Consider it a sustained, genetic backlash to the rise of the PC and desktop publishing: There is nothing quite as delightful to the hand and the eye as the subtle relief of letter forms and images pressed directly into heavy vellum.
There are a few old hand-operated letter-presses around town. Lunalux, down on Loring Park, has monopolized the attention because they pioneered the second coming of hot-lead type on heavy handmade papers 25 years ago (just about when Windows 2.0 was taking over the world).
But there are others hiding out around the city, like Papered Together, literally a mom and pop shop run from the home of Krista Stout in South Minneapolis. Stout's been doing a barnstorming business on Etsy, the secret commercial website of independent artisans and craftspeople everywhere. She recently cobbled together her own website, so now you can work with her directly to custom produce thank you notes, wedding invitations, drink coasters, and other obsoleted delights of a more gracious, hand-written time.
Krista Stout, Papered Together, http://www.paperedtogether.com/
@ Etsy, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=73578
