Ladyfingers NewsLetter Press: Email #4

September 03, 2026

What Teaching Teaches Me

This past weekend, I taught an Advanced Hand-Lettering class here at the shop and I am still feeling the buzz from it, 4 days later.

Even though I’ve taught dozens (DOZENS I SAY!) of lettering classes, I always get a little anxious before each one. Hand-lettering (or, The Art Of Drawing Letters - not to be confused with calligraphy, which is The Art Of Handwriting!) is something that has always been very intuitive to me; so every time I’m preparing to teach I face the question, “How do you teach intuition?” How do you break down something you naturally do without thinking into succinct, tangible steps? It's like trying to teach someone to dance: how do you go from the hokey pokey to full-blown ELVIS? Obviously somewhere in between lies a kind of intangible, unexplainable magic that turns Ikea instructions to the body into a swagger machine… So how the fuck do you teach THAT?!

Turns out, all you need is a set of French curves!

Ok ok, maybe there’s a little more to it than that (and to find out, you’ll have to take the class!), but this week not only did I get one step closer to verbalizing this indescribable feeling I know so intimately, in doing so I realized that intuition is really just every lesson you've ever learned, every mistake you've ever made and experience you've ever had, all mingling in a hot tub together deep within your psyche, just waiting to be summoned by muscle memory. And while I can't fabricate an intuitive response within somebody else, I sure can give them a few lessons that'll come in handy when it's time to get out of the hot tub and get to work!

For this particular class, we had a public school teacher from Chicago join us to further her love for lettering. It’s not the first time we’ve had folks travel to learn with us but I’m usually terrible at looking at the billing addresses and sometimes don’t realize I have a pair of friends on a gal-pal trip from Portland until they’re sitting right in front of me. This time though, this traveling Chicagoan had been in touch with us in advance via email, through which she explained that she was booking this trip as a gift to herself after navigating a personally challenging year. She seemed resilient though, and determined to jump start this new chapter of her life with a weekend of inspiration, learning and a lot of self-care. She arrived with a giant box of donuts to share with the class, so obviously she was already succeeding!

Ladyfingers Letterpress Advanced Hand Lettering

After she departed, it was interesting to reflect on this idea that someone would choose to enter our world as a gift to themselves. It gives you perspective. It reminds you of the privilege you have where you get to support your family by doing something that you just absolutely LOVE every single day. I don’t know why I’m using the second person here because I’m obviously talking about myself. Anyway, thank you to our English teacher from Chicago for teaching me something I couldn’t teach myself.

(Gets up to find my box of tissues).

OK, I’m back, my tears have dried, and I wanted to end this story by mentioning to all you shop owners out there that our classes can come to you! Since 2015, we’ve taught in Iceland, Miami, Denver and California(and even more!) and love teaming up with other creative outfits to share our love of lettering with your community. Just get in touch!

Now What?

Morgan and I have been hosting local classes and workshops in lettering and printmaking since we opened our downtown COS location 10 years ago. We’ve been planning our next round of classes which will likely include our top hits like beginner hand-lettering, an intro to risograph and a type-setting letterpress class, but we want to hear from you:

• Is there something else you’d like to learn from us?

• A class that you’ve been dying for us to offer?

• If there was an afternoon you could spend with us where we share all our industry secrets and show you how to do what we do, what would you want to know?

More lettering workshops? Printmaking? Biz shit? Activism/Organizing? Something else? Let us know!

We Value Your Privacy

ut what if you just want us to help you print your zine on the risograph, or have an idea for a letterpress card that you really want to make? If a class setting is not quite what you have in mind, remember that we also host private lessons and group classes! With the holiday season soon upon us (which to some people includes work parties or hosting guests from out of town), keep in mind that you can book a party, event or creative experience at Ladyfingers! Because making stuff together is so much more fun than doing trust falls with someone you don't actually trust to catch you or trying to avoid talking politics with your drunk uncle! Let us know if you would like more info and we can chat!

Ladyfingers Letterpress Group Classes and Private Lessons

This Week At The Shop

Sometimes you read about a celebrity’s passing in the news and go, “Tsk, that’s a shame, I loved him/her/them in (some movie/TV show/that band they were in).” And then after you try googling how they died, you move on to the next item on the day’s agenda. Oh, wait, that’s only me? 😬

Anyway, I don’t know if there has been a passing of a human being that has touched so many people in such a profound way. Sure, it SUCKED when Prince and David Bowie died within like 3 months of each other, but while that shock wave was felt really hard by a lot of people, I’d wager that the effects of that wave started to fizzle out once it passed over the giant mountain of passionate music fans.*

But Dolly? Dolly, man...

Years ago, our oldest kid had a first grade teacher who was a Dolly Parton mega-fan. Like, mega-dega fan. I remember wondering to myself, why the heck would anyone be so into Dolly Parton?** It seemed so random to me at the time, but as the school year progressed, we learned about her Imagination Library, philanthropy, and general approach to life that just oozed grace, generosity and goodness.

I started to lurk on the Dolly Parton subreddit and while I’d find the occasional post about a song here or an album there, it's almost like the sub was moonlighting as a place for people to discuss how to be a better human being. (And license plates. Apparently her fans love discussing Dolly-themed license plates.)

The other night, someone posted a recent photo of her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which had been senselessly defaced. There were some fans who were justifiably mad and ready to throw down, but like a glistening sunbeam overtaking a stormy sky, a voice of kindness and tolerance emerged from the comments section. It's like her fans all decided that the best way to honor her was to follow the lead of her compass(ion) and try to be more kind. It made me wonder how many other artists have that kind of effect on their fanbase? How many artists practice the art of being a good person? Do you think the ripples of her humanitarian and philanthropic efforts will continue to grow and inspire?

I am hopeful that her principles will take root and grow into a world-wide garden that will be as benevolent as it is proliferous.

Speaking of artists who are also good people, we wanted to share some prints from the amazing printshops of Amos P. Kennedy Jr. and Tender-Heart Press.

Notes Worth Noting!

Before I get any more carried away than I already am, I wanted to mention these random bits of interest:

We'll be closed this Sunday, September 6, 2026 for Labor Day!
Morgan just re-merchandised the store with lots of new goodies!
If you’re in town, don’t miss the Labor Day Lift-Off this weekend!
We recently went to the Mesa Drive-In and you should too!
We recently went to Urgent Care for x-rays, which you shouldn’t do! (Don’t worry, our skateboarding kiddo is ok!)

What's Hot What Snot!

While I’d rather not dwell on the things that AREN’T working for our business, I WOULD like to share what IS working! Here are our best selling cards for August!

#5: I Believe In You

#4: May I Offer You A Potato In These Trying Times?

#3: Happy Birthday Kid Unicorn

#2: Heart Tiny Card

And our #1 best selling card in August was…

It's Your Birthday Tiny Card!

It's Your Birthday Letterpress Tiny Card Ladyfingers Letterpress

Have a retail store and want to place a wholesale order? Use this link!

Have a regular ol’ human body and want to place a regular ol' human order? Use this link!

FOOTNOTES:

*Morgan says I am going to need to apologize to a lot of people for this blasphemy upon Prince and David Bowie. So I'm starting now. Not sure when I'll be done. 😬

**as a mega-dega Björk fan, I shouldn’t ask such silly questions!

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Ladyfingers NewsLetter Press: Email #4

What Teaching Teaches Me

Now What?

We Value Your Privacy

This Week At The Shop

But Dolly? Dolly, man...

Notes Worth Noting!

What's Hot What Snot!

It's Your Birthday Tiny Card!

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