Countdown to Valentine's Day: Part IV

Just wanted to add this little card today. Super cute!

And here's a detail of the caterpillar. Isn't it neat that so seemingly little "design" conveys so much. The inside message is cute, too, it says "iloveyouverymuch!"

BTW - this card was manufactured by Hallmark, in the Funny Expressions division.

Countdown to Valentine's Day: Part III

Today, I've like to share three lovely Victorian-era Valentine's Day popup cards from my grandmother's collection.

The inside of the first card is tough to read once it's opened. As you can see, on the front it says, "To Greet my Valentine…" but behind the roses, on the heart,  it says "...With My Best Love." A nice sentiment, indeed. A price of 3¢ can still be seen in pencil on the back of this card. Using an online Inflation Calculator, if we were to adjust this price for inflation, the card would still only be 81¢. Amazing!

As this second example is a love letter from Cupid, himself, I wanted to be sure to share the detail on the front, inside, and back of this marvelous card. The backs on today's other two cards are completely unfinished - just a simple, unattractive brown paper. But in this instance, no expense was spared on all surfaces. I wish I knew how much this cost back then. The assemblage is elaborate and obviously very durable. It's lasted a very long time.

The final image for today is an elaborate popup "To my Sweet Valentine." Once folded open, Cupid's message along the bottom says:

My hope,
my heaven,
my trust must be.

My gentle guide,
in following thee.

I'm not sure of the significance of the anvil on this card. I found some interesting information about blacksmiths and their association with weddings in Scotland through the famous Gretna Green marriages. Perhaps this is why an anvil takes center stage on this greeting?

Here’s a little bit of detail from Wikipedia; (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gretna_Green) 

The local blacksmith and his anvil have become the lasting symbols of Gretna Green weddings. Scottish law allowed for “irregular marriages”, meaning that if a declaration was made before two witnesses, almost anybody had the authority to conduct the marriage ceremony. The blacksmiths in Gretna became known as “anvil priests”.

Gretna’s famous “runaway marriages” began in 1753 when Lord Hardwicke’s Marriage Act was passed in England; it stated that if both parties to a marriage were not at least 21 years old, then parents had to consent to the marriage. The Act did not apply in Scotland where it was possible for boys to marry at 14 and girls at 12 years old with or without parental consent. Many elopers fled England, and the first Scottish village they encountered was Gretna Green. The Old Blacksmith’s Shop, built around 1712, and Gretna Hall Blacksmith’s Shop (1710) became, in popular folklore at least, the focal tourist points for the marriage trade. The Old Blacksmith’s opened to the public as an attraction as early as 1887.

Countdown to Valentine's Day: Part II

If you ask me, nothing says "I love you" more than a flower with a people stamen (see below). Sooo much love on one card - I can hardly stand it! This one was produced by a company called Gallant, from their Wood Winds collection.

This second card is from good old American Greetings. The photo is die cut cardboard. Inside, it says:

Where you are

       there are soft steps

       and gentle hands

       there is singing, tenderness,

       a comforting word,

       a happy whisper

Where you are

       there is all the peace,

       joy and contentment

       a man could ever hope for

Where you are

       there I will be forever!

Happy Valentine's Day, Sweetheart

These certainly convey a different era. But love is love, after all - nothing can change that.

Countdown to Valentine's Day: Part I

I have a small collection of greeting cards that I've acquired over time. A lot of them were produced in the 70's and 80's. I thought it might be fun to share some of the designs, most of which are not very good by today's standards, but give a nice feel for the design sensibilities of that era.

Since we are one week away from Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share a handful of designs over the course of the next week, beginning today.

This first card was produced by Hallmark under their "Contemporary Cards" division.

Enjoy!

