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Stop what you are doing this instant, Nerds, and listen up to the newly crowned, Louie Award-winning Writer of the Year! Alyson O'Connor is one half of the decade-old Rust Belt Love Paperie (RBL) team — husband Nick is the other half — but she shapes our stationery community in a big way, all on her own.RBL's greeting cards spotlight the centuries-old letterpress medium exquisitely, and as such are gorgeous, artful creations in and of themselves — but their messaging elevates them into modern communication tools that hit you (and those you love) squarely in the feels.It's an enormous challenge to communicate emotions that most people can't fully articulate until they see them staring back at them from a shelf, but Alyson spills on her process. We also touch on inclusion and multi-occasional versatility, which are both incredibly trendy topics in our community.Finally, fresh off her win and this Louie awards program, Alyson is now officially the Greeting Card Association's Louie Chair. As a fellow Louie Committee member, I cannot pass up my chance to see where she wants to take the awards program during her two-year tenure. Don't miss my audience with this award winner!
Paper nerds, here's the second part of my interview with this one-of-a-kind stationery innovator and disrupter! @emilyonlife and I kick off discussing The Long Table Collective. The collective provides invaluable mentoring for Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian artists & creative entrepreneurs as it attempts to even out the design playing field.Five ultra-lucky artists receive one year of professional mentoring in a small-group format, meeting virtually twice per month with Lisa Congdon and Emily. If you are interested in being a part, get on it: Applications close May 8!Through the collective, Emily has mentored Carlos Carmonamedina of The Culture Curious. This "citizen of the world" creates stationery that focuses on the universality, not specificity, of card-sending occasions, with utterly vibrant, heartfelt results. This direction ties into a trend both Emily and I are seeing, where one card speaks eloquently to several occasions. This flexible approach ties into our collective desire to simplify as we authentically connect with others — but mastering it as a maker is more challenging than you may think.Whatever role you play in stationery — from maker to disrupter to frequent card sender — miss my audience with Emily at your own risk!
A decade ago, Emily McDowell of Emily McDowell Studio sparked a greeting card revolution and evolution with the release of her Empathy Collection. Her card reading, "There is no good card for this" was both an acknowledgment that the market didn't reflect real life, and a challenge to makers to begin doing just that.Emily's self-named stationery brand would eventually become Em & Friends; in 2022 it was acquired by Union Square Publishing, the publishing arm of Barnes & Noble. While she currently serves in a part-time consulting role, she is no longer an employee or part of its leadership.Since @emilyonlife is currently on sabbatical from many of her endeavors, I am beyond grateful that she sat down with me to reflect on the art of disruption; the importance of timing; writing, rewriting and then rewriting again — as well as the dimensions and ultimate limitations of success. This interview was so compelling, I had to stretch it over two episodes!
For this extra-special episode, my Paper Planes Cocktail Hour Podcast co-host and I decided to try something different. For decades now, Amy Loewenberg and I passed like stationery ships in the night, walking the same shows and stationery shops. Ironically, we never really got acquainted until lockdown in 2020 — that's when we developed and starting churning out our NY NOW podcast once a month. While I have so enjoyed tag-teaming in our maker and retailer podcast interviews, we never turned the tables on each other ... until now that is.So, February finds me in the hot seat on the Paper Planes Cocktail Hour Podcast, and Amy is dropping back into The Paper Fold! With her vast experience on both sides of the aisle, Amy's perspective on the stationery and gift space is priceless. We look back on where stationery has been ... and where it is going. From pop-ups to zoomers, from hybrid market experiences to the inimitable power of connecting in person, you don't want to miss this interview of my brilliant partner in podcasting!
