Our Shiny New Wedding Stationery Range hits the road!

Ok so the blogging once a week goal slipped quickly, but still I’ve just about made it to twice in 1 month, so that’s still a big New Years’ tick in my book! Anyway I have an excuse, we have been very busy bees at CL.AM HQ focusing on expanding and jazzing up our existing Wedding stationery range, ahead of a busy wedding fair season.

After a very positive reaction to our small wedding collection in our 1st year, culminating in a super exciting ‘Best Newcomer’ nomination by the lovely team at Perfect Wedding Magazine, we have decided to immerse ourselves in all things W-Day. We have not one, but three new design collections to share with you today… soooo drum roll please; introducing BOHEMIA, DECO and MARBLED!

Bohemia was designed with the free-spirited festival, tee-pee, relaxed barn hoe-down-esque Wedding in mind. With a burst of pretty whimsical Spring florals, it is available in a luxury folding card with RSVP or as a flat double-sided invitation, along with co-ordinating Save the Date, RSVP and Evening Reception invitations. Braids and floral beards optional…..

If you’re planning to be the bridal equivalent of Daisy Buchanan then Deco is for you, in a striking monochromatic art deco inspired print. This double-sided elegant design is the perfect way to announce your 1920’s inspired speakeasy of a day; cocktails and vintage champagne coupès obligatory! Co-ordinating Evening reception, RSVP and Save the Date invitations coming soon….

We must admit we have fallen hard for the resurgence of marbling, its flowy, tonal, crafty organic wonder takes us right back to being a teen in the 90s, and a time of carefree youth. In fact this design was directly inspired by some vintage marbling of my own from the actual 1990’s-practically antique! Reworked here in dreamy breezy blues, our supercool double-sided Marbled design is a breath of fresh air, available in a choice of 3 fonts with Save the Date and RSVP co-rds.

We are kicking of the Wedding Fair Season, unveiling our new and improved wedding range, by returning to the unique, modern vintage aesthetic that is the wondrous Chosen Wedding Fair at Bristol Paintworks this Sunday. We will then be continuing our alternative wedding fair tour at the following fab events: A Most Curious Wedding Fair in London and The National Vintage Wedding Fair in Manchester.

Hope to see you there! x

PAYDAY FRIDAY!

Why not treat yourself this Payday Friday to one of our unique hand-bound notebooks, and we can personalise it with a hand-stamped message of your choice for you. You’ve earned a bit of sunshine this week 🙂

Happy Easter!

Easter Greetings

Happy Easter one and all, let the over eating begin!

Easter egg hunt

CORRESPONDENCE AND CACTI; A WEEKEND OF LONDONS’ BEST MARKETS

Our stall at The crafty Fox Market, and envelope pack close up. All wares available at http://www.cl-am.com

So this weekend kicked off market season with a bang, with our very first market being The Crafty Fox Market in Peckham’s Bussey Building. For anyone that came along-we thank you-and I think all were agreed it was a wondrous Saturday with some of the finest designer/makers in the biz, yummy food and cocktails, screen-printing workshops and more, all set against some great DJ sets in Peckham’s art hub. The turnout exceeded our expectations, and we loved meeting and selling directly to our new customers; it was really rewarding and useful for us to get first-hand feedback on our stationery wares, from Londons’ finest.

CL.AM notebbok packs, and the Crafty Fox Market in full swing

 

We met so many lovely people, customers and fellow crafters alike, and are already excited and gearing up for our 2nd market this month. Crafty Fox Market 2 lands in Brixton’s music/arts pub venue Dogstar, on Saturday 26th April 11-5pm, and we will be there in the upstairs ‘Uncovered’ area with fellow new London talent. Check the Market website for more details, and come along for what promises to be a super 2nd Weekend of local and unique shopping, eating and drinking!

One of the questions we noticed coming up a few times on the stall was ‘How much are the cacti’? I had taken them as display items to add the right feel to our stall, but it hadn’t occurred to me that people would assume they were for sale too! As they were the cacti I had used to decorate the tables at our wedding, and managed to keep Alive for almost a year, I wasn’t really up for selling them. However, one must never ignore public demand, and as fellow cacti enthusiasts we decided to make it a Market-marathon weekend (the only kind of marathon I’m interested in) and head to Columbia Road Flower Market on Sunday. 

Peonies and succulents on a sunny sunday at Columbia Road Flower Market

It was a gloriously sunny day in London, which meant most of London had also had the same idea-crowd control aside it was the perfect antidote to many weekends of market preparation in our workshop at home. There were succulents and flowering cacti aplenty, and we stocked up on some colourful specimens for our garden living wall, and Crafty Fox 2. 

Stalls jam-packed at Columbia Road Flower Market, and our colourful purchases

Always having one eye print-watching, we spotted a plethora of vibrant tropical Mens’ and Womenswear, which greatly pleased me and proved that men of all ages are not shying away from bold Hawaiian-esque print this season-in East London at any rate!

