A Martha Stewart Morning: Repurposing Holiday Cards, and New Wedding Invitations Albums Arriving at Stores

Whilst checking on my stock portfolio in the Wall Street Journal this morning (not!) I came across an article entitled "What Would Martha Stewart Do With Holiday Cards Still Sitting Around?"

Here's a link to the article so you can check it out yourself. 

In the article I noted with interest and enthusiasm an option for those of us who are not crafty and who want to be able to make a contribution to a very valuable cause even when we don't have the funds to write a check.


Those used holiday cards can be turned into new cards as part of the St. Jude's Ranch for Children Recycled Card Program. Mail the fronts of your cards to 100 St. Jude's St., Boulder City, Nev., 89005 before Feb. 28. For more information, go here.

And while I'm on the subject of Martha Stewart and stationery, brand new albums displaying the Martha Stewart Weddings collection have arrived in stores, just in time for the busiest invitation-planning season.

 

To have a look at the collection from the comfort of your own computer, you can click here. To find a Crane stationer nearest you who carries the album, you can click here.

Stationery Trends Highlights Martha and Social Media

The fall issue of Stationery Trends Magazine is, as always, chock full of required reading for anyone in the business. That is especially true this time, because the magazine features an in-depth Q&A with Martha Stewart about her new line of wedding invitations and holiday cards for Crane & Co.



Here's a portion of the interview.

To see the whole piece, plus an insightful column on the business benefits of social media by an astute and ruggedly handsome blogger, you may subscribe here.

For those who would prefer to purchase this single issue, which includes an insightful column on the business benefits of social media by an astute and ruggedly handsome blogger, it's $6, and that's a bargain!

A Whirlwind at the National Stationery Show

I have a short memory. I've been doing this show for quite some time now, and every year, it seems I forget how busy I get when making promises about blogging and tweeting.

Yesterday is pretty much a blur, with more than a dozen appointments with writers and editors from national magazines, all anxious to see what's new. And there is plenty that is new and exciting, but none more so than yesterday's debut of Martha Stewart Stationery for Crane.

We had a great time at the Top of Rockefeller Center in the Rainbow Room, highlighted by a visit by Martha herself. Here are some photos from the event:



Martha with Crane Chairman and CEO Charlie Kittredge.


With Crane Vice President Anita Brady.


Darcy Miller, editorial director for Martha Stewart Weddings, was also in the house.


The view

Martha Stewart and Crane: A Match Made in Heaven

This announcement is making its way around newspapers, magazines, radio, television, blogs and tweets pretty quickly, so I thought you might get your first glimpse here.

March 25, 2009 - New York, NY and Dalton, MA – Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. today announced a full line of co-branded social stationery products with Crane & Co. Martha Stewart and her design team will create a line of beautiful, personalized invitation suites to be released this year, beginning with the Martha Stewart Stationery Weddings™ in Spring 2009. The line will be available through Crane stationers equipped with Crane’s Personalized Design Studio—a proprietary stationery design system - through Crane's website and other select online retailers.
The Martha Stewart collection will feature 24 invitation suites comprised of invitations, save-the-dates, and response cards in a range of styles designed to showcase Martha’s unique style and Crane’s timeless elegance. A distinctive selection of papers will include new calligraphic motifs and flourishes, decorative scrollwork, embroidery inspired designs, and hand-engraved details.

“I am delighted to share the Martha Stewart Stationery Weddings collection, crafted with master stationers Crane & Co.,” said Martha Stewart, founder of MSLO. “From the first save-the-date card mailed to the last thank-you note re­ceived, a wedding creates a lovely paper suite. With so many choices for color, lettering styles, and motifs, a bride and groom can create a wedding invitation that will be a unique expression of themselves.”

The new stationery products further extend MSLO’s wedding franchise, which encompasses Martha Stewart Weddings magazine, extensive online content, including a variety of online wedding-planning tools powered by WeddingWire, and wedding-related books such as Weddings by Martha Stewart and Martha Stewart’s Wedding Cakes.

“We are very excited to join forces with Martha Stewart and the brand she has built,” said Anita Brady, vice president and general manager of Crane’s Social and Business Stationery. “The Crane name has been synonymous with the finest stationery available through seven generations of Crane family and the brides they have served. This collaboration will ensure the next generation of brides is equally well served.”

Martha Stewart Stationery Weddings will include a complete range of accessories, such as wedding programs, place cards, menu cards, thank-you cards and table accessories. Couples may customize their designs through engraving, thermography, letterpress, lithography, and foil-stamping. In addition, the collection features papers that are tree-free 100% cotton or contain post-consumer recycled content, and are FSC or Green Seal certified.

In time for the 2009 holiday season, the company will release boxed and personalized Martha Stewart Stationery holiday cards.

