An Arty Crafty Weekend

 

Working the stall at Crafty fox Market in the Uncovered area

It was the second Crafty Fox Market, this time at The Dogstar in Brixton over the whole weekend, and there couldn’t have been a better, sunnier Brixton vibe. We were selling on the top floor in the ‘Uncovered’ area which pushes hand-picked emerging designer/makers, along with Mr Wingate’s screen printing workshop, where adults and children alike got thoroughly stuck in designing paper cutouts for bags, aprons and tea-towels. 

 

A selection of CL.AM products for sale including our new A5 printed notebooks & Azteca envelopes

Our ‘Wedding’ paper pom-poms provided a bright eye catching backdrop

We had a selection of printed stationery goodies on our stand, including our brand new A5 notebooks and a teaser of our Limone design, which proved pleasingly popular with the Brixton shoppers. We will be launching our hand-bound A5 notebooks and Limone envelope set on the website soon.

 

Our new hand-decorated potted Cacti & Succulents addition to the stall

After popular demand at Crafty Fox Peckham, we decided to make the Cacti for sale alongside the Correspondence! Always eager for a new design challenge we decided to jazz up some old tins by decorating them ourselves to add to the Mexican/holiday vibe, and were delighted with the reception! As ardent lovers of the prickly plant we reckon CL.AM; Cacti & Correspondence has a good ring to it…we are already in plans to adorn a host of tin receptacles- so watch this space!

 

Screen print by Printmaker & Illustrator Alex Brady

As there were two of us on the stand we were lucky enough to take it in turns and explore all the other amazingly talented designer-makers. I loved fellow ‘Uncovered’ exhibitor and printmaker Alex Brady’s Mexican wrestling inspired screen prints, such gorgeous use of colour. 

 

 Printed photographic notecards by Zoë Burt

My husband, who is obsessed with all that is Indigo couldn’t resist purchasing these richly printed luxurious notecards by local printmaker Zoë Burt. Zoë uses the cyanotype process using light sensitive chemicals on paper which are then exposed to light with a person or object on the surface. 

 

On Sunday we headed over to the Ambika building opposites London’s Baker Street, for an art fix on the final day of The Other Art Fair. We had not anticipated how jam packed it would be, but it wasn’t hard to say as a host of original art and workshops including paintings, photography, taxidermy, textiles and illustrations were stuffed inside the cool modern space. 

I loved the blurry abstract candy-coloured paintings by Karen Thomas, and thought this trio of postcards would look great framed in a hallway.

Our unwavering lust over all that is catholic kitsch was thoroughly sated by Julia R, Gallego’s bold provocative woodcut prints. Not to everyone’s taste, but we just Had to have them-just need to find some suitably ornate gold vintage frames now!

 

 

It was also a great opportunity to catch up with an old friend who moved back to her native Korea a few years ago. Hajeong Chung, an amazing fellow textile designer and now university tutor was exhibiting her gorgeous printed textiles at the show. She was even kind (mad) enough to give me one of her thoroughly cool silk scarves, complete with opulent black tassel trim-a wonderful end to a culture rich weekend!

 

SUNDAY SCRIBING

It’s finally here the day of rest for some (not us it’s, market season), the final day of National Stationery Week, and the day we at CL.AM have been championing the most; ‘Write A Letter Day’. Not least because it’s an important part of our ethos, and a chance for us to introduce our new FLORA design (coming soon, see above!). Above all, for the chance it gives us to step back from our favoured choice of gadget, and think about who have we really been neglecting of late? If you’re anything like me, this year is flashing before your eyes, and all your well-intentioned plans to really get in touch with old friends, elderly relatives, family may have been pushed aside as life’s relentless torrent washes over you. It becomes so easy to put off, writing a short letter to your Grandparents or an old friend-but just picture how touched they would be if today,a day dedicated to letter-writing, you actually did it. Imagine how their face would light up, at the sight of a beautifully handwritten envelope appearing through their letterbox, from a person they thought was far too busy to bother with them.

I know myself, that I get such a rush of excitement at the sight of a handwritten letter addressed to me on my doormat, partly because it is unfortunately so rare these days. It immediately invokes nostalgia for exciting events like birthdays, invitations, engagements or the teenage letter-writing essays I used to embark on with school friends; a time we had so much vital information to tell one another, it spilled onto several pages!

