FIVE FOLD INK
A new reason (added to a list of many) why I love Byron is because he sent us a card for our engagement. As in, it arrived in the mail. With a stamp. The postman (post person?) delivered it, and I got an envelope with Megan Stielstra written on it that was A. not a bill B. not junk and C. a pretty color, and I was way excited. Envelopes are great. Especially when they hold cards congratulating you on your engagement to a really awesome, sexy guy. Especially when the cards are really cute and well-designed and parodies of the notes and journal entries I used to write in grade school, which made me laugh really hard, thinking of myself back then versus me now, especially in how I write about love. It was a great card, and I looked up the company who designed it because I wanted to get some. This is how I discovered Five Fold Ink.
Let me back up: last week, I did a reading with Elizabeth Crane and Ken Foster at Quimby’s, and a very nice lady came up to me after I read and said, “I really enjoyed your story!”
“Thanks!” I said.
“Do you have a website?”
“Yes!” I told her. “I have a NEW website, with all sorts of neat things on it! Like my blog! And some photos! And stories! And links to a boy who can dance like a robot! And this artist I love who makes sqiggly shapes out of wire that cast shadows and the shadows spell out words! And—”
“Do you have a card?” she interrupted. “So I can get to the website?”
My brain works like this: neat site, blog, pictures, dancing robots, squiggly shapes. My brain does not work in logos or marketing or business cards. But what a great IDEA! A business card! It makes so much SENSE! You can give the card to people, and they will then know how to CONTACT YOU! Genius! So I turned to Christopher, who was standing behind me listening in on this conversation, and I gave him a look which said, “Honey! BUSINESS CARDS! Let’s go home immediately and whip up some business cards! And we can make them scratch-and-sniff! Like bubble gum! And maybe we can hide a computer chip in each one! So the business card can TALK! It can say, ‘I’m Megan’s business card! Let me tell you a story about the time Megan raised rabbits when she was eight! They lived in a hutch in her backyard and one time—’” and Christopher gave me a look back that said, “I love you. I adore you. You’re great. I’m behind on nine freelance projects, I work sixty hours a week and am in grad school at night where I study the thing which is called something very long and intelligent-sounding that means the psychological connection between humans and computers and, like I said, I love you very much but I just made you a whole website and you have a squillion readings and I come to every one plus your mother is coming to town so can maybe I can have a night off?”
So what I did was this:
Dear Five Fold Ink,
My super-great boyfriend designed me a kickass website and now I need a kickass business card and here’s some ideas I have and do you have any suggestions? I have not tons of money, but some money, and I like your stuff, so, shall we dance?
And Five Fold Ink said,
Dear Megan,
You are a funny strange person. Here are four mock-ups of cards we did based on your website. What works for you and what doesn’t? Let’s get these bitches to the printer and get this ball rolling, shall we?
And I said,
Dear Five Fold Ink,
You are so great, and working with you has been a total pleasure, and I want everyone to know you exist and you make cool things and, since I got to meet you, you are also very cute and sweet and you make me laugh a lot and so do your cards! Everyone should send cards from Five Fold Ink! And get them to help you design stuff! If I had a cheerleading squad, I’d get them Five Fold Ink uniforms and have them do a little dance routine involving pyramids and flips and exposed midriffs!
But I don’t have a cheerleading squad. I do have 500 business cards coming in the mail, though. So ask me for one the next time you see me, and let’s see how professional I can pretend to be.