Rifle Paper Co. + Australia

We're extremely excited to be able to bring Rifle Paper Co. products to our Australian customers more easily. We've partnered up with a distribution company in Australia called Telegram who just debuted our line at the Australian trade show a few weeks ago. I thought I'd share a few photos that they took of their booth with you.

Working with a distributor means that they purchase our products in bulk and import a large quantity into their country at once. This makes it easier for both us and our stores in Australia as it allows the stores that carry us to only pay for shipping within the country rather than having every single order ship overseas. So, in the end, it should allow for for our products to become more readily available in Australia.

I don't know what's in the water down there but we've always seen that Australians have an extreme love for paper.. you guys are some of our best customers! Nathan and I really must visit... it's meant to be :)

new notepads & calendars!

you may have seen these floating around (huge thanks to Grace at Design*Sponge for posting these the other day) but here are a few images of our new notepads and 2012 calendars that are now available in the shop!

I'm super excited about these. I've been working to expand our line beyond greeting cards and these are some of the fruits of that labor. We're committed to doing all we can to keep our printing and production in the U.S. and it becomes more and more difficult to source more complicated items.. but so far, with a little effort, it seems to be possible. We also anticipate launching a line of everyday & holiday wrapping sheets soon as well as a line of journals early next year.. 

above:

4 new notepads, $8 each

2012 Botanical Wall Calendar, $28 - It's 11"x14" and has 12 hand-painted floral illustrations

2012 Fruit Calendar, $16 - smaller 6"x9" calendar that's perfect for a kitchen

2012 Garden Calendar Print, $20 - 11"x14" year calendar print to frame

 and.. Save 10% on all the notepads and calendars by entering code 'CALENDAR12' at checkout thru Aug. 30th!

inspiration palette: a feminine 1940s

1. Billie Holiday poster  2. Nadinoo silk blouse  3. vintage style bikini  4. Kate Spade bag  5. Neutraface font  6. vintage 1940s lamp  7. color palette (peacock blue, rust, peach & gold), 8. Derek Lam silk dress  9. Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World  10. vintage 1940s sofa

industrial inspirations + studio expansion

1. metal task lamp  2. industrial bookshelves  3. industrial light  4. Roman & Williams interiors  5. telephone print  6. Hendrix Desk  7. woven rug  8. vintage wooden flat file (another option here)  9. brass table lamp  10. soren chair

We're so thrilled to see how Rifle Paper Co. has continued to grow over these past 2 years (officially 2 years in November!). It's been a TON of hard work but it's also been incredibly rewarding to watch the line grow from our little 1 bedroom apartment to a full-blown operation. It seems we've already grown out of our current studio space so we signed the lease on the building next to us and are currently in the process of combining the two (they're literally drilling a big hole in the wall this week!).

Our office has been a mess for the past few months with boxes everywhere so with this new space I'm determined to find a home for everything and create an incredibly organized operation (we'll see.. I'm naturally a horribly messy person). Our current space will still have our storefront and behind it will be our production area where we box up cards and assemble all of our product by hand, a shipping nook, and storage for all of our cards & products. The new space has a bit of a different layout than our current building. It's set up running parallel to the street with lots of big windows. We'll move most of the desk/work space in there and are building out a meeting room and a closed off office space for myself. I am SUPER excited. I basically live at this office so it feels like I'm planning out my new home :) 

Above is my inspiration palette for the new space. I love Roman & Williams interiors/architecture and am trying to bring in the warm industrial look. Contrary to most of our designs, my interior design taste leans more toward simple and masculine with a lot of wood rather than feminine and colorful.. but I also think that helps keep things timeless and fresh. I'm on a tight budget because buildouts get ridiculously pricey extremely fast but I'm having fun scouring the internet for cool finds..

 Above: our new light-filled new studio expansion. the wall at the back of the photo connects to our current space & will have an opening with steps. It looks pretty bare but we're supposedly on track to move in in a couple weeks...

new goods in the shop

we've got some new goods in the shop including new recipe cards, greeting cards and art prints!

and... enjoy 15% off the Featured section now through Aug. 1 with code 'SUMMER15'

new calendars & notepads

sooo, I had no idea it's been almost a month since my last post! ...apparently I've been really busy. well, I've known I've been busy but I guess I didn't realize the extent of it. 

above are a few photos of new products that will be available soon.. 2 new 2012 calendars (a larger botanical wall calendar and a smaller fruit calendar). We also have 4 new notepads that will be in the shop sometime in the next few weeks.

we'll also be adding a whole slew of new cards to the store early next week.. 

beach getaway

I dream of a beach getaway where I sip piña coladas all day, read a book under breezy palm trees, and look out over the clear blue caribbean waters... *sigh* let's dream pack shall we?

