Four fabulous Fridays a year, an issue of Stationery Trends drops. And today, my friends, is one of those Fridays. Please join me in welcoming our fall issue officially into circulation. While most printed copies are still in the mail stream, our digital edition — featuring not only our annual gift guide but the ever-popular A-to-Z stationery abecedary — awaits your perusal.
Our fabulous cover model is the unmistakable and glorious Toute-Petite. To my mind, this detail-driven range is splendidly suited to this issue since its offerings span not just stationery but home goods as well — those are Swedish dishcloths you see above. Thus you can use a dishcloth to wipe your counters, but you can also lose yourself in that same image gracing a greeting card, ring dish, gift bag, sticker or gift tag. This approach makes for not only intriguing displays in stores, but incredibly thoughtful and gorgeous gifts.
What I love most about this brand is its invitation to us to slow down and appreciate what’s already around us. Here, even the most incremental change is dramatic and worthy of our attention. I’m so grateful, then, that its founder Thomasin Foshay took my questions to go behind the curtain of this range’s artistry and charm.
SS: What is Toute-Petite, and why did you choose it as a name?
TF: Toute-Petite, /tut pəˈtit/, is the French for very small or tiny. It was my nickname as a small child. Today it is the name of my stationery and small gift company. All of the artwork features my original illustrations with tiny details like the name suggests.
SS: While Toute-Petite is a botanical, pastoral range, your artistry was initially piqued as a child by Richard Scarry books. What is it that drew you to his books — and what elements from him continue to inspire your work 40 years later?
TF: I loved all things Richard Scarry, a whole world of tiny things with immense detail. He inspired me as a child to draw with detail. I would make cards for my family and friends filled with tiny things. 40 years later I am still doing just that.
SS: Your pen and ink drawings seem quite simple at first glance, but captivate for some time. In my opinion, they go beyond decorative art to a more thoughtful space. “I let the image tell the story, and sometimes the story is twofold,” you have written. Can you further describe this special quality of your work and the stories it contains, if one slows down enough to hear them?
TF: While the drawings may appear simple, they often carry a quiet second layer. I try to leave space for the viewer’s imagination to peel that layer back.
SS: Let’s talk subject matter! While much of your work has a botanical tilt, you also depict interiors, animals, food and insects. You describe all your subjects as “like friends” to you. What elements of everyday objects attract you to want to draw them and feature them in your range?
TF: The nature theme comes from growing up on a farm and my love for plants and animals — they’ve always felt like familiar friends. Interiors come from my background as an interior designer — after doing years of vanilla mechanical drawings, I wanted to bring life and warmth into those spaces.
SS: Sometimes your images straddle the line between realism and the fantastical — for example your Gardener’s Cupcake Greeting Card, where plants and gardening boots sit atop a cupcake along with a candle! Other designs take a few moments to figure out. How do these presentations come to you? What tends to be the response as people figure them out?
TF: As with the Gardener’s Cupcake or Mom’s Shoe Closet, I ask myself: what do people truly yearn for? Experiences. I aim to transport the gardener to fertile soil and the scent of heirloom tomatoes, or the shoe lover to that unforgettable night dancing in Jimmy Choos. It’s about more than a product — it’s about evoking a moment, a feeling, a story. I see people pick up the cards and laugh or smile, there is a personal, emotional connection
SS: Now, let’s talk botanicals! There is no shortage of stationery in this theme, but in a very short time yours has really differentiated itself from the pack. What have you heard from your existing stockists that sets your product apart, both as a product in and of itself and in their retail spaces? A customer can appreciate a Daffodils print for example but not buy it — yours sell through. Why do you think that is?
TF: Thank you! One thing I’ve consistently heard from our stockists is that our botanical designs feel familiar and emotionally resonant — not because they’re technically perfect, but because they capture something more approachable. The style is what I call a kind of simplified realism: recognizable, warm, and just imperfect enough to feel human.
SS: What draws you to want to depict a given plant or flower? Do you have a mental list of those you want to draw?
TF: I have a mental list and a long physical to do list. I am always aware of my surroundings, capturing mental images from my life and travels.
SS: Your botanical product echoes the season of the year, eg., flowers in spring and summer, pumpkins and root vegetables in fall, then Yuletide wreaths and trees and winter imagery after that. While that is easy to highlight in your own marketing, do you find that stationery stockists are following your botanical calendar as well?
TF: Yes, many of our stockists do follow the seasons usually ordering at 3-6 months ahead. Spring florals in early February, autumn produce in late summer, winter greenery in time for holiday. Many stock our florals year-round for their timeless appeal.
SS: Your settings encompass both the peaceful and pastoral — for example your Three Kinds in the Snow Christmas card — as well as more residential and urban — for example, your New York Elevator Lobby at Christmas card, which integrates a wreath to a very polished, cosmopolitan interior. Do your stockists tend to prefer one style over the other?
TF: It really depends on the shop, but yes my urban theme cards tend to resonate in cities like New York. Pastoral and quiet countryside scenes tend to do equally well in either setting.
SS: I know you have some great collaborations in the garden space and have already partnered with botanical gardens and garden centers. Can you share your existing partnerships yet? What do you hear from retailers in this space about why they choose your range to stock?
TF: Wave Hill, in the Bronx, for example, commissioned an illustration of their Gerrit Rietveld Chair surrounded by flowers. This custom example has led to a long relationship which has inspired other custom products. Retailers in the garden space convey their attraction to the overall simplicity and unique style of my hand drawn artwork.
SS: Can you share a best-selling card? Why do you think it has performed so well?
TF: My best selling card to date is Change is Good, which depicts the life phases of a butterfly. I think the successful response is due to a multi layered connection and visual meaning, celebration of life, retirement, birthday and overcoming addiction.
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Thank you so much Thomasin for taking my questions and gracing our cover! Nerds in the wild, start your shop here. If you want to stock Toute-Petite in your venue, head on over its 5-star shop in Faire — and let the story-telling begin!
