With environmental issues more in the forefront of our minds than ever before, green practices are increasingly a factor in corporate promotion and branding. So much so, it’s hard to tell who’s really nice to the planet, and who’s just faking it. So I was interested in this story on www.ethicalcorp.com, which identifies a dozen companies who are moving in the right direction, for reals. We were particularly happy to see that Mohawk Fine Papers, the company behind some of our favorite and most-often-used stocks (Strathmore, Mohawk SuperFine, and Via) was given the nod.

All of this makes me extra-pleased to have just won another prize from Mohawk, for entering their Strathmore Letterhead Contest for the third quarter of 2008. I sent in samples of the Mahogany Bay business stationery suite that we printed this past January. It’s a pretty big system, including letterhead, envelopes, buckslip notecards for the president and the founder, and business cards for four different people in the company. All printed on Strathmore writing natural white papers. Classy! I haven’t been tapped (yet!) for my design skills this time around – they’ve awarded me a fat iTunes gift card for being one of the first 25 entries for the quarter. So I guess I am finally being rewarded for my stellar time management skills!

This Saturday, Lunalux shoppers again have the opportunity to get personalized stationery, letterpress-printed right before your eyes. for just $29. We’re printing the same design that we used last week, but this time with aqua ink.

This will be our last Stationery Saturday event for a while, because weekends for the rest of the summer are so full of weddings, travel, visitors and State Fairs. We’ll plan to do it again in September.

You can read all about Stationery Saturday, a semi-regular event at the studio, on the Stationery Saturday page. If you’d like to receive e-mail updates about future events at the store and other studio news, visit the Lunalux blog and sign up for the email newsletter.

Last November, we printed notecards and letterhead for a film production company. Writer-director Rob Perez had relocated from Hollywood to Minnesota to shoot an independent movie, and he came to Lunalux for distinctive business stationery for his project. Because a goat plays a pivotal role in the film (titled Nodoby, starring hometown talent Sam Rosen), the design featured an image of a goat.

A few weeks ago I ran into Rob next door at Nick and Eddie. Filming had just wrapped and he was headed back to L.A. for editing. With one last thank-you for a job well done, Rob gave me a keychain inspired by the goat image we’d created. This marks the first time that anything I’ve made has been translated into a 3D metal object.

Visit the Lunalux studio store on Saturday July 12 for personalized stationery letterpress-printed while you wait. 10 cards, with an assortment of colorful envelopes, cost just $29 (additional cards are available for $2 for each). We’ll be printing during regular store hours., 11a.m. to 6p.m.. Full details are available on the Stationery Saturdays page. Click on the photo (above left) for a larger view of this week’s design. Stationery Saturday is an occasional event at the studio. Customers old and new are invited to take a closer look at how letterpress printing works. This week, we’re printing names with weathered wood type and dark brown ink, on folded cards. Your first and last name? First and middle, like your mom calls you when you’re in trouble? A newly hyphenated last name? You decide!

We’ll host the next Stationery Saturday on July 19, when we’ll be printing a different design. Stop by each week to collect them all.