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2008 National Stationery Show: What's Nasty and Nice - Part II
INVITATIONS: IN GOOD COMPANY Homebase: Guildford, CT DESIGNERS: Nicole Lacey and Laura Mitzelfelt Wholesale price: $7.75 for box of 10 Bright colors and lots of repeating lobsters, soccer balls, bumble bees. This is an ideal collection for preppy parents with a playful bent.
Outstanding offering: The brown monkey flat cards can be personalized to announce a boy's birth. The chocolate brown card with the bananas is hip and so much fun. Tel: 203-453-5110 E-mail: Info@ingoodcompanydesigns.com
ANY OCCASION/BLANKS: SCREECH OWL DESIGN Homebase: Brooklyn, NY DESIGNER: Jacqueline Schmidt Wholesale price: Approximately $7.50 for a box of 12 postcards Schmidt's illustrations mix carefully rendered animals with detailed drawings of modern furniture. The look is California cool (by way of Brooklyn) with a touch of whimsy.
Outstanding offering: The sophisticated color palette offsets playful pattern and motif in these postcards. They're great all occasion notes for a parent or child. Tel: 718-702-7556 E-mail: Info@screechowldesign.com
SWEETBEETS Homebase: Ontario, Canada DESIGNER: Lisa Zuraw Wholesale price: $2.75 per card, comes in clear plastic envelope "Remember splashing in puddles or picking dandelions just to watch the seeds float away?" asks Zuraw. "Celebrating the magic of childhood" is Zuraw's goal. Her elegant cards touch on those first moments of discovery in a kid's life. They're heavyweight, letter-pressed and printed on 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper.
Outstanding offering: There's something so endearing about the child writing the x's and o's: maybe it's the round cheek or the overalls? Tel: 905-308-7686 E-mail: Lisa@sweetbeets.com
KITS FOR KIDS: GALISON Homebase: New York, NY DESIGNER: Ivanka and Lola Wholesale price: Approximately $7.50 for 16 note cards, envelopes, over 100 stickers and four colored pencils. Here's one way to break the "I'll just e-mail" habit. Give a kid a box of adorably illustrated stationery and let them decorate the pages with drawings and lots of stickers. It makes communicating via "snail-mail" a pleasure.
Outstanding offering: The Mudpuppy collection's Create-a-Card sets offer lots of great kits with drawings suitable for both sexes. Tel: 800-670-7441 E-mail: Maureen@galison.com
NOTED* Homebase: Brooklyn, NY DESIGNER: Walter Ruffler Noted* wares are the kind of cleverly designed, attractive items one finds in museum stores and better toy shops. Wholesale price: $3.95-$4.95
Outstanding offering: Ruffler is one of Europe's most accomplished "automata" designers of sophisticated mechanical paper kits. Reminiscent of wind-up toys, these kits give kids (12 and up) all the tools they need to construct one of these old-fashioned pieces. There are seven designs to choose from that rock, fish, dance or sail when hand-cranked. Tel: 800-600-7216 E-mail: Info@notedco.com
PEACEABLE KINGDOM PRESS Homebase: Berkeley, CA DESIGNER: Peaceable Kingdom artisans Wholesale price: $8 Peaceable Kingdom Press offers loads of old-fashioned, interactive games, journals and paper dolls in hard-to-resist bright colors and fun graphics.
Outstanding offering: The Mixed-Up Monsters set. One day this New Age Mr. Potato Head can look elegantly underdressed, the next he's completely over the top. With 55 brightly colored pieces, the guy's got some wardrobe. Tel: 877-444-5195 E-mail: Info@pkpress.com
KITS FOR MOMS: MS. & MRS. Homebase: Arlington Heights, IL INVENTORS: Ms. Stephanie Kaplan, Ms. Jamie Kaplan and Mrs. Georgette Kaplan Wholesale price: $22.50 The three Kaplans, each successful business women and, with the launch of Ms. & Mrs., entrepreneurs, are the premiere suppliers of chic, comprehensive "survival kits" for any and (nearly) all emergencies. Each kit comes in a chic carry case filled with everything one needs for the big and little occasions - a Domino's pizza gift certificate in the College Survival Kit; the Bridessentials include an extra wedding band.
Outstanding offering: Labor and Delivery Survival Kit. Contents: slipper socks, headband, back massager, body lotion, lip balm, breath mints, Preggie Pops lollipops, prepaid calling card, contact list, disposable camera and bubblegum cigars. What? No epidural? Tel: 847-571-5995 E-mail: info@msandmrs.com
Originally published June 15, 2008
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