I love the translucent breath of color that this japanese washi tape adds to wrapped gifts ! Torn easily by hand and *repositionable*, I think I could have hours of fun with this stuff… [ Yukio Taniguchi’s tape show here on loop’s eon’ wrap at MoMA ]
With my favorite season approaching, these warm hues from happytape have me feeling the cooler breezes of September already !
I just discovered this on Twitter and have become completely distracted by the 500 pencils program from Social Designer : a simple subscription service delivers 25 curated colors each month for 20 months. The idea that this staggering collection can be mounted to the wall in sleek plexi holders made me marvel at the following : wall-mounted pencil holders would create a work of art that creates works of art, the display itself changing as different colors are taken down, used, sharpened to differing lengths and returned to the wall. My imagination is slipping into blisssss …….
ps : my birthday is september 18th ; )
While there is nothing like the sensory stimulation of a good paper store – the colors, combinations + textures – the online boutique GreetQ is so chock full of good design, I can almost smell a clean, fresh sheet of writing paper when I visit. Beyond a well-curated collection of notes for all occasions from independent artists and small card companies, GreetQ thinks outside the envelope :
“” … We believe that people still appreciate the act of receiving a note or beautifully made card in the mail. That’s why we want to make staying connected with family and friends as easy as ordering a pizza. You never have to leave your home or office; just select a card, type in your message and we will handwrite or print your message, mailing it directly to the recipient in time for that important occasion.”
[ They have a great blog, too ! ]
Some of the great lines to choose from include, from left to right :
Masha D’Yans, Cartolina, Egg Press + Herman Wu
You can image Loop’s great delight in announcing that a large selection of our Loop and Doodlespark note cards are now available on this unique platform. We’re blushing at how excited Jennifer at GreetQ was to feature us in a special giveaway with Scoutie Girl as part of their Emerging Illustrators and Stationers Giveaway. Scoutie Girl, courtesy of vendor-partners, will be giving away the work of 7 selected artists and illustrators ~ visit now to enter by Sunday, August 9th !
After a year of looking all over Philadelphia [ and some of its suburbs ] – small, large, new, old, redone, short sale-d, in good school districts, in bad school districts, in scary fringe ‘hoods, in “up and coming” locations, north, west, south + east of our current 800 square-foot apartment – I think [ exhale ] we’ve found the house for us !
I’ll be posting more and more about this as the packing / moving / moving-in / renovating adventure continues, but for now I just wanted to share a few sneak peak pics of what will soon be our new house !!! I am SO EXCITED [ like, bubbling, giddy, can barely sit still and write this post excited ] at the thought of all the space we’ll gain – for my architect / inventor / techie husband, for Loop, for kids [ someday – soon ? ], this house has it all – great old details, hardwood floors + 10’ ceilings throughout, a little back garden + garage, and …. potential … Looks like our closing is July 30th, now that we’ve ironed out the post-inspection details [ our inspection lasted 5 hours !!! ], so stay tuned !
YAY ! Oh, truly happy day !
PS : wish the furniture was coming with the house, but alas, it is not ... that will be an adventure unto itself ~ anyone know a great source for local antique / used finds?
loop is honoring today with a special ONE DAY SALE – we’ll take 15% off your entire order* !!! Stock up on note sets to bring to the beach, wrap for all the summer wedding gifts that need giving – or just stock up on your favorite styles.
what’s so special about today, you ask? here are a few things that make Loop happy today :
- it’s my parent’s wedding anniversary. they inspire me to combine a full heart with a hearty laugh.
- it’s a day with a 7 and a 9 in it, both lucky numbers for me
- it’s the day before Friday and it’s summer
- the city of Paris celebrates it’s 2001st day in existence
- ….. ?
what is important about today for you?
I’m loving the entrance to Anthropology on Rittenhouse Square, spied on an evening stroll - ice cream in one hand, Loved One’s hand in the other hand, mind full of Loop, lungs full of summer, heart yearning and tugging then restful and calm, alternately.
