Giving Back: Project Angel Food's Divine Design

In an effort to give back, Kelp Designs has donated 1000 packs of folded note cards to Project Angel Food's 'Divine Design' sample sale, taking place in Los Angeles this weekend (Dec 3 - 7). 100% of proceeds from the sale directly benefit Project Angel Food's mission to feed men, women and children affected by HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

We're excited to be a part of such a special event and in the company of such amazing designers (you can find us under 'Mini Boutique', between Kate Spade and Kenneth Cole!) . If you're in LA, I encourage you to stop by Beverly Hills. Amazing deals and a great cause.

Lisa Rupp 2010 Calendar Give-away

You may remember Lisa Rupp and her adorable free downloadable wall calendars. Well, she's at it again! Lisa has posted a give-away on her blog, for a 2010 wall calendar (also available for purchase in her etsy store). Love the circus train wall calendar -- would be a great addition to our nursery!

Head over to her blog and leave a comment to enter the give-away!

P.S. her November '09 calendar is also available for download -- click here.

Psst... we're over on The Social Life of Paper today (with a giveaway!)

Big thanks to PJ at The Social Life of Paper for featuring us on her lovely blog today. We're doing a give-away for all of her readers (and ours) -- free set of note cards from my shop (winner's choice on style). Head on over to read the interview and post a comment to enter the give-away!

and the thank you notes go to...

And, the winner of our folded thank you note give-away is K.Tsai (comment number 4). Congrats, Kim! Keep an eye on your mailbox, a pack of blue color block thank yous are on the way :)

Thanks everyone for entering!

Give-away: Folded Thank You Notes

So... I realized I failed to tell you about some of the new designs that we launched at the National Stationery Show! In addition to our flat notes, we now have a variety of folded notes -- thank yous, happy birthday, congratulations, howdy.... lots of options, yay!

Below are some of the 'thank yous' that are available online through our etsy store as well as at the following retailers: Arts & Letters (Santa Monica, CA) and O' So Inviting (Yardley, PA).

To enter the give-away contest, leave a comment telling us which of the four designs below is your favorite and why. The contest is open until 11:59pm PT on Sunday, October 11th. One winner will be picked by random.org and announced on Monday, October 12th. Winner will receive a free pack of their favorite thank you notes! Good luck!

DIY: Custom Wrapped Soap

When I stumbled upon the freebie placecards from Creature Comforts, I also discovered that she has a pretty extensive archive of DIY projects. This one was actually written a couple of years ago for mother's day, but as she states, there are many uses for dressed-up soap bars. I'm thinking about including a few in a gift basket for a friend. What will you use them for?

Check out the step by step instructions here.

Pantone's Spring 2010 Fashion Color Report

Last month, Pantone released their Spring 2010 fashion color report in conjunction with New York's fashion week. Not only is the report chalked full of fun, sunny colors that we can all look forward to this spring, but it also provides some interesting insight as to how designers and retailers are responding to consumer consciousness in a down economy.

Interesting read and beautiful colors. Can't wait to start playing with some of these new shades in new designs!

Featured on Perideau Designs's Blog Today!

I was lucky enough to meet my twitter pal and fellow stationery designer, Bridgett of Perideau Designs in person at the National Stationery Show this May and she asked me if I'd be willing to recap my experience as a first time NSS exhibitor. Head to her blog to read the interview!

Etsy Round-up: Sketch Books

I've always got a notebook of some sort in my bag becuase you never know when you'll need to jot something down. Check out these fun sketchbooks on etsy:

Overgrowth sketchbook by slidesideways

Pocket Notebook - Three Pack from theblackapple

Cahier Journal - Green Apples from RagnazIdnar

Colors: PMS / Paper Source / Waste Not Paper

When I was prepping for my wedding last year, I was a frequent visitor of my local Paper Source stores (the retail side of Waste Not Paper) to check out paper options and colors for my invitations. The variety and paper quality at WNP/Paper Source is hard to beat; and the color pallete of their solid papers is stunning.

I use their paper and envelopes for all Kelp Design creations, and wanted to share a list of Pantone colors that coordinate with the Paper Source palette. This list was compiled through a variety of sources including an email from our friends at Paper Source. It should also be noted that WNP/Paper Source papers do not have an exact PMS matches since their colors are custom, not digitally produced, but these are suggested numbers for their PS collection.

Chartreuse: 610U or 611U
Chocolate: 476U
Curry: 7405U
Grape: 273U
Lake: 7459U or 7468U,
Moss: 582U
Night: 289U
Papaya: 171U
Plum: 523U
Poppy: 150U
Pool: 7464U,
Red: 200U
Strawberry: 191U
Violet: 270U


Hope this helps, and if you have other colors to add to the list, let me know!