Paper D'Art Wins Louie Award for Whimsical Windmill Tea Shop Pop-Up Card
As a small, family-owned business that has been designing and publishing greeting cards for over 35 years in the UK, we are thrilled to win an international Louie Award at the 34th Annual Louie Awards for greetings cards in San Francisco. The winning card was a 3D Pop-Up Card featuring a whimsical tea shop housed in a windmill from our Me&McQ brand collection. It won in the Birthday - General category for products retailing at over $5.50. It was a finalist along with US based publishers Up With Paper and Shorthand Press. See the card designs from category finalists here.
The Louie Awards are the highest honour in the greeting card industry. They are awarded to the best greeting cards, invitations, and announcements marketed in the United States during the previous calendar year.
The competition is open to all domestic and foreign publishers of greeting cards, invitations, and/or announcements, and attracts hundreds of entries annually. The USA GCA is the trade association for the greeting card industry and the organisation behind the Louie Awards. It represents over 1,000 companies that produce, market, and distribute greeting cards in the United States. The GCA's mission is to promote the greeting card industry and to advocate for the interests of its members.
The Louie Awards were first presented in 1988, and are named after Louis Prang, the German-born Boston lithographer and publisher known as the "Father of the American Christmas Card." Prang is credited with popularising the use of Christmas cards in the United States, and his designs are still celebrated today.
Paper D'Art is proud to be a part of the greeting card industry worldwide and to be recognised by the Louie Awards for its outstanding work is particularly special.
The winning 3D Card, “The Windmill Tea Shop" is a beautiful Pop-Up Card that features a charming tea shop housed in a windmill. The card is made of high-quality board and features many intricate details that are sure to delight the recipient. The card is perfect for any occasion, but it would be especially perfect for a birthday, anniversary, or holiday. It is frequently the last card left on display at the recipients home, long after the special occasion. A true keepsake 3D Card.
The design is intricately cut with the latest laser technology and lovingly hand assembled. Verified online reviews frequently express how much this particular design is cherished around the world.
We can’t thank Dave H. Enough for or summing it up in his 5 star review :
"Extraordinary engineered cards"
“I highly recommend this Company's incredible cards they are extremely beautiful work of art if you are fortunate to receive one you will never return it to is envelope"
Thanks a million Dave, these comments mean a lot to us!
Or Cybergran for her comment:
"Beautiful cards"
“I recently bought the Windmill Tea Shop card for a friend and she was delighted with it. She was amazed at all the detail and how well made it was. I have seen other brands but they don't come up to these Me&McQ cards!”
Thanks CyberGran you are our superhero!
Paper D'Art is grateful to the USA GCA and to the judges of the Louie Awards for recognising its work. The company is very happy to be a part of the Pop Up Card industry and to be able to share its love of 3D art and creativity with the world.
Mark Everdell a founding partner of Paper D’Art in 1985 fondly remembers winning several Louie Awards including the prestigious ‘Card of the Year’ at the 4th Annual Louie Awards at the Marriott Marquis Hotel Times Square in New York at in 1991! That’s over 30 years ago! More about the remarkable Pop Up Card that won and the somewhat incredible and challenging events that unfolded after that victory in an origin story coming soon! Alan & Vanessa Harnik, father and daughter founder and new owner respectively, of Notes & Queries Inc., a leading distributor of European greetings cards into the USA, were proud to sponsor Paper D'Art at the Louie Awards. Notes & Queries is committed to providing its customers with the highest quality greeting cards, and the company believes that Paper D'Art is one of the best greeting card companies in the world, producing hard to rival 3D Cards & Pop Up Cards that are sure to become cherished keepsakes.
The 34th Annual Louie Awards were held at the General's Residence in San Francisco, California. The General's Residence is a historic mansion that was built in the early 1900s. It is located in the Presidio of San Francisco, a former military base that is now a national park. The mansion is surrounded by beautiful gardens and offers stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Bay.
The Louie Awards ceremony was a very informal event that was attended by over 500 people from the greetings card industry. The event featured a cocktail reception, a buffet dinner, and the presentation of the Louie Awards.
Vanessa, Alan & Jan of Notes & Queries have a 'right royal' time at the Louies!
The winners of the Louie Awards were selected by a panel of judges that included greetings card publishers, retailers, and industry experts. Let's be honest, t's wonderful to be judged by your peers and to come out on top amid fierce competition!
Paper D'Art was thrilled to be a part of the Louie Awards ceremony. The company is grateful to Notes & Queries Inc. for its sponsorship; and the company is proud to be chosen to be in a competition where international standards are so very high.
We were delighted and further honoured to be a finalist in the Christmas/Seasonal - General Above $5.50 with our Top of the World ‘Nutcracker’ design featuring all the magic of Clara’s special Christmas Eve. Congratulations to Hallmark winner of that category. If we are fortunate to be a finalist in the highly competitive category as Christmas, better to be finalist in a category Hallmark wins, after all who has not heard of Hallmark, right?
Me&McQ 'Nutcracker' 3D Card is a finalist at the 34th Louie Awards!
Special thanks must also go to Reuben McHugh the incredible artist without whom no Me&McQ product would be possible (more about that intriguing brand logo soon) and who continually astounds and amazes with his uncanny ability to design and illustrate seamlessly in three dimensions whilst making it look like a walk in the park! His award winning, 3D Card and Pop Up Card designs are amongst the best in the world and inspire many artists and publishers to try to match his unique talent and inventiveness.
Thanks also must go to the unflappable Paul Chan who, when faced with myriad production challenges and as many ‘impossible’ design concepts as we can throw at him, still manages to deliver our designs in pristine condition and always on time - especially heroic when in a worldwide pandemic the very special Me&McQ Collection became an even more joyous way to keep in touch with friends and family around the world. Thanks Paul.
Paper D'Art is excited to continue to imagine and make ‘beautifully created’, handmade greetings cards that feature original artwork. The company is committed to sharing its love of art and creativity with the world, and the company is proud to be a part of the vibrant greetings card industry. Mark is hoping for a slightly less tumultuous aftermath to Paper D’Art from winning this prize than their first Louie Award in 1991!
Talk soon.
Paper D’Art
