After years of literally gathering dust, typewriters are having a moment! Call it the stationerycore phenomenon, call it a desire for simpler times, regardless there is a certain satisfaction and directness derived from using these 19th- and 20th-century clunkers to express our 21st-century thoughts. Tom Hanks wrote an op-ed for The New York Times some time back in which he proudly shared that he uses both a typewriter and the USPS every day.
“The tactile pleasure of typing old school is incomparable to what you get from a de rigueur laptop. Computer keyboards make a mousy tappy tap tappy tap like ones you hear in a Starbucks — work may be getting done but it sounds cozy and small, like knitting needles creating a pair of socks,” he wrote. “Everything you type on a typewriter sounds grand, the words forming in mini-explosions of SHOOK SHOOK SHOOK. A thank-you note resonates with the same heft as a literary masterpiece.”
Thus, stationery is transformed when a typewriter enters the creative process. In the case of Michaela Bere of Blue Stiggy, that typewriter is a 1970s orange Baby Hermes typewriter (FYI: Hermes is regarded as the Cadillac of typewriters) used for personalizing her hand-painted and -stitched stationery crafted from recycled or upcycled paper. “Dorothy types literally anything you like, on the cover,” Michaela wrote me. “From the offcuts I make notecards and personalised wall hangings.”
Of course I was intrigued — especially by Michaela’s goal of making ‘zero-waste stationery’ — and of course I had to interview her to bring Blue Stiggy’s magic stateside. Our (unfortunately not typewritten) Q+A follows.
SS: I just spent a very happy 15 minutes nerding out on your site! I love your approach and work, and can confidently say I’ve not seen anything like it in all my years as a paper nerd! So, first things first, how did you come up with the name Blue Stiggy?!
MB: So Blue Stiggy is a complete load of old nonsense 😂 It came from a game that me and my sister used to play. I can’t remember what the game entailed, I just remember that if you’re all dressed in blue you are a Blue Stiggy. When I wanted a name for my business I wanted something memorable and a little bit quirky.
SS: I want to hear all about Dorothy (AKA your orange typewriter and sidekick). How long have you owned her, and how did you acquire her? Does she have any quirks that show up in your work?
MB: I’ve had Dorothy for about 10 years. She was given to me (ahem, she was actually given to my children but we shared) by a friend who is a forensic scientist specialising in document fraud. She had a collection of typewriters, as historic fraud was often committed on typewriters so she had a collection to help her with work. Dorothy spent a short time in a studio space of mine where children visited who were very keen on bashing her keys so she now has a wonky p — I think having a wonky p is hilarious and it’s part of her charm.
SS: I think it is brilliant that you will personalize any notebook, flat card set or wall hanging with an in joke or fitting quote. What is the favorite one you have received so far? The strangest?
MB: My favorite ones are the ones that make no sense at all to me because it means that it’s something special between the giver and the receiver of the stationery. I think the oddest one was, ’Let’s start with the PVC pipe.’ I still can’t think of a back story as to what that might have meant but I love that it will clearly mean something to the recipient. Maybe it was a book for a building/renovation project and the budget only stretched to pvc pipes not copper?
SS: You also have a vintage letterpress, Daisy. Which items feature letterpress?
MB: I bought Daisy in lockdown during COVID. I currently only have one card that is letterpressed. It says ‘Waiting patiently to give you the biggest hug ever.’ I used traditional lead type set with a composite stick and lock up to make them. I haven’t played further but should make time to do so and perhaps look at using polymer plates instead of lead type to make it quicker — but I do love the traditional way of doing things.
SS: You also hand-stitch your journals. Between typing, sewing (and possibly letter pressing), how many can you churn out in a day?
MB: Oh quite a few! I can make 40-60 in a day if I really need to for a business customer or wholesale order. I have my system down 🙂
SS: Being eco-conscious is clearly a big part of your business. Your studio is solar powered and you use no plastic in packaging and shipping. For papers, you use recycled coffee cup paper, handmade cotton paper that would have otherwise been T-shirt waste and 100% PCW paper; even your pencils are sustainable wood. How big of a challenge is it to find these resources? Are there any others you are currently seeking?
MB: The challenge is more about balancing the cost of the finished item. There are lots of fantastic paper mills doing good work to make innovative processes that use waste from other industries. I was super happy to find my pencil maker here in the UK, their factory is only a couple of hours away from me. I would love to find an alternative gift box for my pencils; I keep looking and hope to find something the right size that is made from more sustainable materials but currently I can’t find any off-the-shelf solutions and having bespoke made packaging isn’t an option at the moment. I offer the set without a gift box currently. I have made a prototype of packaging that I can make myself but I’m still not sure that it will work.
SS: In your goal to create ‘zero waste stationery,’ you have really come up with a brilliant plan that benefits several businesses. You have worked to modify your notebook making process so that less trimming is required. Yet by day’s end, there’s a pile of paper shreds. These are taken to your friend and glass artist Scarlet Impressions. Scarlet uses the trimmings to pack and protect her glass work when sending to her customers. Any trimmings that Scarlet doesn’t need, you take to a local glass company, Majestic Crystal in the next village, and they happily take them to use too.
Meanwhile, if a paper stack comes in the studio in a large plastic bag too, it’s saved to hold book trimmings for the glass makers to also use it for their packaging and shipping. These little steps can be systemized to make a big impact over time. Are there any others you are considering implementing? In your experience, are these practices common in the UK?
MB: Unfortunately they are still somewhat isolated here IMO. Yes all these small things add up. It also means that as a designer, I need to think creatively about how I make things and what to do with the offcuts that I do create. What can I make out of them? or who else could use them?
I think there is definitely a drive in the UK from makers to reduce plastic packaging for the consumer; many cards for example here are sold in non-plastic sleeves or even naked with a small low-tack sticker catch to keep the card and envelope together.
It is probably less common to go as far as I do, in thinking about how I make things, the materials I use to make them and what to do with the ‘waste,’ but I’m definitely not on my own.
SS: I see you are on Faire, but it does not look like your entire range is. Do you have plans to add it?
MB: I did guiltily rather just chuck my Faire shop up and then run away to design a beautiful website for my retail online orders. I do need to revisit it as I have new products that I want to put on, such as my current favourite notebook, “She thought she could … so she sat down and wrote a sensible and comprehensive plan in her notebook.”
SS: Where can paper nerds in the wild find you? Are you in any US shops yet??
MB: I am not in any US shops yet. I do sell to the US both personal and business customers but I don’t currently have any stockists. Shop my range here and find me on Insta and Facebook as @bluestiggy.
SS: Anything else you would like to share with paper nerds?
MB: I’m planning a three day online creative retreat called Paper People, to help people who want to introduce small acts of creativity in their notebooks and journals every day. You don’t have to be an artist or writer to be creative. Sometimes we become disconnected from that and it feels too hard. Paper People aims to show small acts of creativity that take a few minutes whether that be mark making, writing letters or journaling. I haven’t firmed up the date yet but it’s likely to be early next year, which I know sounds eons away but the last few months of the year get pretty hectic around here with Christmas orders so I’m trying to be sensible in choosing the time I’ll have to organise it.
Thank you so much Michaela for taking my questions and sharing your artistry! Every time I visit Blue Stiggy, I find something new, so have at it, nerds! This range is super-fresh to the US and not in a single store as far as I know. Unfortunately at the time of this writing, tariffs from the UK to the US stand at 10%. While that can change at any time, it’s definitely makes all those precious imports that much more precious!
