Dreaming of a GREEN Christmas…

Going green is THE thing these days.  At first, I was skeptical of the seemingly trendy push to buy eco-friendly products.  Of course, now I know that it’s not the latest money-making fad, but instead an imperative move to simply make the world livable.  And, even better, we don’t need to give up style to save the planet.  What better time to support the cause than the holidays when we’re full of peace, love and joy.  Check out a few of my favorites from our Green Christmas collection:

Paper. It’s not just for letters anymore.

I just finished the most interesting article in today’s Wall Street Journal about the return of the Rolodex. The take on the article is that people who use Rolodexes do so primarily to showcase the vast number of contacts they’ve successfully captured in their lifetime. However, I think that for many, Rolodexes are back because the value of paper is still strong. 

Personally, I use both electronic and paper to manage my contacts. Because when I’m sitting at my desk, I love being able to reach over and literally thumb through my gorgeous collection of business and calling cards. It also helps that I found the most amazing system by one of my very favorite designers, russell+hazel.  I call it my little black book. The best part is that it has slots for business cards, so instead of copying information from the card to the page, I can just insert the card right into the page. Brilliant!

russell+hazel mini-binder in shiny black patent leather :: $18

russell+hazel mini people tracker pages :: $13

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

It’s a fact. Red Stamp’s correspondence simply wouldn’t be as…well…er…stylish if you weren’t reading this right now.  We are so appreciative of all you do to make Red Stamp what it is. From reading our blog, to shopping our site, to suggesting the latest product or service, we do what we do because of you. So thank you.

Happiest of Thanksgivings…Erin + Renee

This Just In :: Enjoy 10% off EVERYTHING on our site + free shipping through Monday. {Promo Code :: HOLLYCM07}

Let’s Hear It for the Cool Moms

First, thanks to the fabulous women at Cool Mom Picks for highlighting our Santa’s Little Helper Kit for the holidays.   May we all have just as much fun {or more!} explaining how Santa slithers down the chimney as the kids have writing to the big man.

Secondly, another shout out to those Cool Moms for their investigation into the world of safe toys.  We’ve all been sent into a semi-panic over finding lead-free toys for the tots {no more garage sales for me!}.  I’ve been dreading holiday shopping this year for that very reason, until I discovered The Cool Mom Picks Safer Toy Guide.  Now I’m actually looking forward to spending a few hours sipping a glass of wine as I shop on-line with this fantastic list.  I’m absolutely buying this Felt Mailbox Set for my three year old daughter.  Never too early to teach the art of stylish correspondence.

Organized Procrastination

My mom is the queen of procrastination.  My dad is the king of it.  I guess that makes me the procrastination princess.  Whatever you call me, I tend to put things off.  But now, I’ve found a way to embrace my delay tendencies and manage them with style and grace.  The Procrastinate File Folder set is the perfect way for a cronic procrastinator like myself to properly prioritze my long list of to dos.  Each manilla folder in the set is beautifully letterpress printed with the following headings: Urgent, Ignore, Later, Much Later, Never, Really Never! {the most full + my personal favorite}.

Scrambling at the last minute never felt so organized or looked so good. 

Procrastinate File Folders :: $14 /set of 6 files

Capture Those Little Turkeys

As I write, Halloween is now but a memory. {The sugar buzz has come to an end – thankfully.} And Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away!  As a designer and paper fashionista, I must say that I love everything about paper and beautiful “real” mail, but let’s face it, I don’t get to my master list of friends + family near and far unless it is Christmas.  So twice a year – Valentine’s Day and Halloween – I have chosen to connect with my friends + family spread across the country and the world via email.  I  know, it’s not quite the same as sending that fabulous card in the mail and definitely not a replacement for sending a true holiday card or special correspondence on birthdays, anniversaries, etc., but for reaching the masses and keeping in touch at different times of year it works.  And does it work – the feedback I get to these mailings is unbelievable.  Responses from friends that I haven’t heard from in months flood my inbox.  I love it.

