Meet Little Bear Paper Co.

Please meet Platinum Boatman Geller Retailer, Little Bear Paper Co.! Little Bear Paper Co. was started in March 2011 and their mission is to provide you with stylish, affordable invitations, gifts, and stationery for all occasions that fit your personal style. Upon learning of reaching the Platinum level in our program, owner, Brooke Marquart said; "This is very exciting for me, especially since I'm a home-based retailer and this is what I do for fun when I'm home all day with my three little kids. I truly enjoy doing this and being able to connect with my customers and help them find the perfect gifts/stationery/invitations, etc. And it allows me to talk to adults! I'm very blessed to have great customers that continue to come back to me for orders, and I love recommending Boatman Geller products because of the quality of the products and the great customer service I receive working with Boatman Geller." 

1. Tell us how Little Bear Paper Co. got started:  I started Little Bear in March 2011. I am a stay-at-home mom of 3 girls (2.5 year old twins and a 9 month old baby) and wanted/needed a creative outlet other than talking to toddlers all day...and I wanted a way to earn some "fun money" of my own :). I had been thinking about getting into the stationery/invitation business for several years and finally got the courage to do it.

2. What are your future plans for Little Bear Paper Co? I want to continue to grow my customer base and hopefully begin to reach new people. I have some wonderfully loyal customers that have helped me get my business started but this year I'm focusing on reaching new customers too through Facebook and other outlets.

3. What is your favorite Boatman Geller item or top seller? My personal favorite is the cups! With young kids they are perfect for our family to use on an everyday basis. And I am in love with the new Letterpress stationery which I gave to my mom and sisters for Christmas this year - they loved it. Actually anything Letterpress is my favorite right now.

4. How did you end up in the world of stationery & gifts? I was friends with a girl that did my wedding invitations several years ago and always thought it looked like fun. After working with her on my wedding, I always knew doing invitations and stationery would be something I would really enjoy and the timing was finally right in March 2011.

5. What is the one item you never leave home without? My iphone 5 monogrammed tough case is something I could not live without. It's ALWAYS on my phone since my girls like to watch movies and play games on it too, and therefore it gets dropped quite a bit. The tough case does a great job of protecting my phone and I love my personalized case.

1. Birdies Repeat Cell Phone Case 2. Letterpress Stationery Flat Card 3. Letterpress Bristol Chain Large Photocard 4. Letterpress Small Flat Announcement 5. Letterpress Scallop Photocard with Ribbon 6. Custom Cup with Icon

Like Little Bear Paper Co on Facebook and visit their website http://littlebearpaper.com/

Sweet Exchanges!

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and one of our favorite traditions is seeing the kids exchange valentine's cards! In addition to exchange cards, we also offer invitations, stickers and photocards. Check out some of our favorites below and click here to find a retailer!

1. Tugboat Valentine  2. Love Bird Valentine  3. Love Valentine Invitation  4. Hugs & Kisses Valentine
5. Mimi Mouse Valentine  6. Dump Truck Valentine  7. Candy Hearts Valentine

Meet Soirée San Francisco

We're excited to bring you a blog feature on Platinum Boatman Geller Retailer, Soirée San Francisco! Soirée is a stylish paper and gifts boutique located on a cozy street in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. Get to know Soirée from owners Kathy Swindle and Misty Meyer below. 

Tell us how Soirée got started: 
Soirée was started over ten years ago when two friends were fed up with their corporate jobs and would discuss business ideas upon our walks to work. I was engaged at the time and was not impressed with the offerings in San Francisco for wedding invitations. We both had and still have a combined love of beautiful and fun paper. We saw a need in the marketplace for a new, hip, service-oriented paper and gifts boutique. Soirée San Francisco has been morphing ever since. 
What are your future plans for Soirée? 
We are in 2013 planning mode as we speak, but we are going to work on our online presence and the marketing surrounding that this year. 
What are your favorite Boatman Geller items? 
Chevron cell phone case, Frost Flex Cups with anchor and whale, the New Letterpress Album - LOVE, and Lucite trays particularly in the Custom Collection. 
What are your favorite Color Combinations? 
Soirée: Pink & Green, Misty: Navy & Red, Kathy: Navy & Hot Pink.

1. Custom Chevron Cell Phone Case 2. Bursts Teal Square Tray 3. Letterpress Petite Folded Note
4. Custom Cup with Whale Icon 5. Letterpress Chevron Invitation 6. Ann Tile Raspberry Small Tray


Like Soirée on Facebook & visit their website http://www.soireesanfrancisco.com/ 

Charity Give Back!

