In traditional American gift-giving, a couple’s first-year anniversary calls for paper. But how does a creative type make something original while still giving a nod to traditional culture? Art Director Ariele Rosch found the answer in a short film she made for her husband Peter to commemorate the day. In it, a paper doll comes to life and embarks on a paper-plane adventure, bumping into a fellow traveler. You know the rest of the story. With a crash and a boom they fall in love.

It’s a beautifully sweet video that made me smile today. I particularly love the wild camera angles that give the simple images a lot more weight. If you’re not adept at stop motion animation, don’t feel like you can’t give an original present to your paramour. Take a cue from Rosch, and with any paper gift, use the first leaf to draw a picture or write a letter that they’ll want to keep forever.

What’s the best anniversary present you’ve ever heard of?

Ever Carradine Picks Paper Culture Stationery

Admit it: we’ve all listened to Loveline at some point or other. Even through those ebbs and flows when I didn’t necessarily need relationship advice, I still loved tuning-in to get Diane Farr’s perspective. I also find it equally cool that she was able to transition from relationship expert to crime expert as FBI agent Megan Reeves in Numb3rs.

Another thing Diane’s a bona fide expert with? Choosing stationery! So I’m thrilled to hear that she’s not only a Paper Culture fan, but that our note cards have inspired her! “Am I the first customer who was so inspired by your beautiful design that I wanted to paint it on a wall in my house? Oh my, you have done well. I love your style and your commitment to trees!”

Getting ready to leave work last night, I read through one more note and realized that the well-rounded actress Ever Carradine, whose credits include The Right Stuff, Lucky, 24 and Eureka, also share the love of Scrabble. I’m feeling like we have a special bond.

And it sounds like we also have something else in common: an obsession with Paper Culture: “It’s safe to say that I’m completely obsessed with Paper Culture! I use them for my personal stationery, my daughter’s stationery, her birth announcements and I even got my husband’s business stationery from Paper Culture. I’m now counting the days until Christmas so that I can order our holiday cards!”

Paper Culture's Inspired Blog

Ever wonder how we here at Paper Culture find inspiration? Do we sit in a dimly lit room with our eyes tightly shut, holding hands, chanting “ommmm”?

Along those lines, we welcome your feedback and ideas. Find your “inner-designer” and tell us how Paper Culture has inspired you in 200 words or less. Maybe a bridal shower invitation determined the theme of your party or a holiday photo card motivated you to make your own wrapping paper. You tell us! If we select your story, we’ll give you a $50 gift certificate for your next Paper Culture order. How’s that for inspiration? Simply share your story by commenting on this blog or send an email to kirstena@paperculture.com.

Um, no — or at least, not that I’m aware of.

The joke around here is that our inspiration is erratic. As easy as it would be to look to one person, place or thing for incitement, that is simply not the case. Being paper lovers, we are mindful of the trends around us, but between you and me, we probably spend the least amount of time looking at other invitations, announcements and stationery. Besides, that would be imitating, and how uninspired is that?

It’s much more fun to look at fashion, architecture or environmental advances as sources of ideas.  We also find enormous inspiration in organizations that provide leadership in areas that touch our communities, including those that promote education, the health of our families and environmental innovation.

But really, we find our most important inspiration in talking to you.

Like most blogs, we will share fun company tidbits, special discounts, design previews and maybe even some of the more interesting corporate stuff.  But our real goal is to have this be a forum for us to exchange ideas, to share thoughts and ultimately, for us to find the source of our next inspiration.