One of the most important things to me when starting this shop was the design of the
business cards.  I know to some they might be an afterthought, but they were in my top
three things that had to be “just” right.

I love branding and BC design so much – I believe they truly set the tone for companies.  First impressions are kind of lasting, right?  

A big thanks to the talented group at Studio On Fire for the print job.  They’re letter-pressed on a nice, thick Crane stock in white ink with a bit of silver contaminate to help the text stand out while still achieving a blind impression look. My favorite part is the edge color printing, I love how unexpected the pop of green is.

The response they received from the “paper people” at the National Stationery Show was overwhelmingly positive, which was a nice way to kick things off for TNL!

A history……

-Raised in a small Texas town.

-Left for college to attend Architecture School and pursue a degree in Interior Design.

-Studied in Florence my last semester of school. (Dear Gnocchi, I miss you terribly.  Why don’t you write?)

-Graduated, moved back to said small town to take a break and work on a digital portfolio in hopes of landing a real job.

-Eventually moved to Dallas; had lots of trouble finding that real job….so much for portfolios.

-Started working part time that led to full time at a paper & stationery store that I loved but didn’t pay like the much needed real job….so much for degrees.

-Got married and moved to Seattle to live somewhere new.

-Worked in the travel industry.  Not very creative, but met some nice people.

-Loved Seattle (and their rain) though came back to Dallas to be near family.

-Started working at another travel related job. *sigh* Still not creative but it pays the bills.

-May 2009 decided it’s Now or Never (my theme song, thanks Elvis!) Began working on The Notebook Lab.

-May 2010 opened up shop!

This has been such a loooooong time coming. I refer to myself as The Girl Who Cried Company. I would say I’m going to do this or that. The this and thats have ranged from greeting cards, invitations, to oh so many more, though most always revolved around paper. Notebooks were a natural choice.  They are my favorite paper product and I’ve been collecting them for years.  They’re a necessity for me and function as my memory daily.  In the end, I also couldn’t imagine being at a job I don’t love for 30+ years and I was determined to at least make an attempt at doing something I knew I would enjoy. If they gave degrees for how much I’ve thought/obsessed/researched about starting my own co., let’s just say you’d be referring to me as Dr. Steward.  It truly doesn’t mean a thing until you act!

TNL is a shop that allows me to find new and exciting designers across the globe, while also giving me an outlet to experiment with my own ideas and designs that have piled up over the years.

A sincere thanks to everyone who encouraged me along the way.  If it weren’t for you, I would still be paralyzed by boredom, constantly eyeing the sharp objects around me while daydreaming about my pretend business.

To learn more about the shop, click here.