cards to bolster the hearts of organizers working toward collective liberation

Interested in bulk cards for organizers, members, and/or staff in your movement organization or project? Visit our new online wholesale shop!

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Direct Action Is... - Lead & Roses Letterpress Card
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lead & roses: cards for organizers, folding cards, letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
Direct Action Is... - Lead & Roses Letterpress Card
lead & roses: cards for organizers, folding cards, letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
lead & roses: cards for organizers, folding cards, letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
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lead & roses: cards for organizers, folding cards, letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
Welcome comrade! - Lead & Roses Letterpress Card
lead & roses: cards for organizers, folding cards, letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
lead & roses: cards for organizers, folding cards, letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
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lead & roses: cards for organizers, folding cards, letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
Spade Work - Lead & Roses Letterpress Card
lead & roses: cards for organizers, folding cards, letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
lead & roses: cards for organizers, folding cards, letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
Fair Contract: Lead & Roses Letterpress Printed Card
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letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
Fair Contract: Lead & Roses Letterpress Printed Card
letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
Set of 8 Lead & Roses Letterpress Printed Cards
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letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
Set of 8 Lead & Roses Letterpress Printed Cards
letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
Skillful Facilitation: Lead & Roses Letterpress Printed Card
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letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
Skillful Facilitation: Lead & Roses Letterpress Printed Card
letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
Movement Crush: Lead & Roses Letterpress Printed Card
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letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
Movement Crush: Lead & Roses Letterpress Printed Card
letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
Leader-Full Movement: Lead & Roses Letterpress Printed Card
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letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
Leader-Full Movement: Lead & Roses Letterpress Printed Card
letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
letterpress prints, lead & roses: cards for organizers, lead & roses: cards for organizers, cards by purpose
GET THE CARDS

about the name

The phrase “bread and roses” is usually attributed to the 1912 Lawrence textile strike & originated in a James Oppenheim poem:

“Our lives shall not be sweated
from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies:
give us bread, but give us roses!”

Bread & Roses has been used in many social movement contexts as a metaphor for the importance of art, beauty, & rest as critical forms of sustenance. Lead & roses gives this phrase a letterpress pun: much of the type used in hand-setting & printing these cards is made of lead.

These are cards to bolster the hearts of organizers so that they remain deeply invested in working for collective liberation for as long as it takes.

about the printer

I design & print these cards at Pickwick Independent Press and on my Heidelberg Windmill.

Deep gratitude to E. Oscar Maynard of Tender-Heart Press for thoughtful early conversations about this project. Special thanks also to Pilar Nadal & Rachel Kobasa for their input and their generous stewardship of Pickwick Independent Press, without which my work would not be possible.

about the process

The printing for these cards involves hand-setting antique lead type, letter by letter, to create each design. The letters are then surrounded by spacing material & placed into a press (currently a Vandercook 4 at Pickwick Independent Press) and printed by inking the rollers that ink the type, and hand-cranking paper through the press (one crank for each color on each card!) The text on the back of the cards is printed using photopolymer plates to keep the time & cost of creating these cards reasonable. The images (called “cuts” in letterpress printing) are all vintage & floral-themed, sourced from Pickwick’s collection and the internet.

Not pictured: hours of patient fussing with spacing material, layout, ink coverage, and color mixing, plus troubleshooting unexpected press happenings, lots of clean-up time, and deep satisfaction when it all comes together.