HAPPY OCTOBER!

WE CAN’T WAIT TO DIVE INTO OUR NEXT THREE BOOK PICKS OF THE YEAR. OCTOBER WILL BE OUR OFFICIAL LAST MEETING HERE IN THE STUDIO BUT WE HAVE BOOKS SELECTED THROUGH THE END OF THE YEAR FOR US TO WRAP UP OUR 12 BOOKS OF 2019!

OUR OCTOBER MEETING WILL BE AN EXTRA SPECIAL MEETING AS WE’VE PARTNERED WITH AUSTIN WOMAN TO CO-HOST THIS EVENT. AND AS AN EXTRA TREAT, THE AUTHOR HERSELF WILL BE JOINING US AT THIS MEETING!

IF YOU’RE NEW AROUND HERE, HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT WITH OUR BOOK CLUB:

1. We are sharing our book picks by the quarter. So you’ll be able to get an idea of what books are coming up!

2. Book club nights will take place on the last Wednesday of each month from 6pm-7:15pm.

3. Book club members are invited to bring a snack to share at the meeting and we’ll provide a glass of wine- you guys voted for snacks + wine :)

4. Book club members will vote on the next quarters books!

5. We’re committed to making this year the best year yet for book club- and are asking you to join us. Make reading a part of your routine, carve out that one time a month to join us in our studio, better yet, invite a friend to join us. Book club is meant to keep us connected in this busy, busy world!

Q3 BOOKS

OCTOBER’S BOOK:

Whisper Network by Chandler Baker

OCTOBER’S MEETING:

Wednesday, October 30th 6pm-7:15pm

*This will be our last meeting of the year so don’t miss out on joining us :)

NOVEMBER’S BOOK:

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

*We are not meeting for this book club read.

DECEMBER’S BOOK:

One Day In December by Josie Silver

*We are not meeting for this book club read.

I’ve gotten a ton of questions over the years about having a stationery business. Having been on both sides of it as a stationery brand who wholesaled our own line, to a retail shop that wholesales from other stationery brands and now to juggling both - I do feel like although I may not know it all, I sure know a lot more than I did when I first started!

I’m sharing one of my product and packaging sources in this very post so definitely read through the end :)

There’s so much that goes into the thought process of just one single product. Beyond the actual product itself I think the most important component to a stellar product is of course the design, but also the packaging. I mean who isn’t a sucker for good packaging or at least something that is visually appealing. I am 100% guilty of gravitating towards a product in my personal life like these candles I saw online as well as when I’m making buying purchases for the shop. *I’d also like to acknowledge that there can be frivolous packaging that just adds to the trash pile and it’s really awesome to see smaller brands making efforts to minimize waste. Several brands have swapped over to compostable packaging etc.

So when I decided to relaunch a small in-house stationery line for the shop, I knew I wanted to keep things pretty minimal for the entire line. Down to the packaging - almost all of our packaging is eco-friendly and compostable. I wanted the product to be the main feature and focus, and the packaging to be secondary yet a priority was that it needed to also informative to a guest in our shop.

I took a cue from a system we put in place back in 2015 where we made stickers that read “I’M LOCAL” and “MADE IN TEXAS” that we put on all product that were made in Austin and in Texas respectively. This made the guest shopping experience so much easier because they could easily identify what was local and what was Texas made.

I opted for an inverted BW color for our logo on small .5” and 1” stickers for all our new product line packaging so it would be easily identifiable as a P+CP product. We use it for labeling on stationery as well as on our first ever signature candle scent! These are also the same quality as the sticker set and sheets we have in the shop and I can attest that they are waterproof, dishwasher safe, durable vinyl that many stationery designers actually use for their marketing/shipping as well as sticker products.

There may be a million things on your to-do list when it comes to small business, but I hope this provides you a little bit of resource because great packaging can look like a million bucks (without actually costing a million bucks :)

p.s. If you want to try out my sticker resource, Sticker Mule, here’s a link for some store credit :)

Anyone else out there R-E-A-D-Y for fall? I know we (me and the P+CP) are! I can't wait to bring in some cozy autumn vibes into our shop + studio. 

It's been an exceptionally busy season for us here. From the closing of our first brick + mortar and reopening days after, to hosting over 20+ workshops and events this summer (and even our first out of Austin workshop), celebrating our official reopening with a weekend full of fun...I've definitely let our blog fall on the back burner. 

But we're back! And armed with our new creative intern who is committed to keeping The Paper + Craft Pantry blog on track with delivering awesome posts and content with all of you!

Grace is an exceptionally talented creative who always has a knack for executing all the ideas I've had brewing in my mind + while adding an elevated touch to all of them. When I mentioned I wanted to create a simple D.I.Y. that would transition seamlessly from that summer mind set to the fall, I knew it would be perfect for all you wanting to find time to get creative as well as update your every day with simple accessories. 

Before we got started, we spend some time going over some design ideas as well as choosing a color palette that was fun enough for summer, but cozy enough for fall! We ended up with colors that were both in the same families as well as complementary colors and perhaps have found our new fall wardrobe color palette in the process! 

