Oh So Beautiful Paper

You guys, I’m thrilled to share some extra-special news with you today – my husband and I are expecting our first baby!  I’m in my second trimester and we’re due in early October.  I’ll admit, I was really surprised by how tough the first trimester was, at least for me.  Exhaustion and nausea both kicked in right around 6 weeks, which made it really difficult for me to keep up with my normal work schedule and left me unable to eat anything other than crackers (and maybe a little fruit) up until a couple of weeks ago.  But thankfully my energy levels are back up and my appetite is mostly back, so now we’re feeling incredibly happy and excited to embark on this amazing journey!

Photo by me

Back in January, I had the honor of being a judge at the Louie Awards, which were established in 1988 to reward creative excellence in the greeting card and social stationery industry.   Anyone in the stationery industry can submit their work for consideration – not just members of the Greeting Card Association or exhibitors at the National Stationery Show!  Next month, I’ll be heading back up to New York to help judge the 2012 Louies along with fellow editors from HOW Magazine and Stationery Trends, buyers for some of the most influential national retail outlets, and owners of brick and mortar stationery stores – I can’t wait to see this year’s entries!  The entry deadline for the 2012 Louie Awards is coming up in a couple of weeks, so today I thought I’d share the wonderful call for entries that Chairperson Katy Greenspan put together for the awards!

From Katy: The Louie Awards have been an stationery industry institution for almost a quarter of a century.  Last year the Greeting Card Association (GCA) set out on a 3-year plan to revamp the Louies to ensure that the awards are reflective of our industry today.  Recognizing that stationery is so much more than greeting cards, we opened up new categories for invitations, announcements and photocards.

We chose a circus theme for this years awards, “The Greatest Cards on Earth!”  I joined forces with a co-worker, designer Tess Donohoe, to create a call for entries that we hope will inspire paper companies to submit their best work.  The piece inside uses carnival barker speak to draw the reader in, unfolding to reveal the competition details laid out like a circus poster.

I really wanted to include an activity to make the call fun and interactive and liked the idea of a take-away item people could put on their desk or shelf to serve as a reminder to submit.  An elephant never forgets, so “Louie the Elephant” seemed like the perfect choice for our paper toy.  You can see a little video of how Louie comes together right here.

This was kind of a dream project because everything was donated by companies associated with the GCA.  We had our pick of any Neenah paper, and Independent Printing was willing to use any print or finishing technique in creating this one-of-a-kind piece.  We ended up die-cutting the folder and toy (dies by Atlas Dies) and using white and gold foil (provided by the UEI Group).

Thanks Katy!  The Louie Awards are held each year during the National Stationery Show and the deadline for entering is December 15th.  All stationery companies are encouraged to enter!  Details can be found at the GCA website.  If you would like to receive a call for entries in the mail, you can email Katy with your name, company and address.

Design: Tess Donohoe & Katy Greenspan

Paper: Donated by Neenah Paper

Printing: Independent Printing

Dies: Donated by Atlas Dies; foil and foil dies donated by the UEI Group

Photo Credits: Jami Nadzam

Many thanks to the editors of Southern Weddings for including me in their latest issue!

I was asked to reimagine my wedding in true southern wedding style, along with some of my favorite fellow bloggers.  Click the cover image above for a sneak peek at the article, and check out the latest issue on newsstands now!

Many thanks to the editors of Stationery Trends for asking me to contribute to their Fall 2011 issue!

Read the full article here!