Stationery+Cards – Fabulously Green

Category archives: Stationery+Cards

Fish Lips Designs | Under Wraps

11Jul07

I’m enraptured by these gift papers by Fish Lips Designs. Bold graphics printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. Oh, and the dyes are soy-based and chemical-free. As a former graphic designer I will say that going green in printing and paper is no easy feat. And the prices for papers are pretty reasonable.

DIY tip: Having seen these papers in person (owner/designer Kimi Rutkin dropped by some samples), they are handsome enough to frame as wall art. Buy a large sheet and create your own tryptic, or cluster a few patterns together of varying shapes and sizes to create a composition.

Other Fab DIY Possibilities:
* Book Covers
* Drawer Liners
* Scrapbooking
* Placements
* Handmade greeting cards
* Lampshades
* Switchplates – if you know how to decoupage

See the whole collection at the Fish Lips website. Go ahead, get wrapping!

Filed under Budget Decor, Gifts+Gifting, Lifestyle Tips, Recycled, Stationery+Cards| Tagged Eco-friendly, Fish Lips Designs, gift wrap, Kimi Rutkin, Non-toxic, Recycled, recycled wrapping paper, retro gift wrap, Stationery+Cards | 1 Comment

DIY Style File | Office Wall Art

03May07

Here’s a pretty resourceful design idea I spotted on Curbly: how to turn your collection of business cards into wall art. It’s an especially great project if like me, you’re in a design-related field and have collected bunches of stand-up-and-be-noticed cards. Or if you’ve abandoned your rolodex for a PDA.

READY, SET, DESIGN
* Sort cards by color, texture or theme. Look at them as a whole to see what kind of large scape print you can create with them.

* Turn them around. Some cards may have more designer appeal upside down, sideways, or on their backsides–begging to break out of the “same old, same old” mold.

* Cut, crop, or shred. Some cards exude more character when they’re cropped in dynamic ways. Think circles, lines, squares. Bring out your inner David Hockney.

BE DIFFERENT
* Consider designing a series of small pieces rather than one large piece.

* Mix the media. Admit it: you’ve been dying to do something with that new cover sheets on those pesky TPS reports. Ah, yeah.

* Layer it. Marker work on top could be fun–especially if you have a large number of white cards. Glue a few together to create some depth and pop.

* Get wordy. Arrange them into your favorite quote or word.

SHOW IT OFF
We’d love to see your designs or post your favorite office DIY project here. We won’t tell your boss. Really.

Filed under Budget Decor, Office Style, Stationery+Cards, Unique| Tagged curbly, Eco-friendly, Office Style, Reusable, Stationery+Cards | 8 Comments

The Posh Side of Paint Chips

23Mar07

Some kids collected baseball cards or stamps. I collected paint chips. Really. The aspiring little designer in me fell in love with these bands of gorgeous color and their delicious names (though I always wondered who gets the honor of naming all 500+ colors of yellow? Anyone of you know?). I hoarded them for crafts, bookmarks, and handmade greeting cards. Apparently, so do many other creative people.

Designer Lisa Solomon transforms behr paint chips into diminutive works of art. Each card is embellished with an embroidered illustration from nature. So delicate! They are sold as framed pieces for $400 each at The Beholder. A rather steep price tag even for these pretty pieces. If you are handy with a Singer, you could always design-your-own.

These machine-sewn note cards by P1 Design resemble the bold, beautiful cards sewn by Unique Artistry. Geometric, and minimalist in style, these cards are sewn onto eco-friendly, recyclable Kraft paper.

A fabulous DIY idea: designverb shares a step-by-step way to turn your stack of chips into chic cases for your business cards.

If you’re more inventive you can reinterpret the idea. This tweaked design by craftlog resulted from the fact that her paint chips were a different size. Call it serendipity.

Filed under Handmade, Paints+Techniques, Refashion+Refurb, Stationery+Cards| Tagged Eco-friendly, Handmade, Paint chip greeting cards, Stationery+Cards | No Comments

Etsy Find: Plantable Greeting Cards

23Jan07

Here’s a great way to spread a little love this Valentine’s season: Plantable Greeting Cards from round robin press. I discovered them on Etsy after buying my refashioned poker chip necklace from stinkycretingirl (beautiful jewelry, the name however…).

Wildflower seeds have been embedded in organic cotton paper and will sprout when planted. If I had a yard I’d test it out. Anyone out there game to try?

