Out and About

I’m on the road for work or vacation just about every month of the year. I don’t know about you, “dear reader”, but I just can’t help myself when it comes to paper. No matter where I am and no matter if it is for work or pleasure, I am known to stop in my tracks to step into a stationery store! I also like to visit customers whenever possible.

At the beginning of September, I logged in a visit to Envelopments, and got to see the cool work environment that Mark and Deborah Smith have created for themselves and their employees. The vibe is collaborative and California cool. Employees can wear jeans every day (boy did I feel out of place in my dress!) Their warehouse area was organized and clean – so pleasant for all the workers in that area who were doing their thing when I stopped in. The outdoor space at Envelopments even includes a little Zen meditation area! Everyone I met was a happy employee. Impressive!

Here’s a pic of Mark and Deborah at the office.










I was in Italy at the end of September through the beginning of this month, and while in Rome I went to visit NSS exhibitor Luca Natalizia, of Natalizia. Luca’s family also owns Cartoleria Pantheon, a wonderful little store located off to one side of the Pantheon.

Here’s a glimpse of the storefront, as well as a shot of the giftwrap on display on the sidewalk just in front of the store.






I also stopped in the large chain La Feltrinelli – there are a few in Rome – this one was in Largo Argentina. I would liken La Feltrinelli to a Barnes & Noble here – they have everything from books, to music, to journals to greeting cards. Here are a couple of covert shots from inside the store.











Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Greeting Card Association’s annual Convention in Scottsdale, AZ. The Convention is just one of many highlights of the year for me, as it is always inspiring, enlightening, and honestly – it’s just plain fun to hang with leaders in the greeting card industry. One of the discussion panels during the convention was called “The Realities of Retailing” and four local retailers discussed their businesses. They were so very generous to share their information and insights, and as you might imagine, they had a rapt audience – we were all attentive and taking notes! Afterwards, I had the happy opportunity to visit 2 of the 4 stores represented on the panel. The Paper Place (this store is family owned and operated, and has been in business for 31 years) and Celebrations in Paper, which owner Rene Showalter opened in 1997.

Here’s a photo of the many invitation albums at The Paper Place.



And check out just a slice of their greeting card offerings. This store is fab – and I spent some $$ there on holiday cards and general greeting cards (could not resist several gorgeous cards from J&M Martinez). I loved visiting with store owner Nancy Silver – and fully expect to see Nancy in May at the NSS. Her sister Betsy (also co-owner of the store) was on the discussion panel earlier in the day. Thank you, ladies for your time!

Down the street and around the corner is Celebrations in Paper. Rene has an interesting set-up as she shares her space with a florist. This is advantageous to both businesses, as they work so often with wedding and party planners. You can bet I happily plunked down a few dollars here, too. (Hello to Brent and Charmaine of Yellow Bird Paper Greetings –I picked up a birthday card and a thank you card of yours here). While I was visiting Celebrations in Paper, I met up with a few other industry folks!

Here’s a picture showing those who stopped by. From left to right:


George White, Up With Paper; Nicky Burton, Calypso Cards; Rene Showalter, store owner; and manufacturers’ representative Chuck Nelson, who works with the stores in Scottsdale and the region.

Visiting retail stores and the talented people behind the products we all love to buy, use and mail is certainly a passion for me. The people in this industry are some of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet – including yourselves, without a doubt! If I’m ever in your neighborhood, I’d love to come and visit!! (o:

- Until next time, Kelly

The LOUIE Awards

Do you know the LOUIEs? Each year, during the National Stationery Show, The Greeting Card Association (GCA) honors the creative members of the industry with its LOUIE Awards program. Last year, there were winners in 57 categories!

I get asked a lot about the program. The most important thing to know today is this:
If you want to enter, do it NOW! The deadline is upon us – this coming Thursday, January 3rd, to be exact! Of course, you must be a greeting card, invitation or imprintable publisher in order to enter the competition. However, you do not need to be a GCA member to enter. All entries must have been marketed and sold in the United States during the calendar year 2007 (between January 1 and December 31). Click here for more information on the entry eligibility and the competition entry form.

If you enter, your product will be judged by industry peers, and if you win, you will receive a crystal award, as well as the excitement of having your own design chosen as best in its class!

Behind the scenes of the LOUIES goes a lot of volunteer work! Each year, a LOUIE Award chairperson is named from within the membership of the GCA. That wonderful person is charged with giving a lot of his or her time to making the entire Awards program a great one, start to finish. This includes reviewing categories for submission – and sometimes creating new ones. Newer categories of note include “Rising Star” which was added last year (this is only for companies that have been in operation for 2 years or less) and “Superbly Stated” which is in recognition of editorial copy – greeting cards with original composition.

This year’s LOUIE chair is Fern Gimbelman, of Designer Greetings. Fern (a LOUIE winner herself) came up with a great theme for the 20th Annual LOUIE Awards – “Cirque du LOUIE XX.” Check out this really cool call for entries.

It came in a gold envelope, and the LOUIE Award logo’s star was die-cut so that the color of the insert shone through!


Here it is with the insert pulled out. I love how the tumbling man turns into a star. I can’t wait to see the invitation and the program book for the Awards. I also can’t wait for the event itself (on Monday, May 19). With this theme, it’s sure to be fun!

The Judging for the LOUIEs is to take place in Washington, DC on Thursday, January 24 and Friday, January 25. Judges are all volunteers from within the industry. Of course, the company names of the entrants are withheld at the time of judging, so that all judging is fair and unbiased. The judges always say that even though there’s a lot of work involved (so much to review!), they have a lot of fun.

You should know that the LOUIEs might not get off the ground each year without the really behind the scenes work of one Mila Albertson. Mila works at the Greeting Card Association, and is sometimes an unsung hero! Mila receives every submission to the awards and is charged with keeping everything straight and creating the presentation to the judges. It’s tons of categorizing with files and boxes – yes, work! But she does it with a smile and her characteristic laugh, and you know she enjoys the whole process. Mila does even more for the actual event, too, but I’ll save those details for sometime after the Awards night!

Finally, in case you didn’t know - the LOUIE is named in honor of the recognized father of the American greeting card, Louis Prang.

I was going to write about something else this week, but when I realized that you might like to know that you could still enter the LOUIEs, I simply had to blog about it!

Happy New Year!!! See you in 2008.

Kelly