Stationery

Apparel and accessories brand Jack Spade and stationery purveyor Paperless Post have collaborated on a line of party invitations, greeting cards and notecards designed to appeal to the male letter-writing, thank-you-noting, party-planning demographic. Launching today, the Jack Spade for Paperless Post collection consists of 35 online and print invitations and cards covered in the kinds of things guaranteed to appeal to the man-boy, including camouflage, wood grain, plaids and Repp stripes.  The collection is available as of today through Paperless Post's website , online-only versions of the design (for manning up those e-invites)

The gig: Chelsea Shukov, 36, and Jamie Grobecker, 34, are the co-founders and creative directors behind Sugar Paper Los Angeles, a stationery company whose simple but elegantly designed cards, invitations, calendars and wrapping paper are carried in more than 800 stores in the United States and in countries such as Japan and Australia. The pair manage about 25 people working out of a warehouse in Los Angeles and their sole retail store at the Brentwood Country Mart. Sisters: They met in a sorority at UCLA.

The gig: Chelsea Shukov, 36, and Jamie Grobecker, 34, are the co-founders and creative directors behind Sugar Paper Los Angeles, a stationery company whose simple but elegantly designed cards, invitations, calendars and wrapping paper are carried in more than 800 stores in the United States and in countries such as Japan and Australia. The pair manage about 25 people working out of a warehouse in Los Angeles and their sole retail store at the Brentwood Country Mart. Sisters: They met in a sorority at UCLA.

Popular stationery company Paper Source has changed hands, from Southern California private equity firm Brentwood Associates to investment management firm Investcorp. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Chicago-based chain, which sells paper goods, gifts and crafting supplies across 23 states and the District of Columbia, was founded in 1983. Brentwood contributed capital in 2007. Since then, Paper Source's store count has increased to 73 units from 21. Now, there are nearly 20 stores in California alone.

Popular stationery company Paper Source has changed hands, from Southern California private equity firm Brentwood Associates to investment management firm Investcorp. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Chicago-based chain, which sells paper goods, gifts and crafting supplies across 23 states and the District of Columbia, was founded in 1983. Brentwood contributed capital in 2007. Since then, Paper Source's store count has increased to 73 units from 21. Now, there are nearly 20 stores in California alone.

As the City Council moved to head off the Eddie Rose controversy Tuesday night by restricting its own use of city stationery, Rose supporters struck back by handing a recall notice to Mayor Mark Goodman. The council unanimously passed a set of restrictions that all use of city stationery be pre-approved by City Manager Tim Casey or City Atty. Terry Dixon. The same is true for use of fax machines and copiers.

A clerk with a dislike for cigarette smoke said Friday he was fired for writing a letter on his company's letterhead in support of a proposed nonsmoking ordinance in Anaheim. Tom Tarbell, 29, a clerk in the personnel department of Kwikset Powdered Metal Products, said he was fired Thursday morning after writing a letter to the Anaheim City Council, which is scheduled to vote on the proposed law on Tuesday.

If you can stop texting, tweeting and typing long enough, you may notice that some stylish people are taking communication into their own hands. Whether it's a $3.50 ballpoint disguised as a tube of lipstick at Bookmarc, Marc Jacobs' (relatively) new Melrose store, or a $275 platinum-plated pencil sharpener from Graf von Faber-Castell, writing instruments, journals and stationery have emerged as an essential accessory for artistic self-expression. And the timing couldn't be better, since many of us must now face our list of holiday thank-you notes.

Jack Miles brought up some interesting points in "Letters and the Law" (Dec.8). Perhaps J.D. Salinger (and those of us who write personal letters with wild abandon) should write them on stationery that has been specially watermarked "Not for Publication." TRINI MARQUEZ, SKY FOREST

One of the things that makes our country great is that an ex-dishwasher can become a celebrated chef at Michael McCarty's popular Westside eaterie, Michael's. Unfortunately, that was not Chef Martin Garcia of Michael's in the photograph that accompanied Ruth Reichl's article Nov. 17, but rather the restaurant's janitor (or Maintenance Director, if you will), Michael Echeveria. Let's give credit where credit is due. AN INFORMED L.A. FOODIE (Who types on Michael's stationery.