So for one day, I urge, implore you to join in, and take some time out of your Sunday to reconnect with someone important to you. You may be surprised at the pleasure it brings you, and rest assured it will leave them smiling for the rest of the week.

Correspondence is cool x

FRIDAY FEELING!

You’ve finally made it, the Weekend is well and truly in sight, the Easter Holidays are inching closer-what a feeling! Even better there’s still a whole Weekend left of National Stationery Week activities left for you to get stuck into, if you haven’t had a chance to during the week. We are still offering a whopping 20% off all our unique printed handmade stationery to celebrate NSW14 with code NSW, until Sunday at CL.AM. A perfect opportunity to treat yourself or a friend to some beautiful stationery to usher in the new season. 

Today and Saturday focus on some serious organisation with today bring ‘Pencil Case Day’ (oh to be at school comparing new pencil tins again!) and Saturday is ‘Get Organised Day’. We are definitely going to be taking that approach in the CL.AM production HQ, as we get underway preparing lots of lovely wares, for the first of the Crafty Fox Markets, in Peckham on Saturday 12th April. 

This will be our first market, so we would love to see you if you can make it to The Bussey Building from 12-5pm! We will tell you more about the markets and fairs we are doing v soon, its certainly going to be a busy couple of months, and we can’t wait to get some first-hand reactions to our fashion inspired range.

We will be back here over the Weekend, for the final day of National Stationery Week, and the one we have really been looking forward to: ‘Write a Letter Day’. Enjoy your Friday, getting organised or at least having organised fun x

PEN & INK DAY

It’s already day 3 of National Stationery Week which means it’s ‘Pen & Ink Day’. One of the days I was most looking forward to, and a chance for us to introduce our new LIMONE design, perfect for a lovely sunny Wednesday; arriving at CL.AM soon!

There’s no better way to show someone whom you may have been slightly neglecting, that you do honestly care, and you are thinking of them, than a beautiful handwritten note, on equally beautiful stationery. It goes so much further than a dismissive text or email, it shows that you’ve taken time out of your busy life to not only select luxurious, note-worthy stationery, but also to select your words carefully. A luxurious handwritten letter can’t contain the usual LOLS, OMG’S or old school PTB’s that often pepper our everyday digital correspondence, and it’s all the better for it. I think we could all do with taking a step back from online communication now and then, and get back to basics with a  bit of old-fashioned pen and ink. You may find it becomes addictive and offers a little respite in an otherwise media saturated day. 

We have a range of unique fashion-inspired, printed stationery just waiting for you to snap up, and adorn with meaningful words. Even better, to celebrate NSW14 it’s 20% off our entire handmade collection, all week with code NSW.

So this Wednesday, and this Sunday which is official ‘Write a letter day’- why not take a pause, and make someone smile you haven’t seen in a while. After all Correspondence is Cool! x

THE JOY OF STATIONERY

Here at CL.AM we’re obviously pretty obsessed with all things stationery, and we’re fairly sure we’re not the only ones. That’s why we could not be more excited about next week being National Stationery Week 2014; an Entire week dedicated to the joy of stationery, and the happiness of the handwritten!

 

The cl.am correspondence envelope range: guaranteed to brighten anyone’s day

 

 

 

It’s one of the core reasons myself and my husband started our own stationery company-as much as we all love and thrive on technology (I swore for years I would not succumb to a smartphone, only to become surgically attached to it), I can’t help but feel it’s taking over our lives bit by bit. While a lot of these technological advances have enriched and made our lives easier; instant bookings, information, advertising, dating, even sex is just a swipe/click away. The daily onslaught of checking emails, texts, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Tinder, Grinder, Snapchat -I could go on all day- can leave you reeling, exhausted (and at times full of jealousy and self-loathing as you swipe from one paradise beach shot to another, whilst getting soaked at the bus stop!)

