg.

The family will be present to greet friends from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday at Brock’s North Hill Chapel, 2509 Vine, Hays.

Brett’s family respectfully requests that you honor him by “paying it forward.” Please consider who might best receive the gift you have to give — flower, food, service, music, money, art … — and give it in loving memory of Brett. If you’d like to let us know what you’ve done, please send us a note (205 E 25th Terrace, Hays, KS 67601). May the peace of Christ be with you”

Yep. The newest issue of ReadyMade will soon appear on newsstands, so it’s about time I write a little bit about my contribution to their previous issue (Dec. 2007 / Jan. 2008), which is still available, if you are interested. Better late than never!

As usual, ReadyMade published a fantastic issue, including a selection of ideas for making your own holiday gifts. The ideas center around materials: paper, wood, plastic, fabric and metal. I contributed an idea to the paper section on how to make a note card set from repurposed materials.

Below are step-by-step instructions for how to make your own set of these note cards from file folders and other papers that you may already have.

You will need these materials and tools:

• Hanging file folders

• Miscellaneous papers (sheet music, ruled paper, graph paper, etc.)

• Glue stick

• Thick rubber band

• Ruler

• Olfa / X-acto knife

• Bone folder (optional)

• Paper clips

1. One regular file folder makes two cards. Open up a folder and cut it perpendicular to the center fold at 4 1/4 in. to the left of the fold. The center fold will serve as the fold for the cards. Cut the rest of the folder down to 11 in. x 12 3/4 in., then cut that in half lengthwise to form two 5 1/2 in. x 12 3/4 in. rectangles. Fold each piece into a tri-fold.

2. You can use any design on the front of the card. I chose monograms, so I printed out a large letter, paper clipped it to the center panel, and cut it out to create a hole.

3. Choose a paper to show through the cutout, and cut it down to the size of the center panel. Glue it under the hole, then fold the right (front) panel and glue it down to the back side of the center panel.

4. Carefully open up a standard A-2 envelope (4 3/8 in. x 5 3/4 in.) and paper clip it to your paper of choice.

5. Use the original envelope as a guide to cut your paper in the same shape.

6. Fold the new envelope paper along the original envelope’s folds.

7. Glue the bottom flap to the side flaps to complete your envelope.

8. Repeat until you have a set of cards and envelopes.

9. Wrap up your set with a rubber band and use one of the leftover cutout letters as a gift tag.

I’m oh so far behind in posts and updates! So much has happened since the Holidays. First, after a link from Boing Boing (yay!), I spent the days (and nights) leading up to Christmas packing up dozens of rocket clocks. The next two weeks were refreshing; time was spent with family and friends back in Kansas. Upon arriving back in CA, I dug right in to a special project for a fantastic online shop.

The shop is called Three Potato Four. The owners continually update their beautiful selection of new and antique items, all inspired by their love of collections. In February they will launch a special section dedicated to kids. We worked together to create a set of little books that will be a part of this section. You’ll have to wait until February to see them, and all I can tell you is that they are super cute!

Here are a few examples of the goodies to be found at the Three Potato Four online shop:

I have several posts in the que, none of which are completed yet. So, I thought I’d share some of Ben’s downloads with you in the meantime. This one is fun: Gift Box Icons for OSX complete with a snow scene desktop. Also, here is his latest holiday illustration as an iPhone wallpaper, created for the Thunder Chunky Xmas Project. Enjoy!

Ready for some tips and tricks? I am currently working on an illustrated tutorial of the coptic binding, which I plan to post soon. In the meantime, here are a few great resources for other tutorials and inspirations.

My favorite published resource is a book by Keith A. Smith entitled Volume I Non-Adhesive Binding: Books Without Paste or Glue. This guy knows his stuff. Although he has several other books available, I suggest this one to start off with. He begins with the basics, such as what tools to use and how to fold your paper and eventually illustrates several dozen different binding variations.

There are many online resources as well. Brian Sawyer has a great collection of bookbinding links here, which include everything from thorough tutorials to inspirations. Even more links are available at The Book Arts Web. I also discovered some great information at My Handbound Books. This blog has a selection of tutorials and ideas as well as a fantastic list of resources.

Last but not least, I suggest enrolling in a bookbinding class or workshop. This is often the quickest way to learn. Check out your local paper or art stores as well as local colleges and art centers to see if they offer any classes of this sort.

I love the way that this idea developed. While working on cassette tape books, I discovered that I somehow cut a stack of pages way too small. Not about to waste paper (oh no!) I began to scavenge around the studio for something that would make an appropriate cover for a tiny book. I came across a set of vintage inventory tags that I purchased from the Etsy shop, Other People’s Flowers. I had no plans for them at the time of their purchase… just a keen interest in collecting functional paper. Voila! The perfect match for my little mistake. These books are available here.

What does this mean? It means that I stayed up too late last night, and I still have many things to do! I first discovered this delicious drink at a Vietnamese restaurant years ago. They called it “Vietnamese Coffee”. My friends called it “liquid cigarettes”. Whatever you call it, it is tasty, and it will wake you up.

Start with a layer of sweetened condensed milk in the bottom of a tall glass. How much depends on the strength of the coffee and how sweet you like it… I usually begin with about 1/8 to 1/4 cup. The Vietnamese restaurant used a special little drip pot that sits right on top of the glass. A shot or two of espresso will have the same effect. I used our little Moka Express to make my espresso. Stir the espresso into the sweetened condensed milk and then add ice… lots of ice. Stir a little bit more and then enjoy! If you’re like me and don’t often indulge in high amounts of caffeine, you will soon be bouncing off of the walls.

Today I used favorite fabric scraps and images from vintage magazines to create a series of little buttons/pins to include with books purchased from my Etsy shop. I’m tempted to keep a few of these for myself!

After loads of planning, designing and cutting, I finally have an edition of 100 rocket clocks ready to find new homes via Etsy. I created this design several years ago as part of a class assignment at Fort Hays State University and recently decided to refine and redesign a few parts. I will post more about the entire process soon. Until then, here are a few images to give you a glimpse of the paper goodness.

I’m so excited about the beautiful frame that arrived today for my little Luba painting. I did this painting quite some time ago, and just couldn’t decide on the right way to present it. Finally, I found the perfect frame and now Luba is ready for a new home.