A small stationery company based in Kawarau falls near Queenstown, has, has made a second strong showing at the Pride In Print Awards.
Alyssandra Striking Stationery earned a gold medal with its Same Sex Wedding entry last year. This year, the handcraft stationer collected gold medals for its Rich Red and Amisfield entries as well as receiving two highly commended citations.
Alyssandra Skerrett, who owns the company, personally handles every aspect of design, print, and production for the work. She says, “I love to think outside the square and have something that’s totally unique. I guess it’s about coming up with a concept and then pushing that even further than anyone could have imagined. A wedding is often the most important day in a couple’s life together and when guests receive a really impressive invitation they begin to share in the significance of the occasion and will in turn look to dress amazingly in expectation of a great event. ”
The Rich Red gold medal-winning invitation featured the church hosting the ceremony and included a damask design to represent fertility as well as three flowers representing the couple and their new baby. Shaped like the Lake Hayes winery, the Amisfield job (pictured above) includes drops of glitter and pearl each applied by hand as well as a last-minute request from the wedding couple to include a drawing of a cat.
Gold medal winner: Alyssandra Strikinbg Stationery’s Rich Red wedding invitation
After toying with the idea of entering the Awards for several years but always backing out, Skerrett finally entered the competition last year. She says, “I’d been told that my firm was too small time to be taken seriously and guess I accepted there was no way I’d be able to compete with the big printers, advertisers and suppliers but last year, a rep from Fuji Xerox gave me strong encouragement and so I entered for the first time and the rest is history.”
Last year’s winning entry was for an invitation to what was billed as the country’s first joint gay and lesbian wedding between Richard and Richard as well as Jess and Rachael. Skerrett says, “Not many couples out there can say their stationery was not only in the New Zealand Bride & Groom magazine, but has gone down in history as a gold medal-winning invitation.”
Skerrett also produces customised corporate greeting cards and other ad hoc work, and has recently taken to sending her clients progress photographs of their jobs so as to fully share the experience with them. She looks forward to competing at the next Pride In Print Awards, and encourages all firms who are producing quality work in the industry to ensure they also enter.
She concludes, “I have been astonished with the Pride In Print winners’ superior quality in all categories. It inspires me to push a design further and to proudly uphold the high standard within the market.”
