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The Greeting Card Association (GCA) celebrated excellence in greeting cards at its 35th Annual Louie Awards Ceremony.

The event took place at The Cowell Theater on the campus of the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture in San Francisco. According to GCA, this year’s competition had an overwhelming response from card makers with a 21% increase in competition entries over last year. 1,229 total cards were submitted in 57 unique categories.

A panel of judges consisting of 78 card publishers, retailers, sales representatives, and stationery industry leaders from across the country carefully reviewed the entries to determine the finalists. After a rigorous selection process, 171 cards were selected as finalists. At the Louie Awards ceremony, 57 cards from 44 different publishers were awarded the prestigious Louie Award, with two taking home Card of Year honors.

The Louie Awards are a symbol of excellence in the greeting card industry and are highly coveted by publishers and designers alike. This year’s winners have demonstrated outstanding creativity, innovation, and craftsmanship in their card designs.

During the Louie Awards ceremony, two exceptional cards were honored with the prestigious Cards of the Year recognition. Biely & Shoaf Collection was presented with the Card of the Year $5.50 and Below award, sponsored by Leader Paper, for their remarkable Christmas/Seasonal – General card submission. Roger la Borde was bestowed with the Card of the Year Above $5.50 award for their outstanding Print and Production Excellence card entry.

Furthermore, alongside the individual card accolades, several publishers were acknowledged for their body of work. Magic Paper Labs was honored with the Rising Star award, sponsored by NY NOW, dedicated to publishers operating in retail for three years or less. Kate Woolley of The Noble Paperie was recognized as the Writer of the Year for her exceptional copywriting skills. Lastly, the esteemed Artist of the Year award, sponsored by Indigo Ink, was bestowed upon Daria Hirny of Homework Letterpress Studio in recognition of her remarkable artistic talent.

Along with this year’s five new diversity categories, GCA also introduced the new Maker of Note awards. These awards honor and elevate the rich diversity of the makers and publishers within the greeting card community, highlighting the makers themselves. To qualify for a Maker of Note Award, the designer must have self-identified as a member of at least one of the communities and have submitted a minimum of five entries to any combination of award categories. The awards were presented to the individual with the highest average score across all their entries.

An image gallery of the finalist and winning cards can be found on the GCA website.

Maker of Note Winners:

• Asian American/Pacific Islander Maker of Note Award: Janine Kwoh, Kwohtations
• Black Maker of Note Award: LeeAnn Brissett, Add Pink and Stir
• Indigenous Maker of Note Award: Brigida Swanson, Yardia
• Latinx Maker of Note Award: Libby Llanso, Seedlings
• LGBTQIA+ Maker of Note Award, Kate Murray, Quick Brown Fox LetterpressThose attending *Noted: The Greeting Card Expo + Gifted: The Creative Gift and Home Expo, April 17-18 at Fort Mason’s Festival Pavilion can view all the Louie finalists and winners in a display created by Universal Presentation Concepts. Consumers vote for their favorite card as part of the Louie Consumer’s Choice Award now through Aug. 15 here. Winners of that public competition will be announced in October at GCA’s Workshop + Retreat and celebrated at next year’s award ceremony.

GCA continued its partnership with Barnes & Noble for the third year with select Louie Award finalist cards available in over 700 Barnes & Noble and 120 Paper Source stores nationwide this summer. GCA has also partnered with Faire to create a Community Page featuring all of this year’s Louie Award-winning brands, bringing more recognition and ultimately more buyers to Louie Award-winning companies.

35th Annual Louie Award Winners:

• Artist of the Year (sponsored by Indigo Ink) – Homework Letterpress Studio
• Birthday – General – $5.50 and Below Biely & Shoaf Collection
• Birthday – General – Above $5.50 Paper Salad distributed by Notes & Queries, Inc.
• Birthday – Humorous – $5.50 and below Ohh Deer
• Birthday – Humorous – Above $5.50 Second Story Cards
• Birthday – Small Company Maginating
• Blank Card – $5.50 and Below The Art File
• Blank Card – Above $5.50 UWP Luxe
• Celebrating AAPI Culture Kwohtations
• Celebrating Black Culture Pineapple Sundays Design Studio
• Celebrating Indigenous Culture Crystal Worl
• Celebrating Latinx Culture Lucy Loves Paper
• Celebrating LGBTQIA+ That Queer Card Co
• Celebrating Women (sponsored by Stationery HQ) Wolf & Wren Press
• Children’s Card – $5.50 and Below Pedaller Designs
• Children’s Card – Above $5.50 Maginating
• Christmas/Seasonal – Boxed Set Artists To Watch/Fun Folks
• Christmas/Seasonal – General – $5.50 and Below Biely & Shoaf Collection
• Christmas/Seasonal – General – Above $5.50 Up With Paper
• Christmas/Seasonal – Humorous – $5.50 and Below Calypso Cards
• Christmas/Seasonal – Humorous – Above $5.50 Cardideology
• Congratulations/Special Occasion – $5.50 and Below Ginger P. Designs
• Congratulations/Special Occasion – Above $5.50 Friendly Fire Paper
• Everyday Boxed Set – All Submissions LolliPost
• Father’s Day – $5.50 and Below (sponsored by Haobby) Naomi Paper Co.
• Father’s Day – Above $5.50 Up With Paper
• Friendship/Encouragement – General – $5.50 and Below Naomi Paper Co.
• Friendship/Encouragement – General – Above $5.50 Cardideology
• Friendship/Encouragement – Humorous – $5.50 and Below Ampersand M Studio
• Friendship/Encouragement – Humorous – Above $5.50 Kwohtations
• Get Well / Feel Better – $5.50 and Below E. Frances Paper
• Get Well / Feel Better – Above $5.50 Seedlings
• Global Greetings Mitzi Bitsy Spider
• Halloween Fine Moments
• Invitations & Announcements – Non-Wedding (sponsored by Ecological Fibers) Minted
• Invitations & Announcements – Wedding The Chatty Press
• Letterpress (sponsored by Neenah Paper) Homework Letterpress Studio
• Mother’s Day – $5.50 and Below Fine Moments
• Mother’s Day – Above $5.50 Fugu Fugu Press
• Non-Religious Celebrations – $5.50 and Below Eight21 Studios
• Non-Religious Celebrations – Above $5.50 Ivory Tower Studios
• Paper Engineering and Innovation Pigeon Loft Limited
• Print and Production Excellence (sponsored by The Imaging Centre) Roger la Borde
• Religious Celebrations – $5.50 and Below Liyana Studio
• Religious Celebrations – Above $5.50 Lynn-oleum
• Rising Star (sponsored by NY NOW) Magic Paper Labs
• Romantic Occasions – $5.50 and Below Botanica Paper Co.
• Romantic Occasions – Above $5.50 Kwohtations
• Superbly Stated Bromstad Printing Co.
• Sympathy – $5.50 and Below Two Pooch Paperie
• Sympathy – Above $5.50 Kwohtations
• Thank You – $5.50 and Below Darling Lemon
• Thank You – Above $5.50 Paper Salad distributed by Notes & Queries, Inc.
• Trends & Events Shorthand Press
• Valentine’s Day – $5.50 and Below Botanica Paper Co.
• Valentine’s Day – Above $5.50 Inklings Paperie
• Writer of the Year The Noble Paperie