1. Madewell sandals  2. dream hotel.. Jalouise Plantation in St. Lucia  3. woven beach tote  4. Marc Jacobs summer dress  5. J.Crew pleated bikini top  6. straw hat  7. Swamplandia! (my summer novel)  8. Filson carry-on bag   9. Ray Ban round-frame sunglasses  10. gold Kate Spade passport cover

Rifle Paper Co. job openings

we currently have 2 job openings at Rifle Paper Co., a graphic design position and an assistant/project manager.

click here to read the full job descriptions and instructions on how to apply!

monday eye candy

Mr. Clark Gable

"I am intrigued by glamorous women ... A vain woman is continually taking out a compact to repair her makeup. A glamorous woman knows she doesn't need to." -clark gable

images via here

jennifer & alex custom wedding suite

I know last year was crazy because I realized that I hadn't shared, or even taken photos of, some of my favorite custom wedding sets that I now designed over a year and a half ago. I started Rifle Paper Co. by designing custom wedding invitations and it's something I absolutely love but while our little company has grown I haven't had as much time to do full custom sets. This set is one of my favorites though so I thought I would finally share it!

The couple got married at the Bowery Hotel in NY. The bride is from NY and her fiancé is from London so the illustration on the front of the invite reflected both locations in the background. The inspiration for the set was the vintage style interior of the Bowery Hotel (one of my favorite hotels) and we also took inspiration from the beautiful Saipua floral arrangements that would be at the wedding (view photos of the couple's actual florals here). The color palette used pastel pinks & greens for the Spring wedding but grounded in blacks & muted tones to add sophistication to the set.

We worked together on the day of pieces as well (escort cards, menu, table numbers, etc.) which was really fun. One of my favorite pieces we did for that was the little wedding program with three pages tied together with Angela Ligouri's Italian cotton ribbon, which I'm obsessed with.

view photos from the couple's wedding here. florals by saipua here.

enjoy!

p.s. have a lovely Memorial Day weekend! I'm hoping that I'll finally have time to finish that Paris recommendations post ;) ...and on Monday I'm going to post a couple awesome job openings at Rifle! 

all work & images by Anna Bond © Rifle Paper Co./Rifle Inc. 

post NSS trip to Anthropologie & Terrain

Well, if anyone knows me they know I'm quite a big fan of Anthropologie so I was beyond excited when they asked Nathan & I if we wanted to visit their offices after the stationery show to say hello and have a few meetings. I tried very hard to contain my bursting excitement when we arrived and snapped a few photos to share with you!

Above are a few photos of the Anthro building (the complex in the naval yard has buildings for each brand such as Urban Outfitters, BHLDN, & Free People). I loved big open & bright space. It seemed like such a bustling creative environment with swatches of fabric and color everywhere you looked.

The photos above show the main entrance lobby & table, a view to the open workspace, beautiful terrariums on the front table, an amazing bike from India? that we were told would be sold in a few stores during the holidays, and the exterior of the building. 

Nathan and I decided to make a day trip out of our visit so from there we headed 30 min. south to Terrain at Styer's (also owned by Anthro) for shopping and dinner the cafe...

I LOVED Terrain. It was absolutely gorgeous between the outdoor nursery and the greenhouse style shop & cafe. Everything about it was so well done. As poor Nathan can attest I spent way too much time circling the shop a million times looking at everything and trying to pick out a late Mother's Day gift for my mom. The cafe was amazing as well. I especially enjoyed the baked bread in the terra cotta pot with the most delicious lavender honey butter.. yum.

In the photos above... hydrangeas & flowers, entrance sign, furniture gallery building, the inside of the shop, amazing bread baked in terra cotta pots, checking out the card wall (Terrain carries a few Rifle Paper Co. cards!), awesome ketchup label, beautiful items in the shop, and a view of the nursery

all photos by anna bond

NSS recap

photos from the show (top to bottom): our finished booth, new notepads, calendars, coaster sets, one of our new holiday cards with gold foil printing, and photos from setting up (it's a mad house in there until the show opens).. our aisle, my mom painting (mom's are the best), and Nathan & Bethany setting up furniture

Soo, the madness that is the National Stationery Show is finally over. It was actually a lot of fun but I am honestly a little relieved because I went a bit crazy the weeks before the show creating a slew of new designs and products and my mind needs a little creative break. It was a blur of late nights, coffee binges, and all-nighters but I'm so excited for all of the new items we'll have a available soon (some should be in the shop as early as this week).

