During one of the few slow moments we had at the show, we managed to take some pictures of our new products as displayed in our booth:

 

 

Following the pictures clockwise from the top left (which is like walking around our aisle-side table), you can see our coasters, our match boxes, our signature candle with its box and our note pads. 

The patterns for our Classic Collection were carefully selected to coordinate with lasting home interior trends, and we focused on creating a collection of matching gift items that can be given in a variety of combinations for practically any occasion. We also hoped to make these gifts feel personalized without the high cost of customized products, and we achieved that by preprinting initials on the product. We are quite happy with how the collection turned out, and we hope you enjoy it too! The coasters and note pads are now on our shelves and available for purchase; to order them, please contact your sales rep or one of our retailers. We are still waiting on the matches and candles, as well as working diligently to upload all of our new products to our website.

For all of you who stopped by to see us at the show, we hope you enjoyed seeing up close all of the exciting new products we have to offer. If you are a retailer and were unable to attend the show but would like more information on these products and regular news updates from us, please contact us for more information or sign up for our newsletter (we promise, we won't spam you or sell your information). Keep checking back, here, as well for updates on when these new products will be available and on our site. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Special thanks goes out to Janet, our National Sales Manager, for taking these wonderful pictures!

Please excuse the delay in updates... we've been settling back in after the National Stationery Show, and updating fell from the top of our list.  

THE CLASSIC COLLECTION

Allow us to introduce the Classic Collection:

The definition of classic varies, depending on whom you ask and what is being discussed. Generally speaking, the terms time-tested, enduring, fundamental and traditional all apply. For our Classic Collection, we chose patterns that we believe will endure and outlast momentary trends as well as speak to a wide variety of people. Some of these patterns are brand new, debuting in this release (if you've been following this week, you've already seen versions of them), while others are adaptations of our bestselling patterns. We preprinted each note card in the Classic Collection with an initial, providing a touch of personalization without the cost of customized stationery. There are twenty four note cards in the Classic Collection. With all letters, except Q and X, almost everyone's initial is included. For our retailers, we also offer a twenty-four spot spinner to hold all the letters (the standard spinner is still available).

We also took our Classic Collection one step, or rather four steps, further. We expanded our inventory selection to include several new products, and they are:

    

We now offer: mini note pads (four inches by four inches, gummed and with an initial preprinted in the lower right corner), coasters (slightly smaller than the note pads, but with rounded corners and the initial centered), match boxes with colored-tip matches, and a candle with our signature scent (a crisp, clean scent with citrus notes, herb references and a hint of florals). The note pads, coasters and match boxes are all available in complementing pattern/initial combinations, allowing your home or office to be completely coordinated. The continuity of patterns with initials makes it simple to pull together a personalized gift set--for example, note card, match box and candle--for almost anyone and every occasion.

We are truly excited about our Classic Collection and hope you are too! As with the other sneak peek items this week, these are not yet up on the website, but we are working putting them up there. Please keep checking back here, and we will let you know when all of our new release is on the website and available for purchase. Until then, have a wonderful day, enjoy this long holiday weekend, and go celebrate!

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the very last day of the National Stationery Show (today was the last full day). We loved meeting all of you, putting faces to names and sharing our new products; thank you so much for coming out and seeing us!  For those of you able to attend tomorrow, do stop by our booths (3408-3412) to check out our new patterns, designs, and products. For those of you unable to attend, stay tuned here!

NEW NOTE CARDS

Here is a sampling of our newest batch of note cards:

• Available in several color schemes on note cards and invitations, the new Jenni pattern is a retro, funky floral (top left)
• The Reef pattern, shown above in Brown and in Coral, is an updated version of one of our bestsellers, Coral (top center and right)
• The Ikat pattern--available in several colors, and shown in coral--is a simplified, casual version of a traditional fabric print (middle left)
  
• Our Beijing pattern, shown above in Green, is structured and classic, an excellent choice for personal stationery regardless of current trends (middle right)
• Whimsical and fun, our Allison pattern is available in several colors for both invitations and note cards; personally, the Pink invitation is our favorite of the pattern (bottom left)
  
• Delicate and dainty in ecru and aqua, our Lace pattern is a wonderful choice for formal or traditional stationery (bottom center)
  
• With trees of all shapes, colors and sizes, our Pink Trees note card is a great choice for little girls who love nature (bottom right)

While these note cards are not yet up on our website or shelves, we are doing everything we can to get them up there soon. We hope that you enjoyed this sneak peek, and that you'll be checking back for the rest of this collection (yes, there are more) and for the other sneak peeks coming this week. Leave us a comment and let us know which note card here is your favorite (it really does matter to us). Have a fabulous day, and go celebrate something!

It's spring again, and that means things are changing. We are cleaning up the warehouse, rearranging the office and getting everything ready for a fresh start. While some of our old favorite patterns are disappearing into retirement, we are elated and excited about our new release. We've been working on it for months and have been anticipating its release at the show and on our website. For those of you able to attend the National Stationery Show, we highly recommend that you stop by our booths (3408-3412) to check out our new patterns, designs, and products; we would truly love to see you and show you everything new. For those of you unable to attend, we will be highlighting some of these new products this week. Stay tuned for more!

