Stationery Scoop, the stationery blog for people who love paper and stylish stationery

Happy Green St. Patrick's Day

I'm blogging today over at Botanical PaperWorks about ways to celebrate a green St. Patrick's Day. Please join me over there and add your ideas!

Anja Studer's first solo exhibition

Artist and photographer Anja Studer has been a friend of Botanical PaperWorks ever since she used her talents on several sets of photography for the Botanical PaperWorks website.

I was excited to receive this email from Anja this week, inviting us to her first solo exhibition titled "Home Sweet Home". It's a series inspired by her childhood memories of growing up in Switzerland and the opening night is coming up in a few weeks. Here are the details:

Opening Night March 22
7:30 to 11:00 p.m
Cre8ery Gallery
125 Adelaide

The exhibition runs March 22 - April 3 so please get over to the Cre8ery and support Anja and this exhibition. You can also visit her website anjastudios.com or download the invitation:

Download Home_Sweet_Home_invite

 

 

Blogging about World Water Day

Good afternoon everyone!

I'm blogging over at the Botanical PaperWorks blog today, so please head over for ideas on celebrating UN World Water Day. It's coming up on March 22 and it's a great way to bring awareness to water conservation within our schools and communities.

Also check out this new press release about the Earth Day promotional products collection that we just launched. It's colorful and fun.

Cool stationery and organizing products that caught my eye

Earlier in the year, I attended a trade show that featured a large display called Trends in Paper & Decor. The display, which was arranged in color themes and showed many different products and companies, received a lot of attention.

One thing that I noticed was that the Italian companies make beautiful leather, paper and organizing products. Like these products from Fabriano that I wrote about in What I found when shopping for stationery in Venice. 

Originally started in Italy, Moleskine did not disappoint with a new line of thematic journals which targets specific hobbies such as cooking and travel. 

And these Whitelines journals that I wrote about were amazing; still trying to get my hands on a few samples.

The white and ivory section was beautiful and tranquil, so it was fitting that it included Botanical PaperWorks' Tranquil Garden Notebooks!

The blue and orange areas had everything from journals and folders to post-its and pens. I loved the multicolored mouse seen in the top left of the blue photo.

Green and yellow showed office supplies and drafting supplies, as well as journals and folders.  

And the displays were flanked by these orange bicycles that drew people into the display. Together with the white orbs (see the first photo), the effect was dramatic and eye-catching.

Overall, I liked a lot of what I saw but I wasn't captured by most of the products. The organizers did a good job bringing together the various collections, but I didn't connect with the color schemes. Still, I was glad to see the display and to be challenged in my love and hate of certain colors and particular shades.

A day in the life of three people at a trade show - Part 2

 

 

I'll admit it - as an exhibitor, trade shows are a special animal. They have their own unique set of pressures. The stress of airline travel and missed connections. The uncertainty of whether the luggage containing our samples will be there to greet us when we arrive. The hope that the booth configuration is as we had thought. The desire to interact with a lot of people and make meaningful, profitable connections.

Each show gives our company an amazing opportunity to visit with our customers and to meet new and potentially important customers. There's something about face-to-face meetings that solidify relationships in a way that email and Skype can't do. That's what makes attending trade shows worth it.

Last week I posted some photos of the morning of our last day. Today, I have the photos from the afternoon, after we had won the trophy for Best Booth and as we packed up and left for the airport.

Here we are posing with our trophy after winning Best Booth.

The trade show finished up on a Friday afternoon and we packed up and headed to the airport. We said goodbye to the CN Tower on our way out of the city.

It was a good show and we were glad we attended. It was equally good to get home that night after landing at 2:10 am and be in our own beds!

Read Part 1