I always hope for the best when it’s time for my journals to make that dangerous voyage across unknown terrain to get to the homes of those who have ordered them. There are so many things to take into account — what if the postman drops the package, or leaves it on the porch where it’s raining or snowing, or crushes it accidentally by putting someone’s microwave shipment on top? What if the package is delivered to the wrong address, or disappears into the oblivion where all missing packages go?

I do my best to counter each of these scenarios with a generous supply of protective packaging, bubblewrap, envelopes and boxes. For smaller orders, I’ve found that the USPS Priority Mail service is pretty reliable — it’s a flat rate envelope so I can fill it with as much protective packaging as it will hold, it’s delivered quickly, and I can track and insure it for a small additional fee. I always put tracking on my packages — so I can check if they’ve arrived at their destinations.

Despite all the care and time you put into preparing your packages for shipping, after more than a hundred orders have arrived safely at their destinations, the inevitable does happen —  an order is damaged, a delivery goes astray. 

I had one customer tell me her journal arrived completely ruined, looking like it’d been run over by a truck! I was so sad imagining a destroyed journal — after all, I put so much time and care into making each one. I checked with the other customers whose journals were shipped at the same time and heard that their orders had arrived in pristine conditions. I knew that the “accident” had occurred on the delivery unit’s end, only the customer wasn’t very empathetic about it and demanded I be liable for the damages. I learned my lesson and put even more protective padding around each order and wrote out “ordering terms” on my store site to prevent another misshap like that.

I’ve also learned that international shipping is a precarious journey. USPS only offers tracking and insurance on it’s very-expensive international express service. The other option, global priority mail, gets there in about a week’s time, but you’ve got no way of knowing where the package is in-transit, so you can only hope it’ll get there eventually. My Canadian orders shipped through USPS global priority have all arrived safely, so I do offer that option for people who order online, but things can go awry with foreign-language addresses. Specialized shipping companies like UPS or FedEx can handle those types of deliveries for me, but international fees are even higher than the cost of one journal. Very few people are willing to pay for that, and it’s too much to absorb those additional fees myself. So after two seasons of tackling with it, this year, I’ve decided to let the retailers who carry my journals handle int’l shipping. They’re much more experienced dealing with overseas orders than I am! Perhaps later on, when I’ve gotten a bit wiser, I’ll make that option available in my online store again.

For big packages (like the batch of journals shown in the photo above, that I’m shipping to a retail store), I’ve been using UPS (the brown truck fellahs) because their prices are really affordable for ground or 2nd day shipping, they can pick up the shipment directly from my studio, and there is full tracking and delivery confirmation. I had a little incident recently where they misdelivered one of my packages and I was yelled at on the phone by their customer service rep, but then they did safely redeliver it, and a separate customer service agent wrote to apologize. I might still stick to UPS because the convenience and efficiency of how they handle shipments remains pretty impressive.

Despite the little incidents that I’ve encountered, I must admit that packing things up and getting them ready to ship is one of my favorite moments. At the end, it’s all about getting the order to its destination safely. And it’s all worthwhile when I hear back from someone saying that their package arrived safely, that they like their journal, and they can’t wait to start writing in it.

Shannon Riffe is one amazing lady — she’s the mastermind behind Make It, a blog for crafty entrepreneurs that’s filled with stories and tips for how to transform your creative endeavors into a full-fledged business. Oh how I wish I had read all these articles when I was starting out!!

She’s covered just about everything that a crafty entrepreneur should know about, from business-related things like newsletters and press kits to everyday tidbits, tutorials, and tips on how to organize your storage space (I need help on that one — my supplies are spilling out of the baskets and boxes). And then there are the interviews — I love hearing about the stories and experiences of others who have “made it”! I plan on curling up on the sofa with a cup of tea and reading EVERYTHING on this site.

Shannon’s wealth of knowledge in crafts and entrepreneurship comes from her own experience — she’s created rifferaff, her own line of handmade jewelery and accessories, and she has quite a few other creative projects, batik!, in the works. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

It’s time to make that leap from the tabletop in your workspace to the display shelf of a stationery store. Here’s how to get going:

(above: cards on display at Rare Device of Park Slope, Brooklyn)

1) RESEARCH. Come up with a list of stores you’d like to have your products available in. By that, I mean the stores whose style and aesthetic are similar to your creations, which may not necessarily be the same stores that you like buying stationery items from.

Check to see if the stores have websites, and if they do, whether there are product submission guidelines. More and more stores have this nowadays. I’ve compiled a list of boutique stores which might be helpful.