Here are the greetings I sent this year:

Why not use Thanksgiving as a time to connect with friends + relatives who will not be sharing the cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie with you this year?  During a time of giving thanks, why not let them know you are thankful for them too?  It’s all about staying in touch and I know they would love to see your little turkeys sporting that black construction paper pilgrim hat they made at school…

It’s simple, snap a few pics of the kids or yourself or your pets, jazz them up using a photo editor {if you are so inclined} and off they go.  Never fear if you are not a photo editing genius.  Just the darling photo with a caption in the email is guaranteed to win a few smiles.  Or extra style points for those who try this idea:  make a sign with a special message…even as simple as “Gobble, gobble!  Happy Thanksgiving!” and have your photo subjects hold the sign for the photo.  It’ll be a hit.

For the hostess with the mostess

I gave one of our sticky note noteBLOCKS as a hostess gift recently. {Just wrapped it in a bit of cellophane with a colorful ribbon.} Beautiful design + a practical purpose = the perfect “thank you” gift.  And now our friends at InStyle have chosen it as one of their top holiday picks in the December issue on newstands soon!

Snow & Graham noteBLOCK :: $15/700 self-adhesive notes

They also highlighted the bone calculator as a great stocking stuffer – what kid wouldn’t love to pull out a dog bone in class?  The math team ain’t so boring anymore…

Bobby’s Bone Calculator :: $22

The Perfect Thanksgiving Hostess Gift…

I am a big believer in thanking the host + hostess before, during, and after the big event. Because we all know how much time, money, and effort goes into pulling off the perfect gathering.

In about a week, we are headed to my sister-in-law’s house for what is sure to be a gourmet Thanksgiving dinner. So I just pre-sent my latest obsession, the Recipe Binder Set created by one of my very favorite designers, russell+hazel. Along with a few of my favorite recipes from the latest issue of Domino Magazine. {Maple Corn Bread with Bacon + Scallions!? YUM!!} I can’t wait for her to receive it BEFORE the big day so she can enjoy Thanksgiving preparation all the more.

Recipe Binder Set :: 2 slim binders, 15 section tabs + 1 measuring equivalents, 40 recipe pages, 50 recipe cards, and a 60 page menu planning sheet {$110.00}

Teacher Gifts – Check!

It’s the beginning of November…and I’m DONE with my teacher gift shopping!  {If you knew me well, you’d fall out of your chair right now.}  And, I’m so excited about them!  Last year, I ran to Caribou Coffee on December 18th for the last minute gift card which I put in the tiny envelope with Ms. Berard’s name on it, that my six year old promptly lost in his too-gigantic-for-his-size backpack and returned home with later that day.  Well, not this year! 

I’ve discovered a quick, easy, and oh-so-impressive looking solution to the teacher gift dilemma…personalized note pads from Boatman Geller.  I thought of this after receiving {and also sending} what feels like an entire pad of notes to and from school.  I ordered one for myself as well – with all three kid’s names at the top and our family name at the bottom.  And my sister with two girls in school – yep I got one for her and each of her kids as well.  I just love them!  Here are the designs I picked for Jake and Rafe’s teachers… 

Yes, even a mother of three can appear organized, on top of things, and ever-so-stylish during the holidays.  Now for my Christmas cards…

Giving Thanks

With Thanksgiving on the mind, I am thrilled to finally be a member of the blogging world so I can properly and publicly give thanks to all of those fabulous editors who have featured RedStamp.com in one way or another.

The thrill of seeing your name in print is very fun, but, more importantly, when you find others who get excited over your passions, it’s energizing.  With the help of our media friends, we’ve been able to connect with thousands who love stylish correspondence as much as we do {after all, that’s the point – corresponding, right?}  And for that, we are thankful a thousand times over.

Specifically, we’d like to acknowledge:

• LiveSavvy.com
• Mpls/St. Paul Magazine
• Money Magazine
• The Today Show
• The Star Tribune
• Redbook
• HGTV
• Go City Kids
• Daily Candy
• Urban Baby
• Design Sponge
• Parenting
• BeE Magazine
• Pink
• MommyTrackd.com

We are eagerly anticipating more thank you’s as the holiday season kicks into high gear.  But for now, we send our deepest appreciation to all those who have enabled us to grow with style and grace.