Advertise on podcast: The Paper Fold

Recently I hosted Wolf & Wren Press' Lauren and Liz, who just won the Louie Award for the Card of the Year. But there are actually two divisions of Card of the Year, $5.50 and above and $5.50 and below. Wolf & Wren took the below slot, while UWP Luxe took the above $5.50 slot with their fabulous tea-themed birthday creation that must be experienced in life to be fully appreciated.* That's because UWP Luxe is a pop-up card company, and while this market has gotten more crowded of late, UWP Luxe — as well as its sister companies Up With Paper and Jumping Jack Press — consistently takes a cutting-edge approach to not just stationery, but the entire pop up category as well. Pop-ups take the expected and turn it on its ear, and my guests Monika Brandrup, EVP and Creative Director, UWP and UWP Luxe, and George White, who was president at Up With Paper for many years but is now CEO of its parent company, CM Paula, discuss the evolution of their brands and the category as a whole. How exactly does this brand put the ship in the bottle, over and over in different formats, with extraordinary results every last time? *Please note: The Louie Award for Card of the Year was NOT a cat-a-rific birthday card as I state in my podcast intro — I jumbled UWP Luxe's Card of the Year with one of its other FIVE Louie Award winners. Such are the paper nerd problems caused by this prolific, award-winning brand! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the Part 1 of our chat, Rachel took us behind the vibrant, woodblocked Heartell Press design curtain, now we delve into its ethos of sustainability, and the many challenges it poses to a stationery brand. For example, shoppers absolutely loves seeing cards printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper — but it drives up costs, and brings a bevy of creative limitations. For Rachel, action — not discussion — always brings clarity. Thus many of Heartell's introductions, like its upcycle-able boxed note boxes, successfully cut down on single-use plastics as they differentiate themselves at point of purchase. It's all in the name of finding 21st-century solutions to lingering 20th-century problems. Best of all, Rachel's inspiring creative process is something anyone, anywhere can try. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Greeting cards have the nearly impossible task of connecting us with loved ones when we don't know what to say — so we all owe a huge debt of gratitude to makers like Rachel Kroh of Heartell Press, who have made it their life's work to help others give and get the emotional support they need. Today we travel behind the vibrant Heartell design curtain to learn what drives these irresistible, timeless woodblock designs. Rachel well understands grief, our enduring taboo against discussing grief — and even the many types of loss and change that can spark this staggering emotion. In fact, she founded her entire house of cards following her own Mother's terminal cancer diagnosis. In this, the first of two episodes, we discuss the evolution of Heartell, which started in Brooklyn but spread westward with a one-of-a-kind production process in tow. While navigating grief is the cornerstone of this brand — and Rachel's collaboration with grief counselor and author Lisa Keefauver offers both visual and emotional comfort in stationery form — she also finds a great healing power within arresting beauty. So whether Rachel is figuring out how to incorporate risograph offerings alongside her existing letterpress designs, or working on portraying the powerful bodies of women, her constant experimentation drives our collective growth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What goes into a Louie Award-winning Card of the Year? In the case of Wolf & Wren Press, every design grows from the 30-year friendship of co-founders Liz Wolf and Lauren Stapleton. That precious connection, born in middle school, is the kind where one finishes the other's sentences ... and the other picks right up on the story! I's at the core of every design Wolf & Wren prints — including their winning pet sympathy card that from first glance honors both the love and grief of these companionships. While their cards connect and uplift those separated by emotional and physical distances, Liz and Lauren also actually live far apart. Liz designs and illustrates the range while also working an art teacher in Rockford, Illinois, while Lauren does the printing and everything else that goes into running the Wolf & Wren stationery shop in Longmont, Colorado — some 946 miles away. While every house of stationery tends to take a distinctive approach to running its brand these days, that of Wolf & Wren is completely unique. Our chat covers not just the origins of Wolf & Wren, but where they see themselves — and the stationery community — evolving. Every house of stationery takes a distinctive approach to running itself these days, but that of Wolf & Wren is like no other — and that co-founder connection keeps the brand fresh and authentic. While our chat covers the origins of Wolf & Wren, Liz and Lauren also share where they see Wolf & Wren — and the stationery community — evolving. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While journalers and junk journalers exist in this digital age alongside the rest of us, they crave the tactile and in-person elements of the analog world. In part 2 of my chat with Software Engineer Victoria Kirst, we take a deep dive into this non-digital community in the pages of her stationery zine Pouch and beyond. If you are unfamiliar with stationery clubs and swaps, it is positively heartwarming to learn of tools like washi tape or stickers being lovingly bartered or shared by these offline groups. Here, stationery is not a commodity but a tool for collective expression. For Victoria, Pouch is the ultimate passion project turned side hustle, and she perceives it as a tool to grow her community as she scratches her own creative itches. This becomes exceedingly clear in Victoria's surprising Nerd Notes, where this micro-bride turns her very wedding into stationery to mail and share! