One-stop shopping :: Stationery at IKEA

Oh. Snap!!!! IKEA is carrying stationery! So far it is only launching in Europe but the posts I've read online all indicate that if it goes well, we could see it on our side of the "pond."

Their line, made with Swedish shop Kollo, pretty much covers all your paper needs - journals, wrapping paper, cards, washi tape, bags, boxes...the list of products is long. Check out more, including LOADS more product pictures, on decor8.

The Daddy of all Stationery

{Design I'm working on. Folded note or postcard? thoughts??}

I would not be a very good stationery blogger if I did not show some options of awesome stationery for Dad, would I? Nope, I wouldn't. This IS a stationery blog after all, but do I sound reluctant to write this post? Um, yes, I am.

You see I am TIRED of seeing stationery for Dad that has trout or golf clubs on it for Dad. It's not that those aren't in the right wheel-house. It's just...Come on people! We can do better than that!

And we have...

Crane & Co will never let me...err, you...down. Is it another monogram? Yes, but this is cool. I love the layout of the initials. For Mr. B's birthday I got him a LL Bean boat tote with the Block Stack monogram on it. Feels cool. Very Steve McQueen...if he was into boat totes.

Bug stationery!! How cool & manly are these cards from Bug Under Glass on Etsy? Weevil Knievil!!  There is also a print of a beetle riding a skateboard if that's more your dad's speed.

What do you get when you combine a dandy, a pipe & a compass rose? Kick-A&& note cards for Dad! Page Stationery is the maker of this fine set, as well as other manly-card sets featuring vintage drawings similar to above. They cool cheeky Christmas cards as well. 

Father's Day cards to give Dad with his gift of manly stationery to come...

Hostess gifts!

Last weekend we had the pleasure of visiting friends on the East End of Long Island. It reminded me that I need to stock up on hostess gifts. Here's what I usually have in my stash:

First, I stock up on thank you notes. I need to make sure that I can at least be ready to say thank you!

I love to give monogrammed notecards - just the kind with a single letter on them. They are good for any occasion.

If I have time, I make granola or muffins, especially if we're visiting someone for an over night. Dessert is also a good idea. Long Island has loads of road-side stands & the summer pies cannot be beat.

This is what I brought (below) to our hosts last weekend - Granola! The recipe is from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. The jar is an old pickle jar that I saved. I cut a square of leftover fabric an 1 inch bigger on each side than the jar top. Sprayed the top with spray adhesive (do that outside with the wind blowing away from you!) and pressed the fabric onto the wet lit. The ribbon was the final touch!

Oh, and wine is always good...something light & summery. Last weekend we took a sparkling rose from Wolffer Estates, a great Long Island vineyard, to our friends house. Delish!

gift bag from my shop!

Most of the time I'm shopping for all of these things for myself, so I just pick up an extra to have on hand. Makes putting together something super easy! When I can't find what I want or need, I end up making it & as you can probably tell from the pictures I've used in this post, a K. Batty Design & Stationery product is usually born from that.

Thoughts? What do you like to bring to your hosts?

Better yet, as a host, what do you like for people to bring??

Cards of the Week - Stationery Fit for a Man!

Hi all! Since today is Father's Day, stationery for guys has been on my brain. Let's take a look at a few things...

Today's cards are all from Red Stamp.com. Haven't been back there in a while, but I've had a BLAST playing with their iPhone app. I highly recommend it for fun birthday messages, plus it's one of the few greeting card apps you can add photos too (that I've found, anyway.)

{Bow Tie Icon Personalized Stationery :: Large Flat Card}

Mr. B would love these, as do I. Kinda giddy about them actually. Perfect for anything, though it seems to me they would be great for thank you notes after a dinner party. Or to dash off a quick invite to one - they are for a somewhat traditional man with a great sense of humor. Perhaps I am just describing my husband...

{Trophy Buck Men's Modern Personalized Stationery :: Large Flat Card}

For the outdoors man in all males, this is a cool take on a trophy. Even if taxidermy isn't your thing.

{Modern Diagonal Block Personalized Stationery :: Large Flat Card}

Per the usual, these are just a smattering of the offerings at RedStamp. Etsy has some interesting things as well, including return address stamps that look very manly. Check out my search here.

