Even though it's almost February, I'm still obsessed by some of the calendars on offer, particularly this Botanical Desk Calendar by Little Tree Press, a boutique stationery and design studio in Charlottesville, Virginia. Their accompanying note: 'you’ve got the whole new year in front of you – enjoy it every day.'

I spent a month in the States over Christmas and New Year, visiting family in California and the Pacific Northwest. While staying with my sister and her family in Portland, I read an article about Amy Smith and Goosey Press, in their local newspaper The Oregonian. Just one of the things I love about traveling is coming across new-to-me stationers and presses, and the story of Goosey Press is a good one.
It started at an outdoor antique fair one soggy May afternoon during a vacation in New England. Founder Amy Smith was sifting through a basket of vintage children's books when she discovered something special — a turn-of-the-century, torn, tattered and extremely well-loved copy of the Original Mother Goose nursery rhymes. Amy Smith leafed through the 1880s collection of familiar rhymes and prints. Frolicking children. The cow jumping over the moon. Old King Cole. The old lady in the shoe with far too many children and not enough food. Over the next 10 days, as Amy and her husband drove through New England and Canada before returning to their home in Oregon, she couldn't stop perusing the pages of bygone images. "These silhouettes are so cool; they would make great greeting cards and wrapping paper," she thought. With reams of ribbon to match. And gift tags. And invitations. And so it was that Goosey Press came to be…

Tori Higa’s grandmother was a relentless sewer and quilter, and after a mass clean-out one day, she gave Tori a huge pile of vintage fabric from the 1960’s. Not knowing how to sew, but not wanting to turn down the offer of yards and yards of fabric, she decided to incorporate the fabric into her card designs. She has now taken her love of letter-writing and card design one step further, compiling and publishing Today’s Top Stationery Artists. The book profiles over 160 beautiful color images of artwork from 52 contemporary greeting card and stationery designers, and to see all of their various work represented in one space is nothing short of inspiring. Each designer is setting an innovative trend in the industry and Tori, a self-confessed “stationery dork,” has done a beautiful job of bringing it all together.

The 2008 calendar by Alisha Henson at Palindrome Press also deserves an honourable mention. Alisha uses handmade paper from a family-owned papermill and soy inks in her creations, and follows the basic tenet that "Good work comes from doing what you love." Based in Portland, Oregon, when Alisha isn't in her studio she's holding down a part-time job at Oblation Papers & Press.

Choosing a new diary for a new year is always a dilemma. Day-To-Day or Week-To-Week? Is there enough space to note birthdays, date nights and coffee mornings? Are there pages at the back for the contact details of new friends we'll make? And for all of our family and friends who live elsewhere, is there a map of the world with all of the different time zones? It takes me weeks to decide which diary to buy, the pressure of the commitment forcing me to stand pondering for hours somewhere between the Letts stand in Rymans and the stunning Alligator Panama Diary with garnet slide closure at Smythsons.

Fortunately for us, calendars are a much less volatile decision. Not only are they reassuringly affordable (remember Grandma giving Marks & Spencer's annual version of the Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady calendar to every single granddaughter, niece, daughter-in-law and neighbour on her Christmas list, year after year after year after year...?), they are less of a commitment than a diary. You can have one calendar for every wall or desktop of every room in the house, without feeling guilty about it. However, more than one diary is tantamount to adultery within the moral code of social stationery etiquette. There can be no favouritism, no plurality. One has to commit to whoever will be the holder of doctor's appointments, conference calls, business lunches, parent-teacher conferences and opening night theatre previews.

This year I have two beautiful desktop calendars, one for home and one for the office. The worktop one was given to me by my beautiful friend George S. Blonsky, a photographer who created the calendar from images of his own work. The hometop calendar was designed by Jamison Hiner at Don't Press Me, who took computer illustrated graphics and then had them cut in magnesium. Each page is one month, and all of the months are hand set linotype.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! The very first post of a brand-spanking new year. Here at Blake Goddard we're looking forward to the next 365 days in which we will be introduced to new designs, new methodology and new artisans, all making beautiful use of the longstanding tradition of letterpress printing. We wish everyone heartfelt wishes for a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2008...