Today's guest post is from Kathy Krassner, Owner of Krassner Communications.

I had the honor of being invited to judge the "Best New Product Awards" at the recent National Stationery Show, which ran May 16-19 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Along with fellow judge Patricia Norins, publisher of GIFT SHOP magazine, and other members of the trade press, we helped to select the winners in seven distinct product categories.

Since I've helped to judge the "Best New Products" at the NSS many times before – this was the 23rd NSS that I've attended – it wasn't too hard to spot the truly unique products among the 315 entries on display in the "Best New Product" area of the Javits Center's Crystal Lobby. In fact, five of the seven winners chosen scored at the top of my list.

With each category grouped into sections within the "Best New Product" display, I started with the Social Stationery area – which usually has the most entrants. Although there were many creative greeting cards, boxed notes and other wonderfully designed paper products on view, what stood out most to me was the winner: a "Grizzly Bear Hug" die-cut, letterpressed card ($6) from Blackbird Letterpress. The display showed two of these cards: one with the bear's die-cut arms wrapped around a concert ticket, the other hugging a photo – both great examples of what customers can do with this card. It was a fun and different take on other greeting cards that hold photos or gift cards.

Moving to the Party section, the standout here was the winning "Wishing Tree": a tree-shaped, die-cut paper centerpiece ($39.95) that stands nearly 20 inches tall and comes with 40 pre-strung paper "wishing ribbons" for guests to write down messages and hang from the tree. Not only was the "Wishing Tree" visually appealing, but it was such a clever idea!


Another eye-catching item was the "Texture Boutique Embossing Machine" ($29.99) from the Sizzix brand of Ellison, which won in the Paper Craft/Scrapbooking category. The adorable purse shape of the machine is perfect for attracting the female customer who is clearly the primary demographic for this crafting product, which easily embosses cardstock.


Two of this year's winners come from The Madison Park Group: Wooster & Prince Papers' "Desktop Notes," the winner in the Desk Accessories category; and Shannon Martin/Girl Designer's "Holiday Bath Salts," which took top honors in the Lifestyle/Specialty Gift segment. The "Desktop Notes" ($13.95) offer Wooster & Prince's pretty signature patterns on loose note sheets, housed in a footed box.


The festive packaging of Shannon Martin's "Holiday Bath Salts" ($6.50) features vintage images paired with humorous messages from this company's popular greeting card and stationery line.


In the Luxury category, the winner was Cartesian Graphics for its "Vintage Print Fabric" blank cards ($4.50 each). These handmade notecards feature real fabric attached to the cover of the cards, which are letterpress-printed on textured stock.


Rounding out the "Best New Product Awards" was the winner in the Think Green section: Michael Roger Press, Inc. for its "Re-Bottled Notebooks." These colorful, eco-friendly spiral notebooks ($9 each) feature felt covers that are made entirely from recycled plastic bottles. Look closely and you'll see that the petals of the embossed floral pattern on these covers are actually images of water bottles! Inside, the journals feature pages made with post-consumer recycled paper.


Congratulations to all of the winners and entrants in the 14th annual "Best New Product Awards!"

Click here for more information about these awards and the NSS.