Look for contact information — unless there’s a specific submissions e-mail address, most likely you’ll be writing to the store e-mail, which the owner usually checks. If possible, find out the name of the storeowner(s) — that way you can address them directly when you are writing, and there’s a lower chance that your e-mail might be overlooked in the flood of strange correspondences and spam that stores often recieve.

2) WRITE. Your e-mail to the store should “pitch” your product to the storeowners:

-  a clear description of your product (materials, colors, measurements/dimension)

- the retail price (the price your products will be sold at) — storeowners who are interested in carrying your stuff will probably make their suggestions on pricing based on their store experience, but it’s important to start out with a pretty good idea of how much your products should cost and stick to your prices as much as possible. Pricing can get a bit tricky, so here’s an article on how to price your work.

- the wholesale price of your product (this is usually 50% of your retail price and is what you will actually get paid if your product sells in the store)

- a short description of who would be interested in buying your product, and why

- the names of other stores, if any, that are carrying your products

- you might also want to include a brief bio telling them more about yourself and the story behind your stationery line

3) ATTACH. Your writing may spark the storeowners’ interest in your stuff, but it’s the photos you attach to your e-mail that will make them press the reply button and tell you they’re interested. Either attach 2 to 3 good photos of your products (as jpgs, of no more than 75KB each), or else send them a weblink to another site where your products photos are. You could put your photos on an image-hosting service like flickr, on your own website or blog, or on an online shop like etsy.

4) SEND. After you’ve proofread everything, attached your images, and made sure it’s addressed to the right person, press “send”!

5) REPLY. Stores that are interested in your work will reply to your initial email within a couple of weeks and probably request samples from you. Send one or two items that best represent your products. You’re almost there!

Good luck! 

[We’d love to hear your experiences in submitting your work to stores, so please share those with us in the comments section!]

You’ve spent days, weeks, months, conjuring up those great ideas, and then meticulously making replicas of your products. Finally, everything’s branded, packaged, ready-to-go, and it’s almost time to get in touch with stores to see if they’d be interested in carrying your stuff.

WAIT. There’s one thing you should do before you start spreading the word about your new stationery line. DECIDE ON YOUR RETAIL PRICE.

Yes, it’s tricky. But here are some pointers to make it a bit easier:

1) Take a look at what’s already out there. Do some thorough research on how products similar to yours (in terms of style, material, method, size) are selling, and what the price range on those items is. You should set a retail price (the price it sells for) somewhere within that range. [To make this research a bit easier, I’ve compiled a list of online boutique shops that carry stationery by independent designers.]

2) Calculate the cost of materials for each item. If you’re a little mathematically-challenged (like me), you might want to take out your calculator. Add up the price of all the materials you used to make your products. If you had a printshop do some work for you, add in how much they charged you. If you had to rent a studio to work in (e.g. for letterpress or silkscreening), add in that fee. Divide the material total by the number of items you were able to make from them. That’s the material cost per item.

3) Think about how much time and energy you put into making each item. For example, you would charge more for your time if you’re cutting, gluing and pasting a design onto each card than if you were screenprinting them. You’ll have to look at how other stationery items that are currently on the market, that are made in a similar way to yours, are priced.

4) Your retail price would be the sum (total) of your material cost per item + cost of your time per item + a little bit extra (hopefully a teeny profit). Also, keep in mind that if you plan on having stores carry your items and selling them for you, what you actually get to keep is only approximately 50%, yes half, of the retail price.

Don’t think that just because you’re a newbie in the field of stationery design that you should charge less for your products. Your work speaks for itself, and people who want to buy your things could care less whether this is your first line, or if you’ve been churning out stationery for years. They’ll pay based on the quality and craftmanship that goes into your work. So set your price, and stick to it.

Why am I making such a big deal about this? When I first started showing my stuff to stores, I didn’t have a set retail price. I only offered a price range, so some storeowners chose the lowest numbers (which meant I was making almost nothing after the 50% cut)and some were willing to try the higher. Luckily, the higher pricepoints worked. Then I found myself having to run around negotiating price adjustments so that I could have a uniform retail price in every store that carries my products. It’s such a hassle, and I’m so thankful that the storeowners I’ve worked with have been so understanding about it. But if I’d known from the beginning how to go about things, I wouldn’t have caused so much inconvenience for myself and for them.  For me, it really has been all about learning from my mistakes. Hopefully, those of you who read will be able to go about it much better than I did. Good luck!

