Coloring Page: Jolly Peace

It takes everybody to make peace. Click, download, and print.

Preview: Red Fred Bodoni, Pattern No. 1

We are working with some good friends that also happen to be good designers. They are coming up with patterns that we are going to make into paper. The intention is to preview these next week and then have a space online to purchase the paper - it'll be a download until we can have them created.

This is Pattern No. 1, designed by Dallas. Three other designers will show you their spin on RFB, making the collection varied and fantastic.

Coloring Page: An Anagram from Algernon

With the Passover and Easter weekend closing in, Algernon wanted to contribute something unique. So he decided to make an anagram based on this seasonal celebration. Not only is Anagram his last name, an anagram is a word game where you mix up words to create others. For example: The Morse Code = Here Come Dots; or The Eyes = They See; or Astronomer = Moon Starer (we got these from Funny Anagrams). We included a nice illustration of the anagram, along with a coloring page that goes with it.

Up for a game? Here's how it works: the first person to respond with the correct anagram answer on our blog will receive 5 free "Thank You" Word Cage Cards (maybe we should have made a DIY Food Rag as the give-away...).

Good luck!

Yvette & Magnolia Tee / One-Piece

Magnolia-inspired line drawing from Yvette's spin around Central Park last weekend. She named the tree Maggie. You can find the apparel here. Below are a few colors we liked as well as a baby one-piece.

Still... Magnolias.

Spring is starting to peek up in New York. As such, Yvette thought it'd be a good idea to take a spin around Central Park this weekend. She is kind of obsessed with magnolias. There is a tree near the Central Park Zoo she claims as her own. No, she didn't buy the tree. No, she didn't plant it. She just claims to own it. She even calls it Maggie. At this point, you realize Yvette is a helpless romantic, right?

Knowing we were at her mercy of knowledge, she indulged herself by sharing some pretty interesting facts about magnolias.

Did you know the tree (or shrub, depending on which type you're looking at and whose company you're keeping) was named after a french botanist, Pierre Magnol?

She told Black Jack that the flowers are thought to have developed to encourage pollination by beetles, not bees. "Sure thing. And I'm a bat," was all he said.

Before she could tell him, Magnus pointed out that the magnolia was a design element of Mississippi's state flag up until 1864 and is the current state flower of Louisiana. A bit flustered, she turned to The Twins and repeated the exact same thing and then flew off in a huff.

Blanketed in petals, Penny was almost asleep (something she rarely does) when Yvette startled her by popping up to tell her that magnolia leaves are used for wrapping food in Japan! Penny turned to her, a little miffed, and asked, "What am I? Sushi?!"

She couldn't help but think of the the short story "Flowers for Algernon" when she found Al tucked away enjoying the quiet.

Finding his Zen beneath the pink, Stilts had some conversations with Yvette regarding the medicinal uses of some magnolias. Supposedly, the bark helps with anxiety, allergies, and asthma. All from bark?

Sometimes, a little Yvette goes a long way but in the end, we found a definite connection to her magnolia. We did, however, draw the line when she began assigning roles to re-enact scenes from Steel Magnolias. "It would just be so perfect while sitting in Maggy!"

Black Jack pushed her off the branch.

Coloring Page: Classic Troop

It's been a long while since we posted up a coloring page! Here's our Friday post. Click on it, download, and then print out for your coloring frenzy.

If you can't quite remember which color goes where, just look at the blog masthead for visual hints (what's a masthead? Click here for a little education. Thanks dictionary.com).

But do you know what would be great to see? The Jolly Troop in Easter egg coloring fashion with stripes and dots and swirls. Or... how about camouflaged?!

Send us what you came up with through my email: redfredbodoni@gmail.com. If things pan towards sharing, we'll post them up here.

Ciao for now...

-rfb

A Fresh New Few

I really, REALLY want to get The Jolly Troop pattern/craft paper moving. Depending on the day and who you ask, it's either easy or hard. The Jolly Troop has had some designs that we've featured before - and we're going to do those. However, we've decided to expand our circle and invite some crazy-talent to assist with our first collection of paper! These "fresh new few" are great friends of The Jolly Troop and incredible designers within their own right! Who are they, you ask? We'll let you know... very soon.

We're going to be working on Collection 1 with aims to show them off at CHA in July. Not the biggest of shows, but one that will help create an awareness of us and what we're about. We also hope to move the pattern paper into textiles, too.

Lastly, here is an illustration we put together. Thought it would work well for patterns, book covers, or a matching game. Thoughts?