Like a Kid in a Stationery Store

I love cards. I love buying, making, sending, upcycling, and, of course, receiving them. During the last winter of my undergrad degree, I baited myself into finishing essays and studying for exams by allowing myself to make one Christmas card after each portion of school work was complete. (Hey, those long, cold Montreal winters bring out the nerd in a lot of people.) I had an entire corner of my bedroom set up with organized paper scraps, glue stick, and paper cutter. The month before, I had been lucky enough to stumble upon a freelance invitation maven who was holding a paper sale in her apartment and I snagged what has proven to be a decade's worth of beautiful scraps.

A couple years later I was visiting friends on Hornby Island and found a 1960's fairytale book at the recycling depot, (aka: the free store), that had unbelievably quaint floral accents adorning each page and I've since used snippets of these pages in frames on my walls and to decorate my wedding invitations.

A sampling of my upcycled and recycled one-of-a-kind wedding invitations.

One recent November I found myself staying with friends in Manhattan and after two weeks in the Big Apple my husband had purchased more clothing than I had but I felt no remorse because I had found wooden Christmas postcards by Night Owl Paper Goods and vintage inspired, small scale Christmas notes by Yellow Bird Greetings at a stationary shop in Greenwich Village. These were the perfect souvenirs as far as I was concerned: pretty, useful, and something I could not get back home. It wasn't until I got back home to Vancouver that I noticed the fine print on the back of the paper cards that read: "Printed in Vancouver". I'm sure the cards were appreciated nonetheless.

Night Owl Paper Goods' wooden postcards 

(perhaps they should change their company name)

I also worked for a few years as a buyer for a chain of natural lifestyle stores. My favorite part of the job quickly became stationery perusing and purchasing. The perfect way to ensure I got the Christmas cards I wanted! Not only did I bring in Night Owl's wooden cards but I discovered near perfect lines like Eggpress. How do you ever choose just one of their cards?

Impressive Eggpress

Coming soon: the best ways to use old Christmas cards!