There’s something really enticing about a nicely wrapped package. Whether it’s a gift for a friend or something you bought for yourself, the extra details of the package — the box, the tissue paper, the ribbons — they make opening the bundle a treat in itself.

It’s important to have a good packaging design for two main reasons:

1. it gives your product a “finished” look, adding to the value of your work — it catches the attention of those who are just browsing, and people immediately see the extra time and care you spent on it

2. it protects each item from wear and tear of being on a storeshelf, being touched by curious customers, and from the bumpy (and sometimes rainy) rides in the mail truck

Here are some tips for how to come up with package your stationery:

- clear plastic envelopes are great for card-and-envelope notesets, especially if you’re selling them individually

(Screenprinted notecards and matching envelopes by Good on Paper are packaged in clear plastic sleeves with an informational sticker on the front that has her brand name and logo.)

- if you’re selling sets of cards and envelopes, custom-sized boxes are great — besides protecting the cards, people often save them after they’ve used up all the cards (especially if they’re nicely decorated) to put their own trinkets in

(The postal decorativ collection of 1201am consists of a set of 8 postcards packaged in a clear plastic box with a logo sticker.)

- if you don’t want to have a box or envelope, you might consider some type of ribbon or vellum strip that binds the cover and pages together so the pages will be protected from poking fingers of people who are “just browsing”

(Herman Yu’s cards, above left) are packaged in a die-cut box that shows the card design through the square window. All This is Mine’s sewing cards and matching envelopes (above right) are held together with a strip of satin measuring tape.) 

Be creative with the materials you use. If there’s a theme to your items, have the packaging match that. Try using different types of papers, like old maps, art papers, newspaper, and comics. And you could seal up your package with things like string, ribbon, gardening wire, or whatever else you have handy. This tutorial by Dawbis shows a great way to use old paper shopping bags. Remember though, don’t go overboard with the packaging, and have your brand clearly visible on the outside packaging.

Some extra things to keep in mind:

- if you’re sending your stationery via mail, it’s a good idea to put some type of plastic protective wrapping around the products before you put them in the box or envelope for shipping. Besides being bumped around, you never know if your parcel is going to be delivered on the rainiest day of the year — to arrive in the hands of an anxious customer who opens it up to find that, because there was no waterproof wrapping, all your beautiful goods are soggy and curled. (For more on this, check out these pointers for how to prepare your parcel for shipping by ehow.)

- if you’re preparing your items to be sold in a store, you might want to provide an extra sample item that isn’t wrapped up like the others that can be used for display. It’ll draw more people to look at your stuff, and once they’ve decided they want to get it, they can pick out a brand new packaged one from the stack beside the sample.

For some more great ideas on how to package things, or to share what clever ways you’ve chosen to wrap things up, stop by the flickr group nice package.

When I first began to supply boutique stores with my handmade journals, I didn’t think too much about branding. Each handmade book was packaged with a vellum strip with my brand printed across it, and a little informational insert placed inside for the person who buys the journal to later discover by him/herself. Besides that, any other mark showing my brand on either the front or back of my journals was conspicuously missing.

One of the storeowners who was interested in the handmade books gave me a bunch of suggestions as to how to place the brand on my product, what information should be visible, and how branding that is well done can raise the value of the product. Here’s what I learned from her about product branding:

- have the name of your brand clearly visible (if you haven’t thought of a name yet, choose one that represents you and that is easy for others to remember — it’s always fun to have a story behind it that you can tell others about when they ask you.)

- you could choose to have only text, or you might also want to include a logo/symbol or tag words as part of your brand identity design. whatever you choose, make if clear, consistent and highly-recognizable on all your products. you could even add your website address (you never know, someone might come across your work in a store and want to contact you directly later on to make a large or custom order)

- branding can be applied on your product in a number of ways, such as: stamping with a moveable type or custom-made stamp, embossing, pre-printing onto your paper surface, or attaching an adhesive label that has your brand identity printed on.

- the branding should be part of the stationery item even after all the protective packaging is removed. it can be located anywhere on your product, as long it can be found easily, depending on whatever you think looks best.

(above: 16 Sparrows screenprinted her intricately designed logo onto the back of each envelope)

You may have to try out a whole bunch of different styles before you find the right look for your brand. Keep in mind that whatever you choose, the design should be consistent with the overall aesthetic of your actual product. For example, it wouldn’t look very good if you chose a flowery gothic font to write the name of your brand on a product that is playful and cute. And it would look strange to use an inked stamp (which gives a very earthy, crafty look) when your design is something very sleek and modern.