As for the show itself, it was so fun to be there for the second time. We knew more about what to expect and the nervousness of being there for the first time was gone. It was also so fun to be able to chat with so many people I only know through the internet and some of you awesome readers of this blog. Huge thanks to those of you who were there and said hello! 

Above are a few photos from our booth. I just realized that I didn't take as many photos as I thought I did but it gives you a glimpse of our setup and some of our new goods. My approach to our booth design is clean & simple to let the products stand out but I was highly impressed by some other booths who had crazy things like windows and bikes make out of foamcore.

If you have any questions about the show or our new goods feel free to ask in the comments..

a few other kind blogs took some photos of our booth in their NSS roundups.. feel free to check 'em out if you interested or super bored at work..  design*sponge, oh so beautiful paper, the obsessive imagist

Stationery Show preview!!

Assorted 'Hello' cards with gold foil printing.

1. Just a Little Note Card  2. Botanical Coaster Set (8 coasters, 4 designs)  3. Vintage Happy Birthday Mermaid Card with gold foil & matching gold envelope  4. Girlie Dog Set  5. Vintage Telephone Message Notepad

these are previews of new products. we expect most items to be available in our online store over the summer.

a snapshot of my office wall during stationery show planning & designing... and oh boy, is it a mess in there..

For those who are unaware, the National Stationery Show is an industry trade show for stationery in New York. It's held once a year and it's primarily for retail buyers to purchase wholesale cards along with press and a platform to debut new goods. 

Last year was our debut show (crazy!) and we're very excited to be going back again. I think I've just about doubled our collection and have created the most new products since our debut. I'm so excited to share these previews and there's even more to come. We've added lots of new cards, coaster sets, notepads, new recipe cards and more. I'll be sure to let you know when the items are in our online store which we expect to be sometime this summer.

if you happen to be going to the show please stop by and say hello! We're in booths 3124 & 3126.

all images & designs © rifle paper co.

monday eye candy

Mr. Gregory Peck

"You have to dream, you have to have a vision, and you have to set a goal for yourself that might even scare you a little because sometimes that seems far beyond your reach. Then I think you have to develop a kind of resistance to rejection, and to the disappointments that are sure to come your way" -Gregory Peck

have you seen the gregory peck stamp? Now you can send letters with class...

Paris Trip Part 2: photos & sketches

First of all, i keep putting my foot in my mouth when I say I'm going to post something on a certain date… I never learn. This week has been a blur of all-nighters and long hours with the Stationery Show madness so I apologize for the lack and delay of posts.

Here are a bunch of photos from the trip. Some are film and others are from my iPhone. I also included a few sketches and little paintings that I did on the trip..

So, Paris was every bit as lovely as I imagined and I loved every minute. I think I had a goofy grin on my face for the first few days as I tried to soak in every bit of the surroundings. Like I said in the last post, I would spend the mornings wandering and then would come back to my apartment in the late afternoon to work and relax. Because I was by myself I purposely didn't see all of the things I wanted to because I hope that Nathan and I can return together one day and wanted to leave a few things for the two of us to discover.

A few of my favorite things about Paris were: Luxembourg Gardens (and those cute stands selling children's toys), Musee d'Orsay, wandering the streets (loved St. Germain and Le Marais best), walking along the Seine, the cafes and all their beautifully hand-written signs, fresh pastries, the stadium style seating at the cafes for people watching (though I never liked to be the one walking and being stared at), the architecture, fashion, food… basically everything.

One morning a woke up incredibly early and walked to the Notre Dame right as it opened and got to walk around the church with no more than 8 other people in the building. That was one of my favorite experiences. It was so overwhelming and peaceful. I loved the Musee d'Orsay and its impressionist paintings. I did go the Louvre but honestly I was so overwhelmed by both the size of the museum and the crowds that I didn't know what to do with myself and left soon after finding some of my favorite paintings. I saw the Eiffel Tower (which I didn't realize is a bit out of the way from  most of the areas I was in) late at night and loved seeing it all lit up.. quite magical. So many things... 

For my last Paris trip I'll post about my recommendations as well as compile the list of suggestions that you guys gave me for anyone going to Paris (i hope to do that Monday but I can't say for sure.. see? I'm learning :)

all photos & sketches by Anna Bond

p.s. who is excited for that royal wedding tomorrow?! I'm VERY excited (as nathan rolls his eyes at me).