wanna trade?

The article I wrote about the National Stationery Show for the Storque (Etsy's online newsletter) was just posted the other day. So far people seem to be digging it. I hope that the companies featured feel that I represented them well and that readers have found some useful information. I would love to hear what you think. Catch the full article here.

nss (part three)

Today's post features some of the wonderful paper folks that I had the pleasure to interview for my Etsy article. (By the way, the article is finished and is just awaiting publication- I'll post a link when it goes live) These gals made some wonderful work and were super sweet to answer all my questions. They gave a lot of good advice which I passed on in the article about exhibiting at trade shows. So here is just a little pictorial tour of some of the booths. Enjoy

Pie Bird Press

JHill Design

Ink + Wit

Sub-Studio

Sweetbeets

Albertine Press

Letterary Press

Micah and Me

nss (part two)

So one thing I must say as I go through my photos of the show... the lighting at Javits is not very good at all. I feel terrible posting some of these images as they do not do the work justice. That being said, here are some more images from the show... Tomorrow I will post much of the work from the folks I interviewed.

Smock is a new company run by the folks at Boxcar Press. (They make a large number of the printing plates for all us smaller companies). They have developed a whole line based on a bamboo paper that they are having manufactured just for them. I am super jealous as I have been trying to track down a bamboo paper for a while. Think they will sell me some paper? ;)

More lovely cards from the Screech Owl Design booth

More from the Fugu Fugu Press booth.

Eco postcards from Night Owl Press. I wish the creatures in my backyard looked as cute as theirs.

I found this display at the Pretty Bitter booth to be pretty funny. Perfect for the manly man in your life.

While I was there I ran into an old letterpress friend of mine, designer Andrea Burke. We took classes together forever ago. She was there with a new line of cards. It was super nice to see her again.

Ice cream + letterpress = non-stop YUM from Motormouth Press

Okay, so I apologize for less than stellar photos. I tried to pack lightly and opted for my smaller digital. Next year I will bring my larger SLR for sure. Come back tomorrow for the NSS/Etsy roundup.

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?

poppytalk handmade

From May 12 through June 6th you can find us over at poppytalk handmade, a virtual craft fair of sorts created by the lovely Jan and Earl of poppytalk fame. we are excited to debut some of our newest cards which so far, have only been available at the most recent Chicago Depart-ment show. (most of them sold out at the show... exciting).

This particular month will feature paper goods makers in celebration of the annual National Stationery Show in NYC. It is the place to be every year for anyone even slightly interested in selling stationery products. This year I will be attending as press for Etsy for an article I am writing for them. If you sell cards or want to sell cards and have never been, I encourage you to go to the show next year. Note, it is a trade only event so you must prove that you are in the industry.