Best. Rep. Group. Ever.

Anne McGilvray Headquarters – Dallas, TX

Having a connection — and hopefully a relationship — with the people I work with has always been important to me as we grow. So deciding to work with a larger rep group was a difficult choice to make last year. But all arrows pointed to yes, and after working with Anne McGilvray for 6 months — and now finally meeting many of our reps and the matriarch herself — I’m so very glad we said yes!

This last week I had the opportunity to travel to the Dallas Market and be part of the Anne McGilvray showroom as their reps showed around all kinds of stores, small and large.

6.25 Paper’s booth in the showroom

While it was great to meet some customers face to face, it was priceless to meet my reps for the first time and learn more about Anne McGilvray & Company. Holy damn, was I clueless! AM is based in Dallas and has their own showroom. NOT a typical large permanent showroom space within the market, but their very own giant (more than 30k sq/ft!) building down the road from the Market. It’s practically a show within a show, as they have around 150 lines — and this is just 1 of 5 showrooms around the country. I was truly spoiled by the atmosphere away from the chaos of the regular market. Everyone was helpful and kind, the bathrooms were amazing (always a perk:), I didn’t have to worry about my stuff getting stolen, there was a candy bar, and there were (free) meals, coffee, wine and beer everyday! Anyone who was shopping or selling was very well taken care of.

If you attend Dallas Market, the AM showroom is a must see! They even have a cute party bus that conveniently shuttles people back and forth from the main Market building.

Par-tay bus

Chatting with the reps and show managers, I learned more about the history of the company and how they’ve grown, opened they’re own stores in Dallas and expanded their reach across the country. I learned that many employees have been with the company for over 15 years, 20 year and even 30 years. Vendors that have been with AM for that long as well. I’ve always believed the best way to learn about a company is to ask it’s employees how happy they are in their job. Anne obviously takes care of her staff and it shows in their teamwork, tenacity and geniality.

Reps, employees and vendors with some serious loyalty to AM!

Speaking of Anne, I had the opportunity to meet the woman (now in her golden years – seemingly in her prime from my point of view!) who started it all, Anne McGilvray. She was not only at the showroom daily to meet and greet customers, vendors and reps, but she was making sure everyone was happy and hustle’n just as much as the rest of us. I can only hope to lead in such a graceful way when I’m her age. I was humbled when she placed a large order for their store in Dallas as we had a few laughs over our new 2017 cards.

Just a couple of the new releases for 2017. Full catalog HERE. 

The lines AM carries are amazing. I’m honored to be included in their line list and was excited to do a little shopping myself! In 2017, you’ll be seeing new goodies in our store from Whiskey River, Freaker, Lucy Lu, Design Ideas, Smitten Kitten & more.

Whiskey River Candles. Hilarious.

So if I haven’t made it clear enough, Anne McGilvray is the shit and you should be their friend. If you are a store in one of their areas, you should definitely connect with your sales rep (email us if you want to be connected!), and be sure to check out their showrooms (Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, San Fransisco & Seattle). Maybe I’ll see you in Minneapolis in March!!

Also, this gem was in my fancy Airbnb high rise condo. (I totally won the Airbnb lotto!)

This Airbnb gets me.

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Stationery for President

This Presidential election isn’t typical. Never before, it seems, have candidates been so polarizing, that there becomes a general sense of dissatisfaction and trust for the average citizen — on both sides. We at 6.25 Paper tend to diffuse situations with humor, and the 2016 election seemed like a good reason to bring some smiles to our loyal customers.

Laughs quiet fear.

Our team worked together to bring clever sentiments around each major candidate paired with incredible illustrations by Jaimé Johnson and hand-lettering by Abbey Fowler. Shop our Presidential Candidate Cards here.

Additionally, in this spirit of fun amidst the current political climate, we made “I Voted” pins as our swag for the National Stationery Show this year… Stop by the store to get yours (for free) today! We voted #stationeryforpresident. You can join us, from now until November (and forevermore) — send your sentiments in snail mail!

Hear, hear, Stationery for President!

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.

“Wrapping” things up for NSS!

We are just one week away from the first day of of National Stationery Show, the nation’s largest stationery show – a four-day event filled with lovely goodies. 6.25 is attending this year as an exhibitor (Booth #1677), a buyer (for our store in Grand Rapids) and blogger (for Neenah Paper’s blog). I do wish I had more time to walk this show, but my  priority will be at our booth, showcasing the new items that I am SO excited to debut.

I’ve been busy putting the final touches on our new wedding album, working with printers on new types of product like mini notebooks and giftwrap, designing and preparing the booth and creating a comprehensive 36-page catalog (our first real catalog!).

I’ve attended this show before many times as Media with Stationery Trends
and once as an exhibitor, but never have I ever felt so polished, ready and nervous
as I do this year! We have worked so diligently to make this a great year for 6.25,
but it will all come down to those four days… wish us luck!

Here’s a sketch of our booth…

the actual booth walls, all set up at the printer…

the vinyls to go on the walls…

our lovely marquee sign…

and a sneak peek of a few products…
I’ve had a lot of fun designing our booth this year — more on that later! We even got some press around our extensive Trade Show (inspiration) Pinterest Board!

Let us know if you are interested in our wholesale line or wedding album
but cannot attend the show this year, I will happily mail you the catalog!
hello(at)625paper.com

NSS Sneaky Peek!

We’ve been busy, busy with weddings this season, which pushed back catalog prep for NSS. However, things are wrapping up (insert rimshot) with our new 2013 products and I’m excited to share a sneak peek!

We’ve expanded our catalog to not only include the wedding album, cards and calendars; but we will also have giftwrap, jotters and notepads (oh, and more cards and calendars)!

Here’s one of our Gift Wrap lines — Paint Splatter, which comes in 10 color palettes.
Super bright and will look great when all displayed together!

And my favorite new product, little briefcase jotters.
The patterns for these jotters have been in my head for a while now.
My daughter, who was born in the DRC in Africa, loves reading. There are a few
African-inspired books that she gravitates to when we read before bed. They depict a natural, undeveloped area of Africa contrasted by vibrantly patterned African clothing, commonly associated with African design. My daughter traveled home to us in such clothing, and I have been wanting to create something with an African feel ever since. I decided against bold colors and instead used a “skin” color palette to portray
our colorful family and a world of natural beauty.

We will be using the patterns in other fun products to come.

We hope to see you and meet you at National Stationery Show this year!
Look us up at Booth #1677 to see these new items in person.