And the love birds? They’re letterpressed using soy-based ink, and enveloped in a 100% recycled Kraft envelope.

Love Birds, roundrobinpress, $6 on etsy. A variety pack of four is available for $20.

Filed under Gifts+Gifting, Indie, Lifestyle Tips, Recycled, Stationery+Cards| Tagged Eco-friendly, Etsy, greeting cards, Indie, plantable, Recyclable, Recycled, roundrobinpress, Stationery+Cards, Valentine's Day, Vegan | No Comments

The Notebook

11Sep06

If you have a penchant for writing or journaling, or simply love beautifully styled notebooks, it’s worth checking out the journals at World of Good.

One that caught my eye is the Sinless Sequin journal is not only pretty in pink but hand embroidered by Muslim women at Tara Projects, a fair trade organization supporting economic opportunities for local artisans. They’re very vocal in advocating against child labor.

Many journals are made tree-free as well.

Filed under Lifestyle Tips, Stationery+Cards| Tagged Eco-friendly, Stationery+Cards | No Comments

Good on Paper: Eco-friendly Cards

10Aug06

These cheerful notecards by San Francisco-based Good on Paper are fabulously good inside and out. Graphic designer Lisa Wong Jackson’s style is warm and minimalist, taking inspiration from nature. Perfect for getting in touch with long distance pals, or as special occasion thank you cards. These cards are printed on recycled papers using vegetal inks. Available for $4.25 each, or $18 for a set of 8 directly through Good on Paper’s online store.

Spotted at Design*Sponge

Filed under Indie, Refashion+Refurb, Stationery+Cards| Tagged Eco-friendly, Indie, Non-toxic, Stationery+Cards | No Comments

Tenth and Grant: Noteworthy Stationery

04Aug06

Here are some noteworthy newbies from Oregon-based artist collaborative Tenth and Grant. All their stationery and paper goods are printed using eco-friendly soy inks on a variety of recycled papers. And of course, we think they look fabulous!

Periscope Notebook (shown in Plum and Olive) by Austin Whipple. Gridlined little sketchbook made from recycled chipboard.

Bricks and Drips Coasters by Ian Lynam
Inspired by European geometric patterns and Japanese illustrations from the 1950s and 60s, these coasters just bring out the latent party girl in me. $12 for a set of 16 coasters.

An oldie but goodie:

Petals Notecards by Lisa DeJohn, $2.50 each

All are available through Buy Olympia.

Via Worsted Witch

Filed under Gifts+Gifting, Recycled, Refashion+Refurb, Stationery+Cards| Tagged Eco-friendly, Non-toxic, Recyclable, Recycled, Stationery+Cards | No Comments

Eco-Modern Carducopia

22Jun06

As much as I love greeting cards (and used to design my own), these days I seem to always find myself short-handed when that special birthday or thank you moment comes. No discretionary time!

One solution: the Cardstock Box from Set is a veritable cornucopia of minimalist cards for every occasion you’ll need this year. Birthdays, valentines, mother’s day, father’s day, holiday and new year’s cards–all printed on 100% post-consumer paper.

I’m also attracted to Set’s line of foil-stamped chipboard postcards which give scrap stock from local paper mills new life and new purpose. They’re handsome, modern and oh yes, affordable ($8-16 for sets of seven or eight). All are made in the U.S.

Although traditional inks are used for printing, Alison Riley at Set is considering a switch into soy inks in the future (which is still being perfected in the graphics world). Stay tuned.

Seen at: the NYT Fashion & Style section by Ellen Tien
Photo credit: Lars Klove, NYT

Filed under Gifts+Gifting, Recycled, Stationery+Cards| Tagged Alison Riley, Cardstock Set, Eco-friendly, Recycled, Set, Stationery+Cards | No Comments

Leather Accessories with a Purpose

04Jun06

Is recycled leather considered green? Share your opinion. These journals, luggage tags and other accessories definitely reflect style while taking leather cast-offs out of the landfill. I’ve e-mailed twokh.com to learn more about their recycling process and will fill you in once they reply. In the meantime, their mission is eco-friendly, and they offer many other types of eco accessories made beautifully from bamboo, coconut shells and other fabulous materials. Be on the lookout for these pieces in my next blog.

Filed under Gifts+Gifting, Refashion+Refurb, Stationery+Cards| Tagged Eco-friendly, Stationery+Cards | 3 Comments

Fabulously Green