FALLAPALOOZA ::: this Saturday!

Shop over 60 local different vendors.
The perfect time for treating yourself, stocking up on some fall decor, or getting some early Christmas shopping done! Paperie + Pen (and some of the other participants) will giving a portion of sales to the Women's & Children Alliance! 

Eat and drink local.
Featuring Boise’s homegrown Hawthorne Beverage Catering Co. and a variety of locally based food vendors. Don’t forget to grab some fall favorites such as seasonal wines, brews, and a variety of fall-themed eats.

Kids Carnival Games
Our kids carnival will be featuring simple kids carnival games  with a kooky whimsical twist. Games are available to play for donation. A great way to let the kiddos have fun and show some love to the WCA.

Live Entertainment
Featuring local musicians, dance groups, and actors donating their time and talent to entertain and raise awareness of domestic violence here in the valley.
Make sure to give em a smile and maybe a buck or two. A line up will be posted mid September.

Prize Giveways
Make sure to stop by our prize booth!

Pie Eatin’ Contest
At Fallapalooza we are happy to encourage a positive relationship with pie for a great cause! Pie eatin’ will start at 2:30pm on stage. Spaces are available.
You can show your love for pie and the WCA and sign up HERE

Connect and Get Educated
Several volunteers and trained professionals from the WCA wil be present to talk about their outreach program, volunteer options, and more!
Also, check out this amazing book with personal stories of surviving domestic abuse and finally finding a way out of it: bit.ly/1e6zDTT
If you’d like to discuss a personal issue, please ask to speak to a trained professional.

More information at: FallapaloozaBoise.com

Product Highlight: Emily Ley Baby Book

This year, I was pregnant with my first child. For anyone who has been pregnant before, you know that basically- it is 9 months of torture, which makes you obsessive. For some, they are obsessed with the nursery. Some are obsessed with naming the child. Some are obsessed with obtaining every possible gadget and doo-dad for the little one.

I, was obsessed with ALL of it! 

With my obsession came documentation. I wanted to document every piece of this experience, the pregnancy, the birth, the baby. Being a wedding photographer, documentation is so important to me- really, it is everything I stand for. So choosing the perfect baby book was imperative.

On my search for this "perfect" baby book- I found cute options that weren't practical, or worse- practical options that weren't cute. Most baby books are stitch-bound, so it is impossible to add to them or customize them much.

WELL- weeks after finding a baby book that would 'work for us', Emily Ley did it again...(if you have ever owned a Simplied Planner, you know what I am talking about) she released a baby book that really had everything I was looking for! 

- Visually appealing: beautiful, clean design, gold foil on the front and back cover as well as the color coded page tabs, modern but timeless, unisex- so can be bought as a baby gift, or before the gender is determined-- and of course it matches the chair in my nursery PERFECTLY.

-Practical: the format is a standard size 3-ring binder, so the pages can be rearranged. I love this, because most baby books' order isn't always the way that things happen for your baby. Such as- first haircut page is usually around a year, my baby's first haircut happened at 9 weeks... with this format, you can put everything in the exact order it happened for your little one. You can also add more pages and it is SIMPLE since you can use a 3-hole punch to add whatever you'd like. So practical. I love keeping everything for my son, but I am a busy mama...so the 3- ring simplifies everything so you can add it to your book right away. 

- High Quality: I guess this can also double dip into the visual appeal- but the pages are thick but not cumbersome and the printing and gold foil is perfection. It is lightweight- yet durable. And the cover has a lamination that can be easily wiped... just in case tiny, sticky fingers might find their way on their heirloom.

When it comes down to it, no child is alike and I think mama EL knows that as much as the rest of us! Her design has so much personality, but so much room to add your own personality and the personality of your little one! The pages included go up to YEAR 5! But with the 3-ring format, you can pack that puppy full of all sorts of "firsts" and photos. 

Bravo again Emily Ley. Bravo.

written by Nichole Schoener

Emily Ley Baby Book and other EL Products available at Paperie + Pen in-store and in our online shop while supplies last. SHOP NOW

Meet the Staff: Dani

Who would be a better employee to start off our new 'meet the staff' blog feature than our very own store manager: Dani? That's right, no one...that's why she is our first feature.

Miss Danielle Jackson is our go-to-gal for all things 'muy importante'. She has the best smile on the block, some serious product knowledge, and probably some of the funniest facebook updates I have ever seen. And if you want to know the fastest way to Nichole & Frannie's hearts- be a hard worker, and make us laugh. 

Photo by: Ampersand Studios

Tell us a little bit about you and your background: I’m a Boise State senior majoring in Communications, and long-lost best friend of Mindy Kaling and Lena Dunham (I’m sure). There are few things I love more than a campfire s’more and a good pair of wedges. While I love my big city birthplace of San Francisco and catching the occasional Giants game or musical, I have deep roots here and a love for all things Idaho. Who wouldn't love a city where you can wake up to a skyline filled with hot air balloons?

What is your favorite part about working at Paperie + Pen? I love working for a small local business and the freedom we have to bring in whatever vendors and artists we want!! I think it’s so cool that we get to bring the prettiest little things from near and far to customers who are just as excited about them as we are!

When your are not working, what do you enjoy doing in your free time? I love hiking in the foothills with friends and then hydrating with a Prefunk brew (that’s healthy, right?). I love the farmer’s market on Saturday mornings, and Sunday brunches on patios (I’m president of the No Mimosa Left Behind campaign). And Hawks games are too much fun, even though my baseball knowledge is gleaned from my brief kindergarten T-ball stint.

