Bold Onesies for Little Adventurers

One thing we love most about having both a stationery line and a retail store is the way our space invites interactions with other artists that may otherwise be missed. This is true of our latest line of wearables, a collection of onesies with bold, empowering statements for your bitty adventurer.

Olivia of Voyage Lettering reached out last year and we started collaborating with her immediately. We started with a fun, motivating 2017 wall calendar we call HER Calendar. From there we have created cards, wall prints and now onesies.

Like our other products, we wanted to have these onesies printed locally and happened to connect with Treetops Collective just at the right time. They are a new West Michigan organization passionate about connecting local designers and businesses to refugee women who are in need work — to create cross-cultural friendship, community development and meaningful jobs for this skilled, eager workforce. They were instrumental in connecting us with Love Works, a social enterprise started by retired teacher, Sally VanEck, who is dedicating her time to teaching screen-printing and other creative vocations to refugee women.

One such woman, Mang Pha, a 20 year old woman from Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, worked on our project with Sally. Because living in Burma was next to impossible due to dangerous conditions associated with oppression and corruption, Mang’s parents decided to immigrate to the USA. From the moment Mang arrived, she along with her siblings, have worked diligently to help their family forge a new life. It hasn’t been easy. This spring Mang will graduate from Potter’s House High School and hopes to attend college. She is a person who loves and appreciates her very close family as well as learning about her world. Mang has learned to sew and screen print. She is eager to learn so much more and collaborations like this make that possible.

Additionally, LoveWorks values being good stewards of this earth and sources their materials responsibly and uses water-based ink to keep our beautiful Great Lakes clean for generations to come.

We couldn’t be prouder of what this line represents, and are grateful to be a part of such purposeful collaborations. We hope you and your littlest global citizen enjoy and share in this important story with us!

The onesies as well as other products from Olivia’s collection are available in our retail store in downtown Grand Rapids, online and for wholesale inquiries, please email us at hello@625paper.com

Side Note for GR Peeps: Shop these onesies and other wearables from the Treetops Collective at the Eastown Street Fair this weekend, Saturday, September 10 9am-8pm.

ABC ~ A Baby Celebration

I started to write “guest blogger” here and it just seems wrong to call Tarah a “guest”. Tarah’s been with us for a year and a half (pretty big deal in the small biz world) – helping to make the store run, look pretty, and she helps keep me on track. She’s not exactly leaving us, but she will be around in another form – as a Mama! We’re excited to welcome her new addition into this world soon, but we will greatly miss seeing her at the store. You should expect to see more of her in other ways after things with the new little one are settled in. For now, I wanted her to share a little about her lovely baby shower.
One that I was honored to attend, and am excited to share.

Cause ‘ya know, thats what we do – celebrate celebrations!

Tarah’s shower story…

Anticipating a new baby is a constant dichotomy between extreme excitement and trepidation, and nothing eases that burden like being surrounded by women who love you, want to support you, and have been there themselves. Before our little man even witnesses his first glimmer of daylight he is already cherished and will grow the love of the community that surrounds us.

Nothing makes this more clear than a baby shower! We were bombarded by love and baby essentials a few weeks ago at St. Cecilia’s Music Center in downtown Grand Rapids. The tone was set for our old-fashioned ABC theme through a custom stationery design by Abbey at 6.25 Paper; they were perfect (and extra special since this is where I work!).

The ABC theme was carried through in the room decorations with bunting, ABC blocks galore and flowers from our local farmer’s market – the same vendor who did our wedding!

The food was absolutely delicious and diverse, ranging from goat cheese stuffed dates and a fresh Michigan cheese board to a tomato and cipollini onion salad and lentil falafel croquettes. To top it off, all of the adorable bite-sized desserts were homemade!

Our favors were one of my favorite Trader Joe’s goodies, mini cinnamon ABC cookies that we wrapped in party bags from the 6.25 Paper store. Everything turned out beautiful!

Special thanks to all who joined, from Florida, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Georgia to the east-side of the state, your presence… and presents 🙂 made it a day to remember! Also, thank you to my family for all of the work you put into making us feel cherished and for all of the care you put into the time-consuming details (ie: stamping ABC’s on clothespins and sewing fabric flags and runners!)

…and now we wait for the baby to make his debut!

Vendors used:

Venue: St. Cecilia’s Music Center
Stationery: 6.25 Paper
Catering: The Gilmore Collection
Brownie-bite flags: PrettyTape
ABC Cookies: Trader Joe’s 
Decorations: PrettyLittleStudio’s “Z is for Zebra Bunting Flags” and Grand Rapids made Uncle Goose Classic ABC Blocks
Party Supplies: Whisker Graphics favor bags, Sambellina Plates (available locally at 6.25 Paper)
Flowers: Fulton Street Farmer’s Market

Thank you, Tarah, for sharing your special day with us! And for using so many
of the great Grand Rapids local resources for party goods and services.

Shameless promotion… I’m always available for custom invitation orders for any occasion (not just weddings:). Email me for a quote! Plus we sell fun fill-in invitations at the store and online if you are in more of a time crunch (these are also available wholesale).

Children’s ABC Cards

So, this awesome GR mama,

Marie-Claire, inspired by her awesome twin boys,Owen & Silas (who happen to be two of my daughters BFF’s), is trying to fund this awesome project

on kickstarter. With just 9 days left.

Children’s ABC Wallet Cards

Please help to make this project happen this project so that we can carry this awesome product in our store! (9 DAYS LEFT – PLEDGE NOW!)

Read more from Tarah about the ABC Cards on here blog, Sustainably Smitten.