D.I.Y. CLAY BEAD NECKLACE + KEYCHAIN

PROJECT TIME: 45 MIN (NOT INCLUDING DRY TIME)

MATERIALS

• Air dry clay
• Acrylic paint
• Paint brushes
• Wood dowels
• Leather jewelry cored
• Keychain hardware

D.I.Y. STEPS

1. Choose your color palette!

Here was our process for picking out our palette using two color theory principles: 

COLOR HARMONY: From a visual standpoint, harmony is something that is pleasing to the eye. It engages the viewer and it creates an inner sense of order and balance. When something is not harmonious, it's either boring or chaotic. 

We ended up with gold, black, grey, coral, blush pink, olive and a leafy green.

COLOR CONTEXT: How color behaves in relation to other colors and shapes.

We wanted colors that were unexpected when paired together and were specific on the shape of the clay bead as it corresponded to the color of paint we used. We also considered this as we were stringing the beads together.

2. Roll out your air-dry clay in a variety of sizes and shapes! *Pro-Tip we laid down wax paper to keep our work surface clean!

3. Use the wooden skewer to insert a hole that goes straight through the clay bead- keep in mind that the skewer should be wider than the cord you are using.

4. Leave your clay beads to dry for at least 3 full days!

5. Once your clay beads are dry, paint them! They'll dry relatively quickly and be ready to string onto your cord within a few minutes. We made a variety of necklace and key chain combinations with all the beads we made!

*Pro-tip: Spray a clear coat over the beats to avoid scuffs!

In case you missed it, I spent a few whirlwind days in New York last week to attend NYNOW + The National Stationery Show! It’s my third time at the Stationery Show but my first for NYNOW - they recently combined the two making it a lot easier (and affordable!) for me to attend both. If you’re not totally sure what those two things are, they are basically large trade shows where both big brands and more independent brands exhibit their brands, products and goods for the season. To say it’s an overwhelming experience is putting it lightly, and even though it’s not my first trade show rodeo, walking a large convention center with rows and rows of brands can take a lot out of you!

A lot of people ask how you can attend and unfortunately you do have to have credentials to attend. I attend as a retail buyer and had to apply + show proof of shop/business ownership to be able to enter. I also did see some name badges for media (like the Oprah Magazine) where their editors may be walking the show to get insights to trends for the season. There are also the big buyers like Target, Anthropologie, Paper Source etc walking the show and I know it’s a huge deal for smaller brands to make those contacts in person.

Trade shows are not for the faint of heart, I’m not exaggerating when I say the investment to attend and participate in a large trade show can be in the 5 digits. I’ve heard from businesses who exhibit when they say it can take a full year to see it pay itself off as buyers don’t always write orders immediately.

The past few years when I’ve attended, I’ve always had a “plan” (which is kinda laughable looking back!) I would allot a buying budget and make a list of every brand I had interest in seeing + business I wanted to meet in person. And without fail, the past two years it was like letting a kid loose in a candy store. I want to bring so much into the shop because I personally love it and just know you guys would too. So I really have to reign myself in because blacking out at a trade show is a much larger hit on your bank account than a Target black out lol

This year, it was really fun getting to walk the show with my fellow stationery shop biz bestie, KB who owns Calliope Paperie in Natick, MA. We became friends via the world of Instagram years ago and have since become in real life friends. Let me tell you how amazing it is to have someone who is in the same specific industry as you who you can truly bounce ideas off of, as well as someone you can genuinely vent to because she 100% relates!

We walked the show together after we meshed our lists (of brands + people we wanted to see) and would flitter off every now and then to see brands that were maybe a bit more specific to each of our tastes/stores. Not to mention I was running to the bathroom every 30 mins too (did I mention how extra tiring it was to be on my feet for 10+ hours while 6 months pregnant?) KB was a real MVP for slowing down so I could keep up as well as understood that when I said I was hungry or needed a snack - it was time to hustle to get this girl something to eat!

I ended up placing several orders I am extremely excited about and have them tapered to ship between now and the next couple of months. I can’t wait for you guys to come see what I picked out!

Scroll on down to see all the photos of some of the fun things I loved at this year’s show - p.s. There’s even a section at the end of all the places we went to (mostly food) while not at the show :)

Also if you want to see more behind the scenes, I created a highlight via Instagram of my 3 days there!

THINGS I ATE IN NY + SHOPS I VISITED:

EATS

Supermoon Bake Shop: fancy and fun croissants

Meatball Shop: delicious meatballs and spaghetti

Boba Guys : had the strawberry matcha boba with oat milk

Joes Steam Rice Rolls: MY FAVORITE THING I ATE (loved the order with shrimp and I may have eaten two plates of this)

Momofuku Noodle Bar: loved their buns + ramen

Liberty Bagels: had this twice, my favorite was the cinnamon raisin with plain cream cheese - I even carried home 4 bagels in my purse for Evan

Magnolia Bakery: one night after dinner, KB and I got an entire box of mini cupcakes to eat back at the hotel room lol

THINGS TO DO

Chillhouse: where I got my cute manicure - counts as a business expense doesn’t it? For all the card holding pictures? They specialize in nail art and use “clean” nail polishes. Their staff is extremely helpful for those of us (ahem, me) who can’t decide on colors.

Goods For The Study: dreamy stationery shop

CW Pencil Enterprise: one of my favorite little gems

Greenwich Letterpress: a cute stationery shop

Pink Olive: stationery + gift shop