visit us in madison

As you can see, we will be in Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday, June 28th. We will be there selling our wares at the summer High Noon Craftacular. We are there every year for the holiday one and have SO much fun. A craft show in a bar in a very cool city makes for a fun selling and shopping experience. We always make a weekend of our travels there and try to soak up as much of Madison as we can.

Usually we start our morning at the Willy Street Food Co-op for some juice and a vegan blueberry muffin. Then we head over to the High Noon to set up. The super lovely (and this year super pregnant) Naomi from the Glitter Workshop is there to get us all organized as she is the head honcho for the craft fair. After a fun day of selling goodies to the lovely Madisonites we pack up our wares and head to our hotel for the evening. Usually we stop for dinner at a super yummy pizza place, The Roman Candle. Oh my goodness, their Pestoral pizza kicks major booty. (pesto, mozzarella, feta, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, kalamata olives, & roasted tomatoes....)

Since we are usually only there for the holiday event, it is too cold to walk around much. This time we hope to spend Sunday walking along the water, going to a park, or otherwise enjoying this pretty city. If you are in town, come on down on Saturday and say hi!

come check out our goodies

If you are in the Chicago area, come by the DEPART-ment show in a few weeks. We will be selling our wares there.

If you aren't familiar with DEPART-ment, it is a super awesome event organized by some super awesome folks. Basically a bunch of 'stuff-makers' get together and organize all their goodies in a huge space just like a depart-ment store. There is a section for clothing, paper goods, art, jewelry, soap etc. During the three day event, shoppers come and pick up their goodies and then check out at the register. Everything is handmade by area artists & craftspersons. It is a totally fun event and opening night usually includes some sort of revelry. Definitely check it out! All the details are above in the picture and also on the DEPART-ment website.

We will be selling cards (along with some new designs, yet unseen), some art prints, and some journals.

paint chip interiors

I need to list more of these in my Etsy shop. I just want to rephotograph them first. I may have mentioned these before, but these are some prints I did a few months back. I created two different room illustrations and then printed them onto those big Behr paint chips. I think they are super cute. I sold a ton of them already at the Renegade Craft Fair in September and December but have behind on listing the rest on Etsy. I have two listed but that is it.

trunkt

We are now on trunkt. Trunkt is an online portfolio of sorts for artists that is geared towards the trade. Most people who visit trunkt are wholesalers, art directors, editors etc. We will see how it goes.

brooklyn letterpress

Here are some new postcards in our Etsy shop. They come in sets of 4. Great to send but I think they'd look nicer in a frame.

Printed in green on the super thick Crane's Lettra paper. It is 100% cotton (tree free) so it not only looks lovely but is super earth friendly as well.

studio sneak peek

People keep asking me about my studio so I thought I would show a few images of my home away from home. The space is very small but more than enough space for us. I love this first photo as it has everything I love... my 1200 lb monster of a press is in the reflection of this super old mirror I have mounted on the wall surrounded by lots of wonderful photographs and bits of goodies... vintage maps of Chicago, little typewritten lists, etc. It is just a fun wall to look at and keeps me inspired. (Many of the band photographs were either taken by myself or by one of my super duper friends, Jeff Winterberg) The rest of the photos include little bits of stuff I have collected that also serve double duty.... an old dartboard becomes a great bulletin board, vintage French kitchen tins hold all my letterpress goodies.... and the blue and white tables are actually old science tables salvaged from a local high school.

blueprint magazine

I am very excited to say that Paper Stories is listed in the current issue of Blueprint magazine. You can find us in their "100 Reasons to be Thankful During the Holidays" article under the indie stationery section. There are only three other stationery companies listed so we are pretty grateful ourselves, not to mention what great company we are in. The funny thing is, is that we didn't even know we were listed. I found out from a customer who mentioned it. I was pretty excited. I am not sure who to thank, but one of the editors over there, Valerie, is a super swell girl. So I will thank her and hope she passes on my grateful wishes to whomever is responsible.

cards for your sweetheart

I have been really hesitant to make Valentines Day cards. I am just not into 'holiday' cards so much and really struggled with the Christmas/Hanukkah cards. Not sure what my aversion is. Well I decided to suck it up and make 2 cards (both available in my Etsy shop). First I made a pretty straightforward card. It is in 2 very slight shades of a pinkish red color and comes with a strawberry pink envelope.

