Report from the New York International Gift Fair


Beau Ideal

Hi Everyone!  I'm Nole from Oh So Beautiful Paper, and I spent the better part of this week in New York City for the New York International Gift Fair.  If you're not familiar with the Gift Fair, it's a huge wholesale trade show where retail shop owners around the country (and the world!) come to purchase items and stock their shops.  The show is similar to the National Stationery Show, except that it takes place twice a year and cov­ers way more than paper.  There are sec­tions just for global importers, hand­made prod­ucts, home and bath, baby and kid prod­ucts, and lots, lots more.  There's a lot to take in!  Jan asked me to share a few favorites from the summer show, and so I've tried to narrow it down to just the best of the best of what I saw at the show.  Here goes!
First up, some of my favorite exhibitors this year happen to specialize in beautiful porcelain ceramics. I love the romance of Gleena's designs, particularly the numbered bowl sets and botanical plates.  As someone who loves to travel, I'm also a huge fan of the postcard mugs from Bailey Doesn't Bark (they make awesome gifts!) along with the rest of her beautiful tableware, textiles, and paper goods.  And it really doesn't get better than the delicate designs from Portland-based Pigeon Toe.  Just look at the gorgeous color inside those vases!
Gleena
Gleena

Bailey Doesn't Bark
Pigeon Toe

I've been a huge fan of Shanna Murray's illustrated wall decals (see top photo also) for quite a while now (I have several at my home!), so it was a real pleasure to see all of Shanna's decals in one place at the show. 

Shanna Murray
Shanna Murray
I love paper, so it comes as no surprise that so many of my favorites from the Gift Fair involve paper and stationery.  I love going to shows like the Gift Fair and Stationery Show because I always discover someone new and exciting – this year it was the UK-based Lazy Oaf.  Rachael from Pistachio Press had a booth full of beautiful letterpress cards and one of my new favorite art prints.  I also love the collection of heirloom wedding guestbooks and albums from Velvet Raptor, boxed stationery sets with gold borders from Russell + Hazel, and colorful greeting cards from Beau Ideal. The Smock booth was also full of color – the colorful blooms were DIY projects made from their collection of gift wrap sheets!

Lazy Oaf

Pistachio Press

Pistachio Press
Smock

Beau Ideal


Velvet Raptor

Russell + Hazel

Russell + Hazel
I could seriously lose myself in gorgeous textiles and jewelry at the Gift Fair, particularly in the handmade section.  So many pretty things!  While I try to exercise self-control when it comes to jewelry, I always love the delicate and minimalist designs from Laurel Denise.  This year I had the pleasure of discovering the beautiful hand-printed textiles from Toronto-based Pehr.  Love those chevron stripe napkins and tea towels!

Laurel Denise

Pehr
I don't often have the chance to focus on kid-friendly products, but I seriously love the stamp kits, wall decals, and art cards from Wee Gallery.  I think it's so great that they include non-traditional animals in their art cards, from lemurs to anteaters – not just the usual cat, dog, and horse!
Wee Gallery

Wee Gallery

Thank you so much to Jan for giving me the opportunity to share a few favorites with all of you!  If you're interested in seeing more, feel free to come visit me over at Oh So Beautiful Paper where you can see the complete coverage from the summer Gift Fair!
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Launched in Sep­tem­ber 2008, Oh So Beau­ti­ful Paper® is a daily design, wed­ding, and lifestyle blog. Edi­tor and pub­lisher Nole Garey of Oh So Beau­ti­ful Paper show­cases fab­u­lous sta­tionery design and is ded­i­cated to pro­vid­ing a resource for read­ers seek­ing inspi­ra­tion and design­ers for their per­sonal sta­tionery projects, from wed­ding invi­ta­tions to busi­ness cards to cal­en­dars and sea­sonal hol­i­day cards.

Jan Halvarson

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I love all those cards and paper designs, how adorable!

Louisejoyb xo | Bits&Bobs

Unknown said...

I just love those Beau Ideal cards...i picked some up at renegade brooklyn, so gorgeous! I am going to have to check out those vinyl decals though they are the best I have ever seen, I love the hand drawn aspects to them. Thanks for sharing!

Hena Tayeb said...

Oh wow.. this is fantastic. Is this open for anyone to attend?

Jan Halvarson said...

henzy - i believe you need some sort of retail, interior design or press accredidation - http://www.nyigf.com/Buyers/ShowRegistration.aspx

claudine said...

SO MANY great items in the post... my head was spinning...Pigeon toe ceramics and the decals were real stand outs. So many decals on the market... but her hand is really present in her work.

Constantly Constance said...

I am loving those ceramics! Great design and colors! Thanks for sharing!