Guys - what do you think? Any of this suit your fancy? Seriously if there are any men reading, I'd love to know if you have stationery & what it looks like. Or if you don't have any, what would convince you to use some. Inquiring minds want to know!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Cards of Last Week

Hi readers! Last week I didn't get my Cards of the Week post up. Shame on me, I know. To get back on track, I have 2 posts planned - the first kicking off thus:

K. Batty Rescues Mother's Day

Two weeks ago my cousin, Kate, asked if I could help out by designing 3 sets of stationery for gifts for Mother's Day. "Do we have time?" she asked, fretfully. "Yes!!" I said, "but we must act quickly!"

And so we did...Designs were decided on within the week. Orders placed. Orders arrived, checked, assembled & forwarded to my cousin for gifting. All in the span of a week & a half. It was Operation Custom Stationery-In-The-Blink-Of-An-Eye. She was thrilled, her "moms" were all in love with their gifts & I was so excited to be able to get the job done for her.

{M for Marie, her grandmother, left, with pink lemonade envelopes.
ABH for her mom, right, with sno cone envelopes to match the stripe detail on the card.}

{A triple monogram for her mother-in-law, in periwinkle with envelopes in banana split, left.
All the colored envelopes to match each set, right.}

Have I said how much I love colored envelopes these days? Not that I ever disliked them, quite the opposite. Maybe I am just finding myself more comfortable with mixing them into the design. Hmmm...

So you see, I was working hard on these & COTW had to be put off. I'm good at being busy, but I can't always "do it all." Though, God knows, I try. Oh! Good news! I have been asked to do another project with my cousin - look for our collaboration on bridal shower invitations.

Yippee!!

Happy Birthday!!

{Image courtesy of Veer}

Today is my dad's 70th birthday. You would never know it. It's shocking, really, that the man is 70. Saturday was his younger brother's birthday. Both of them are at an age & stage that if they want or need something, they buy it. So, what's a girl to do for their special day??

Why, make them stationery of course!

{Ta-da!}

I've just tried out a new online printer with my fab Ahoy cards. The results are perfect so I boxed them up for Pops & my uncle, pairing them with colored envelopes this time, instead of my usual envelope liners. All of my family members have a love for 2 things - sailing & horses - so I know these will be a hit.

Thoughts?? Me likey.

K. Batty on Paper N Stitch

Happy Monday!!

Today launched the new exhibition over at Paper N Stitch & guess who is in it?? Did the title give you a clue? 'Cause it's me!

{the K. Batty exhibition space}

Paper N Stitch {PNS} is curated by Brittni Mehlhoff & has been featured in many national publications, on & offline, for its finds. Above is the K. Batty shop site on PNS. Some of the shops thank you notes were also featured on the front page of the site today!

{high 5!! Look at the press!}

****As a way to kick of my month's residence at Paper N Stitch, I am offering all PNS readers 10% off for the next 7 days. That is today through next Monday evening (3/14) at 5pm.***

Head over to the K. Batty page on Paper N Stitch to see the featured products & get your coupon code. Also, check out the rest of the current exhibition here.

Hope today was a great kick off to a fabulous week!

Adventures in Baby Showers

Saturday, I had the great pleasure of spending the day at the Washington Duke Inn, in Durham, NC, with my good friend Tracey. Along with many more of her friends & family, we had an afternoon tea {slash} baby shower to celebrate her first born, coming the end of April.

I hosted along with 4 other lovely ladies. And! I got to design the invitations! Here were the contenders:

Can you see the jumping off points for my current Minted.com submissions? Voting is still open, btw.

The 5 of us unanimously decided the paisleys were the way to go {obvious from my first picture, right?}. They are very "Tracey." She's using them in the decor for the baby's room, along with a bright green that we brought into the invitation suite with Pop-Tone envelopes in Limeade. Ta-da!!

What invitation suite would be complete without Thank You cards? Not this one! I planned to suprise Tracey with a set of these in her shower gift, but like the fabulous friend that she is, she follows all my blogging & saw my Posterous post about making cards on Feb 21st. So, I blew my own surprise. But no matter! She was thrilled anyway!

{These are from my Posterous & available on Etsy}

Congrats to Tracey & her husband John. We are all very excited to meet Baby Bailey!

