I'm back from New York and Scrapbook Retailer's very successful run at National Stationery Show.

I want to start by saying a special thanks to our vendor partners who supported our presentation at National Stationery. Suzi Finer of iamadiva.com and Katey Franchescini of the Paper Company made the "Gold in Scrapbooking" program sing. Bob Radcliffe of Display Dynamics offered some very compelling and honest advice on the realities of selling scrapbooking products in a merchandising session. I always get great ideas from Scrapbook Retailer education sessions thanks to folks who contribute their time and expertise.

Also thanks to Sharon and Teresa from Preserve It Frames for their demos and to Quikutz, Hot Off the Press, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L with providing us products for demos. We appreciate your support of our efforts.

Stationery and paper greetings seem to be an area where artist/entrepreneurs are making their mark. We saw a lot of folks who where interested in scrapbooking products that they would be using to hand make cards for resale.

I was pleased to see that the trends come to scrapbooking product as fast as stationery and gift. For example... owls and birds were everywhere... a trend we reported on in February. Could it be that folks are shopping CHA for supplies to make custom cards then exhibiting these products at Stationery? Could be. It could also be that many of the same high end suppliers of scrapbooking products also sell into the stationery market so I was seeing some of the same lines we first discovered in February.

Green as a category is becoming more than a trend in product manufacturing. Vendors are going green in their packaging (less packaging or more usable packaging), marketing efforts  (online catalogs), sampling (product available upon request rather than automatic mailing).

Some other trends in materials besides eco-friendly papers were wood paper or thin sheets of wood being used as card or album surfaces. It's a good texture for all that old fashioned letterpress imagery.

My colleague Beth Williams from Memory Makers clued me into the "teeny" trend. Smaller notecards but also smaller embellishments and typography leaving the paper to speak for itself. You could have a postage stamp size image in the middle of a social note- that's it.

Charms were being used judiciously- nice to see charms back. I've always liked charms and small metal findings for crafting because they are inexpensive, you can buy them in bulk and there are lots of choices.

We'll report more on trends from National Stationery Show once we sift through all the materials we brought home. My only sorrow is that I didn't get photos of all the amazing display ideas. Stationery is such a great place for ideas on how to display paper! We look forward to going back in 09 and seeing you there.--Beth