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Celebrating Ten Years

Doing something great is worth the time it takes.

The INK MEETS PAPER greeting card line is 10 years old this year! It seems like a lifetime ago that we launched our first (tiny!) greeting card collection. It’s been a decade of steady, conscientious growth because the best things really do take time. The line now contains over 350 unique products, and we’ve printed well over a million impressions on our press (each piece still hand-fed to this day!).
It’s a celebration of craft and business. Sustainable growth doesn’t happen overnight. It’s about making deliberate, thoughtful decisions. We’re not stopping at 10 years either; this is about creating a decades-long healthy business that brings joy to million of people as we all work to make this world brighter. You’re a part of that story, and we’re so thankful to be doing business with you.

Onwards!
Allison + Jamie

A look at INK MEETS PAPER over the years

Let’s start with this very old logo from 2006 well before our greeting card line when we were just making invitations and custom stationery projects for friends.

After taking a printmaking class at a local art studio, we were hooked on letterpress. In 2008, we purchased our first press (an 8×12 Chandler & Price) from a third-generation printer in Florida (his print shop is shown here). With the help of a friend, we loaded the 1,000+ pounds of cast iron equipment on a trailer and headed back to Charleston.

Printing presses and other printing equipment from Robertson Print Shop in Jacksonville, FL
Printing press on a U-haul trailer

After an unsuccessful search for a storefront studio, we decided to move the press into a spare room in our house.

8x12 Chandler and Price printing press is in home studio
Antique Chandler and Price printing press and Craftsman paper cutter are against a chalkboard wall with that has the INK MEETS PAPER logo along with a printing to-do list

Slowly we learned the process of letterpress printing and began developing our first line of greeting cards, which we launched in 2010. In the early years, we introduced Story Codes to share the process behind our cards (this was well before Instagram!). Scanning the code opened an app with a video showing the creative and production process of that card. Each video was different, and we produced a total of sixty-three videos before we were convinced that we needed to refocus our efforts elsewhere.

Greeting cards are positioned on a burlap background on the floor with an Eames LCW chair also in view
Two computer monitors are in the foreground with INK MEETS PAPER brand collateral pinned to the wall in the background along with a map of the United States
Close-up of card back impression shows the Story Code number and QR code along with INK MEETS PAPER logo

In 2013, we introduced our signature envelope with its printed seams and liner. When we were designing the envelope, we really wanted to consider the three different interactions of buying, writing, and receiving that occur when sending a handwritten card. (And, there’s also a very subtle jab at email iconography 🙂 The printed liner contains a hidden message for the buyer (as they package the card in its envelope) and for the receiver as they open their card.

Brown kraft envelope is open and "handwritten happiness" is visible on the brown printed liner

Text less. Write more.®

Our company motto made its first appearance as a postcard and debuted at the 2013 National Stationery Show

As the greeting card collection grew, so did the number of rooms in the house that the business began taking over.

Trade show booth with greeting cards on shelves mounted to three walls
TV, chair, bookcase, and couch are positioned in one-half of the living room with a work table and inventory shelf against the remainder of the room
Table in home studio is filled with paper stacks as antique paper cutter and aprons hanging on wall are in background

New Studio!

In 2015, we moved the business from our home into a big studio in our neighborhood. Along with an exterior paint job, we also made improvements to the interior, including a glass-walled press room. We also added another printing press to the lineup!

Antique printing press is highlighted by a light behind a wall of windows in the INK MEETS PAPER studio
After version of studio features bright brick wall and dark gray siding with large windows and a bright teal door

Steady growth

In 2015, we also launched wholesale.inkmeetspaper.com to make ordering INK MEETS PAPER cards for your retail shop even easier. We decided to develop and maintain the web properties for the business in-house so that we can create the best experience for our customers. Our sites are constantly being updated with new features with the goal of making your lives easier. wholesale.inkmeetspaper.com is now the best place to find the latest on INK MEETS PAPER’s wholesale offerings, and it offers a best-in-class online ordering experience for any wholesale customer that prefers to buy direct.

With the expansion of our web properties and the move to a larger studio, we happily increased the size of our inventory and fulfillment area. All greeting cards and paper products are still assembled by hand, and then finished products are organized on shelves, making it easy to quickly package and ship out orders.

Jamie W. applies a product sticker to a cello-sleeved greeting card.
Team member stands at the back of a table filled with boxes that contain greeting cards assembled for a large order
Team member Jamie W. leans against one side of stack of shipping boxes as owners Allison and Jamie stand to the other side of the stack

The greeting card line now contains over 350 unique SKUs, each still printed by Allison on our antique presses.

A stack of paper rests on the feed board of the antique printing press.
Allison stands behind the side of printing press in the press room as a team member in the inventory room assembles cards in the background.

The INK MEETS PAPER line also expanded to include social stationery, wedding advice cards, and baby & parent advice cards.

Boxed sets of social stationery are shown from the front and back to highlight letterpress-printed card from and ink-splatter envelope.

Social Stationery

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Wedding Advice Cards

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Baby & Parent Advice Cards

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Most recently, we expanded our offerings to include INK MEETS PAPER branded displays and fixtures. We chose a modern and minimalist display style that works with a variety of shop aesthetics. Space-saving design means you can easily add an assortment of cards to complement your other products. Our displays are all manufactured in the U.S.A., ship flat from our studio, and are super easy to assemble.

INK MEETS PAPER branded tabletop spinner is filled with greeting cards and sits at the checkout area of the retail shop.

What's Next

We’re looking forward to the next 10 years! Growing the line and growing the team! It’s not always easy, but the work is worth it. We believe handwritten communication is one of the most authentic interactions you can share with someone, and we’re still passionate about producing thoughtful, deliberate products that help to spread more love into the world.

Team member Jamie W., owner Jamie Nadeau, and owner Allison Nadeau stand behind the antique printing press in the studio press room
Letterpress printed social stationery set shows product with a handwritten note

We’re glad to be a part of the stationery and paper goods industry, and it’s shop owners and buyers like you who make this industry so wonderful— together we can spread more handwritten love, one card at a time.

INK MEETS PAPER merchandise bag is held by a hand that shows the arm with a tattoo that depicting a letter held in a hand with the text "A Letter is Better"
Doing something great is worth the time it takes.