national stationery show 2008 + nyc visit (part one)

What a long weekend. I missed last years NSS due to being very pregnant but I was determined to make it this year. So with the gang in tow, we left Chicago for NYC early Saturday morning. This was Jackson's first plane ride (at 7 months old) and he was super! Not one cry. He slept the entire plane ride and was just the perfect little boy. We spent the rest of Saturday walking around midtown. There was a street festival 1/2 a block from the hotel (the Flatotel was nice) so we dined on some vegetarian Thai food and did some people watching. Jackson must be a city guy at heart because he was just so into the scene. He loved it all and was surprisingly relaxed.

On Sunday we went down to Javits, picked up our press passes and hit the floor. Since I was partly there to interview some specific people, I tried to get to their booths first. (Those interviews will be posted on Ety's online newsletter, The Storque. I'll keep you posted when it is published.) Since we only had Sunday and Monday to hit all the shows (NSS, ICFF, & Surtex) we had to move fast. As we walked up and down the aisles, one thing was pretty evident... letterpress is hotter than ever. More and more independent letterpress studios were represented while some larger companies that usually focused on offset printing were also introducing letterpress lines. In one row alone there were at least seven letterpress companies that I counted. Overall the show was pretty impressive. I saw some old favorites and found some new ones as well. Here is just a sampling....

fugu fugu press had one of the nicest booth displays. it felt fresh and looked wonderful. they have the cutest designs as well.


night owl papergoods is always a treat to see. They were giving away the cutest little tote bags but I was too shy to ask for one. of course I am kicking myself for it now!

super lovely goods from dutch door press and super lovely ladies as well

the yellow owl workshop booth really stood out. plus they were super fun to talk to

these girls at the motormouth press booth were just the cutest thing on four legs. their work was supper yummy.

another couple I really enjoyed meeting were Jacqueline and George at the screech owl design booth. Jacqueline's illustrations were wonderful to look at.

I will be posting more later as I also work on my article for Etsy. If you were able to walk the show I'd love to hear your thoughts. Who was your favorite?