Back in October we told about our seasonal promotion for retailers to give back to their favorite charities. Each retailer who reached $1,000 in sales with us for the holiday season chose a charity to give back to. The numbers are in and we thought we'd share with you how we did! We are thrilled that the grand total raised was $12,700 and it was spread amongst 68 charities! Congratulations and a huge thank you to our 127 qualifying retailers!

a la card	Kate's Plates	RJ Papers
All She Wrote	Kensington Paper	Rock Paper Scissors - Ann Arbor
Anne Grace Designs	Kristin Pearce Designs	Rock Paper Scissors - AZ
Apropos	L.V. Harkness & Co	RSVP Hingham
Ashley's	Layla Grayce	Say Cheese & Thank You
Bells & Whistles	Lettres	Scribbles Too!
Bespoke Custom Gifts	Little Bear Paper Co.	Seasons
Broadcasting Baby	Lucky Day Ink	Shadowbox
Brown Dog Ink	Luv The Name	Shop/Invite Me Invitations
Byrd & Bleecker	Marguerite Peele Fine Stationery	Signature Collection
Carnegie Hill Papers and Gifts	Melly	Simply Noted
Charlotte's	Monogram Merchant	Small Field Papers
Children's Chain	More Than Paper	Soiree - CA
Classic Prep Monograms	Mrs. Monogram	SoLuxe
Clearly Yours	Neiman Marcus	Something Inviting.net
Contemporary Images	Newport Colony Paperie	Stationer on Sunrise
Courtney's Custom Papers	Occasions By Sarah	Stationery Studio
Creative Paperworks	One Thing at a Time	Studio 26
Daphne F. Mitchell Stationery	Palm Beach Papers	Swoozie's Buckhead
Distinktive Ink	Paper & Ink by Betsy Coats	Swoozie's Dallas
Dorothy Goldsmith Printing Service	Paper Dolls, LLC	Swoozie's Denver
ESJ Designs	Paper Ink - NY	The Dotted I
Express it	Paper Lady - CO	The Monogram Shop of Kansas City
Fabick's	Paper Petals	The Peppermint Pea
Finestationery solutions	Paper Plus - VA	The Pink Monogram
For Heaven's Sake	Papers & Presents	The Pink Turtle
French Blue	Paperworks - VA	The Writing Place - NY
French Papers	Papier - ME	The Yachting Gourmet
Georgetown Paperie	Papyrus Custom Printing	Things & Stuff of Seventh Street
Giggle Ink	Parkbench Designs	Tower Hill Shop
Girly-Twirly Gift Co.	Parties & Paper - MD	Two Cherries - CO
Glow	Party Cat	Vellum
Greetings From The Nest	Party Party	Walton Street Stationers
Haley & the Hound	Pauline's Paperie	Waverly Paperie, The
Happy Notes & More	Pen & Paper - PA	Wheatie Gibb
Heads Up Apparel & Specialties	Penworks	Write for the Occasion!
Helanders, Inc.	Pillow Talk	Write On! Larchmont
Initial Offerings	Portobello Papers	Write Stuff - AZ
Ink Papery	Post Script Press	Write Time
Inkie Doodle	Preppy Pink Pony	Writefully Yours
Inkworthy	Purepaper	Yellow Bird
JJS Impressions	Quintessence
Junior League of Washington	Rebecca Booma Fine Stationery

American Red Cross, Hurricane Relief	Rowayton Civic Association	Search Dog Foundation
Indianapolis Children's Museum	The Kempe Foundation	Cystinosis Research Network
JDRF	The Denver Hospice	Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
Push America	Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society	Wellspring House Inc.
Project morry	Friends of Torah Academy for Girls	Cape Ann Animal Aid
Living Beyond Breast Cancer	Reach Out and Read Colorado	Community Bible Study
American Cancer Society	International Rhetts Syndrome Foundation	Project A.L.S.
Houston SPCA	Children's Cancer Research Fund	Make-A-Wish Foundation
Sitar Arts Center	ITP Foundation	Waggies by Maggie & Friends
Sabin School, Portland OR	Autism Speaks	Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America
Catalina Foothills School District Foundation	The Seton Fund, Pink Army	The Relief Nursery
Texas Children's Hospital	The Kentucky Equine Humane Center	Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund
Mott Children's Hospital, Ann Arbor	Missouri Eating Disorders Association	Alzheimer’s Association of Northeastern New York
Sojourner Truth House in Milwaukee	St. Jude's Hospital	Hingham Education Foundation
Dress for Success, Worchester MA	Clearbrook in Illinois	School P.S. 527
Concordia Lutheran Church	National MS Society	Hope Clinic
Mount Sinai Medical Center	The Running Brooke Fund	National Students of AMF
Junior League of Washington	Larchmont-Mamaroneck Hunger Task Force	Foundation Building Strength
St. Paul's Episcopal Church	Sandy Hook School Support Fund	Peter’s Place
Crossroads Community Ministries	Boston Children's Hospital	Best Friends Animal Society
Noah's Arks Rescue	Children's Tumor Foundation	CASA of Southeast Texas Inc.
YMCA of the North Shore	Robin Hood Foundation for Sandy Relief	Hurricane Sandy Relief, Joey Campise
Alzheimer's Association of America	The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation

New Year, New You Giveaway Winner

Thank you for all of the comments for our New Year, New You Giveaway! We're so inspired by all of your responses that we have listed all of the ways you want to feel in 2013, check them out!

And now for the winner...we are excited to announce that Stacy, who wants to feel abundant in 2013 has won a FREE copy of The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte. Congratulations Stacy, please email us at press@boatmangeller.com to claim your prize! Thanks again to everyone that entered and Happy New Year!