Sketchy

Hi there! As the desinger I thought I'd start posting stuff now that we are starting to get things rolling ... I'm actually at the sketching stage now :) So here is a little thumbnail sketch for our first holiday card! Jess came up with the idea, and on the inside of the card the tagline will be something like "The Holidays are sneaking up!" The sketch is of a snowman and a little snowflake sneaking up around the corner from a chick walking down the street!

Rock, Scissor, Paper

Doreen turned me onto Rock Scissor Paper several years ago, and I have ordered some of their things online. A funky vintage feel with bright colors featuring cute animal designs -- I especially like the hippo -- a love of dachshunds and some naughtiness.

The company, started by 2 sisters 13 years ago, has grown to sales of $600K. In a recent profile in the Los Angeles Times, founders Heidi and Susie Bauer discuss the industry and shed some light onto how they have flourished in a heavily-saturated market where most start-ups dissolve in 5 years. They learned as they went. They discussed how tough it is to break into the large retail market. They started out by focusing on an untapped market -- the 35 and under set -- one that is lucrative in its influence and buying power. But now -- how do we -- all greeting card companies -- keep those buyers buying -- and not just sending text messages all day/night long?

I bought 5 cards in the last month, becoming part of the more than $7 billion in revenue in this industry. I purchased cards for weddings, for new babies, for inspiring friends and sending my brother Michel off the college. What did you buy them for? And where? And more importantly -- why?

How do we slow down this world to let ourselves in? We can't. So instead we have decided to speed up to meet it. Learning, we realize, also as we go.

HELLO!

Cash only, please

There are things coming to this space. I promise you. Things we want you to check out. You -- the buyers. You -- the readers. You -- our friends, family and pets. You -- the lurkers trying to get into our hearts and minds. You -- lovers of paper and correspondence. With any luck, it will be graphically represented in much lovelier way that I, and my 4 years at Carnegie Mellon working on designing Web sites/e-zines and other related editorial worlds from scratch (when I wasn't leading drinking chants, yelling at hockey players to skate harder in foreign languages or timing pledges while they chugged beer), can now represent visually and virtually.

Luckily, that is why I am the writer and Doreen is the designer.

Just wait. Not much longer now.

Dinner on Friday with our lawyer person -- Via Emilia. Recommended by my boss for its great food, quiet atmosphere and good location in the Flatiron District. Cash only, please.

We can save Craft for when we fill our first order.

OK, when we fill our first 100 orders.

Work

I know it may not look like it, but we're working here. Lawyer meeting in Sept. in NYC. Mock-ups due. Ideas flying. Wine being consumed. Baxter -- our official pet -- is wonderful for moral support. He also chases one hell of a piece of paper around the room.

What it means to be from Maine

Picking wild blueberries in the yard for breakfast. Finding chanterelles along the front of the property to saute in olive oil and fresh herbs for dinner. Hauling lobsters off the dock. Watching a crab pick his way through the seaweed under the walkway. All-you-can-drink iced tea and Wi-Fi in a place you have been coming since you had delayed-start Wednesdays in high school; and not being charged because you still know the barista -- he was named best eyes in his high school class. Duck fat-fried fries with truffle ketchup and making little girls squeal as you photograph their lavendar-frosted vanilla cupcakes. Vodka made from local potatoes and spring water, bottled like Chopin and handled like a newborn. Fried clams, crab rolls and a Maine root beer with Dad.

Be thankful you can always go home again. And that black flies are so annoying that you have to run faster in the mornings to escape them -- so that second (and third) helping doesn't feel as sinful later on.



But getting around the card side of this day: lobster pots. The lobstermen around Quahog Bay have banded together to sell placemats with the pictures of their pots -- and boat names. This symbol of the working water would be a beautiful picture -- and one that supports a critical industry -- plus a tourist draw. An interesting partnership idea for the future -- small, local industries and giving their cause a chance to be seen around the world, via cards.

Also, picked up some photo cards by Stacey Cramp -- a beautiful set of coastal works by this photographer who lives in Portland and went to Bates.