The Stationers Guild

Real Card Studio is offering free return address printing or 50% off coordinating stationery with your invitation order through May 31st.   This creative design studio located in Seattle, WA has some exceptional letterpress invitations that are very popular for weddings and Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. 

While many sample invitations in their portfolio are displayed on Real Card Studio’s website, most wedding invitations and other letterpress invitations are custom designed around the color and design preferences of the client.  Heather van Breda, the owner and chief designer for Real Card, has a knack for color and contemporary design which truly distinguishes her work within the industry.

Dealers in your neighborhood who carry Real Card may be found on their website.  As with all custom invitations, it is wise to consult with an experienced stationer who can show you samples of many fine papers and help explain color variations using different printing process and, most importantly, work with you to insure that your invitation is worded properly.

It was recently reported that American Greetings had sold its retail stores to Schurman Fine Papers and purchased the wholesale division of Papyrus.  According to a press release from American Greetings, American Greetings (‘AG”) paid $18 million for the wholesale division of Papyrus, which makes fine greeting cards and other paper products.  Schurman Fine Papers (“SFP”) acquired the operating rights of approximately 350 retail stores from AG, who operate these stores under the names of American Greetings and Carlton Cards, for $6 million.  AG also acquired a 15% interest in SFP for $2 million.  The article states that SFP now owns 511 retail stores in the United States.

While this transaction may come as little surprise to those in the industry, the financial compensation and wording of the press release is curious.  According to one financial veteran, “I don’t understand it, it seems like the transaction is missing a zero.”  Indeed, it does seem surprising that SFP could “acquire” 350 stores for only $6 million - or roughly $17,000 a store!  It is unclear from the press release whether AG remains responsible for the leases or the nature of the ongoing operating agreement and “limited” credit facilities between AG and SFP.

Rumors are that Weston Presidio, a private equity firm which has a significant ownership stake in SFP, had hoped to take the SFP public when the firm reached a critical mass of 300 stores.  While this still may be the case, it seems unlikely that they would attempt to do so in today’s rather unsettled market conditions.  AG has its own share of financial problems as their latest financial results show.  Clearly, shedding their retail stores will eliminate one major distraction; however, many more challenges face the company and the industry at large.

Now through June 1, 2009, Crane & Co. will be offering customers who purchase 75 or more personalized invitations, announcements, or stationery, 25 additional pieces free of charge.  This promotion is good on all personalized purchases from any of the Crane customization albums. 

Personalized stationery is a great gift for graduations, Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.  Contact an experienced Guild member store in your neighborhood and take advantage of this great promotional offer from Crane.

William Arthur, one of the leading custom invitation and fine stationery companies in the United States, has extended its very successful wedding promotion through May 31st, 2009.  Order 75 or more William Arthur wedding invitations, rehearsal dinner invitations, wedding programs or wedding stationery and receive 25 more free with the compliments of William Arthur.

Don’t put your wedding on the back-burner, contact an experienced Guild member store in your neighborhood to see William Arthur’s exciting new designs and customization options.  Whether you are looking for letterpress invitations or fine wedding stationery, William Arthur is certainly worth a second look.

Today we celebrate Earth Day.  While cutting down a tree to celebrate Earth Day may seem like a crazy idea, David Foster, an ecologist and the director of the Harvard Forest, seems to think it might actually be helpful.  In a fascinating article by Robert Sullivan in the April 19th New York Times Magazine, Mr. Foster argues that “land stewardship” and managing forest public properties in an “ecologically sustainable manner,” may actually increase the intake of carbon and contribute to a healthier climate.

While Mr. Foster’s ideas may seem like heresy to the Green movement (he is called “Dr. Death” in some circles), his 24 page phamplet called Wildlands and Woodlands proposes “leaving  areas designated as wildlands untouched” and connect state and federal forests and wilderness areas through “aggregated chunks of private land.”  Trees would be harvested from these private properties under sustainable farming programs.

I have no way knowing whether Mr. Foster’s proposal is a ”good” environmental program, but he is a scientist and  experiments in the 3,500 acre Harvard Forest certainly add credibility to his arguments.  I was flabbergasted to learn that the peak de-forestation of Massachusetts occured around the time of Henry David Thoreau and that this third most densely populated state is now on the top 10 list of most forested states in the United States.

“Going green” has hit the stationery industry in a big way.  Unfortunately, most of the “eco-chic” claims are misleading or simply irrelevant in the greater scheme of the environmental movement.  Programs and experiments developed by Mr. Foster and others suggest that man and nature can live in harmony.  On Earth Day let’s toast an environmental movement based on substance, experimentation and facts rather than the “feel-good” marketing hype which dominates much of today’s media.

Despite the economic downer, most stationers are looking forward to May’s National Stationery Show at the Javit’s Center in New York City.  According to the NSS website, over 300 new exhibitors will participate for the first time at the Stationery Show.   While overall attendance is likely to be down, those stationers and exhibitors who make the effort to attend will undoubtedly be treated to a special event.