(above: lovelydesign uses different types of stickers and labels to put on each of her products)

Whatever you choose, your brand will add value to your product. When people see that there is a clear brand identity, they’ll immediately assume that there is a sophisticated, well-organized studio churning out all these great paper products. They won’t at all suspect that it’s just you in your living room with your scissors and ink pad, in the company of a yawning cat.

(above: The Small Object alternates between using a custom embosser and printed logos, based on what type of material she is working on)

Even if you aren’t going to have stores carry your products, whatever cards or other things you make for family and friends should still have a little bit of branding on it to show that you created it, and that it’s part of your own line of stationery designs. This is something you’ve made, so don’t be shy — let others know that!

After many months of cutting, folding, pasting, printing, and over half a dozen prototypes later, you finally have it: an impressive little line of paper products. You’ve gotten the nod of approval from your family and friends. And you’ve done your research looking online at the other stationery items that are currently selling in stores, so you have a good idea of how to price your goods and what type of people might be interested in buying them.

It’s time to start thinking about the business side of things. While opening your own brick and mortar store might be somewhere on the horizon, that’s a little bit larger of a playing field than you might be able to handle at the moment. Instead, it’s much more practical (and much less stressful) to start by opening your own little shop online. Here are some main things to include when you open your online store:

- an easy-to-remember (and easy-to-type) domain name

- good product photography

- detailed product descriptions and prices

- ordering and shipping information –  what services are available at what costs, if there are any discounts for ordering over a certain amount, do you provide gift-wrapping for free or at an additional rate – you’ll need to do some research on these things and decide which work for you and how much you want to charge your customers for these features

- information about your stationery line, your store, or yourself — besides having a great product, it’s always a plus to have a great story to go with it!

- your contact information  — yes, you will be answering questions about the products, accomodating to different payment and shipping options, and handling all other types of correspondence you might get from people interested in your products

- a shopping cart to process payments – there are a quite a few reliable options out there, and you’ll need to do more research on which suits you. Of course, they all charge you a fee, but that’s reasonable considering they take care of complicated financial transactions for you. Paypal is one of the most reputable for this service.

So now that you know what your store needs to have, how do you actually go about constructing it? You have three choices:

(pictured above: Susie Ghahremani’s Boy Girl Party Shop)

Build, from scratch, a personal website with complete online store functions. If you’re tech-saavy, or know someone who’d be willing to help you with web design and programming, you might want to consider this.

Pros: you have your own domain name, making it easy for people to find your store, and you have a completely customized site that you can update and change however you want.

Cons: if you’re not doing the technology part yourself, you’ll need to wait till your programmer has time to help you; and it gets costly — payment for your web designer (unless you can figure out a fair deal, like you making a bunch of stationery items for him/her in exchange for help with building your site) hosting fees, software fees, and transaction costs.

It’ll probably take several days or weeks before your store is ready for business. In the meantime, instead of having an “under construction” sign on your homepage, you might want to put up some product photos and descriptions, and a contact e-mail. 

Another way to build a customized online store, without having to keep track of so many things on your own, is to opt for the next closest thing. Sign up and pay to use online store-building software and services to create a template-based shop.

Pros: you get the basic functions of a store with a package that includes a reliable shopping cart and product-display software; you pay your fee per month (Yahoo! Small Business offers 3 different packages for varying storefront needs) so you can upgrade if you decide you need more features, or if you decide you don’t want to work on your store anymore, you can simply close up.

Cons: you’re charged a set fee per item you sell; the functions are limited — you can’t add links to other sites that might be selling your stuff, and there are only cookie-cutter templates for you to choose from (so you’d have to get a web designer to help you if you want a more unique look).

If all this sounds mind-boggling, you might want to consider something on a smaller scale: open a small online shop that’s part of a larger selling community. Think of it as if you’re one of the shops inside a big shopping mall. You’ve already got tons of people in the mall window-shopping, so as long as you can make your catch their attention, they might stop by, take a look, and buy a thing or two.

(above: hundreds of small handmade boutique shops are thriving on Etsy)

Pros: it’s free to setup! And the listing fees are so low that you can add new products as often as you want at very little cost. It’s so user-friendly you’ll hardly ever run into problems with uploading product pictures or editing descriptions.

Cons: you don’t have your own domain name and there’s very little customization so you’ll have to stick with their templates. With CafePress, they do the printing and mailing for you, so you don’t have much control over the production quality of your designs, nor of the way the items are packaged and shipped to the buyer.