{all photos taken by me}

Cards of the Week - 2/14-2/19

Tired of the winter blahs, my cards of the week post is full of bright tones to get us all in the mood for our next season. Spring! It may be weeks away, but we can start to dream.

Totally smiling just looking at this card with its over-sized monogrammed & punchy colors. Buy as is or choose your own colors. From Em And Bee on Etsy.

This bright yellow stamped bird with matching yellow envelope is singing to me! {Holy Corniness. I need to go back to Barbados, people.} Find this lovely design on Etsy from Pink Bath Tub.

This fun Thank You note is a FREE printable download from Hey Susy. I smiled the second I saw it.

Did those put a smile on your face for Spring? I feel better already. My grandfather always said not to wish my life away, but man, I wish Spring would spring itself!

See ya!

Cards of the week - 1/31 to 2/6

Hi kids! Here's what I'm diggin' this week...

Alphabet Castle by Crane & Company. So clever! Plus, Mr. B is whisking me away to a warm & sunny Barbados so I am in the mood for a sandcastle.

Sunday is the Super Bowl, so we gotta get some football in here. These are great baby shower invites, by Pinch of Salt on Etsy, if you were having a boy. Her entire shop is fabulous.

Have a great weekend!

New stuff!

Hello, Blogspot! Oh, how the time has passed since I last posted...{sigh}. But all has not been for naught! I have been working on new things (and apparently reading too much Jane Austen at night) that I would love to share with you thus...I mean here. :)

First, I have been doing lots of experimenting lately with new designs. During a recent fulfillment of an order (thanks angruth1!) I made the package below. As soon as I can figure out the additional pricing, I'll start selling this on my Etsy shop - Stars of Thank You with stamped envelope liners.

(Look for these here)

It's amazing what you can do with a stamp pad & some painters tape! In addition, I have long been experimenting with colored envelopes & am finally finding ways to use them in my existing designs to bring an extra punch of color & panache. Add the envelope liner & VIOLA! We have a fun new stationery set just in time for the holiday season. I think I'll do another one in red...

Speaking of the holiday season...more news on that coming up. More new products and a fun promotion...stay tuned!

Get your supplies together!

(Find this stamp box here. Not necessary, but so fun!)

At Target the other day I noticed all the school supplies are already out, so I thought perhaps the next installment in our series on hand written notes would be about that...supplies!

What do you need to write a note? Well, it is obvious, right? A paper & a pen! The next question is what do you select first? No matter what you prefer to start with, you eventually need them both. You have to start some where though. I pick my paper first, largely because I select it by occasion. Besides, the pen in my hand is almost always the same, especially for note writing. I am in love with Pilot pens, of all kinds, but especially my Pilot G-2 Gel Pen. For our purposes, though, whatever feels good in your hand & has plenty of ink in it will suffice.

Several resources, including The Art of the Handwritten Note, which I quoted in my previous post, suggest having a "starter set" of stationery handy. Choose some simple notes...maybe just some all purpose cream or white folded cards...and keep them together with envelopes, stamps & your pen or pens. Put them in a nice basket, in a place that they are easy to access. Mine sit in a mail holder next to my desk. The idea is to make note writing a fun & easy thing to do.

Where do you get said simple notes? Almost anywhere. I have seen sets at Staples & at Target. If you are in my 'hood (Brooklyn!) I suggest Papel NY. Great card selection as well as stationery. Etsy, of course, has lots of cards & papers for sale (hello, plug for the K. Batty shop!), or you could check out several other online options. Here are some of my faves:

Paper Source, for plain paper, all things crafty & fun demos on their products
Papyrus, for funky cards
The Paper Cottage, for everything preppy
Paper & Cup, for fun & well designed everything

And then there is always the classic...Crane's. (sigh)

I hope this post breaks down note writing a bit for you. As I said previously, it isn't a huge task to write someone a note. You just need a few simple things & a few words.

Happy writing :)

*** If you order monogrammed notes from the K. Batty shop between now & next Wednesday, enter SUPPLIES in the messages to seller. I'll complete your starter stationery set with stamps & a pen! Plus, from now until the 25th you can get 10% off your order & free shipping during the Christmas in July sale! Whoo hooo!!***