While I expect to be logging in some serious foot-time, I always make a point of attending a few of the show’s informative seminars.  It gives you a chance to rest, reflect and hopefully gain some insights into the “big picture” of the stationery industry.  This year, I will certainly attend Sarah Schwartz’s seminar on “Stationery Trends in 2009.”  Sarah is the editor-in-chief of Stationery Trends, arguably the best publication for serious stationers and the stationery industry as a whole.

Other seminars that have caught my eye are Linda Cahan’s “Going Green Gradually and Gorgeously” and Cinda Baxter’s chat on “The 3/50 Project.”  “Going green” has become a popular rallying cry in the last few years.  Fortunately, guest speakers at previous Stationery Shows have proved to have a very balanced approach to this most complex topic.  I am hopeful that Ms. Cahan will continue this tradition since we are constantly bombarded by media ”greenwash“  to the point where meaningful discussion has largely been overtaken by cult-like sound bites and disingenuous claims.

Cinda Baxter’s 3/50 Project is very close to my heart.  Her noble effort to encourage buyers to shop locally has not only enviromental advantages but helps preserve the bricks-and-mortar businesses which fuel our economy.  With TARP programs and government bailouts, we often lose sight of the true engine of our economy.  Attend Cinda’s presentation and learn how you too can contribute to this worthwhile cause.

If you have a few minutes to spare and want to take a break from the grind of the show, attend one or more of these informative seminars.

While trying to track down some hiking boots for my wife for a Mother’s Day gift, I came across a rather interesting website called Zappos.  My eyes were immediately drawn to the featured product image shown below:

This eclectic merger of fashionable Victorian high-laced boots with combat boots is certainly eye-catching and hopefully functional, but would you wear these boots to a wedding?  Rather than tip my hand that I was looking for boots for my wife, I asked for my daughter’s opinion.  “Dad, get with it! Of course it works well with a wedding.  I’m not sure that I would wear boots under a white wedding dress, but it would be quite chic for an outdoors wedding.”

Obviously, times are changing.  While this particular style may not work for your wedding, there are many other cutting-edge designs in women’s boots available at Zappos.   In the meantime, I will go back to looking for hiking boots.

After reading the New York Times today, my wife suggested that we might want to listen to uTube sensation Susan Boyle.  While I must admit that I was reluctant to do so, we watched a 7-minute video clip of a performance that is unlike any that I can recall.

See Susan Boyle  for yourself on uTube.  Gosh, I hope you find it as inspiring as we did.

In a recent article that was picked up by Planet Green, Cara Smusiak cites the advantages of setting up an online RSVP for your wedding invitations.  With little real evidence to support her claim, Ms. Smusiak argues that “Wedding invitations add up to a giant carbon footprint. Between invitation delivery and RSVP responses, there’s a lot of transportation and mechanical sorting involved—all of which requires energy, which is probably supplied by an unclean energy source.”

At the risk of being ostracized by the green community, I do think Ms. Smusiak’s claim is exaggerated and her advice may, in fact, cause more harm to the environment than sending out wedding invitations.  For instance, the Gartner Group and HP report that the average web user uses 28 pages of paper daily.   In fact, 115 billion sheets of paper are used annually for personal computers:  more than 3 times the volume of first class letters (non-sorted) in the United States.   I guess the question is:  Are we really any better off collectively if  the emailed recipient is simply printing the invitation and direction card at his or her work station?  I don’t know the answer, but I suspect that it is probably a wash.

While I am all for helping the environment, I would like to do so responsibly.  There are many talented invitation designers such as Oblation and Julie Holcomb who have been promoting green papers and eco-friendly printing solutions long before “eco-chic” and green weddings became fashionable.  While we may feel better touting questionable green claims, the movement would be far better served by addressing more serious problems than pretending that wedding invitations are destroying the environment.  ”Green wedding invitations“ sounds cool, but I suspect that it is just simply an ill-considered urban legend that continues to gather momentum without the benefit of much thought, let alone serious debate.

Environmentalists like Scot Case of Terrachoice, regularly point out the sins of “greenwash” and how exaggerated and deceptive claims undermine the environmental cause.    Beating the drum for this particular “cause” is guilty of the sins of irrelevance and lack of proof.

Arabella Papers is one of the new and exciting fine paper designers and printers of custom invitations to hit the industry in recent years.  With its unique bellpress printing process, Arabella simulates engraving without the bruising on the back.

Arabella Peony Invitation

Now through April 30, 2009, Arabella is offering $300 off any RSVP set which accompanies an Arabella invitation order of $850 or more.  This is an exceptional promotion for buyers looking for a special wedding invitation, a Bar or Bat Mitzvah invitation or a special birthday or anniversary invitation.

Arabella is sold through a rather ristricted group of stationers.  Consult the Arabella website for a list of their dealers in your neighborhood.