Clockwise from top: A Dries tropical tapestry bomber, East end flower seller goes Hawaiian at Columbia Road, vintage Ralph Lauren Polo tropical print Mens’ shirt, my mono-tropical scuba tee

After looking round the ever-growing collection of kitsch and unique shops along Columbia Road and beyond, including my personal favourite Milagros Milagros. A one-stop Mexican handicraft haven that took me right back to Oaxaca, we ended the perfect Sunday with a sun-dappled stroll along Regent’s Canal to grab some 241 Mint Julep’s at John Salt in Angel-bliss!

If you’re a fan of correspondence and cacti alike, we look forward to seeing you in Brixton on the 26th 🙂

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

NATIONAL STATIONERY WEEK!

Hurrah, its National Stationery Week and today is Official Pencil Day so get scribbling, jotting, and drawing. We would love to know how you are celebrating NSW14 on our Facebook page and will be celebrating each day with a shiny new image! To get into the spirit of the week for all the stationery addicts out there; we are offering a whopping 20% off online on All CL.AM goodies All week with discount code NSW . So if you’re a lover of beautiful, edgy, handmade printed stationery, then why not stock up on some new notebooks, envelopes or cards and spread the stationery love.

x Remember 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 #7

 

We are feeling fruity this week, so this Tuesday’s Ten Minute Typo is inspired by our LA SANDIA design range, and our general obsession with watermelons! That brief glimmer of sunshine we experienced has got us dreaming of supping a watermelon margarita, while wearing watermelon hot-pants and eating, yup a thirst quenching slice of our fave fruit.

 

Come on Summer, we’ve waited long enough!

 

 

WEEKEND POST

Last weekend turned out to be a pretty crazy one for us. Friday evening started with pre-theatre cocktails and dinner at Islingtons’ Hoxley&Porter -the interior is the stuff of my dreams!! If I could live there and just take snaps of the plush teal velvet and dark wood furniture, House of Hackney wallpaper; and the expert barman mixing my endless drinks- I would. I would also be bankrupt. The cocktails are delicious, I went for a ‘Chipotle Off The Old Block’, while Chris had ‘Barons Tipple, all the cocktails have a colonial twist to match the decor. We’d booked, but as it was pre-theatre, it was calm,dark and moody-the perfect atmosphere for a few glamorous aperitifs. I’d painstakingly managed to secure tickets to the American Psycho Musical at the Almeida Theatre as a Christmas present, not convinced whether either of us actually enjoyed Musicals’ or Matt Smith (the now ex-Doctor Who). We emerged ardent fans of both! The acting and American accents were superb, with the black humour of the original book conveyed brilliantly and powerfully through rousing 80s power ballads we couldn’t get out of our heads. I would also highly recommend the Almeida as a venue, as it’s small enough to feel intimate wherever you sit- (even if it does take you 3 solid hours of screen refreshing to book tickets!).

Cocktails at Hoxley&Porter

American Psycho @ The Almeida Theatre

Needless to say, the next day was a pretty late start with us both feeling slightly groggy after overindulging in the best possible way. A quick bleary scan of Twitter and Facebook, made me realise the day wasn’t quite going to be the lazy Saturday I’d pictured. I’d somehow missed on my weekly patrols, that Liberty were hosting their Best of British event-starting at 9am sharp, it was already 11, and having just had 2 weeks off for Xmas, we had zero products made up!
The Best of British Design Open Call is an event hosted by Liberty offering British designers the unique opportunity to present and showcase their finest wares to the Buying Department-as a new stationery business whose ultimate goal is to sit in the incredible ground floor stationery department , this was an opportunity that could Not be missed!
A manic few hours ensued of cutting, folding, hand-stamping and (arguing) assembling, but we just about had a range together of our envelopes, cards and gift-tags to present to our dream stockist! We still didn’t know if all this faintly hungover excitement would result in a wasted trip as we hadn’t pre-registered and queues had begun at the break of dawn, but we had to try! Upon finally arriving at Liberty, and being misdirected a few times ,we scraped in just as the event was about to close and luckily it turned out to be a very worthwhile trip. We’d never needed a Starbucks so much in our lives afterwards, and feeling faintly proud of ourselves had a Very late lunch..or ‘Drunch’ as we’ve coined it at Wahaca in Soho…no substitute for the real Oaxaca but a nice reminder of the Mexico we left behind in the Summer.

A quick look round Gods Own Junkyards amazing neon display in Selfridges

Liberty, and Home London

The working weekend continued on Sunday as we had tickets for Top Drawer, a specialist stationery show and part of the larger Home London show which showcases thousands of design-led exhibitors twice a year. It was a great chance for us as a new stationery business to see what was going on in the stationery market, and also the wider interior and craft sectors. We also took full advantage of the seminars being held, and went to an excellent talk by the Head Buyer at Fortnum and Mason;-another dream potential stockist of ours, and a very informative discussion on social media by Justyna Sowa of Decorum Media.

A productive weekend all-round, and proof that sometimes being pro-active is key!

CL.AM GIVEAWAY!

HAPPPPYYYYYY FRRRRRRIIDDDDAAAAYYY!! Be in with the chance to win one of our beautiful Mixed Correspondence Sets by taking part in our short survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9T8GPTC

Thanks, we really appreciate your feedback x