There were supposed to be a number of blog posts between March’s studio wrap up and April’s. I had them planned out on my calendar and even had the content too. But April turned out to be a long, crazy, and trying month. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of good things that happened last month: I welcomed two new interns onto the Pressbound team, I discovered some cool new info about my family history (that blog post will go up after NSS), I was one of 50 businesses featured in the stationery round-up issue of Uppercase Magazine (shown above!), and I’m a finalist for Best New Product at The Stationery Show in 2 catagories (!!!).
But I was also deeply effected by the events at the Boston Marathon and much of my productivity that week came to a stand-still. My studio is a good 25 miles away from Copley Square, but I teach at Emerson College which is just a few blocks down the road, and used to work in a building right next door. Things at school were intense, with classes canceled, campus in lock-down, and many (of my own) students witnessing things they can never erase from their memories. I did my best to be a strong supportive teacher, checking in with students, being understanding in the classroom, and finishing the semester on a positive note. It was difficult but I’m so proud of all my students for excelling during a time of great confusion and tragedy. This evening is the last night of class, and though I love my students, I’m so relieved the semester is finally over.
And then there was the NSS preperation craziness. I’m not even sure I can re-cap everything because a lot happened. Somehow I managed to finish designing and printing most of my new products launching at the show. I designed my very first wholesale catalog, which was a huge undertaking, but felt really rewarding when it was done and off at the printer. Hard copies should hopefully be in my hands by next week! There was also a pre-show mailer to design, giveaways to conceptualize, product packaging to finalize, order forms to produce, and a whole heck of a lot of printing, scoring, folding, and packaging of new products that I was so, so happy my two interns were able to assist me with. I would not have been able to get all that done without them. Thank you!
I’m gearing up for the show now, finalizing booth details, getting out my pre-show mailers, and tying up lots of loose ends. I’ll be posting more on NSS either before (if there’s time, ha!) or after the show. I’ll also be taking lots of pics at the show and have tons to share so please check back in!
