Get your free sticker and winding but worthwhile tale right here!
It has taken me forever to write this blog. I’ve written and rewritten it at least five times. So I’ll cut to the chase – I made a sticker!

You can get one for FREE by just emailing me and asking me for one and I’ll send you one, or two or three if that’s what you'd like, just let me know. All I ask in return is that you join my mailing list, which if you’re reading this, you’re probably already on! If you're not, simply scroll to the bottom of this page and sign up. I know I’m giving away these stickers, but just sayin’, these are legit. From the printer: “High resolution, digitally printed stickers, using Greenguard Gold certified, eco-solvent ink. Vibrant, accurate color and photo realistic detail, color-fast print tech, protective laminate, and ultra strong adhesive that will allow your design to last for years, indoors or outdoors, on most surfaces.” 🥵 HOT. They come from Burlington, VT, and were coincidentally being printed when I was only about 30 miles away on vacation in Jeffersonville, VT. Okay synchronicity, we see you! Sure, you could totally stop reading this blog now, and just get some stickers, and that's cool. But I think this one is worth it. So, read on if you'd like to hear more about how and why I made this.
The process
These words – IT’S NOISE! JUST NOISE – have been in my brain for years. It’s something my grandpa yelled at me once, which I’ll get to. But first, the process behind the graphic. Last summer, in July 2023, I took the iconic family phrase and used our handy home label-maker to print out a few versions of it.

I grabbed the tiny labels and my scanner and used the slit-scan technique to create a handful of glitchy images. I culled through the scans and once in Photoshop, picked out my favorite renditions of the phrase and ‘shopped them together. At the same time, I was preparing for an anthotype class at Flower City Arts Center. I decided to use this first version of the graphic for a red cabbage anthotype. Below is what that looked like, next to a separate turmeric anthotype, before they were exposed in the sun:

To get that swirl effect, I used two red cabbage emulsions – one mixed with vinegar and one with rubbing alcohol, but for the life of me I can't remember which is the more pink version and which is the more blue! I think the blue is the vinegar. Sadly, or maybe not sadly, rain got to my anthotype during the exposure process, and I got wet spots everywhere! This is what the final, swirly and blotchy anthotype scan looked like, without any edits or photoshopping:

Later on in the summer, I ended up taking this image and printing it on the Risograph digital duplicator at Flower City! I tried a few different color combinations using fluorescent pink, blue, and green inks, and printed the anthotype results on 11x17” cardstock.

I have a bunch of these posters in varying color combos so if you want one, let me know! They’re free, I just ask that you pay for shipping since posters are a bit more laborious to mail. In hindsight, I wish I had thought to print these postcard size or at biggest, 4-up on the 11x17” instead of so huge, but I suppose that’s what happens when you’re just working through a process without trying to make something into the most perfectly thought-out finished product ever, right? Because they weren’t really meant to be a “product,” just a test of a process. Trust the process, baby! Anyway, they’re cool, just big and shipping is not my favorite task. If you’re in the Greater Rochester area, I’ll deliver for free, if not, just email me and we’ll figure it out! So, that’s basically where this whole IT’S NOISE concept stood up until a few weeks ago: a phrase that turned into a graphic that turned into an anthotype that turned into a riso poster.
More NOISE!
It was a Saturday morning in late January 2024, and I was challenged by a book I’m reading to cross something off my list that I would like to do. I loved the IT’S NOISE graphic and knew for forever that I wanted to make it into a sticker, but I also knew the graphic wasn’t in its final form. So I went back to those slit-scans. I knew there was another scan from last summer of the top part – IT’S NOISE – that I really liked. With some more photoshopping, I created a new version of the graphic and was super happy with it. I like the impact of this second version much better than my first version. Once that was done, I knew I wanted the sticker to be metallic, so I did some research and found a company that could do it (and, yay, had a sale going on). I mocked up my 3x3” sticker and uploaded it and ordered it right that morning!

One thing to note is there’s a lot more negative space at the sides than the top and bottom. I meant for it to be like that. However, I also meant for the graphic in the final product to be much closer to the bottom edge than it turned out. Look at how close the period is to the bottom edge in the mockup above – that's what I was going for. Wonky. Glitchy. Off. But when I received the digital proof back from the printer, the in-house proof crew moved it up a bit and vertically centered the graphic more than I intended. My guess is that the bottom edge was over the “safe line” and would’ve been in danger of being trimmed off. When I got the digital proof to review, I did see that it was moved from where I put it, but I approved it anyway, just because I didn’t want to think TOO HARD about this sticker and instead just get it MADE. Sometimes you just have to stop tinkering, dammit. But in hindsight, I would have done a bit more finagling with the placement myself. I also may have done a bit more processing/messing around in Photoshop with some effects if I were to do it again. But that's the beauty of trying shit and seeing what sticks, right? Ultimately, let’s consider this sticker a limited edition art piece prototype that I’m very happy with and that there may or may not be more in the future! I printed 100 of this batch to start. Again: just email (or text or DM me if we're cool like that) your mailing address if you want some. In exchange I’ll put you on my infrequently-used email list, which you can unsubscribe from anytime, but I think that’s a fair trade, no? I also think this graphic would be really cool on some other things, like a 12" canvas tote! Obviously, you'd have to go record shopping, and then put the records you buy in your perfectly-sized IT'S NOISE tote. What could be more iconic? Gimme ideas in the comments!
BUT WHAT ABOUT GRANDPA? So now, to the origin story of IT’S NOISE! JUST NOISE.

Sometime during another summer, about 10 years ago, I was up at my family cottage for the Fourth of July. My grandparents, both now since passed, purchased the cottage in the early 1970s. It was theirs, but also all of ours. A bunch of the family – cousins, aunts, uncles, siblings, and yours truly – had gone to the local Independence Day parade together. We took in the sights and sounds of a dozen regional high school marching bands, lots of free candy, classic cars, and rural pageant queens. I can’t say I’ve been to this parade much since; I've aged and the Fourth of July is a fraught holiday (okay, what isn't), but at the time it was a fun thing to do with family on a hot summer morning.

Excellent storytelling. 💛
This is Rafferty as a guest poster. Subscribing to your newsletter now :)
I love hearing your thoughts. I can definitely relate to mostly A days but slowly working towards having more B days. Your experience with this helps me to understand these concepts so much better. You are a 💎 gem.