Welcome New Members

JUST BEE & ME

Tell us about your company and/or your products.

After 18 years in advertising, design and art directing, I decided to stay home and raise my children. I also returned to my love of fine art and painting and entered the gallery circuit. I was brainstorming ideas for a ‘garden’ themed show, while suddenly the bees kept coming into my life! Buzzing around me everywhere, I thought…I need to illustrate the cutest little zen bee meditating and put, ‘Bee In The Moment’. With my passion for art, yoga, nature and environmental concerns, it seemed that all my worlds had come together. A line of inspirational, yet whimsical greeting cards themed around an adorable bee doing yoga was born. I did business as the Yoga Bee Store originally, but as my card line expanded into all occasion and holiday designs too, I decided to call my company ‘Just Bee & Me’.

The inspiration and ideas have never stopped flowing, and this journey has been nothing but positive.  You know you are fulfilling your life’s purpose, when you get chills every time you share your idea with someone. It was all “Meant to Bee.”

Just Bee & Me has an eco-friendly promise by using recycled paper and bio-degradable protective sleeves. The greeting cards are blank inside for freedom of expression. Some of the designs have also been used to create other products like recycled journals and organic cotton apparel. With my yearning to make a difference with my art, I also have a ‘Bee Cause’ in which I donate a portion of my proceeds to the ‘Save the Honeybee Foundation.’ It seems the bees came into my life for me to help bring awareness around the environmental stresses that have been causing the decline of our bee population, and to make a lot of people smile. “Bee the Change.”

What’s your role at your company?

As a lot of entrepreneurs would say…what isn’t my role? Creator, illustrator, marketer and sales person. I process, package and ship orders along with attending both retail and wholesale shows. I am grateful to BEE my own boss.

Why did you become a GCA member?

I was researching the National Stationery Show last year and I saw the GCA on the vendor list. I thought, what a wonderful way to gain knowledge of the industry, what is trending and be amongst ‘like minds’. I look forward to networking and mentoring to take my business to the next level. I would love to create relationships and partnerships with other companies in this industry to streamline my business, so that I can focus on BEEing the creative BEEing that I am!!!

EYE OPENING EXPRESSIONS

Tell us about your company and/or your products.

The inspiration for my cards came from my personal experience.  Many years ago, I suffered from a medical condition that left me disabled, visually impaired and severely depressed.   I felt invisible and insignificant without hope.

Throughout my own healing process, I began to write inspirational words of comfort that soothed my soul and awakened my heart to hope.  This hope gave me a desire to want to persevere and live life to its fullness again.  I began to share my words with family, friends, co-workers and my community and was able to touch a deep place within them. It is from this place of desiring to ignite hope in the hearts and souls of others that Eye Opening Expressions was born.

To my core I am an encourager, and my company, Eye Opening Expressions gives me the opportunity to share hope and new possibilities with others through the power of words.

I am in the beginning stages of my business, but I have several designs that will be released later this fall.

What role do you play in the company?

I am Eye Opening Expressions!  I am the writer, the sales and marketing representative, I work events and send out my product.  The one area that I contract out in my business is graphic design.

Why did you become a GCA Member?

There are new challenges that affects how to grow business in the 21st century specifically related to the greeting card industry, Joining the GCA gives me the opportunity to learn industry standards, marketing trends, and glean knowledge from experts through mentorship and networking with other aspiring Artists, Creators and Companies in this amazing versatile world of greeting cards and stationary. GCA also gives me the opportunity to develop business relationships with other professionals and expose my card collection to a broader audience as I grow my product line.

GOOD JUJU INK

Tell us about your company and/or your products.

At Good Juju Ink, we create 100% hand-drawn ‘wild’ stationery that spreads good juju. We use high-end antique printing press techniques and a portion of all our proceeds benefit partner charities, such as The Nature Conservancy. Blending the sweet with the slightly sassy, our products are often paired with funny sentiments sure to make you giggle. Nature and animals figure heavily into our designs, which are letter pressed or foil stamped onto eco-friendly paper. Good Juju Ink products are created with the hopes of spreading joy and adding a little magic to someone’s day. Whether it’s the bliss associated with sending someone the perfect birthday card, the serenity associated with writing in your favorite journal, or the cheer you get when your wrapping paper is just as thoughtful as the gift inside, we want Good Juju Ink customers to always feel that sense of childlike wonder.

What’s your role at your company?

Juliana (aka Juju) Tyson is the driving force behind all of the creative work at Good Juju Ink. From concept to execution, Juju is the chief artist (and chief executive) at Good Juju Ink.

Why did you become a GCA member?

Having spent a few years in the stationery industry, it is clear that there is no kinder, more thoughtful community than those in this industry. Joining the GCA was the perfect way to make even more wonderful relationships, and hopefully give back to the community, much like others have given back to us!