With some thorough planning and attention to detail, you could have your own online store up and running in matter of days. Then it’ll be time to put your energy into promoting your website, getting people to stop by your shop to see, and buy, the things you’ve made!

Ah, the marvels of the internet. If you’re sitting in front of a computer screen reading this, then you certainly know how convenient it is to have the entire realm of cyberspace at your fingertips. Besides the major online art supply stores and paperies where you can find crafting supplies and products by big mass-produced stationery lines, there are a myriad of online boutique stores that carry unique, limited edition products by independent stationery designers. These boutique stores distinguish themselves from one another by upholding distinct styles to meet the needs of different customers.

Here are some online boutique stores that carry a great selection of paper goods:

(clockwise: Nikki McClure, Carson Ellis, UNO, Im Smitten, and Rachell Sumpter)

buyolympia.com features strong stylized illustrations. The designers and illustrators include Sesame Letterpress, Nikki McClure (yet another amazing paper-cut artist!), Carson Ellis (wow!), Little Who (more incredible handsewn cards), and Matthew Porter.

Little Paper Planes is another online store offering hard-to-find stationery products and a mind-boggling collection of prints and ’zines created by some really neat illustrators. Im Smitten, Blissen and Lemonade Maid (Jill Bliss and Saelee Oh), port2port, and Rachell Sumpter, and UNO are just a few on the list.

(above: DeLuce Design, 1201AM, and Five and a Half)

Cut + Paste has a huge selection including Foxy and Winston, lovelydesign, Jenny Wren, DeLuce Design, and letterpressed cards by Tennis, anyone?

Elsewares features humorous, fresh and clean designs by Sidepony, Imaginary friends, 16 Sparrows and If’n Books, just to name a few.

Trunkt has a growing stationery collection that includes cards and journals by 1201AM, Five and a Half, Good on Paper, and Tori Wood.

Pixelgirlshop carries paper goods by designers like The Paper Princess, Sugarlily, Blend Creations, Sprout Studio and Paper Cloud.

(above: Paper + Cup, Tiger and Jones, and Turquoise Creative)

Luxe Paperie is the place to visit if you’re looking for the more traditional letterpress or printed look. Paper + Cup, Snow and Graham, Pancake & Franks, Saturate, and Sugar Bean Press are among the long list of designers.

Soleberry features an extensive collection of classic-looking paper products. You can find Tiger and Jones, Egg Press, Turquoise Creative, Cartesian Graphics, Sue Prue, and many other letterpress designers.

Greer carries a wide variety of styles including handsewn, silkscreened or letterpressed. Some of the stationery lines they carry include Art School Girl, Elum, Egg Press, and Binth.

(above: Susie Ghahremani, Dog and Pony Show, and Tiny Monkey)

Fred Flare’s cheerful collection of stationery includes designs by The Small Object, Jill Bliss, One Good Bumblebee, Tiny Monkey, and more.

Copacetique carries cards and journals with colorful, fun graphics, including some very quirky cartoon characters. The lineup includes Meomi, Dog and Pony Show, Artghost, Boy Girl Party (Susie Ghahremani), and more goodies by One Good Bumblebee and The Small Object.

This is just a small sampling of the many online stores that carry paper goods by independent designers. I’ve tried to cover a wide variety to show the different styles that are out there. If you’re looking for a card with a particular look in mind but aren’t too familiar with the names of the designers yet, take a look at the products in these stores. Also, if you’re thinking of launching your own stationery line, these are great places to start doing research. Look at what types of items are selling well, what others have created, where your own work fits in stylistically, and how it would be priced in comparison to the items already being sold. And from all that clicking and scrolling, you might pick up some great new ideas!

Collage art involves mixing and matching a bunch of images to create a fun and eclectic design. But there are things to watch out for when you’re cutting and pasting pictures and text from sources created by people other than yourself.

(Image: Art print from Ezra Jack Keats’ The Trip)

If you’re using images, font, designs, patterns or anything in print that is by somebody else, be sure to check with them if it’s alright to use it in your own work. In other words, get their permission, and credit them properly. Or, be certain that the images you are using are already in public domain. The easiest way to do either of these things is to go directly to the source who created those images and ask them, nicely of course. If the original creator of the image is no longer alive (as is probably the case for vintage fabric patterns and out-of-print book images), check whether the company that produced those items is still around, and whether there are any copyright restrictions attached to them.

Yes, it seems like a lot of hassle to do all those things just to use a little piece of someone’s old magazine picture or text. And what are the chances of them seeing their borrowed image in your work and suing you? The chances are slim, but stationery does travel from sender to recipient, and you never know whose hands it might end up in.