I awoke this morning as usual, wishing I had more sleep and wishing the coffee would brew itself and magically appear at my desk. While waking up, a tweet caught my eye and gave a little more meaning to the day than was there before : Today is World Ocean Day [ thank you, Stephen Fry ]. I watched the trailer above, then surfed through various ocean-related websites. I found great info at The Ocean Conservancy about the problem of ocean debris and whole-heartedly suggest you read ‘The Rising Tide of Ocean Debris’ report based on the International Coastal Clean-Up 2008 [ I couldn’t bring myself to post a pic of the little seal tangled in the web that is their cover image ]. The top three key findings include :
1. A tidal wave of ocean debris is a major pollution problem of the 21st century.
2. Certain categories of debris show up more often in certain places.
3. Of the 43 items tracked during the Cleanup, the top three items of trash found in 2008 were cigarette butts, plastic bags, and food wrappers/containers.
I tend to get frustrated when I read about a pressing environmental issue, and yet feel like there is nothing I can do to make it better. Sign up for a clean up event in your area here.
Thanks as well to Ted Danson, for this calm and impactful call to action :
Last week, Loop caravanned to the Javits Center in New York City for the 2009 National Stationery Show. NSS is always such an undertaking for this small business, but it’s an important event … even in this recession, I felt it was necessary for Loop to present its portfolio of eco-goodness. All of the work that goes into getting there and all of the work that follows is worth it when I step back, exhale, and survey the sum of the parts.
I had never shown my work publically before I launched Loop at the NSS in 2007. Opening my portfolio and creating our first collection was so exhilarating; scary, wonderful, surreal, serene… hello, Unknown ! I tend to act first and think later when it comes to things I feel passionately about, and Loop was definitely an exercise in following my instincts. I remember printing samples of all our designs on my ink jet, lovingly perfecting all the details, and hoping something intelligent would come out when I introduced the drawings, paintings and Doodlespark collection to buyers, peers, and members of the press.
In 2008, I was super emotional about our presentation. Loop had a fantastic debut year, and I found myself worrying that we’d be a one-hit wonder [ cue A-Ha ]. As an artist, I put so much of myself into creating our work; as a business woman, I try to learn as much as I can about the industry and make the best choices possible. The combination can be heady sometimes, overwhelming, out of control, but when we hang the last sign at NSS, I always feel like its okay, its manageable, wonderful, alive and real.
This year, our third showing, found me enjoying the process much more. Even though we had many more issues leading up to the show – our printer ran our entire note card suite on the wrong paper stock, we had issues prototyping the binding of our new journals and jotters, and we were waiting on overnighted samples for key portions of our product line – I felt deep down inside that everything would turn out fine. [ thanks, ed ! ] I put aside my OCD, my nerves, my sleeplessness and focussed on the dream of the thing, the vision I have for Loop, the shining possibility that is born of the process.
I don’t mean to romanticize this, don’t get me wrong ! It’s a trade show, for goodness sake ! It’s packing boxes that fill my living room for weeks, its shleping everything down two flights of stairs into the car, hoping it will fit, driving to NY, unloading in hot sun or pouring rain, working 9 – 7 getting the booth just right, standing, smiling, meeting, greeting for 9 hours a day, taking it all down, mad packing and dashing to the car, driving back, and cramming everything into the basement in a reasonable fashion so that the whole process can be repeated the following Spring. Deep breath. And then the email follow-up, the sample-sending, the hoping-the-seeds-will-grow into new business season begins. [ I have to say, I COULD NOT do this without the genuine support and pitch-in-with-a-smile love from my mom and my husband, booth mate / booth architect extraordinaire ! ]
So, Spirit of NSS past, present and future, thanks for visiting me this morning ! My intent was to simply share some images from our foray…. From top to bottom, above : pics of our new wrap and jotters, our new organic fabrics [ launching officially SOOON ], the new doodlespark pairings, our new blank journals and jotters, the Loop oasis amid the green plastic NSS carpeting, the view from 17D [ thanks, edwin ! ], a superb Starbucks artist, and my mom and me smiling on the first morning…. check the tote, made from our new organic Inari fabric by my amazing mother-in-law !
[ ps : so sorry for the lousy quality of the pictures .. love those fluorescent lights ! ]
I really need to get out of my booth more next year to take pictures of some of the amazing work presented by my peers. In lieu of photos, I’ll make a quick list of some of my favorite exhibitors, here :
THANK YOU to all of the bloggers, reporters and other designers who so sweetly shared Loop with their readers. Here’s a list of some of the great post-show mentions Loop was a part of :
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