So You're Preparing For Your First National Stationery Show: Fire-retardant

I've received a collection of questions over the years regarding this Big Event. If you're like me, it can feel overwhelming, particularly if it's your first time, so I thought I'd share some ideas and experiences I've had over the years. I don't have all the answers and, obviously, these are just my opinions, not facts. I hope you'll find them helpful:

Question regarding flameproofing:
I was reading in the set-up manual that everything in the booth has to be flame-resistant - from the walls, etc. Does that mean that, for example, the table, chairs, lamps, FLOR carpet tiles, any sort of paper displays (I had been planning to make huge paper collage cut-outs of my designs, either from paper or foamboard) have to be treated with flame-retardants? The manual recommended some outside companies as well as their own flameproofing services in the Javits Center. I was wondering what your experience was with this - do you have a company you would recommend? 

Thoughts:
I know your walls need to be flame-retardant. If you have fabric walls, you'll have to purchase some liquid flame-retardant and apply it to your materials yourself. There are some pre-treated materials out there as well but they can be expensive. If you plan on using foam core, you'll have to purchase a flame-retardant version. Wood walls don't need to be treated, however, they can be heavy which will add to your shipping expense.

Presently, I have fabric walls and have had to apply a liquid flame-retardant myself. Here's the contact information for the company I've used:

West Coast Fire Shield
Attention: John Cherry
1814 Elzworth Street
Bakersfield CA 93312
jcherry@universalfireshield.com
www.westcoastfireshield.com
(661) 588-2183

These guys will also supply a certificate to certify that the fabric has been looked after with their product which is pretty useful.

You don't have to worry about chairs, tables, or lamps if they're made out of traditional materials. The fire marshal won't bother with these items.

I don't believe FLOR carpet tiles will need any flame-retardant treatment but I'm not 100% sure. I've never heard of anyone having an issue with this. There's a lot more that can be said about choosing not only an attractive, but COMFORTABLE type of flooring for your booth, but that's another topic for another time.

I'm not sure about big paper collage cut-outs. I don't think it's an issue and I don't know how you could treat any paper with flame-retardant. If you did, it would curl, thereby rendering it pretty tough to work with. I know of one booth that has had an amazing paper collage for the past two years. I don't know if they treated it or not, nor do I know if they ran into any problems with the Javits fire marshal. I doubt it.

I know of a manufacturer who ran into problems BIG TIME a couple of years ago when they tried to erect a booth made entirely out of corrugated cardboard. They were asked to take it down before the show began. They had to whip up a new booth at the last minute. YIKES! Again, you could treat the corrugated cardboard with flame-retardant, but it would warp and curl.

If you have any additional ideas or thoughts you'd like to add, please let me know. I'm happy to include them here so that we can all benefit from a collection of experiences. 

Thanks!

Midwest Move!

Well, we've done it... we've moved from sunny California to The Gateway To The West: St. Louis, Missouri! My wife took a job at an amazing private school in Town & Country, Missouri, so I packed up our bags, crammed as much as possible into our car (including the sardines, I mean our two dogs) and drove for 26 hours to our new home. It was a "cozy" trip, to say the least, but we arrived in good spirits, ready for a new adventure!

Promotional Piece With Legion Paper and a Lot of Talent!

We've just recently competed a promotional piece with Legion Paper and fifteen very talented letterpress printers and designers.  The project consisted of each printer creating a recipe card in their unique signature style utilizing papers sourced by Legion from around the world.  The recipe cards will be distributed at the upcoming National Stationery Show in New York from May 15-18 at the Jacob Javits Center.


See Legion's press release here:
http://www.legionpaper.com/pub/files/LegionPromoProjectNSS2011.pdf


Our card was done in collaboration with DeFrance Printing, a very fine 100+ year old company located in San Diego.  We chose to transform the Maginating and DeFrance logos into little anthropomorphic characters, wishing all who jot a recipe down on our card to enjoy their meal, or "bon appetit!"  We were fortunate enough to use Somerset Velvet Radiant White 330gsm, a very fine paper indeed.  

Special thanks to Marc Schotland at Legion Paper and Amber Ellis-Seguine of Flywheel Press for developing this project together.  Thanks for including us!

Come stop by our booth for a free card and to say hello - we'd love to see you there!