Paper Goods & Gifts Designed by Hand in the Dash
Em Dash Paper Co. began as Sparrow Nest Script, a paper goods shop with an emphasis on modern calligraphy.
I created Sparrow Nest Script as I finished grad school in 2011, because none of the “normal” career paths for an English MA appealed to me. I've always had neat handwriting and I'd previously dabbled in calligraphy for a friend’s wedding invitations, so I had the crazy thought that “hey, maybe something like that could turn into a career!” I dove in head first, naming the new shop to correlate with my existing knits store, Sparrow Nest Knits, which has since closed.
In the beginning, I spent $25 for some brown kraft cardstock and envelopes, a jar of black india ink, and a starter set of calligraphy nibs. Each card was cut and folded by hand, the greetings individually written with pen and ink. This method was great for someone with zero start-up capital, but it quickly proved too labor- and time-intensive for the amount of orders I was receiving.
As business grew, I made changes and improvements, such as investing in a scoring board, professional paper cutter, and Wacom drawing tablet. I started scanning and digitizing my designs so I could print them in larger batches and sell them for less than the early hand-drawn versions. My lettering slowly began incorporating new styles and embellishments.
In February 2013, I changed the shop's name to Em Dash Paper Co. As my work evolved away from its original calligraphy focus, the “script” part of the old name no longer made as much sense, and when Sparrow Nest Knits closed down, it took the “sister shop” significance of Sparrow Nest Script with it. Em Dash came about as a reference to my hyphenated last name, Poe dash Crawford, and my town, which is also hyphenated and nicknamed “the Dash.” The em dash itself is a callback to my literary background and love of grammar, so the new name seemed perfect on many levels.
Today, I continue to experiment with new styles and methods, always drawing every design by hand before scanning, vectorizing, and preparing for print. My work reflects a love of words, both as tools for communication and as works of art in themselves, and I’m always musing over the Next Big Idea. The environment is very important to me, so I use recycled papers for my creations and ship packages with biodegradable plastic sleeves and recycled mailers. The few companies I work with to print my designs are also committed to using green practices and environmentally responsible materials.
The ultimate goal of Em Dash Paper Co. is to spread joy and facilitate connection through the written word. At the core of my business is this lyric from my favorite Frightened Rabbit song: “while I’m alive, I’ll make tiny changes to earth.”
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