National Stationery Show 2009 – Part Two

Spending just one day at the National Stationery Show was many things to this newcomer: inspiring, exhausting, overwhelming, gratifying and many other “ings” that made it a very pleasurable experience. Thoughts of having my own booth next year do swirl in my head, but for now, I will concentrate on some of the great designers and artists I witnessed.

By far, my favorite “brand” is jacki paper. A kidcentric idea in the best sense, they introduced a 3-D greeting card called the Wish Maker, modeled after the folded paper that told your childhood fortunes and secrets. My six-year-old just discovered these and he’s in love! I’ll have to find a jacki paper version for him. Jacki Rigoni and Tracey Jedrzejek were warm, welcoming and encouraging to this newbie. They offer both letterpress and offset cards with a quality sense of humor.

I met Katie Hunt of Kelp Designs, who is a first-time exhibitor to the show. She has a great positive attitude and is a quick thinker, having to replace her original shelves quickly. But Katie’s booth really showcased the colorful and clean designs of her line. I hope she does well at the show!

Another first-timer was Emily Jones of Emma J Cards. She was enthusiastic and had a great energy that you could see translated into her designs. Emily’s selection of cards are whimsical, stylish and the colors just POP!

The Hello!Lucky booth was witty and inviting. I believe I spoke to Mary between my oohing and ahhing, who answered all my questions with a smile. I was impressed by how many choices they offer, both in categories and style of printing. Hello!Lucky specializes in letterpress printing, but digital printing is also an option for both wedding invitations and their selection of stationery.

Eunice Moyle, the company’s Creative Director, used a Sharpie to draw the backdrop illustrations by hand that you can see pictured here. Simply Talented!

One Curly Girl’s Eppie Wyckoff has an excellent design sense for women, infused with good humor. I was drawn to her adorable cards and whimsical characters immediately. The hand-drawn designs are all in black & white and get a pop of color from the square envelopes. Eppie’s booth showed off her creations with style, courtesy of her husband, co-owner and carpenter, Jerry Wyckoff. It’s great to see a husband and wife team working well together! A sample is pictured below of her charming cards.

One last mention… I loved the new candle featured in Whitney English’s booth. I believe it was called the Classic Candle. I am not a fragrance person, but that scent was so clean and pretty, I just had to write about it! Such diverse offerings in the Whitney English booth.

And what a great experience! Everyone I spoke to was lovely and encouraging. I hope it was successful for those involved in these lean times. Maybe I’ll let that idea of having my own booth swirl around in my head a bit longer. Do they let dogs in the convention center, I wonder?