What are 4 superficial things you can’t live without? Chapstick. I have 3 half-used tubes in my purse currently. It costs to be luscious. Cafe Rio salads. Pure perfection in a little tin bowl takeout dish… thingy. My Spotify account! Gotta have dem sick jamz at my fingertips at all times. Coffee. Caffeine is just good. Good for the body, mind, and soul. And that’s undebatable.

Favorite P+P vendor and why: It’s hard to choose, I love so many of the things we carry. But I’ll have to say ban.do. How can you not love a company whose tagline is “Have fun, OK?” Sure ban.do, if you insist!! Everything is just so colorful and fun, while also maintaining a trendy sophistication. And go ahead and add their artistic director Jen Gotch to aforementioned list of my long-lost soul sisters.

Favorite Restaurant in the Boise Area: Fork and Bittercreek Alehouse are tied for two of my most frequented restaurants. I could go on about how cool it is that they use mostly locally sourced ingredients and all, but mostly they’re just really freaking delicious. If you haven’t tried the grilled cheese and tomato basil fondue from Fork, well then honestly I don’t know what you’ve been doing with your life.

Favorite Movie: I’d have to say a strong go-to is Clueless. Still saving up my P+P paychecks to install my computerized rotating closet. Favorite Song/Singer/Band: I love Indie Rock, and have a soft spot for late 90’s early 2000’s hits. (Say My Name by Destiny’s child will forever be my power jam). Lately I can’t get enough of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. And I listen to the Weeknd’s “I Can’t Feel My Face” like, 5 times a day.

Favorite Thing(s) to order from Starbucks: Dirty Chai. It’s a real thing. FOR REAL!

Favorite TV Shows: The Office, The Mindy Project, Seinfeld, and Flight of the Conchords are the ones I’m proud to admit, but I definitely tune in weekly for The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. #Sorrynotsorry I believe is what the kids say.

Favorite Celebrity Crush: John Kransinski. Don’t make fun! I would be the PB to his J. (Pam Beesley to his Jim for people not in the Office Fan Club).

What is your best on-hand joke? Well, I would tell you a good chemistry joke, but all the good ones ARGON. (See what I did there?? Zing!)

Sum yourself up in a hashtag: #itsthefreakinweekendbabyimabouttohavemesomefun I know it’s long, but R.Kelly doesn’t care. R.Kelly does what he wants.

Get Inky with Sarah Pearl!

Here at Paperie + Pen, to say we are "paper obsessed" would be a total understatement. And the things that Sarah can do with some ink on paper is simply drool-worthy... which is WHY we are SO excited to not only be featuring her on our blog today, but also having her teach us her ways! (Contact shop or check Facebook and Instagram for current workshop schedule)

We have nothing but nice things to say about Sarah- she is sweet, quirky, adorable, but most of all- she has a gift for creating beautiful marks on paper and creating mail that seriously makes a person feel special.

"Don't cry over spilled ink...unless you are wearing white jeans" -Sarah

Here is her story is the words of the lady herself:

Hi, I’m Sarah Pearl Foutz, from Sarah Pearl Studio! I live in Boise, Idaho and can’t think of a better place to raise my 5 kids (and husband). My love for lettering began at a young age when I would pour through my grandma’s magazines each Sunday and fill out all of the mail-order forms in my best handwriting. Moving on to junior high, I became the master of bubble letters and note-folding (ancient text messaging at its finest!). When I went to college, every semester I promised myself that I’d take a calligraphy course. When I found out I was expecting my first child, then the focus became simply graduating, and the course in calligraphy (and floral design and advanced clogging) was replaced by graduate courses in psychology. To this day, graduating with a 1 month old is still one of my proudest achievements!

Fast forward to my current life—I really can’t believe that this will be the first year all of my kids will be in school full-time. In preparation of this momentous occasion, over the last couple of years I’ve been rediscovering what my passions are so I’d be productive while they were at school (you know, instead of watching soap operas!). I have always been a very creative person who enjoys a diverse range of “handicrafts” ranging from designing adorable crocheted bootie heels for babies, to sewing repurposed vintage dresses, to embroidering my whimsical sketches. Even though I loved all of these past times, I would bounce around from one hobby to the next to keep myself interested. (My husband thinks I have crafty ADD). However, when I started dabbling in calligraphy, I never looked back. 

When it comes to learning something new, I become borderline obsessed, and calligraphy was no exception. I immersed myself into the art whole-heartedly through a variety of books, online courses and websites, and practicing any chance I got, usually for several hours a day. In July 2015, I had the amazing opportunity to study with Master Penman Barbara Calzolari, at an intimate workshop setting in California. Even though I pride myself on being almost entirely self-taught, that experience taught me the value of one-on-one mentoring and encouragement, and is something I will cherish for a long time.

The thing I love the most about calligraphy is the ability the hand-written word has to evoke emotions. The rich swells and hairlines are reminiscent of a different era, and brings out the romantic in all of us! I love sharing this gift with others through letters, cards, and prints, and obsessing over the little details like handmade paper and vintage stamps. I think we all yearn for the human touch of communication in this fast-paced technological world, and when people know you’ve taken the time to make something handmade just for them, it touches their heart in a significant way. Making a positive difference in people’s lives is what keeps me coming back to the pen every day. I hope I can share the joy of calligraphy in the Treasure Valley and inspire others to keep the spirit of penmanship alive!

Make sure you follow Sarah's beautiful work on Instagram @sarahpearlstudio --It makes us happy every time we see her funny, gorgeously scrawled sayings and "happy mail" that makes one excited to open the mailbox!!

Photos of Sarah by: Ampersand Studios