Festa Gialla

I have a large collection of handmade postcards, birthday cards and holiday cards that friends have given me over the years. I love getting any sort of card really, but these are extra special to me as they are original artwork. Today I'm going to share the only handmade party invitation I've received: a charming yellow blob creature invites you to the "Festa Gialla", the Yellow Party which happened years ago in my neighbor's apartment in Italy. I love this-- and it was a fun party too!

"Festa Gialla" invite by Eriko Kito

A lovely letter...

While looking through some old correspondences I came across a wonderful letter from a Japanese friend who spoke very little English at the time. I love the little drawings she made to go with her words. It's such a sweet note and I was so happy to receive it. 

National Stationary Show 2011

Yesterday I walked through the National Stationary Show at the Javits Center in NYC. It was really inspiring to see all the great shops and some old friends. As I spoke to exhibitors the feeling seemed to be that it was a little slow traffic-wise, but overall they were making sales and very satisfied. The show is a shadow of it's former self, now sharing the main floor with Surtex when 6 years ago it took up 2 floors entirely on it's own. However exhibitors felt that they were doing better this year than in the past two, so perhaps the smaller show size is working for them.
Here is a photo from the "Paper Runway" exhibit in which artists made various gowns entirely out of paper. Pretty cool!

Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is here and cards are a classic way to tell mom how you feel. Here are a few cards by some craftsmen I admire:

First, a really cute letterpress card by Pup and Pony Press of Long Beach, CA. I just love letterpress and this illustration is a perfect combination of sweetness and sincerity done in a charming retro style.

Next is this Mother's Day gift tag from Hello Clementine of London. This is a digital file you can print out yourself onto cardstock. Love the utilitarian sentimentality.

This pop up Pink Rose card, by Cookie Bits is really great! Paper engineering is so cool!

I also really love this Mommy and Baby Love Birds card by Simply Cute by Karen of Marlborough, Massachusetts. Simply charming!

Happy Mother's Day!