There are now ‘Digital Detox’ retreats, which were first started in California (where else!) by self confessed tech addict couple Levi Felix and Brooke Dean, and have become so hugely popular that similar retreats are being rolled out in Costa Rica and Cambodia. When I first read about these about a year ago I remember scoffing to myself ‘whatever next’, ‘only in America’ etc, however having started my own business last year, I’m amazed and horrified how much of my daily life now revolves around social media, and the buzz I get if someone actually retweets me! The embodiment of this realisation came last night, as I frustratedly tried in vain to explain the importance of popular hash-tags when tweeting to build up followers to my mum over the phone, while furiously tweeting and retweeting….and breathe. I’ve also learnt how vital those platforms are when starting a new business, and have become much less of a ‘scoffer’ and more of an advocator. No meal, day trip, newborn, walk is sacred anymore without me snapping, flicking through and selecting the best filter, and uploading-infuriating my husband and totally killing the moment in the process. This is what we all do though, right?

This is why on the flip side of all this screen glare, I’m a huge fan of the handwritten, the drawn, the idle doodle. Nothing (not even a retweet) gives me quite as much pleasure as receiving a handwritten note or card in the post, even better if its handmade. However posting into a letterbox, rather than on a blog seems to have become an almost vintage concept. This is something I believe needs to change, as do the gang behind National Stationery Week, who are on a mission to #GetBritainWriting and particularly to #GetKidsWriting following the Government’s decision to reintroduce handwriting and letter writing into Secondary Schools’ curriculum next Autumn. Having seen babies in pushchairs calmly swiping an iPad before learning to talk, this cannot come sooner in my opinion. 

Our new 3-pack of printed A6 hand bound notebooks-perfect for your handbag

So I would encourage one and all to get themselves involved in some way with NSW14, which runs from 31st march-6th April. Whether it be to treat yourself to a snazzy new notebook to give yourself a break from the screen, write a lovely handwritten note to a friend or relative to remind them you’re thinking of them, encouraging your small ones to write a handmade card to their Grandparents, or simply using the #NSW14 if you really can’t go cold turkey!

There’s so much amazing stationery to choose from out there, we will be offering a special NSW14 discount code next week on the CL.AM website to encourage all you budding writers. So look out for the shopping code, don’t forget Mothering Sunday,and remember: Correspondence Is Cool! x

 

Ten Minute Typography #2

This week after looking into lots of possible styles of typography for our CL.AM Wedding Invites, which will be online and available to buy very soon, I came across this incredible typographic resource; http://viintage.com/album/vintage-typography-fonts-and-flourishes/
There’s so much good stuff on there I had to use it as the inspiration for our next 10 minute type doodle.

♥ HANDWRITTEN CORRESPONDENCE THIS VALENTINE’S DAY ♥

This Valentine’s Day, why not get back to basics with a beautiful handwritten Love Letter? You can pick from any one of our five unique notelet and envelope designs, and the best bit…we’ll even handwrite and post it on your behalf! Just simply write your ardent feelings in the message box, along with the address of your sweetheart, and we’ll do the rest.

♥♥ The ultimate Valentine’s mystery??! ♥♥

 

Our envelope and co-ordinating notelets also come in packs of 5, and make the perfect original ♥ Valentine gift for your amor or amorè; shop the CL.AM range now ♥

So please, no broken hearts this V-Day;get your orders in this week and rekindle some old fashioned romance, for help on your message look to the Victorian Masters’.

As Oscar Wilde said “Never love anyone who treats you like you’re ordinary”

Ten Minute Typography

Here at CL-AM we love typography. Good typography can really transform your everyday correspondence, and we thought it was about time to hone our skills. So we’d like to introduce Ten Minute Typography, a new, hopefully, weekly feature. If you feel inspired get in touch and send us your 10 minute sketches. Here’s one to get going, inspired by our ‘Gods Own Junkyard’ neon signs that are available to buy in Selfridges at the moment.

Ten Minute Typography

National Handwriting Day

Its National Handwriting Day! In this ever evolving digital age what better chance to celebrate the art of handwritten correspondence than today!. Handwriting Day encourages us to put pen to paper, and to practice our handwriting.. and what better way to do so, than with one of our unique correspondence cards. Don’t worry we know its January so for today only; Thoughtful/Thrifty/Treat Thursday we’re offering 10% off everything in our shop with the code NHD

Celebrate National Handwriting Day with CL.AM

SAY ‘THANK-YOU’ IN STYLE

 

If you got some amazing, thoughtful, sparkletastic presents from your loved ones this Christmas; why not reward them with a hand-stamped beautiful Thank-You card. Shop our range of original designs at : http://www.cl-am.com and bring cheer to their New Year.