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

One of the joys of attending the National Stationery Show, which took place May 16-19 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, is finding new resources that offer fresh merchandise to perk up retailers' shelves. With 125 first-time exhibitors among the 900 or so companies at this year's NSS, the show provided many answers to the perpetually asked question, "What's new?"

There are always several clever, "I wish I'd thought of that!" products offered by new companies at the NSS. Byleedesign made its NSS debut with many creatively designed products, including a "Creative Circle Ruler Journal" featuring an inches and millimeters measurement guide on the cover; and "Long Tags," 10-inch-long gift tags that actually provide enough space on the back to write a meaningful message. These tags are available for various occasions as well as in multiple languages.

NSS newcomer Regreet showcased its eco-friendly "regreet greeting kits." These kits include journey labels, note paper and envelopes to repurpose a greeting card that has been received; the kit can also be given with a greeting card to encourage its reuse. Every recipient and sender of the "regreeted" card can then track its progress online and opt-in to receive e-mail updates as the card travels on another leg of its journey. Regreet also offers a spiral-bound greeting card organizer to hold greeting cards for future reuse.

Another clever new item came from first-time NSS exhibitor Cardigans, which debuted its line of die-cut, paper easels designed especially for displaying photo cards. Cardigans' photo-card holders come in several designs for Christmas, party, baby and wedding, and can hold photos as well as photo cards. Also for displaying holiday photo cards is Cardigans' "Send-a-longs" — another easel-type item that attaches to the back of a photo card and can be mailed with it.

Sky of Blue Cards made its debut at the NSS — expanding its previously online-only presence. Among this company's eye-catching stationery lines was a new "Whimsy" monogram collection of 4-3/4" x 3-1/2" letterpress-printed notecards with colorful envelopes. Also introduced at the show was a "Tween Power" playdate card targeted to the tween-girls' market. Printed on both sides, these adorable, fill-in cards measure 2" x 3-1/2".

The NSS also featured international exhibitors from 17 countries. Hailing from the U.K. was Vivid Wrap Ltd., which introduced its line of luxurious giftwrap, bags, boxes and journals to the U.S. market at the show. Vivid's new Autumn Winter Collection includes packaging products handmade from recycled cotton, as well as journals and photo albums featuring vibrantly colored embossed leather covers with recycled-cotton pages.

The next National Stationery Show will be held May 15-18, 2011.

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

Walking the aisles at the recent National Stationery Show, held May 16-19 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, certain merchandise categories — and fresh interpretations of products within those categories — stood out among the myriad paper-related items on display.

The eco-friendly, "green" category is certainly one that's here to stay in the stationery industry. What's newly popular in this area, however, are design-oriented, reusable water bottles and travel mugs now available from numerous companies exhibiting at the NSS. Among them were Inviting Company, Lipstick Shades and Fontaine Maury — the latter which offers BPA-free aluminum water bottles that hold 20 ounces and come in a variety of colorful, personalized designs.


Technological advances continue to keep things exciting on the stationery front, too. Following the increasing popularity of 3D movies at the theater and 3D TVs at home are 3D greeting cards and stationery items. At the NSS, Avanti Press showcased a new line of 3D greeting cards that use a lenticular process to give the illusion of depth to the cards' humorous cover designs. Meri Meri's line includes a "3D Dinosaur" greeting card and a "3D Dinosaur" kids' party invitation, both of which come packaged with paper 3D glasses.


There's also a trend toward simplicity and value in the stationery industry, especially when it comes to weddings and other celebrations. With expensive, elaborate cakes often being replaced by more affordable (yet still elaborate) cupcakes at weddings and parties, among the product categories on the rise at the NSS were cupcake holders and other cupcake-related accessories. New from Party Partners, for instance, was the "Paper 'n' Cake" Cupcake Sleeves 'n' Toppers, available in several fun designs for various occasions.


Humor and the Internet were two more themes popular at the NSS, and both of these could be seen on the new "Cheezburger" collection of greeting cards, notepads and magnets from The Madison Park Group. What's particularly unique about this new line is that it takes its hilarious photographic imagery and purposely misspelled versing straight from the Cheezburger Network, one of the largest blog networks in the world. The initial "Cheezburger" product launch features images of dogs and cats — always reliable sellers in the stationery market.

Humor could also be seen in the form of sarcasm throughout the show, and there was no shortage of greeting cards featuring sarcastic messages. Lines that stood out in this genre were Offensive + Delightful, which regularly drops the "f" word on its greeting cards and trade-show booth walls; Bald Guy Greetings, whose "sometimes brutal" greeting cards have garnered a LOUIE "Card of the Year" Award; and Hard Cards, whose tagline is "Times are hard and so are we." Happily, times didn't seem as hard at this year's National Stationery Show, thanks to so many clever new products.