Garden Season Awaits; Win and Get Organized

We lost quite a bit of snow overnight and after the next three days of ark-building weather, the whole garden should be visible if it's not under water. I will remain optimistic that this year I will get the peas in the ground during maple syrup season.

I am likely the most disorganized gardener you will ever meet, so this year, I have vowed to be more attentive to advance planning and documentation throughout the season. Now you can too.

This Freebie Friday, I'm offering a lovely garden-themed pad and a 76-page garden journal to two lucky winners.

Just leave a comment below to enter next week's drawing. And if you've got a garden tip for me, that would be most welcome. It might even be worth extra credit!

Which Item of Stationery Was Crane's 2009 Best-Seller?

I could tell you, but that wouldn't be much fun. So, I'll show you the six top-selling pieces of Crane's boxed stationery and see if you can put them in proper order, from 1 to 6. Here are the entries:

Crane's Ecru Resume Paper

Engraved Navy Thank You Notes

Pearl White Triple Paneled Place Cards

Regent Blue Bordered Ecru Notes

Engraved Six-Language Thank You Notes

Kid Finish Notes and Envelopes

Before we get to the rules, what do you see in these top-sellers?

I see a clear reflection of the times: 

• We're going back to the basics; back to solid ground (above are the little black dresses and navy blue blazers of the stationery world).
• We are thankful and aren't afraid to express ourselves. We may have fewer things for which to be thankful, so each occasion to say thanks is cherished.
• There are too many people looking for jobs. Those who are job-hunting recognize that presenting yourself to a prospective employer on 32-pound Crane's Kid Finish establishes the foundation for a memorable first impression.
• We're saving some money and enjoying the company of friends and family by entertaining at home.

As promised, here are the rules. Leave a comment to this post, putting the entries in order from 1-6. I will draw from all those with the correct answer. The winner will receive one box each of the top-sellers. The contest will end Wednesday, March 10 at midnight. I will announce the winner in a post next Thursday.

And don't forget, tomorrow is Freebie Friday, when I'll offer another chance to win Crane stationery.

First Freebie Friday a Day Early

I am planning on giving away Crane stationery every week, with new offerings every Friday, but tomorrow is shaping up like I may not get my head above water, so let's start today. Plus, I just got through photographing these items for a major lifestyle magazine, so I'm ready to roll.

This week, I have two (2) boxes of the new classic kate postcards, designed by Kate Spade and printed on Crane's 100% cotton paper. Each box contains three (3) each of four (4) designs:

 

  

Here are the rules, such as they are. Leave a comment below and you will be entered into a drawing that will be held next Thursday, with the winner to be announced in next Friday's giveaway. And, for you Twitterers out there, follow @craneinsider and retweet the contest announcement to enter.

Good luck!

Hottest Item in Crane's Annual Clearance Sale

Every year, there's a terrific clearance sale at crane dot com. If you've got some birthdays coming up that need some attention, you want to get an early start on the 2010 holiday season, perhaps Valentine's Day or just want to give yourself a well-deserved treat after all the holiday hubbub, check out some of these great bargains.

The best bargain of all, in my humble opinion, is Crane's Cherry Finish Wood Stationery Box. I have looked longingly at this particular item for many years as The Perfect Gift for a letter-writer, as well as for - me!

Check it out. It's gorgeous, and it's on sale for $47.99, down from $125.

 

Now I can afford to get and give two. One to a writer and one to me!

So who, besides me, shall I give this beauty to? I know, let's have a contest! Let's have some fun on Twitter!

Please tweet the following:

RT@craneinsider Retweet and U could win Crane's Cherry Wood Stationery Box! http://ow.ly/SHT0. Pass the word. A bargain even if U don't win.

When you Tweet, you will be entered in a drawing. I'll keep track of all the Tweets and I'll announce and notify the winner next Monday, January 11.

Good Luck! And if you don't win, treat yourself.