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Like me, my guest today is a huge paper nerd who is the founding editor of a stationery publication. Unlike me, Victoria Kirst is also a software engineer who created her fabulous zine Pouch as an offline labor of love to share her passion for analog tools with an ever-growing community. If you haven't seen a zine in a few decades or so, prepare to be dazzled! This purely 21st-century publication truly celebrates our medium, showcasing its endless potential — as well as the seemingly endless creative ways individuals in the stationery community express their inner lives and experiences through journals, planners, washi tapes, pens, cards, rubber stamps, and the like. With a mission is to inspire every reader to start doodling, junk journaling or other stationery project, of course I have plenty of questions that we begin tackling in the first of two episodes. What attracts a software engineer to the world of analog — and what does stationery have that the digital domain lacks? Why are stationery clubs and meetups and junk journaling retreats happening now? Whatever your role in stationery, it is nearly impossible to not catch Victoria's excitement — or begin a journal of one's own! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just because a maker isn't already a household name, that doesn't mean you're not already a big fan! You have most likely seen (many times!) and possibly even purchased the uplifting, inspiring and heartfelt greeting card designs of my guest today — and not even known it. For the past 24 years, Vicky Barone has been quietly licensing her designs behind the scenes to larger card brands like Papyrus and American Greetings. While she has stayed behind the design curtain, her thousands of cards have generated millions of dollars in products sold. Now Vicky has officially entered the stationery spotlight solo with her own brand, Barone & Co. While it’s a huge shift and a big risk, it’s also an enormous creative opportunity. We discuss Vicky's transition from freelancer to founder, but also the evolution within greeting cards and communication over the past quarter century. What is the difference between humor and relatable humor? How difficult is it to debut an inclusive brand in these times — to say nothing of this challenging economy? We also discuss the role of social media, specifically Instagram, to a brand. Vicky's personal IG page, starring much of the same work that adorns her cards, has over 50K followers, while that for her brand is still growing. Do online likes translate into business growth? Does generating work for social media undercut creativity? Whatever role you play in the stationery community, there's plenty to consider here — including of course Vicky's colorful, uplifting work! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For Anna Bond, being a creative is certainly about generating jaw-dropping imagery to be presented just so on irresistible products — but creativity is also a key to enabling this CEO to navigate Rifle Paper Co. forward as both a business and a brand. In Part 2 of our chat, we discuss subtly evolving the Rifle look to keep it consistently looking fresh and new, yet true to its signature style, as time passes and tastes evolve. We also delve into navigating the larger challenges facing small businesses, such as tariffs. It's rather unsurprising that Anna often feels like she is facing a wily carnival Whack-A-Mole. And while I knew my listeners and I would be treated to an incredible Nerd Note, even *I* was wowed by her childhood correspondence! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2009, freelance illustrator Anna Bond and her musician husband Nathan debuted Rifle Paper Co. to the trade in a double booth buried deep in the back aisles of the National Stationery Show. They were but one of dozens upon dozens of small (often forgotten) stationery brands showing there, but in Rifle's case, a stationery, gift and lifestyle star was born those five days in May. Rifle's dizzying trajectory into the collective American design unconscious was singularly dramatic, with Anna's signature hand-painted artwork and vibrant color palette having headlining collaborations over the years with Keds, Target and Pottery Barn Kids, among seemingly countless other high-profile brands. Meanwhile, every stationery maker setting up shop dreams of a similar ascent. Still, at the core of every Rifle offering remains the brand's tagline: 'We create moments of unexpected beauty in the real world.' So when I was given the real-world opportunity to interview Anna — now Rifle CEO — of course I had questions! In this, part one of two, we discuss Rifle's humble origins, how Anna differentiated it from the very start, dealt with imitators over the years, and grew the brand alongside Nathan as they simultaneously grew their own family. With five young children and an ever-growing brand and body of work, Anna's strategy of success may surprise you as much as it did me! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don't miss Part 2 of my chat with type A über-creative Sally Diguette! In Sally's role as specialty buyer for Anthropologie, the merchandise she painstakingly sources from small, quirky makers are often where the brand's fans find the connection and community they seek as they shop. Sally honed this expertise at Atlanta's Citizen Suppy, an artisan marketplace that showcases handmade goods, clothing, and standout finds from independent makers. Sally joined the Ponce City Market venue at its inception in 2017 to build all operations — and then heralded it through COVID, finessing her skill set all the more. These lessons and skills are put to great use in her independent consultancy — and we close discussing the types of challenges we see our small maker clients grappling with, and our approaches to solving them. Finally, epistolary lovers will be utterly knocked out by Sally's precious Nerd Note — it's definitely Anthropologie shelf-worthy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This Type A über-creative wears a lot of hats, every last one of them impressive and fabulous. Sally Diguette is a specialty retail buyer for Anthropologie, tasked with buying in the stationery and related gift and home categories, as well as spearheading collaborations such as Papier x Anthropologie. But Anthropologie is also where many a small maker gets her first big break — even if it's just one greeting card on its enormous website. Not only does Sally undertake the enormous task of selecting each maker to tell certain trend stories across every inch of Anthropologie retail space (both actual + virtual), she also offers consulting services to help brands get shelf-ready. Sally and I delve into defining the Anthropologie magic — and the nuts and bolts of generating it. How does she navigate the overstimulation of trade shows to ascertain the trend stories to fill store shelves? What catches Sally's eye — and what are the design must-haves on a given product? With that kind of perspective and drive, I was thrilled to have audience with her here, and accordingly, this is the first of two episodes of our interview! