studio visit

I just had to post a link to one of Poppytalk's blog postings today – it features a studio tour of Hello! Lucky, a fabulous line of letterpress papers (and my neighbors at the National Stationery Show).


I absolutely love their space – it's such a great mix of vintage finds and clean lines! I just recently created additional space for an expanded shipping room but still yearn for a separate office like theirs, sigh...

PHOTOS COURTESY OF POPPYTALK/HELLO!LUCKY

The National Stationery Show 2008

Thursday over a week ago, my friend Amy from Goosey Press and I stepped off the plane at Newark to meet up with my sister Claire, who flew in all the way from Amsterdam just to help me at the show (now that's sisterly love!).

And wow, what a whirlwind week it's been! After exploring Times Square Thursday night, we spend most of Friday setting up our booth at the Javits Convention Center. Having done a few other trade shows in the past, everything came together quite smoothly – if you ignore our struggle to put together some simple Ikea tables that required not only a pair of pliers (which we did not bring) but also a union-paid carpenter's muscle power to screw in all the posts!


I must admit, the end result was very eye-catching (and no, I did not have to bribe the show officials to lay down matching orange carpet in the aisles).


I had splurged on a corner booth and the difference between a corner and a regular booth is really amazing. Because of two fabulous neighbors (Hello! Lucky on the left and Little Oranges of California on the right), our quadrant of intersecting aisles felt very open and airy.

Speaking of neighbors, I was thrilled to have Emily of Little Oranges right across the aisle. Not only was she as nice as could be, she was funny and entertaining to boot! Plus, she freely shared sweets from her candy jar (a nice little sugar boost at the end of a long day).


So, how did the show go? In one word: great! I met a lot of amazingly talented vendors (just love the folks at Ink & Paper and Night Owl Paper Goods), opened some fabulous new accounts (including Broadway Paper in Milwaukee and Bloomingdale's in NYC) and made some great press contacts (Grace from Design*Sponge stopped by; check out her five-part show review).


The Fresh Style Card File was definitely the best seller, but buyers (and press) also loved my new line of imprintables and paper table settings due out later this summer.

What a great initiation to the National Stationery Show – can't wait till next year's!

Start spreading the news....

(sing along now:)... I'm leaving today...

My apologies for the cheez factor here – I just have too much excitement running through my veins! Tomorrow morning bright and early I'll be stepping onto a plane to take me to New York!

While I'm gone, I will try my darndest to post about my adventures in the Big Apple and Cecily Ink's debut at the National Stationery Show (booth #1362, in case you're wondering), but please be patient as I'll be at the mercy of internet cafés, unfamiliar computers (what, I have to use a PC?!) and my feet (will they be able to carry me those extra blocks after a day of trade show trauma?).

Back soon!

sneak peek – 2009 calendar

Okay, might as well give you a sneak peak at the 2009 calendar that will be available for sale starting August 1. I've had so much fun working on this calendar, I can't wait to see it all done!


The cover of the clear CD case packaging flips back to create a stand. At the end of the month, just lift out the page to reveal the next month's calendar. And yes, just like I currently do, I will be creating monthly desktop wallpaper calendars to match that you can download for free (hey, that's a pretty good deal – not much is free these days!)

sneak peek – paper table settings

Well, it's almost time to leave for New York to debut my line at the National Stationery Show. As I'm doing some last-minute prep work, I thought I'd share another sneak peak at a brand new product that will be released later this summer: Places, Everyone! Paper Table Settings.


These paper table settings are designed to coordinate with my line of imprintable invitations. Now you can send out your party announcement and decorate your table to match with coordinating place cards, coasters, napkin rings and wine glass rings (no more confusion as to whether you're sipping your neighbor's pinot noir!)


They'll be available as a 32-piece set (8 place cards, 8 coasters, 8 napkin rings and 8 wine glass rings) or packaged individually in sets of 10. Let the party begin!

sneak peek » imprintables

All my extra energy these days is focused on getting ready for the National Stationery Show - phew, quite a bit of work! For any of you who have organized a trade show exhibit, you know what I'm talking about!

While my to-do list is still a mile long, I have been able to cross off quite a bit, including doing mock-ups for some new products I plan to release this summer. Here's a sneak peak of my new line of imprintables: 5 x 7 flat cards that you can run through your laser or inkjet to create custom invitations, announcements, menus, whatever your heart desires. They're due for release this summer and yes, you'll be the first to know when they're available for sale!