Send Me Your Paper Cranes for the Crane Museum

For seasoned readers of The Insider, you will probably remember my encounter with My Paper Crane. For relative newbies or those with memories as bad as my own, I ran across My Paper Crane when doing my daily keyword search of the internet, blogosphere and Twitterverse. During those searches I continue to run across "paper cranes," a universal symbol of peace.

It occurred to me that, instead of treating these search-function intruders as a nuisance, it's time to celebrate the importance of the relationship among cranes, paper and peace.

To that end, I will create an exhibit in the Crane Museum of Papermaking next season to showcase the finest examples of origami paper cranes.

So, how will the finest be judged? First of all, I will be the sole judge, and I cannot be bribed! As far as the judging criteria, here are some considerations:

I make my living telling stories, so I really want to hear the story about your paper crane.

Originality. What's different about your paper crane?

Beauty. It's in the eye of the beholder and I am the Beholder.

Intangibles. They are just that.

I just changed my mind. I was going to ask all of you to send me a jpeg of your entry, but I'm a paper guy, a stamp guy and  a mailbox guy. So fold a crane and send it to me. And tell me your story. Make sure you include your contact information. I will want to respond to all of you personally and, of course, I want to be able to send our winners some Crane Paper for their Paper Crane.

Here's the address:
Peter Hopkins
472 Center St.
Pownal, VT 05261

If there is a reason why you can't send me your crane, tell me your story.

I will accept entries until December 13; that's 60 days. Please pass the word.

I did mention that I can't be bribed, but paper cranes submitted on distinctive paper made of cotton and linen with an engraving of Ben Franklin will receive extra credit - Kidding!

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.

Name The Model - Win a Prize!

As Crane's historian, I get to see all kinds of cool stuff from the past. At the urging of a certain someone, I leafed through a portfolio of advertisements in national magazines from the 1960s in search of her photograph. It took me a while, but I found the ad in question.

If you think you can identify this model, please send me an e-mail. From all the correct responses, assuming any of you can figure out who this is, I'll put your names in a hat to win a box of Crane's Initial Notes or Cards. Deadline is April 30. There will be three designs to chose from:

I hope to hear from you, and good luck! I'll let you all know who this is after the 30th.

The Letters You Keep 2008

Today kicks off National Card and Letter Writing Month, and for the second consecutive year, Crane & Co. is hosting The Letters You Keep contest. I would venture to guess that all of us have at least one letter we’ve saved – for a year, a lifetime or generations – a letter that has special meaning that transcends the passing of time. So dust off that family album or untie the ribbon on that shoebox where your most treasured written mementos are stored, and tell us about that one very special letter.

If you’re judged to be the winner, you’ll receive $500 worth of Crane stationery. You can get all the details here.

I am honored to be one of the judges again this year, and will be joined by Samara O’Shea, author of For the Love of Letters, a modern guide to letter-writing. A third judge will be announced very shortly and I can’t wait (but I must) to tell you about her.

I remember vividly reading hundreds of letters last year, tackling them by the dozen or so in the evening. Reading these wonderful letters, written from the heart, from all over the country, spanning centuries of time, proved to be an intensely moving experience for me.

Out of all those letters, one jumped off the page. It came from Elizabeth Donohoe of Newburyport, Mass.

Elizabeth’s letter was penned by her great-grandmother more than 120 years ago when she was a young child who dearly missed her father, Captain J. R. Bryan.

Captain Bryan, posted in Alabama far from a young daughter and loving wife in Virginia, received his daughter’s note while serving in the United States Army. As Elizabeth recounts, Captain Bryan treasured the letter and brought it with him when he returned home, making it a family heirloom for years and generations to come.

The letter itself is beautiful in its simplicity and candor. On a small piece of paper, now faded to an antique yellow, the little girl wrote in careful cursive,

My Dear Father:

When Mother was taking her bath this morning I slid in behind her and cut this beautiful curl. I send it to you because it’s a part of Mother I want to keep so dreadfully bad myself. But all the same, I send it to my dear Father.

Mother is better this morning, breakfast is ready.

Your loving child,
Mattie

I can’t wait to read your letters.