A few weeks ago, Near Modern Disaster posted a photo of the custom USPS stamps she made for her NSS mailers. I was impressed, so I commented: I don’t know what the prize is, but you won it. She replied: Can I make that into a card? And I said: Yes! (and thought: ohmygod, is that how cards are born? That was so easy. Let’s make more!)  I am not in the business of making cards, though. I am in the business of following you, watching your lines grow, waiting to pounce on a new design. In doing so, I’m acutely aware of how hard you’re all working and I am grateful; that you share your pre-NSS journey and post sneak peeks of what’s to come. I thought the least I could do was make up a few fake awards to celebrate what I’m loving most in this pre-season. So here we are, in a make-believe award season, born from the #nss2015 instagram hashtag and I don’t even have a dress.*(*Kidding, I totally have a dress).  ~ Emily of Clementine

Illustration by Emily McDowell for Oh So Beautiful Paper

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, let’s give out some awards!

TO Near Modern Disaster for alerting us to the fact that instead of holding up the line at the post office you could just make your own stamp. (Are you already imagining the possibilities? Me too.)

TO Live Love Studio for adding a little bit of rhythm to NSS this year (and thus reminding me to wear sensible shoes).

TO Life is Funny LA, for making a Valentine’s Day card for the other 364 days.

TO Carolyn Suzuki for reminding me of those sweet few months I secretly/illegally had a kitten living in my college dorm room and for giving me a card that makes me an honorary cat-lady again, despite in-house(/marriage) allergies.

TO Iron Curtain Press for making me dig through a few closets to find that bulletin board. Also, for challenging me to correctly spell bulletin board twice.

TO Gold Teeth Brooklyn for reminding us to bring snacks (and start a weeks long black + white cookie craving) because no one has time to wait in line at the Javits for that Starbucks donut.

TO Sapling Press, in collaboration with Braden Graeber, for giving me something to text to my friends weeks before I buy it. (Photo by Shindig Paperie)

TO Big Wheel Press for being the honorary dude in the Ladies of Letterpress booth and for busting out this incredible collaboration with Molly Hatch.

TO Angela Liguori for finding those scissors I thought I’d have to steal from someone else’s desk, but now they’ll have to steal from my desk, because: Look at them!

TO Frances Lab for showing me the booth details that will make me marvel into wasting endless hours at home trying to recreate them.

TO 9th Letter Press for starting the party early, while exquisitely bowing out of this year’s show with a mailer so mind-blowing, we need a new word for it. (A Boxer maybe?)

TO Bramble Workshop (for Hello Lucky Cards) for making me wonder, in advance, if the cacti are for sale and if they’re sold in threes or sixes (or just given away to the retailer who writes a blog post about them?)

TO Ghost Academy (via Crow & Canary) for reminding me that I’ll find things that need to be said, in ways I’ve never seen.

What items are you excited to see / what awards would you add? Share them (with a link!) in the comments section.  I wish I could help set up all of your booths (not in my fake award season dress, though, this thing is fancy). I will see you in a few days, and I’m totally cheering for you. xoxo – Emily

(Unless noted, all photos were swiped from the artist’s instagram feed as the gentle reminder to their spouse/parent/self that instagram is, in fact, work.)