The first sketch of our Mothers' card collection.
This Mother's Day, we're inspired to celebrate not only our mothers and the women that shape our lives, but also to share some of the ideas and experiences that shaped the beginning of YS Notes.
When first thinking about the past times that we wish we had stationery that was more beautiful and thoughtful than what we could normally find, we immediately thought about the special times we wanted to write to the women in our lives. We wanted to create something that would reflect the beauty of motherhood - something that would make us as excited as we were in our youth to write letters containing secrets from summer camp, but this time, to share additional experiences that had made us more understanding and appreciative of life along the way.
As we sifted through vintage ephemera of past correspondences, we noticed that the lily of the valley often appeared on May birthdays or seasonal greetings and we were drawn to illustrations of its slender graceful lines on delicate paper items. We liked the idea of simple contours, but one that we could bring alive through updated colors and textures. To conjure the experience of writing a letter, our illustrator experimented with several of her own handwriting styles to write the phrases we eventually inked on translucent vellum paper, reminding us of the effect that writing and reading beautiful handwriting can have.
As a way to capture both verdant Spring colors and the comfort of mothers and mother figures, we worked with a paper supplier who specializes in handmade papers to select colorful cotton papers for the petals and flowers which were then carefully applied on top of cream cardstock. Finally, our print production specialist placed the finishing touches by adding dashes of metallic hot foil and gently assembling the two-ply vellum and cotton card with thread binding.
We often think of our cards as a delightful way to express thoughtfulness, each with its own special message and purpose. For those who may be looking to send their mothers a heartfelt message this Mother's Day, we hope our collections invite you to write about soft and beautiful moments with the women in your lives.
