I psyched you out with that one, didn’t I? Stickers & Thanks-Giving rather than and Donuts?

So, a few weeks ago my kind associate Tricia interviewed Susan Eslick, the Creative Director at Mrs. Grossman’s. We loved Susan & all the Mrs. Grossman’s people, and after the interview, Tricia and I were even more sticker-obsessed than usual. And, each having recently acquired stickers, we wanted to do a follow-up post.

Since I am now frightfully unemployed, I was thinking of inexpensive ways to say thank you, you’re cool, and happy birthday, without spending too much money. Stickers are a GREAT way to do this. They are also very helpful around Thanksgiving when it’s advent calendar making time (wait, you don’t make advent calendars on thanksgiving?!).

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are some ways you can give your stickers (ps if anyone doesn’t like to get stickers, you should probably not be friends with them):

1. Hostess Gifts. Especially if you have to travel a long distance (say, the 500 mile journey I’ll be making this Wednesday), it’s hard to carry things like fresh flowers or fresh fruit. I am completely enamored with Mrs. Grossman’s line of Extraordinary stickers, which are PERFECT for this. (Look at the image above: Do you see how big that flower is? Almost as big as my face! THAT IS AN EXTRAORDINARY STICKER. Also, look at those grapes. You could almost eat them!)
2. Place Cards. Susan herself said she liked a side of irony with her stickers, so adding some funny stickers to table place cards could certainly entertain you and your guests alike. What about a big pile of fast food for a Thanksgiving place card?
3. Sticky Birthday Surprises. So, even though I’m not employed anymore, I faintly remember what it’s like to have to consider the birthdays of many co-workers. Even if you just know someone peripherally, it is imperative that you recognize their birthday. Giving a birthday sticker — or better yet sticking stickers around the birthday girl/boy secretly throughout the day — will certainly show that you’ve remembered them.
4. ADVENT CALENDARS! I am from a family of complicated-tradition makers. One of those traditions is making advent calendars thanksgiving weekend. (Yes, I have made advent calendars for people who don’t celebrate xmas. EVERYONE loves opening doors.) We pick names out of a hat and have to make a calendar for that person. We have template that we cut out with an X-acto knife, but since I can’t find that at the moment, I found this template online for you. What do we put in the doors of our advent calendars? Magazine cutouts, funny inside jokes, and lots of stickers! Our favorite thing to do is tear stickers apart and combine monsters and cheerleaders, xmas stickers and halloween stickers, etc.

Can you think of any other ways to give with your stickers? Susan likes to put them on waiter’s checks!  Tricia has discovered that they are a lovely addition to her baristas’ tip jar!

ALSO, I just discovered this feature on the Mrs. Grossman’s site where you can FAVORITE different stickers. Here are my favorites thus-far, and here are Tricia’s favorites. (And no, Mrs. Grossman’s is not paying us to be obsessed with them. We just are.)

In this second special installment of “Maria-and-Tricia-converse-with-Mrs. Grossman’s-aka-the-founder-of-the-STICKER-industry,” Creative Director Susan Eslick shares her current obsessions. Yesterday, we learned that Susan has used stickers to barter, and surprise waiters and waitresses. This made me reconsider that silly dream of, you know, being a full-time creative girl (read: struggling artist that supports herself by serving frito pies). I like stickers that much.

SUSAN ESLICK IS CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH THE FOLLOWING THINGS (a few of which I have commented on):

1. OBAMA (Have you been to www.change.gov yet? You can even apply for a job on the site! Question. How many people do you think have applied to be the family’s puppy walker?)
2. CNN (I have tepid feelings towards Wolf Blitzer, but I love Anderson Cooper.)
3. Vintage labels
4. Stickers (I LOVE MRS. GROSSMAN’S CHUBBY LINE.)
5. Mad Men (Do you remember Maria’s fabulous Dyna Moe interview?)
6. Comfortable shoes
7. Typography from the 50s
8. Bahn mi (These Vietnamese sandwiches are so great! The best one that I ever had was from Ba-Le in Oahu).
9. Saving money
10. Italian ceramics
11. Cava
12. Small chairs
13. Manchego cheese
14. Eye glasses (The above glasses are from Eyebuydirect, where Maria purchased her last pair of glasses).
15. Fabulous packaging
16. Blown glass
17. Small kids in Halloween costumes
18. My cat.