Exclusive Martha Stewart Wedding Invitation Design

Earlier this year, Crane produced a custom wedding invitation for Liesl Menning, Martha Stewart’s assistant, for her wedding this summer in Tennessee.

The letterpressed invitation and postcard reply are a perfect combination of quality, beauty and environmental responsibility. A striae pattern is gently etched into the 100% cotton fluorescent white paper, adding texture and depth. Text is letterpressed in kona brown and surrounded by a stylish double-line frame. Coordinating response postcards are available.

The invitation will be featured in the Winter issue of Martha Stewart Weddings, on Martha’s television show and on the Style Network.

Have a look:

Coasters from Crane's New Letterpress Weddings Album: A Transformational Design Challenge

I love letterpress. I love its three-dimensionality. I love the images sculpted in fluffy, bulky cotton paper.

Crane has just launched its new Letterpress Wedding Invitations album, which I will write more about shortly. It's beautiful stuff, and I hope all you nearlyweds out there will include this album in your deliberations.

When I received my samples from the album I noticed something new; items not found in other Crane wedding albums - coasters. Coasters personalized with letterpress. Here they are:

Now, I have been known to use a coaster on occasion for its intended purpose, but seeing these I began to wonder what else they might become. How else might they be used in a wedding celebration? How might they arise from beneath a wine glass?

All you Martha Stewart fans - and I count myself among them - have seen such transformations as she employs her creativity, imagination and vision. Now it's your turn.

Here's the challenge: Create something to personalize a wedding using these coasters as your starting point. I can't send you all actual coasters to work with, so here's a link to my Photobucket page where you will find images. In real life, they measure 4 inches across.

There are two ways to send in your entries: via e-mail (jpegs or pdfs under 5 megs please) or if you prefer, you may mail your entry to me at:

Peter Hopkins

Crane Museum of Papermaking

Crane & Co., Inc.

30 South St.

Dalton, MA 01226

Entries will be accepted until midnight on December 8. That gives you a month to play around. The winner will be announced just before Christmas, and the present will be 50 engraved social cards as well as the fame that accompanies the announcement of your victory here at The Crane Insider, of course.

If you have questions, and I'm sure you will, please leave a comment below and I will respond so that everyone will have the benefit of the answer.

Don't Miss Fall Martha Stewart Weddings

I just got my early copy of the Fall issue of Martha Stewart Weddings, and even though I knew what was coming, it was a thrill nonetheless to see things in print.



In this issue, joining the likes of Oscar de la Renta, Mindy Weiss and Sylvia Weinstock as contributors to the regular "Ask the Expert" column is Crane's own Brand Director Megan Kuntze. Megan is featured in a Q&A about all things stationery with writer Jennifer Miranda. They cover such topics as:

• What you should look for in a reputable stationer?
• What trends are you seeing now?
• What if a bride wants to go "green?"
• What are popular design elements, and
• Why is printed stationery so important for weddings?

The column is highlighted by the photography of Johnny Miller. Megan noted that one of the most special parts of the day was getting all dolled up for her photo by hair and makeup stylist Sophie Kaspar. I spoke to Megan just after she got back from the photo shoot and she said the folks at Martha Stewart Weddings couldn't have been more friendly, courteous and professional, making her feel right at home during a long day of photography and interviews.


A second highlight in this issue is a stunning wedding invitation suite created especially for a feature article on "The Golden Touch." As you can imagine, the article focused on metallic gold as a thematic design element from the invitation to the cake. Hand-gilded heavyweight stock is adorned by a hand-drawn monogram and a regally engraved crown.


Have a look.

Busy Day at the National Stationery Show

Both Ms. Bliss and I had such high expectations for being able to blog in real time from the National Stationery Show. Reality has interfered. Not that reality is a bad thing. We had no idea how busy we would be at the show.

One of our main jobs for Crane at the show is to invite and host members of the national media and introduce them to new products and trends that we have identified with stationery, etiquette, weddings and general correspondence. We were very pleased with the number of editors from these magazines who made scheduled appointments. We never expected to see so many of our editorial friends stop by. We had fully expected an hour here and an hour there to put together some information and photos for the blog.

But to give you an idea of how our time has been occupied, here's a list of the magazines and other media outlets we had visits with just today:

The Knot - Magazine and TV

Pen World

Lucky

Getting Married TV

Country Living

O, the Oprah Magazine

Real Simple

Bridal News Network

Elle

Stylus

All You

Modern Bride

Bride's Magazine

Bridal Guide

Vogue

Here are some scenes from the show:

Dragonflies join butterflies and ladybugs in Crane's extended hand-engraved bug collection.

The Search for the Cure pink ribbon stationery sets.

Gayle Driggers, product manager for personalized stationery, is interviewed by Kim Sunshine for a segment on The Knot TV.

Darcy Miller, left, Editorial Director of Martha Stewart Weddings, discuss new Crane stationery collections with Megan Kuntze, Crane's Brand Director.