Apparel and accessories brand Jack Spade and stationery purveyor Paperless Post have collaborated on a line of party invitations, greeting cards and notecards designed to appeal to the male letter-writing, thank-you-noting, party-planning demographic. Launching today, the Jack Spade for Paperless Post collection consists of 35 online and print invitations and cards covered in the kinds of things guaranteed to appeal to the man-boy, including camouflage, wood grain, plaids and Repp stripes.  The collection is available as of today through Paperless Post's website , online-only versions of the design (for manning up those e-invites)

[This post has been corrected. See note at bottom for details.] When Banana Republic was looking for someone to collaborate on a summer collection inspired by Palm Springs, Trina Turk was the one to call. The L.A.-based designer, known for playful prints with names like "Deco Palms," has had a lock on the Palm Springs look for 17 years running. The 60-piece Banana Republic Trina Turk collection, which launches in 450 stores worldwide Thursday, brings her name to its biggest audience yet, with patio dresses, tunic tops and bikinis in her signature "Pisces" and "Crazy Botanical" prints.

If you can stop texting, tweeting and typing long enough, you may notice that some stylish people are taking communication into their own hands. Whether it's a $3.50 ballpoint disguised as a tube of lipstick at Bookmarc, Marc Jacobs' (relatively) new Melrose store, or a $275 platinum-plated pencil sharpener from Graf von Faber-Castell, writing instruments, journals and stationery have emerged as an essential accessory for artistic self-expression. And the timing couldn't be better, since many of us must now face our list of holiday thank-you notes.

My wife let me go to India on a cultural exchange program on one condition: Bring back plenty of presents. True to my word, I arrived home in California after a month in Delhi feeling like Santa — my giant duffel bag full of sparkly bangle bracelets and bindis, colorful bags, patchwork quilts, woven shirts, flowing skirts, ethnic shoes, original artwork, funky pillow covers, vibrant tablecloths, handmade stationery and much more. Best of all, these one-of-a-kind treasures cost less than $400.

A handwritten note is the most personal way to say "thank you" during the holidays, whether it's for a cashmere scarf or a Sunday night dinner. "Writing thank-you notes is an important skill, one that you should teach your children even before they can write," says Jacqueline Whitmore, a Palm Beach, Fla.-based author and the founder of www.etiquetteexpert.com. "I can't tell you how many e-mails I get from grandparents who are upset with their grandchildren, or with their children for not teaching their grandchildren to write thank-you notes.

Fresh off her triumph at the Country Music Assn. Awards, Taylor Swift has netted a deal to create a line of greeting cards. American Greetings Corp. Chief Executive Zev Weiss says Swift's abilities as a storyteller and songwriter make her a natural for writing cards that will appeal to all ages. The company said Tuesday that cards, gift wrap, stationery, online greetings and other related products overseen by Swift would begin appearing in the spring. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Logos for state agencies may come and go with the stamp of a printing press, and most people hardly notice. But the employees of those agencies sometimes grow fond of the emblems. When the state printer told the California Coastal Commission it could not use the 1 3/8-inch-tall blue wave at the bottom of its stationery, some members of the embattled agency were dismayed.

Fresh off her triumph at the Country Music Assn. Awards, Taylor Swift has netted a deal to create a line of greeting cards. American Greetings Corp. Chief Executive Zev Weiss says Swift's abilities as a storyteller and songwriter make her a natural for writing cards that will appeal to all ages. The company said Tuesday that cards, gift wrap, stationery, online greetings and other related products overseen by Swift would begin appearing in the spring. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

I have 250 friends on Facebook. I'm not bragging (that's nothing compared to most people), but I'm a bit baffled by how I can have so many "friends" without ever having received a handwritten letter from even one of them. I faithfully send thank you, sympathy and even "Hey, how are you?" notes to people I value. And the mailman's not delivering much in return. Maybe Facebook has made us too apathetic to remember what being real friends is like.

Eccentric Orange schools Trustee Steve Rocco has filed a complaint with state and county officials accusing fellow board members of meeting in secret and denying him official stationery. "Redress & Reform needed," he concluded in the Feb. 5 letter addressed to the Orange County Grand Jury and district attorney, the California attorney general, secretary of state and the Fair Political Practices Commission.