(Image: Art print from Ezra Jack Keats’ A Letter to Amy)

Just a few other points about fair use and copyright to keep in mind if you’re borrowing other people’s images, or if you’re concerned someone might be borrowing yours:

It doesn’t matter whether or not the image you’re borrowing is actually registered with a national copyright office. Copyright is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. “Copies” are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm. (Source: U.S. Copyright Office)

In the past, it was okay to use vintage images (i.e. images created before 1978) because their copyrights had expired. But the copyright laws have been amended so that even if the original creator and the company that produced the items are both no longer around, they still own copyright for an extended period of time, which may be between 28 to 50 years, depending on when the work was created. (Figuring this out gets a bit tricky, so to see this explained in more detail, see Kara’s post in the comments section of this article.) Considering that neither creator or company may be around to file a violation of copyright, most artists are able to get away with using vintage prints without getting into trouble. But still, be careful if you do.

Collage artists are often told it’s okay to use less than 5 to 10% of the original image. This is based on the legal doctrine of de minimis, which states that in copyright cases where the infringement of copyright is minimal, the case will be dismissed. But the problem here is, what is considered minimal? It varies by case, there’s actually no set number. So, should you choose to borrow someone else’s images to put in your own work, use your own judgment on how much or how little you should use.

The information provided above is by no means comprehensive, it’s just a summary of my own research on the topic. Here are some links if you want to read more about copyright and fair use:

The United States Copyright Office

Copyright for collage artists

The Fair Use Network

Comedies of Fair Use, a weekend long symposium held by the New York Institute for Humanities at NYU. If you’d rather listen instead of read about this topic, this site has audio links to the panel sessions. Some people that spoke on the panels, whose names you might find familiar, include Jonathan Lethem and Art Spiegelman.

The dispute about the cover for Thomas Friedman’s book The World Is Flat, is a recent case involving copyright infringement where an artist’s work was obtained without his knowing by a licensing company that sold the image to a publishing house.

The best way to avoid any problems with copyright is to create all the images that you use yourself. Make you own patterns, type and print your own text and font, draw images in different media, and then cut and paste as you choose. That’s what children’s book illustrator Ezra Jack Keats did when creating pictures for his stories (I’ve included 3 of his images in this article). If you do decide to incorporate images from outside sources into your design, then be respectful, give credit to the original creators, and use as much (well, little) as you think appropriate. Put yourself on the other side — how would you feel if you woke up one day and found someone using a part of your design and claiming it to be their own?

(Image: Art print from Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy Day)

School’s out, work days are shorter, and your calendar is marked with upcoming vacations, barbeques, and weddings to attend. Summer’s officially here, and along with the beach hats, flip flops and ice creams cones, it’s time to get your hands on some stationery to match the summertime buzz.

Just as the colors and styles of clothing collections change according to the different seasons of the year, so do those of stationery. The changes are subtle, but in terms of functionality and appeal, very important.

Themed greeting cards are the most obvious example of seasonal stationery items. If you’re the owner of a boutique store, you won’t be stocking cards with snowflakes printed on them in the middle of July. And if you’re a stationery designer, you might want to start working on your ideas for a wintery-themed card now, but wait till the end of summer or early fall to begin pitching your new product to stores.

(above: Whimsy Press’ you are my sunshine giftwrap, and Dog and Pony Show’s blue starry feeling notecard)

Things to keep in mind when conjuring up a card or notebook design for a particular season: the colors, the texture, the subject, the uses. Just like the way we choose clothes, people seem to have an affinity for brighter, lighter and more colorful cards and papers when the weather’s warm, and tend to go for deeper, richer shades and patterns when it’s chilly outside. Paper weight and texture also play a part in the design process. Translucent vellum and handmade papers embedded with seeds and dried flowers are popular during the spring and summer months, while thicker, heavyweight cardstocks seem to be the papers of choice for cold-weather designs. Besides the actual design and paper choices, there’s the functionality of the item. Notecards and invitations go a long way during the summer months, as do journals, scrapbooks and photo albums since people do quite a bit of traveling during this time.

A good way to see how the seasonal stationery market looks is to pay a visit to some boutique stores and paperies in your area. Look at what’s on display, what items have been marked for sale, and work on your peripheral vision and hearing — keep an eye and an ear on what items other customers in the store are asking for and purchasing. Put yourself in their shoes (or sandals), and ask yourself, what would you buy?