National Stationery Show 2010 : Greeting Cards Galore, Part 2

May 27, 2010 // kristen // 1 replies

If you missed part one of my Greeting Cards Galore series, then you can find it right here. Now, onto part two!

Old Tom Foolery combined a great display, clever design, and their trademark humor in their lineup. Their new Typestache poster is a must have for typophiles, graphic designers, and mustache enthusiasts!

The Full Courtney Press made their debut at the stationery show this year, and I’m really digging the simplicity and clever use of type in their designs:

Loving all of the color in these vintage-inspired letterpress cards by Elum:

There was such great energy at the Byrd & Bleecker booth. It was like a fashion show in there! I felt the urge to “work it”, but instead I took photos of their fabulous cards.

9spotmonk has a great concept (and awesome neon colors) in their line of letterpress pop out art cards. It’s a card and a little piece of art, all rolled into one!

The Pie Bird Press booth was filled to the brim with their oh so colorful cards. I can’t get enough of their layered illustration style — hello, chocolate bunny!

The colorful fruit silhouettes in Hazel & Violet Ink’s Alice line really caught my eye:

Such sweet illustrations on the cards by The Great Lakes. Love that bunting card!

photos by yours truly

National Stationery Show 2010 : Greeting Cards Galore, Part 1

May 26, 2010 // kristen // 6 replies

Are you ready for a fun-filled, greeting card adventure through the National Stationery Show? I sure hope so, because I have so many great greetings, note cards, stationery, and postcards to share.

If you’re looking for a great Father’s Day card, you should head on over to Hammerpress, which has some very cool options.

I absolutely loved the texture of ink on these oh so pretty postcards from Igloo Press, and I had to hold myself back from squeeing out loud over the adorable recipe cards and tags, illustrated by Suzy Ultman.

My photo does not do Sanna Annukka’s cards justice, but trust me, they were awesome!

Seeing Albertine Press’ new Letterpress Library on display in person was fantastic. The patterns and color are so pretty that I couldn’t help but be drawn to the display.

And I was so happy to meet Angela Liguori, who was boothmates with Shelley from Albertine Press, and to see all of her gorgeous cotton ribbon and twine, as well as the new Francobolli Line from Carta Inc. What a colorful booth this was!

Lots of colorful eye candy at the enormouschampion booth, too, where I couldn’t take my eyes off of The Kingdom Animalia (top left). Their letterpress cards and prints are always standout, as well, alternating between a modern, graphic and vintage inspired aesthetic.

A beautiful collection of cards from Masha D’Yans, whose colorful, dreamy painting style I really enjoy.

Really cool, new Sweetheart cards from 175 Design Studio. I like the combination of ornate pattern with the cute, stylized “sweetheart” illustrations.

photos by yours truly

National Stationery Show 2010 : All About Details, Part 3

May 26, 2010 // kristen // 2 replies

If you haven’t checked out the first two parts in the All About Details series, then you can find them here and here.

Kamal has such a unique line — I’m really digging the new chipboard invitations and cards, and I loved that she painted her booth a dark color to showcase her goods. Creating a garland using coasters from her collection was a brilliant idea, too.

Erin and I met up with the lovely Carina of Crow & Canary at the Wild Pulp booth — by the way, you should check out Carina’s great coverage of the NSS if you aren’t already. Wild Pulp made their debut at the show this year, and I thought that the booth, which Christopher transported to the show in his pickup truck (!), fit so perfectly with the tone of the Wild Pulp collection. Can you believe that Christopher actually creates the bird nests for his cards by hand? Wow!

Jason & Ilira at Rag & Bone Bindery had a great display, which included an outfit with a paper skirt (textile top) that Ilira made the night before the show. That takes paper talent! I was also digging their oh so pretty guest books and liked that they had a project from Jason’s new book on display to hold their business cards.

Unfortunately, because I was so busy poring over Jason’s book, I managed to forget to take pictures of the rest of the booth. Hey, this was my first show, so I can be forgiven, right? Plus, it’s a really cool book! Thankfully, Jason was kind enough to send me some his photos so I can share them with you. Thanks, Jason!

Photo Credit: Jason Thompson

Walking into the Timeless Paper booth was like entering a magical paper world. I loved that Emily and her crew had all of the paper pretties on display just as they would be used at a wedding reception or party. So pretty.

The Paper Loop booth was so much fun! Their colorful, wonderfully illustrated cards brought lots of smiles, and I totally wanted to take the cute little bear that was on one wall of their booth with me. Somehow, I doubt that Sara and Rob would’ve been very happy about that.

Such a pretty, woodland display of the Martha Stewart line at the Crane booth. Would you expect anything less from Martha?

photos, with the exception of the ones taken by Jason Thompson, by yours truly

New Advertiser : Finch & Hawk Paper Goods

May 25, 2010 // kristen // 1 replies

It’s my pleasure to welcome Paper Crave’s newest advertiser, finch & hawk paper goods. Erin Vale is the talented designer behind the finch & hawk line, which includes snarky notepads — I use my Pain in the Groceries and Freakin’ To Do lists all the time — as well as customizable, printable and printed favor boxes, seed packets, and other details that are great for gift packaging, weddings, and parties. You can check out the entire finch & hawk shop right here.

images from finch & hawk paper goods

National Stationery Show 2010 : All About Details, Part 2

May 25, 2010 // kristen // 1 replies

Miss the first part of All About Details? You can check it out here.

The Smock booth was a feast for the color lover’s eyes. I loved seeing the vibrant colorways in their new card collections, and the bent wire signage was something else — hello, mini smock hanger! Smock’s new gift boxes and bags are really cool, too, and their patterned boxes would make great office paper storage, as well as being fantastic as reusable gift boxes. And the gift bags — very sturdy and made from paper handmade in Nepal using 12th century papermaking techniques. Pretty neat stuff.

Wiley Valentine’s booth was like a super luxe lounge. I think they even had a couch in there! I really enjoyed their use of the birdcage wall hanging as a display for their cards and calendars, and their letterpress art prints were a feast for the eyes. Seriously, though, the “Let Them Eat Cake” print was making me hungry, and their oh so pretty recipe cards were making me want to bake. It must’ve been around lunch time when I visited their booth. Yep, that’s my excuse.

The Mr. Boddington’s Studio booth made fantastic use of paper! From the white paper cobblestone walls to patterned envelope liner awnings, there was a little bit of paper in every corner, and it was a beautiful display for Mr. Boddington’s greetings. Plus, how cool is that post box business card holder?

Paisley Tree Press oh so cleverly used chicken wire as a display for their beautiful letterpress cards and coasters. Who knew that chicken wire could be so elegant?

The hand cut wood sign at The Mincing Mockingbird was completely awesome, and I thought that the white on white in the booth made it look like a modern gallery space, perfect to display their bird paintings and prints. One of my favorites was the Pi is Infinitely Tasty card, perfect for the mathematician or pie lover in your life. Versatile!

Lots of color and fun cards in the Amy Smyth Made It booth. Hee, Not Old Owl card! I thought it was neat that the back of the booth was covered with “framed” versions of a variety of the cards.