ONE MORE THING LEFT IN S&D’S GREAT MRS. GROSSMAN’S SERIES!

A contest!

My dear bunnies, you are in for a treat! Mrs. Grossman’s has put together an exclusive prize pack for one lucky S&D reader. This prize pack includes Susan Eslick’s favorite stickers! To enter, email me with the correct answer to the following question:

What was the very first Mrs. Grossman’s sticker?

You have until Sunday, 11/16. The correct responses will be numbered, and the winner will be chosen randomly using this random number generator. And please title your email entry with something…you know…cute. Like “BALLER MRS. GROSSMAN’S CONTEST.” (Not that your chances of winning will increase if you have a cooler title. I am just fishing for a giggle. Selfish, I know.)

Tricia’s Notes & Picture Credits:
The font is Adam Gorry Lights by Senitel Type, which is available here. Image of Manchego Cheese from here. Bahn mi image taken by stu_spivack.

I may be biased, but the most magical section of any craft store is the STICKER SECTION. The most arresting sight? HUGE, GIGANTIC ROLLS OF STICKERS.

Oh, you know what I am talking about. Like the most magnificent quadruple-quadruple-quadruple-quadruple rolls of ultra-soft toilet paper, except they are MADE OUT OF GLOSSY PAPER. WITH LOTS OF STICKERS. AND PERFORATED SECTIONS. If I want EXACTLY 45.5 inches of Chubby Dinosaurs, I can make it happen.

And who grants me the opportunity to make my chubby dinosaur dream a reality? The pioneer of the sticker roll: Mrs. Grossman’s!

Based in Petaluma, California, Mrs. Grossman’s has been manufacturing stickers for nearly thirty years! Founded by Andrea Grossman (yes, “Mrs. Grossman” is an actual person), Andrea created the sticker roll rather cosmically. The website states:

In 1979, a local paper store asked for a red heart sticker to decorate shopping bags for Valentine’s Day. Andrea couldn’t find anybody who made such a thing, so she carefully cut a heart out of black artist’s paper and sent it to a label printer, and forgot about it.

Three weeks later, a big carton arrived from the printer. When Andrea opened the box, she gasped! Instead of being printed on flat sheets like she expected, the hearts had been mistakenly printed on rolls, like ribbon. The visual impact of these beautiful rolls was extraordinary, and suddenly Andrea realized that these hearts had the potential to be way more than a Valentine’s Day novelty – they could be a product!

The sticker empire annually prints 15,000 miles of stickers (which, for me, is equivalent to 18.75 trips to see my NYC friends). Propelled by sticker artists (an actual job!!!) and talented designers, Mrs. Grossman’s has transformed EVERYTHING into a sticker! This is no exaggeration- Mrs. Grossman’s deserves that capital “everything.” Unconventional highlights of Mrs. Grossman’s current sticker collection include: chimpanzees, dog biscuits, chubby sea life, turkeys, woodland animals, ropes & knots, construction equipment, motorcycles, and celebration pets. An unprecedented opportunity to interview Susan Eslick, CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF MRS. GROSSMAN’S, conjured simultaneous squeals (Maria in Queens, me in Chicago). Which triggered heart palpitations and rapid gasping, a response that only mirrors my reaction to Georgina’s parents sending her to Penance, the boot camp for troubled girls. Conclusion! Maria and I simply adore Mrs. Grossman’s!!!! ONWARD TO THE INTERVIEW!

1. So let’s say I’m Sofia Coppola, and I want to film a biopic on YOU. Discuss what it would contain (filming locations, and a condensed plot summary which chronicles your rise to sticker stardom). Please be as accurate as possible. No castles or dragons. Unless, however, they are legitimately present in your life history.

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