Next I went a more nontraditional route and like this card even more. I was thinking about all those old Rorschach patterns and how it might make an interesting card. Originally this was going to be in black and white as just another everyday card. I decided to juice it up a bit with the red ink.... so now it is perfect for sending to friends and family for V-Day without getting all mushy on them.

I guess I am just not a Hallmark & Kleenex type girl. (If you saw my bittersweet cards, then you would know that!)

a sneak peek

Just wanted to give everyone a sneak peak at the new cards that will be a part of the January design*sponge shop. During the month of January, this is the only place where you can buy the cards. They are a limited edition so get em while their hot. It is a box set of 6 cards, 2 of each 3 designs. The cards are each 2 color letterpress on a super soft 100% cotton (no trees!) paper with coordinating sage green envelopes. I think these are ultra cute and am so pleased with the results.

holiday hustle

I just feel terrible that I have neglected posting anything in so long. As you can imagine, the holidays are super crazy and we have been ultra busy. In addition to getting holiday cards together, going to craft fairs, and also trying to find time to have a little fun, it is also the busy time for weddings and special events. We are up to our eyeballs in orders for spring events. Right now we are working on a really cool invite suite for a Bar Mitzvah, including this super funky map, a separate kid's invite and some other fun stuff. I have been really excited to work on these but they have also been a lot of work. There are also these really lovely invitation booklets that were designed by the bride. I will definitely post photos of these when we are done. Then there is a Frida Kahlo-meets-Spain inspired invite for this couple in Montreal, a rustic western save the date for a couple getting married in North Dakota, some funky retro save the dates for a couple in NYC and the list goes on and on.

Also in the mix, we were asked to create a special item that will be featured in Best Life magazine out on newsstands mid-January. I was at the Target the other day and saw a current issue so at least I know there will be pretty decent circulation. Just as long as we aren't inundated with too many orders. (Keep in mind, Paper Stories exists primarily from the sweat and tears of one full time person and the part-time help from someone else).

We have also created some new cards that will be part of the January design*sponge shop. This has been very exciting but also very nerve-wracking. The d*s audience is pretty large and also pretty design savvy so I must admit there is a little bit of nail biting going on as we get closer to the launch date for the shop. Basically we created 3 designs inspired by some vintage embroidery patterns of these rather whimsical birds. Each card is 2 colors and is on the same super soft paper as the 'bittersweet cards'. I love these new cards because they are made to look like they were stitched on and since the paper is 100% cotton (tree free too!) they feel like fabric. Perhaps I will post a little sneak peak after I photograph them today or tomorrow. The cards will be sold as a set of 6 so you basically get 2 sets of each of the 3 designs. So you can send one copy and frame the other.

Well one of the Paper Stories resolutions will be to post here more often and to include photos of some of the things we are working on. Since we are also still a young company, it might also be nice to add occasional stories and advice about things we have learned along the way and are still figuring out.

I will leave everyone with a photograph by an amazing Japanese photographer named Tokihiro Sato. He creates these photographs using an open shutter and bouncing light from little mirrors and flashlights. His snow images epitomize everything that I love about the winter. Enjoy.

time to spare

My plans to post more of the things that I have been looking at lately, have been somewhat derailed. This past Friday, Grace over at design*sponge did a super little feature about paper stories and our bittersweet cards. Since then, orders have gone through the roof (oh how I have always wanted a skylight) and I have been contacted by so many people. I spent time today talking with the senior editor at Martha Stewart's new Blueprint magazine about an upcoming feature. I wont go into details in case it doesn't come to fruition. I am just excited for any possibilities that may come up. Of course with the extreme highs, soon afterwards comes the anxiety and nervousness involved with running what has pretty much been a one-person venture. How do you "take it to the next level" (don't you hate that phrase? It's like when people in the 80's would always talk about 'the danger zone'. What?)? Ideally, I need an accountant, an office manager, more designers, more printers, more presses, a warehouse, a maid, a personal chef, a helipad... Am I getting ahead of myself? Perhaps just an extra set of hands would do for now. (but they must be cheap hands... I'm not really raking in the dough yet.... Just breaking even) Sometimes I just want to say....