True progress may occur only at the macro level, but it begins on the micro level. Just ask Sadie Teper, founder of the feminist stationery and gift brand Twentysome Design. Her hand-lettered range draws big laughs as it voices our often unspoken thoughts — just ask her craft fair patrons, or the stores across the country that stock her. But beneath the humor, the message is always a positive, inclusive one, which is that much more powerful held in your hands. Thus one card reads, "I love watching you rise/Congrats on your promotion"; one of my favorite Twentysome birthday offerings reminds the recipient that "age is beauty." Vinyl stickers meanwhile share modern dictums like "love yourself first," "worthy + deserving" and "angry women will change the world." Now the self-confessed plant whore, also recently named a Stationery Trends Designer to Watch in 2023, drops in The Paper Fold to spill on her big-picture goals, varied inspirations, upcoming collaborations, to say nothing of how her magnificent, distinctive hand-lettering — AKA Bad Bitch — evolved.
It's tough getting any stationery brand off the ground, but one that goes an entirely new direction is a real challenge. Just ask Sharon Glassman of Smile Songs. This Brooklyn fashion writer turned Colorado songwriter actually came to stationery circuitously — as she was envisioning a way for her listeners to access her anytime, she actually was planning on making music boxes at first! Sharon quickly realized that our smart phones ARE our music boxes ... with a little help from QR codes, that is. But a product that requires explanation can feel incongruous to its category counterparts, so Sharon decided that rather than exhibiting at a traditional gift show, she would instead try the resort and souvenir route. So, she created her Natural Happiness Collection, featuring earthy symbols like mountains, water, flowers, and sun, pairing each with an inspirational message and a song about personal growth and happiness. Then, she took a deep breath and set up her very first table at her very first trade show, The Las Vegas Souvenir & Resort Gift Show. Sharon relaxed once she got her first sale within the first hour, but was really surprised on her last day, when she received the show award for Best New Product Flush from her success, Sharon drops in The Paper Fold to discuss how she developed Smile Songs, and that although the paper medium may evolve, the message is just the same. She shares lessons learned from her first trade show, and how she is bringing next-level collaborations to her most harmonious brand!
What is success exactly? That is the question Kristen Ley began asking herself following the meteoric rise of her paper and gift brand Thimblepress. Taking her creations from Etsy shop to Target shelves in a few short years was a dream come true, but at what cost?Caught up in a mindset of "hurry rush do," Kristen became scattered. "I was spinning out, doing way too much, and not taking care of my mental and physical self," she wrote me. "I had put off doctor's appointments for years, I was cutting my own hair, and I was eating a very poor diet that kept me in a perpetual cycle of sickness. I was a mess."So, Kristen decided to look inwards, slow down to an almost complete halt — including on social media! — and truly reevaluate what was actually going on in her business and heart.As a result, she completely restructured her business — and mindset — so that Thimblepress serves her, not the other way around. These days you will find Kristen not only developing her own product range, but collaborating with others for a true design win-win. Whatever role you play in our community, you'll be inspired by this industry powerhouse's grace, strength and wisdom.
Most of today's young stationery makers grew up swooning over our medium, but Libby Llanso of Seedlings literally grew up working in our trade. As the daughter of Legacy Publishing Group's Cathy and Carlos Llanso, her childhood was filled with packing orders, attending various markets and helping her mom select art for the next year's release. But rather than continuing the status quo, when Libby came on board, she was able to create the range she envisioned. Thus Seedlings sprouted from Legacy — much like wildflowers spring from every last Seedlings envelope. With its focus on vibrant color, authentic messaging and sustainability, this innovative range keeps the medium exciting, fresh and fun. This organic approach has distinguished Seedlings in a rather crowded maker market. The Louie Awards are the greeting card equivalent to the Academy Awards, and last April, Seedlings' gorgeous and heartfelt sympathy design snagged the stationery equivalent to Best Picture: Card of the Year, over $5. Then, last summer, Libby was named to the 2022 Gift + Stationery 40 under 40 class, another enormous honor. Not too shabby for a 26-year-old!Tune in to hear Libby spill on the lessons learned from her upbringing, and what she seeks to originate. Her devotion to sustainability is not only passionate, it is practical, as Libby is helping bring necessary change and progress to the industry as she simultaneously keeps the medium mesmerizing to the next generation of paper nerds.
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