Dear Everyone ~
This Saturday, August 3, is the third annual international Stationery Store Day (SSD). We will celebrate the day—and our passion for all things paper—in true BZS style. This week, as I perused the official SSD website, it was exciting to see the list of participating shops, both stateside and abroad. It has, let’s say, grown greatly grander since the 2022 inaugural event. Stationers in 43 states, from east to west and north to south, will be welcoming epistolary enthusiasts. In Chicago (and environs) alone, there are eight retailers!
This year's SSD swag showcases the whimsical work of Massachusetts-based illustrator Krista Perry. There are posters, postcards, washi tape, stickers, and of course, a tote bag! We will be wrapping and packing and embellishing every order, both in-shop and online, with SSD swaggaliciousness.
Herewith a preview of our BZS gift-with-purch merch ($60 pre-tax): a BonanZa of Swell small scraps, from vintage Japanese to Cambridge Imprint to hand-marbled to Grafiche Tassotti, in a 3 x 6 glassine. Adding to your scrap-happiness are a mini pencil and tiny butterfly clip covered in Japanese decorative paper. And, because more is always merrier, we have not resisted assembling an envelopeful (Rivoli Rose 6 x 8 with a deep, divine flap) of companion swag as part of your BZSGWP: 5 power to the paper people notesheets, 1 official 2024 SSD postcard, a different SSD postcard, and 5 rows of SSD washi tape (two of the rows are actually perfed between the stamps!) affixed to a Carta Pura notecard. Your envelopeful of swag is not SWAK, but it is sealed with a charming SSD sticker, which you can peel off intact if you are attentive.
If you are feeling spendy, with a purchase of $100 or more (pre-tax), you will be in the pink with an additional GWP, an official SSD reusable polyester tote bag (while supplies last). It is eye-catchy, mixy-matchy, and spacious, as Ruby demonstrates below.
But wait, there’s this! The much anticipated Abecedary is n-e-a-r-i-n-g completion! We’ve invited Janet Hoffman (the lucky winner, as you may recall), via post, to join us this Saturday and take possession of her prize. And we are delighted to report that she’s r.s.v.p’d to say she will be here with bells on!
Alyson & I are putting the finishing touches on the index, which is more in-depth than we had originally envisioned. I’m in the midst of folding, scoring, and stitching the signatures into the cover (which we will keep under wraps for now). Emmy is scanning the beguiling A to Z pages for future facsimilizing.
If you are able to swing by on Saturday, you can view the Abecedary in person (until Janet comes & goes). We will ask that you wear our thin white gloves while looking at Janet’s book, and we are requesting no photographs. If you cannot join us this Saturday, don’t fret. We are excessively documenting, photographing, and videoing every square inch of the Abecedary.
This Saturday, the shop is open from 12–5pm. Because we are ardent equal-opportunity shopkeepers, online shoppers may place their Stationery Store Day orders beginning at noon (Chicago time) on the 3rd to receive the BZSSSDGWP (while supplies last).
Always stationery, rarely stationary, Bari