Anyway, if you can’t afford the real deal. Bussey’s flea market has the hook up on the next best thing in permanent markers. They were right next to the machete’s.

I heart Skerple.

To the rescue

How she can just crank these out is beyond me.

Another beauty I stumbled upon is Jeanie Nelson. She showcases her new animal lettering project on her blog Jeanie and Jewell. Also be sure to check out her stationery and read all about her adorable family at her company website The Paper Nut. That’s all for now, just a quickie. Now I am just going to sit back and wait for a time in my life when I can have a reason to hire someone who can do some awesome hand lettering for me on some invitations that I plan on spending way too much money on. Ah, it’s the little things in life.

lead lower-case a's in a drawer

There is a very precise reason why the terms “upper” and “lower” case exist. Originally (and still to some traditional type lovers) the two distinctions were called majuscule (upper-case) and miniscule (lower-case).

The terms upper case and lower case originated in the early days of the printing press used with movable type in letterpress printing. The individual type blocks used in hand typesetting are stored in shallow wooden or metal drawers, known as cases, with subdivisions into compartments known as boxes to store each individual letter. In many countries the majuscules and minuscules are stored separately, with a pair of boxes for each typeface at a specific size. For typesetting, the two cases are taken out of the storage rack and placed on a rack on the compositor’s desk. By convention, the case containing the capitals (and small capitals) stands at a steeper angle at the back of the desk, with the case for the small letters, punctuation and spaces, at a shallower angle below it to the front of the desk, hence upper and lower case. The term titlecase refers to the convention, often used in titles and headlines, of an uppercase initial letter followed by lowercase letters in each word. (wikipedia: “letter case”)

Upper and Lower-case Type Drawers

The expression “mind your p’s and q’s” probably comes to us from the tedious and exacting job of sorting metal letters after printing a page and returning them to the type cases. The raised letter on a block of metal type represents a letter that prints in the opposite direction, so a metal p resembles a printed q and vice versa. P’s and q’s were particularly tricky. (source)

And now, some favorites for each letter.

A is for..amok: going crazy or out of control, like children who’ve had too much sugar. People usually run amok because walking amok would take too long.

B is for..ballyhoo: a commotion created to attract attention; over the top advertising, like the kind heard at circuses and carnivals.

C is for..cockamamie: it sounds naughty, but it’s not. It means ridiculous or pointless, as in, “Of all the cockamamie ideas you’ve spouted, this is by far the worst.”

D is for..dillydally: to waste time, dawdle, dither. See also lollygag. The dillydallying ducky!

E is for..egads!: not a swearword, but something better that “Gosh!” or “Darn-it!” to say when you are excited, shocked, or creeped out.

F is for..flapdoodle: nonsense; foolish talk.

G is for..gadzooks!: an old-timey expression of surprise, similar to “What the devil?!” see also fiddlesticks!

H is for..hootenanny: a folk-music concert, often with audience members participating.

I is for..inkling: a very slight hint or clue, as in “I have an inkling why you’re so angry. It’s not even my flamingo!” (wha??)

J is for..jalopy: a beat up old car.

K is for..kerfuffle: a big fuss. See also brouhaha.

L is for..logorrhea: excessive talking that is usually incoherent and often associated with mental illness; sometimes called verbal diarrhea.

M is for..malarkey: nonsense or foolish talk. see also flapdoodle.

N is for..nickelodeon: a movie theater of the early twentieth century. It cost a nickel to get in, which explains the name.

O is for..oodles: lots and lots, see also umpteen.

P is for..palsy-walsy: very friendly, usually in an annoying way, as in, “Well, you two have been very palsy-walsy lately.”

Q is for..quagmire: a mushy, marshy, swampy area, but also any kind of sticky situation or predicament.

R is for..rigmarole: an overly complex way of doing things.

S is for..snollygoster: a shrewd or crooked person; a swindler.

T is for..tintinnabulation: the jingling sound that bells make.

U is for..undulation: a steady up-and-down or to-and-fro motion; sometimes used as a fancy word for speedbumps.

V is for..vomitory: the passageway running between rows of seats that spectators use to enter or exit a stadium; it comes from the Latin verb vomere, meaning to eject or spew forth.

W is for..whirligig: something that spins around and around, like a top or merry go round.

X is for..X: X-ray, X-Men..not very tongue tickling.

Y is for..yawp: to squawk or complain, in the sense that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Z is for..zigzag: cutting across from side to side. If you need to waste a few hours, you could measure the zigzaggedness of the zippers on all of your pants.

*THE ANSWER TO THE CONUNDRUM*

…The letter M!

Santa really delivered this year. Instead of the typical expensive purse or designer clothing item that I usually ask for; I opted to ask Santa to splurge on some shiny, new design books for the Lowercase a: Book Collection. What started as a couple books left over from college art classes has quickly multiplied into an inspiring collection of design books from logo design to structural packaging. Having book resources at your fingertips is undeniably one of the greatest gifts a designer can give themselves. You can find endless inspiration for your next project and can study up on the masters of the trade. (I’ve also found that flipping through design books is also great way to pass time and relax,  but also feel like you are doing something productive) Unfortunately, for our wallets, its a little addiction that I don’t think will ever go away. There are always more fascinating books on the market that would be “perfect” additions to our collections. Luckily, Borders is open late and lets your look at as many books as you want, so its a great way to get your fix without blowing your paycheck.

In other news, Santa also brought a screen printing kit, this adorable necklace, and a tin of assorted gummi bears.

Looking forward to next year. Thanks Santa!