News

The Greeting Card Association (GCA) announced the winners of its second annual Noted@*Noted Products Awards Competition. The awards ceremony marked the kickoff of the industry’s annual greeting card focused event, *Noted: The Greeting Card Expo, to be held virtually May 20 and 21, 2021.

In the spirit of community, the competition was open to any greeting card maker who wholesales. To keep the focus on fresh design, all entries needed to be introduced on or after Jan. 1, 2021. This year’s competition received 194 entries, a startling 42% increase over last year’s inaugural competition.

Judges

A small but esteemed group of judges reviewed the entries:

• Audrey Woollen, founder and creative director of Urbanic Paper Boutique
• Chandra Greer, owner of GREER Chicago
• Chelsea Shukov, co-founder of Sugar Paper
• Daniel Collier, danielrichards
• Sarah Schwartz, editor-in-chief of Stationery Trends and The Paper Nerd

“It’s been exciting to help create this competition, and then see it evolve,” observed Schwartz. “We devised the categories to reflect aspects of modern card sending not technically recognized by the prestigious Louie Awards, delving into categories such as Snarkiest Card and Best Tear Jerker. As a result, our winners truly represent those makers on the cutting edge of greeting card design and sentiment.”

Winners

Makers and retailers competed in 10 categories, including one just for retailers.

Best Color Combo Card

• Seedlings

Best New Product Line

• Lykkefund Paper

Best Greeting Card Wall

• Paper Epiphanies, Portland, Oregon

Best Tear-Jerker Card

• UWP Luxe

Best Use of Profanity Card

• Girl w/Knife

Most Beautiful Card

• Seedlings

Best CoronaCard

• Next Chapter Studio

Snarkiest Card

• Girl w/Knife

Best “No Occasion”/”Just Because Card”

• Inklings Paperie

Best Card from a Rookie

• Lake Erie Design

Congratulations to all the winners — especially Seedlings and Girl w/Knife, who each snagged an impressive two awards! The first round was reviewed virtually; for the second round of judging to select winners, judges reviewed the physical cards in person.

Those who wish to attend *Noted can still do so! Start your visit at the GCA website, www.greetingcard.org. Registration is free for retailers and buyers, who will have a front-row seat to fresh wares from over 70 makers.