Hi guys,

I started talking with Papyrus two years ago about creating a card collection with them, and the cards finally hit stores this week! (Licensing takes time, y'all.) These cards are now available in Papyrus stores and in Target, at these snazzy branded endcaps!

(That's my college housemate's cart and snacks next to it, abandoned in surprise.)

To be honest, I didn't know the extent of the Target plan until someone tweeted a photo at me earlier this week -- I'm still on vacation in Spain for a few more days as I write this -- and I about fell over dead when I saw it.

These cards use existing art from 2013 and 2014, and have all kinds of crazy Papyrus-ified details that our normal cards don't: 3D, glitter, gems, ribbons, the works -- and they retail for $7. They also have greeted interiors (vs. our blank ones), and many of them are in different color ways. The collection includes birthday, thank you, love, wedding, and graduation cards at the moment; other occasions will be added, but Empathy Cards will not be a part of this collection.

When you're a designer who wholesales your products to a lot of independent shops (like me), there are many factors to consider before entering into a licensing partnership with a major national retailer. One of the reasons this collection took so long to develop was because I wanted to be very careful about not cannibalizing our core card line or hurting our independent stores' business. I didn't want to make a product that was too similar to what we sell online or wholesale to our indie stores, and I wanted to make sure we didn't undercut any of our independent stores on price, which is always a major concern when working with a national retailer. I'm happy to report that in my opinion, we managed to achieve both of those things.

I'm really psyched about how these came out, and I'm really happy my work is being exposed to a new and broader audience! Partnerships like this feed my business and help me develop new products exclusively for our small retailers and our online shop, so it's a win-win. I can't wait to actually see them in stores when I'm home next week!