THE NEW SOIRÉE

The Whitney English line has long been defined by bold, fresh colors, modern twists on classic patterns, and detailed designs. In addition to this, one of our earlier collections featured hand-drawn illustrations and party themes. Our newest release has all these features, and a few of our favorites are below:

    

• Our Wild Thing Pink invite is a fun mix of sweet and sassy, making it an excellent choice for bachelorette parties or personal showers (also available in aqua)
  
• With animal prints, ribbons and pretty drinks, our Girly Drinks invite would be perfect for a birthday celebration, bachelorette party or ladies' night on the town
• Featuring aprons, mixers, cookies and spatulas, the Aqua Kitchen Tools invitation is a delightful choice for kitchen showers
• An adorable collection of bowls, oven mitts and spatulas makes this invitation a great choice for kitchen showers or bake sales

   

• With a classic bouquet of pink roses, this sweet Brides Bouquet invitation works well for bridal showers or luncheons, or even casual weddings
• Cupcakes, champagne and gifts make our Party and Presents invitation an excellent choice for bridal showers or birthday parties
• Sweet pastel dots are contrasted by a feisty zebra print on our Crazy Confetti invitation, an excellent choice for a variety of celebrations
• Our White Fiesta Flowers invitation features festive dots arranged in circular patterns and is versatile enough to be used for birthdays, bridal showers, fiestas, graduation parties, luncheons and other happy occasions (also available in red)

    

• Diagonal stripes in warm colors make our Olé Stripe invitation festive enough for fiestas but cute enough for a variety of occasions
• Our Piñata Dot invitation features concentric circles in festive hues and is an excellent choice for occasions of all sorts
• Our Pickles and Ice Cream invitation got its inspiration and name from an infamous pregnancy craving; the result was this adorable and humorous card, an excellent choice for baby showers

  

• Because men also celebrate birthdays, our Brown Geometric Cake invitation features masculine colors and a tempting tiered chocolate cake (also available in pink)
• Who doesn't love a cook-out?  Our Fancy Grill invitation is an excellent choice for backyard barbeques or birthdays, or summer get togethers
• Use our Ketchup and Mustard invitation to invite your friends to a picnic at the park, backyard cookout, birthday party or ball game... very summery and very fun
• Our Barware invitation is a classy and masculine invitation, an excellent choice for your man's birthday party or a poker night

    

• Our Blue Piece of Cake invitation is an excellent choice for birthday parties, whether it's their first or fortieth (also available in pink)
• Adorned with trucks, elephants, puppy dogs and cake, our Puppy Dogs Tails invitation is an adorable choice for a little boy's birthday
• Our Campout invitation is a great choice for sleepovers, weekend trips or other outdoor activities
• With microphones, guitars and music notes, this Gray Teen Guitar invitation is a great choice for those wanting to rock any occasion (also available in pink)

Well, it's almost here: the National Stationery Show. It always surprises me how fast it comes around again every year, but I have to give props to the Whitney English/Hicks Paper Goods team: this year, we are prepared. Friday morning, five of us will get on a plane to head to New York City to show our wares, and we are EXCITED! After months of product research development, new stationery and invitation design, marketing planning, and paying attention to the tedious details that make so much difference, we are done! And we can't wait to give you some special sneak peeks here on the blog!

Check back with us over the next week. Nicole, resident blogger extrordinaire, will be presenting everyone with some fabulous tidbits in the coming week. You'll flip when you see the new stationery from our new Whitney English Correspondence Album, designed in response to requests from many of our retailers. Hicks Paper Goods will be debuting a darling new Holiday II album, with more of the popular gift stickers and photo cards you went crazy for last year. We have an amazing new blank stock release--it's HUGE! Of course, we can't spill all the beans right now. There are still a few surprises in store.

If you're headed to NYC as well, please stop by the Javits Center and say hello to us in booth #3408. If you'd like to follow along in real time, several of us will be twittering from the show floor. You can find out more by following us on Twitter.

P.S. If you've tried to email us in the past two days, we have to apologize: our email has been down. Please don't hesitate to call us at 405.608.0061 if you are concerned that your communication has not reached us.

I'm going to get better about this blogging thing! Above, a rare shot from a few months ago. We were getting ready to have an office birthday party, and I walked by Anna and Mikasa's 'Design Corner' and grabbed this shot. Mikasa is illustrating the stress of prepping for the National Stationery Show by pulling her hair out, and Anna said that it was impossible for her to look stressed on command. (She was stressed, though!) I'm so glad we have such an awesome team of people at Whitney English!

During the 2008 National Stationery Show, we debuted some fun new products:

Above, we have displayed our new patterned Large Clipboards, new Journals, and new File Folders. I think the file folders are my personal favorite, as modeled by Janet, below.

Our mini clipboards aren't new, but remained a hot best seller at the show. Above, a mini clipboard with our Bella pattern (again, a personal favorite). Below, a quick snapshot of some of our new blank stock:

And now, for my absolute new favorite (I have a lot of favorites, don't I?), our new tin Recipe/Index Card boxes!

The pink plaid is my favorite pattern--it reminds me of the vintage tin plaid lunch boxes. Each box comes with 9 blank white tabs and 15 coordinating cards. Additional cards can be purchased for all the mixing and matching your heart desires.

The National Stationery Show, held annually in New York City, is [gulp] just a few short weeks away. This will be our fifth year to exhibit and we still have a few tricks up our sleeve. It's an exciting time as wholesalers roll out the latest of their wares, setting trends for the upcoming holiday season. In honor of the major upcoming event, we are hosting a Stationery Show Countdown! Check back weekly as we walk you through the last minute preparations for the trade show, and expect to catch a glimpse or two of the exciting things we're cooking.

For more information, check out the Stationery Show Girls' Blog. Above, a picture of our 2006 Stationery Show booth.