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For many in our community, running a stationery brand turns out to be but a single milestone on an incredible larger journey. That's the case with Catherine Hildner of Kitty Meow Boutique, now a part of Shade Tree Greetings. Over the past several years, this dynamo — also my guest in episode 20 — not only established her own brand, she also helped create the Ultimate Product Party series of events and podcasts to empower other product-based creatives (mostly women) to bring their own visions to life. But part of being a smart entrepreneur is knowing when it's time to move on. And in Catherine's case, it turns out that I actually helped jumpstart the process just over a year ago, at the February edition of NY NOW 2024. Tune in to hear this fantastic tale and what's next for Catherine! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How better to kick off January 2025 — and the eighth season of this podcast — than with a visit from this bona fide industry legend? While Susan January has been at the helm of Leanin' Tree, a mid-sized Colorado house of stationery, for over a quarter century, she has also served as president of the Greeting Card Association, from 2011 to 2013. More recently, she spearheaded a team of women from across generations to debut Willow & Ivy, a boutique brand devised solely for our times — and the women navigating them. With such an illustrious career under her stylish belt, Susan's perspective on the greeting card category is unparalleled. Our discussion delves into how diverse, rich voices — from Emily McDowell to The Noble Paperie to Colleen Harrington to many, many others — have united to create a dynamic marketplace awash with offerings that authentically speak to today's discerning greeting card audience. In this forum, ideally no one should feel isolated — all that's required is the right card in the right card sender's hands. Meanwhile, the distinctive path upon which Willow & Ivy was brought to exquisite life enabled it to truly reflect the 21st-century woman's shared experiences, dreams, and needs, regardless of generation, as it seeks to connect us. Whatever you already know about greeting cards and stationery, prepare to have your perspective tweaked, courtesy of this month's five-star guest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How does what began as a pandemic pastime become the UK's first stationery B Corp? For Michele Feron of Good Tuesday, her sustainable brand came to life in 2020 on Etsy as Once Upon a Tuesday. Her then-eight-year-old daughter Flora created the name, but as this color-driven Cornwall brand grew, Michele realized a big evolution was in order. However, the rebranding paled next to becoming a B Corp. Michele shares how the transition is far more than an icon to place on one's site — it represents a dramatic change in perspective to every conceivable area of her business. While all Good Tuesday merchandise was always 100% recycled, the transition entails a fresh emphasis on employees, environmental footprint, waste management, sourcing materials, ethical and transparent practices, customer service, impact on local community and involvement in social causes.  Thus as Michele sagely points out, receiving the official the designation only represents the first chapter of many positive changes, some small, some large, but all together they represent a complete transformation. You become a B Corp, she explains, and it becomes you. Michele gives a colorful glimpse into the ever-growing B Corp community — and plenty of inspiration for other stationery makers on this side of the pond to consider taking the plunge as well!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since its premiere seven seasons ago, the Netflix reality show Love is Blind has only tightened its grasp on pop culture. According to Nielsen, Americans watcher over 1.1 billion million minutes of the most recent season of this will-they or won't-they get married show, set in Washington, D.C. — and that doesn't include infinite video discussions and gossip on social media. While those can get somewhat seamy, the season's fan favorite couple, Taylor and Garrett, put an enormous national spotlight on how stationery, correspondence and calligraphy can connect, capture and elevate a relationship, now and forever — with a little help from their local paper nerd friends, that is! In episode 10, the engaged couple had a televised calligraphy lesson at Old Alexandria's Penny Post, owned by Amy Rutherford and taught by Michele Hatty Fritz of Meant to Be Calligraphy. Predictably, the segment detailed the gorgeous art of calligraphy, presented through Michele's most capable hands. Surprisingly, the discussion delved into how Taylor and Garrett's practice of leaving notes for one another not only kept them connected to each other, but also honored departed family members who did the same thing. The concept was so meaningful to them, they decided during filming to actually have what is perhaps the world's first letter-writing station at their wedding — and of course only, Michele could run it! Both Amy and Michele take listeners behind the scenes of this larger-than-life experience. From prepping the cozy shop for shooting, to stuffing crew members in its ADA accessible bathroom, from selling the crew stationery after shooting ended for the day, to that nuptial letter-writing station viewers were never shown, they spill it all! It all begs the larger question, could we be seeing a resurgence in stationery? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices