What's In Store with Maggie Moore

How is it we are coming to the close of 2025?  This time of year we try to slow down amidst the Holiday chaos and start to reflect on the year that was, and can't help thinking ahead to our goals for 2026.

The year opened with a jolt when I got fired. Truly did not have that plot twist on my bingo card. As they say on Survivor, I was blindsided. After three decades in the hospitality design world, I was shown the door on January 15th. But save the tissues. January 16th became my first day of freedom. I woke up, worked out, got ready like always, and then headed to work for the person who actually deserved my energy: me.

I’m no longer under a sexist boss who thought it was acceptable for a man to watch porn and shop for automatic weapons on the clock, and who punished the women who called it out. Would I speak up again? Abso-fucking-lutely. And I’m proud that standing my ground is the reason I’m gone. It's a badge of honor because All the Cool Girls Get Fired.  (That book is on my Christmas list!)  I will be celebrating my one year anniversary of freedom in just a few short weeks with my fellow firee!  All this being said, I had a lot Moore time on my hands to spend growing Maggie Moore Studio as a full-time boss.

Our big goal in 2025 was simple: get our cards into Moore stores and keep our little paper dream growing.  We pushed for a huge drop of new goodies in July in time for Faire Summer Market.  For the first time ever, it didn't feel like we were sending cards to print in the eleventh hour, sending out a few emails and crossing our fingers. We actually had time to plan!

We set our sights on growing the biz on my home turf of New England.  We added 76 total new items in 2025 and in July our big drop included lots of new Boston, Cape Cod, and Rhode Island cards and stickers and we targeted New England stores with custom New England Summah Mailers just for stores in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. This was followed up with what seemed like about a million emails.  The result was our best Faire Summer Market yet. Turns out,  when you have the time to take all the right steps, oh wow, it actually works! 

 We ended 2024 just shy of 100 stores and we are ending 2025 with an additional 35 new shops for a grand total of 133.  I'm going to put it out there into the universe now. Our goal is to be in 200 stores this time next year.  

If you know of a local shop that would be a perfect home for Maggie Moore, send it our way!

With 928 total orders, wholesale continues to be our top revenue maker with 73% of our sales. Our top selling card of the year for the second straight year is the Happy Bird Day Orioles Card. The page most landed on in the Maggie Moore online shop? Happy Bird Day Eagles and on Etsy this card was by far the favorite with 233 orders. Turns out people really like the Philadelphia Eagles. I guess winning a Super Bowl helps.

How about our Maggie Moore Hot Dog Race? Our Team Ketchup, Mustard and Relish Stickers are still hot sellers. Last Year Team Relish was your clear winner, no photo finish necessary. Leading the race this year Team Mustard rallied with Team Relish not far behind and Team Ketchup bringing up the rear. But your favorite sticker of 2025 was All that and a Bag of Crab Chips.

Our Maryland Faves Print was your favorite for the second year in a row, with Home Is Where the Old Bay is at number two and surprise, the Philadelphia Eagles Type Mashup at number three. We added four new Type Mashup prints this year, Outer Banks, Jersey Shore, Massachusetts Food and the Eagles. Not sure what will be next but if you have a suggestion, drop it below!

We started a blog in 2025! Or more accurately, we actually started showing up to the blog in 2025. No more once-or-twice-a-year posts written only when inspiration, caffeine, and the planets aligned. This year, we posted consistently and ideas for new blog posts kept popping in my head. And if you’re reading this, I suppose you already know that. Unless I’m just talking to myself again. Is anyone reading this?

All jokes aside, I’ve truly loved blogging. It’s been a joy to write about our year in stationery, pull back the curtain on how things get made, and share the stories behind some of our favorite cards and prints. We've talked about our favorite Snowball Stands, my fear of the Bay Bridge, the history of the Berger Cookie and Hoodsie Cup and celebrated Maryland's new official state drink the Orange Crush. Turns out, typing out our paper-obsessed thoughts is actually pretty fun. 💌✏️ What else should we talk about in 2026?

Our online shop is a constant work in progress. We’re always tweaking, polishing, and fussing over the details, so swing by the website and tell us what you think.

And while you’re there, exciting news: you can now leave us a review! Please do. We’re on a mission to get Moore reviews in the shop, and honestly, we wouldn’t be mad if you left more than one. Just saying. 💌 Here is our favorite heartwarming review of 2025. Thank you Arthur!

Guys I truly feel like I just finished typing the October recap a minute ago and now November is already gone in a flash.  Things truly need to slow down.  With Thanksgiving in our rear view, Christmas is coming fast! It's definitely time to switch to our Festive Christmas Anxiety. Have you checked out our sale section? Hint, Hint, this card is on sale.

November kept us busy as usual.  After a few years away, we got to participate again in the Ridgely Middle School Craft Fair and it didn't disappoint.  The last time we did Ridgely was 2021 still in the height of Covid and so we had to set up our tent outside.  It was cold as to be expected but suddenly a storm came rushing in with strong wind gusts and rain.  We were holding on to the tent for dear life, cards were flying, and around us vendors with glass and pottery were dealing with things crashing to the ground.  And then our tent started to leak.  Water and paper goods do not mix, and we had to cut the day short.  

So all that being said, we were really happy to be inside this time! Outdoor markets can be a real crap shoot. It was a great turnout, we were warm and cozy, and we were really thankful to everyone who came out.   Old fans stopped by to chat, new fans laughed and helped us with card ideas and lets give a shout out to the woman who came by Bits and Bobs in October looking for Hello from Connecticut cards.  I told her I would bring them for her to Ridgeley and she came!  And I remembered them, which is an even bigger miracle! Brooks wanted to join us as an official Maggie Moore employee this time. He did not have quite the same patience as his brother Alex at Bits and Bobs Market in October and really just wanted to support other small businesses.  We can't blame him for that.

On the 12th I turned 53! Holy shit!  If you want to talk about time going by quickly, I'm not sure how the hell this has happened.  It was a low key birthday. I took a day off from Maggie Moore for myself, did a little shopping for books at the Ivy Book Store.  Gotta shop local on your birthday.  Treated myself to lunch and a fun coffee at the Corner Pantry.  It is just consistently, always so damned good! And just basically did stuff I wanted to do. 

And the day after my birthday I did a thing and went to see my new favorite writer, Catherine Newman on book tour for one of my fave books of the year Wreck.  This was a follow up to my favorite of last year, Sandwich.  She was a total delight and so hilarious.  She was appearing at Enoch Pratt Free Library downtown which is a Baltimore treasure and it was such a lovely evening.  The next day she even commented on one of my stories about hoarding Trader Joes Rosemary nuts as she is also a fan, so I feel like we're true pals now.  Have you tried those Rosemary Nuts? They're ridiculous. I'd like to see more authors on tour in the New Year because I am such a book nerd and it's kind of a cool thing to do. So you can check out future events at the library here. Or follow your favorite local indie book store for their upcoming authors stopping by.

Then came Thanksgiving! We did our pregame celebrating when Sam's brother (my cuz), Zack came in to town on All Time Low's Everyone's Talking tour.  We got the VIP treatment at the Anthem in DC to see the show which was the perfect way to kick off the holiday. We were out way past our bed time!

After a late night it was good to chill watching the Macy's parade and the National Dog Show (congrats Soleil) while I made creamed onions (it's a New England thing) and chocolate pecan pie bars. Sam crafted a kick ass grazing board. Sam's boys put on a concert with their Uncle Zack. Alex played a sweet harmonica and Brooks was not to be outdone on cowbell.  This was really the highlight of the day. 

We're coming into the home stretch of the year, which means for us in the stationery world we are working like crazy on a big new drop of Valentines and Moore as well as wrapping up fourth quarter finances.  Because it can't be all fun and games.  And all while putting our focus on Christmas sales! We will be at Bits and Bobs again at Cross Keys on December 6th and popping up at Brightside Boutique in Fells on December 14th.  So it should be a crazy busy month!

You can find Maggie Moore in four new stores which means we are now up to a grand total of 132. Can we bump it up to 135 by the end of the year? We are now in Lykos Pharmacy in Timonium. I delivered the order and was pleasantly surprised at their selection of local goods so check them out. Pick up a Maggie Moore card at Amazing Glaze in Bel Air. I honestly thought of it as a place to bring kids to paint a mug for Grandpa and was pleasantly surprised at their cool classes. I want to sign up to make a book vase! Another New Year goal. In Towson you can find us at Radebaugh's. How have I been in their greenhouse so many times and not realized they have a kick ass gift shop? And lastly in Pennsylvania you can find us at Snuggle Bunny Boutique in New Hope. Oooh I love New Hope. If you know of a store that should carry Maggie Moore let us know. We would love to reach out to them.

As a Baltimore-based stationery brand, celebrating the city’s quirks is kind of our thing. So this year we launched two new holiday cards starring everyone’s favorite tacky lawn ornament. But how exactly did the plastic pink lawn flamingo end up becoming such a Baltimore thing?

Like another of Baltimore’s unlikely claims to fame—Edgar Allan Poe—the pink plastic lawn flamingo actually hails from my home state of Massachusetts. Yup, Poe was born in Boston. But today we’re talking about the tropical inspiration behind our newest holiday cards: the gloriously kitschy lawn flamingo that’s become a true Baltimore icon.

Back in the post-war ’50s, babies were arriving, (okay boomers), suburbs were exploding, and  new houses lined every street. Enter mass-produced plastic—suddenly, lawn ornaments were the go-to way for homeowners to add a dash of charm to their tidy new yards. And the plastic lawn flamingo took flight! They came in a box, nestled in a pair because you couldn't just have one, with detachable wire legs for instant tropical elegance. The original pair sold for $2.76, a true bargain.

Fast forward to 1972. The plastic flamingos had gone out of fashion until Baltimore's own John Waters introduced a little movie called Pink Flamingos. The movie was really not about the lawn flamingo but featured Towson's own, drag queen Divine who decorated the entrance to her trailer with a flock of lawn flamingos and the connection to Baltimore was cinematic history. 

While Featherstone designed over 650 lawn ornaments, people flocked to the flamingo like no other. In 1987 he even updated the mold to include his autograph on the rump to distinguish a Featherstone design. Fun Fact! In 1996 he was even awarded the Ig Nobel Prize in Art for his design which has stood the test of time. Baltimore isn't the only city obsessed with the plastic lawn flamingo.  Madison, Wisconsin also has a connection with the birds, which started with a UW-Madison prank that involved 1008 flamingos showing up one day covering a hill on campus. At the 30th anniversary of the prank, Madison named the Pink Plastic Lawn Flamingo their official city bird.

To send a little Baltimore kitsch this holiday season check out our Lawn flamingo cards below and of course we have Moore holiday greetings. Have a lawn flamingo story you would like to share?  Let us know in the comments below.  Seriously let us know someone is reading this stuff.  I actually thought my mom was reading them but then I realized she thought our Instagram account was a blog, so apparently Mom is not reading. 

Maggie Moore Art Prints make great gifts year round to remind someone of a favorite place or team, a vacation or their hometown. They make especially great gifts at the holidays. We call them our Type Mashups and they are 8 x 10, ready to put in the frame of your choosing.  When people pick them up at local markets, many don't realize they are hand drawn and people often ask how we create our art prints, so we are here to tell you!

Before the Maggie Moore days, I was big into hand lettering—constantly experimenting with styles, flourishes, and fonts. My Instagram, @beckletters, became my creative playground where I shared everything from lettering challenges to graphic, hand-lettered and water-colored versions of my monthly journals. I’ve always loved the look of collages that mix words and illustrations—and as a lifelong list-maker, that combination just clicked. Before long, an idea kept rattling around in my head. I found myself dreaming up lettering collages inspired by some of my favorite things—baseball, the Red Sox, and all things Eighties.

First I tackled the Red Sox.  I am a Bostonian after all. Every Type Mashup art print starts with my favorite thing, a list.  I'm forever making lists and this is a Deep Dive into everything about the subject. As a life long fan the Red Sox came easy to me and I included, all time favorite players, Boston sayings like Boston Strong and Red Sox Nation, everything about Fenway, the years the team won the World Series and retired players.  Not to mention the Fenway Frank. It wouldn't be a game at Fenway without one. Here is my original list for the Red Sox art print.  I'm that crazy and I still have all my lists and yes, making lists is fun. If the subject of the art print is not as familiar to me as say the Red Sox sometimes we have to enlist the help of another fan or someone who lives or visits the subject of our latest design. Typically a list of twenty to thirty things is a good amount to fill the page. 

Now when I created this art print, it was Old School.  This was before I treated myself to an iPad and Apple Pencil.  I sketched out everything on the list in pencil and fit it together like a puzzle with the Red Sox front and center. If something didn't look right once I put it down, my eraser got a good workout.  Once it was all laid out and I had checked off everything on my handy dandy list, I went over the pencil sketch in ink, usually with a Micron Pen for the final result.  I remember getting lots of drawing time in, while working on this one when the Red Sox were playing Game 3 of the 2018 World Series vs. the Dodgers, an 18 inning game.  I couldn't possibly go to bed! Below is the final result.  There was no polishing with the Procreate app on the iPad or swapping something around if it didn't look quite right. And if my hand was shaking, well that was part of the beauty. This design was eventually done digitally to create the art print we have today with some added touches.

Once I started experimenting with lettering on the iPad, my process evolved—but I couldn’t quite give up the feel of a real pencil. I’d still begin in my 9 x 12 spiral-bound sketchbook, laying out the design in pencil. Then I’d scan the sketch and import it into my iPad, where I could trace over it digitally, adding “inked” details. Here’s the very first sketch I did for a Maryland Type Mashup art print, ready to be brought to life on the iPad.

After a while I graduated from the pencil and 9 x 12 sketchbook though I do miss real life paper. However I still "sketch" the design in pencil first with the Apple Pencil.  I know, I can't let go of the sketching process.  There's something about it that lets you draw more loosely. It doesn't feel so permanent. Am I the only one who does this? Below is our Washington DC art print as a sketch in the Procreate app.  The nice thing about sketching in this way and as you puzzle the pieces together if something doesn't fit right you can move it around or make it smaller or larger or adjust as necessary.  Once the sketch is complete I turn down the opacity of the sketch and go over it in "ink" in different layers so adjustments can still be made. It is a process, but usually done in front of the teleivision binging Survivor, Great British Baking Show or when the weather is nice, out on my deck with a cocktail listening to a favorite podcast. 

Though I had to leave the sketchbook behind for the ease of creating digitally, I still love the feel of pencil on paper so I bought the Paper Like Screen protector for my iPad the closest I can find to make it feel like you're drawing on paper.

When Maggie Moore started way back in October of 2019, we had Baltimore, Maryland and Ocean City designs which were not only available as art prints but we also printed them on T-Shirts, tumblers and the most adorable onesies. Since then we've decided to stick with paper and include our designs on greeting cards as well. But damn, those onesies were cute. We've added to the collection with the Orioles, Red Sox, Ravens, Patriots and Eagles, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Boston, Massachusetts, Cape Cod, Maine, Rhode Island, the Outer Banks, Maryland and Massachusetts food, Washington DC, Virginia, Annapolis, Bawlmer (IYKYK), the Eastern Shore, Delaware Shore, Jersey Shore, University of Maryland, San Francisco, and the decades of the 70's, 80's, and 90's.  Whew, did I get them all?

I have lots of lists started for the next Type Mashup art prints we would like to tackle, but not sure where we will head next. Because there are some days that I'm fried and not sure what to do next, so why not make a list?  I have Long Island, Chicago, the Celtics, Austin, Nashville, Charleston, Connecticut and my hometown of Brookline at the ready. I know very few people would care about Brookline but hey, it would be fun for me. If you have any requests, let us know in the comments below. You can find all of our Maggie Moore art prints in the online shop! And now you know how they are created.

Here we are in November already, fall and the scent of pumpkin spice is in the air, Thanksgiving plans are being made and in case you needed a reminder, Christmas decorations are everywhere in the stores. I just saw a giant, talking Yukon Cornelius at Lowes which was pretty tempting. Have you heard Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas is You" yet? The craziness of holiday shopping is here, whether we're ready for it or not. And if we can make your gift giving a little easier this year, all while you support a small business, it's a win win. Giving a locally inspired gift is like wrapping up a favorite memory — a nod to their hometown pride, beloved team, or happy place. It’s just as fun to give as it is to unwrap (trust us, we’ve seen the smiles!).

If an easy-peasy gift bundle isn't for you and you like to go the extra mile and put in a little Moore creative effort, how about a Maggie Moore art print pairing. We've got tons of fun ideas to make this simple, spark your imagination and inspire the Santa in you.

For the ultimate sports fan we have prints repping the Orioles, Ravens, Red Sox, Patriots, and Eagles.  Put the print in a frame and score bonus points,  pairing it with game tickets, a jersey or ball cap, a signed ball or a book about their favorite winning season. Get creative with it and make the gift personal to the fan you're giving it to.

Games are totally having a moment and our Decades prints - featuring the groovy 70's, rad 80's and nostalgic 90's make the perfect gift pairing! Try our Eighties Print with Games Room 80's Pop Music Quiz or our Nineties print with That's So 90's Game for the perfect throwback gift. 

If food is their love language, try our Maryland Food Print in a basket with local Maryland goodies like Utz Crab Chips, Zeke's Coffee, Old Bay, Berger Cookies, Moore Crunch Pretzels, or Otterbein Cookies. Pair our Massachusetts food print with a gift card to Dunkie, or in a basket with Fluff, Cape Cod Chips and Fig Newtons. 

Pair our Baltimore print with something special from a local business like a Hey Hon! candle from South Ann Street Candle Co., a Baltimore Hon' Rat Ornament from Lucky Bat Paper, (I have one on my tree) or a Raven Dishtowel from Fuzzy Mug. Let your imagination run wild! You can browse all of our Maggie Moore art prints, perfect for your own gift bundle, here.

We know the holidays can be super stressful so hopefully we've provided you with some ideas or inspired your inner gift giving elf with some creative ideas of your own.  And if you have a good one, share it with us below.  We would love to hear your gift ideas too and everyone can use some help this time of year.  Happy Shopping!

As I'm writing this, I'm not even sure how we got here.  How in the world is August over and how can we be talking about the end of summer?  It always goes by way too fast for me, though for Sam, her twin boys are back to school and she is beyond ecstatic. And how quick did that fall weather sneak in? Before we know it we're going to be picking pumpkins and stocking up on Halloween candy. Even though we may be behind in the stationery world, we are furiously working on holiday cards.  It's all coming people!

August is always a bit of a slow month in the stationery biz.  It always feels like the calm before the storm of the holiday season.  Yes I'm skipping pumpkin spice season and going right to the holidays!  But have you had a Pumpkin Spice Latté yet?  Too soon? Anyway, it's a great time for Stationery Store Day which was started by Kristina of Calliope Paperie in Massachusetts back in 2022.  She wanted to celebrate our independent stationery stores, encouraging people to visit and shop in what is typically a slower month, and she made it happen!  Not just in the U.S., but around the world. She even collaborates with an artist each year to create cool Stationery Store Day merch, like totes, notebooks, washi tape and stickers.  You can check out her collaboration with Suzy Ultman here. It's been really cool to watch this idea take hold and see stores participating all over in their own way and we have made it a point to visit The Paper Herald in Baltimore each year for stationery shopping in our little corner of the world.  This year was our first year to actually participate in the day.

Ashleigh, the owner of the Paper Herald reached out in July to see if we wanted to take part in Stationery Store Day and maybe do a demonstration or teach something.  With the craziness we had going on in July between summer travel and Faire Summer Market we didn't think we could make it happen.  We wanted to be able to prepare and basically we knew we didn't have the time to get our shit together.  Let's face it.  Ashleigh assured us this was no pressure and if we wanted we could just do a quick and casual pop up.  Well that we figured we could handle and obviously we wanted to be part of this special day.  We are paper people after all. 

When we arrived at the Paper Herald, Ashleigh had set up a display table where Confident Canvas (our new friend) was presenting journaling to a seated group of ten people or so and streaming on Instagram Live.  We realized we needed to think on the fly and figure out what we were going to talk about because this was going to be more than a casual pop up. Before you knew it we were doing our first Instagram Live! And we're here to tell you we survived and actually had fun chitty chatting about how we got started in the stationery world, our inspirational Grandmom, and how we create our designs for cards, prints and stickers on the iPad. We may have even inspired someone to buy an iPad or give drawing in Procreate a try. However we can't possibly go back and watch it for fear we will die of embarrassment.

What are we excited for in September?  Well Sam is all about her boys being back in school and we're not sure how they are in first grade already.  How did that happen? They have stated fall baseball and I can't wait to catch a game.  I miss the days of my son playing baseball!

We have two events coming up in September so we hope you will join us.  On September 13th we will be popping up with our stationery goodies at Brightside Boutique in Fells Point.  And on September 16th come out and join us for Ladies Night at Ace Hardware in Federal Hill. Never thought I would say I would be attending Ladies Night at a hardware store but if you haven't been to Ace in Fed Hill, it is a cool hardware store so we are excited for that! We would love to meet you at these events.

You can find us in a few Moore stores this month and we love that.  We collaborated with Hartford Prints! on two new Hello from Connecticut cards so check them out if you are in the Constitution State. For Philly and University of Delaware fans, check us out at Rooted in New London Township, PA.

And what were your faves of the month you ask? Your top spot for cards was a tie with our new Connecticut cards making a strong debut! Thanks for following our stationery biz and hope to see you at an event in September!

Charm City has a come a long way since then with 279 unique neighborhoods from Patterson Park to Pimlico, Federal Hill to Fells Point, Locust Point to Little Italy and Moore. Baltimore might take a lot of shit but for those of us who live here, we love and appreciate everything this quirky city has to offer. In the words of Baltimore's own John Waters, "You can look far and wide, but you'll never discover a stranger city with such extreme style.  It's as if every eccentiric in the South decided to move north, ran out of gas in Baltimore, and decided to stay." We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

There's so much to do and see in Baltimore.  For the history buffs, there's Fort McHenry where during the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the Star Spangled Banner.  It doesn't get Moore American than that. Baltimore has a great art scene with something for everyone starting with MICA where our own grandmother Maggie Moore was a student.  And check out our art museums, the BMA, The Walters Art Museum and the fabulous American Visionary Art Museum.  Don't skip the gift shop!  The beautiful Harbor is a must visit and it's now swimmable. Really, jump right in!  And while you're there check out the National Aquarium. If fish aren't you're thing, give the Maryland Zoo a try.

Baltimore can now boast  a great restaurant scene. But we prefer Baltimore's quirky food culture. Where else but Mount Vernon's Flower Mart can you soak in spring blooms and sip on an iconic Lemon stick? In Baltimore you can make a stop at the local snowball stand for an egg custard with marshmallow topping or even find Old Bay in our ice cream. Check out The Charmery's Old Bay Caramel.  And speaking of Caramels, Baltimore gave birth to our very own caramel creams at Goetze Candy in 1918.  Sweet! I mean Domino Sugar is made here hon'. Let's not forget Natty Bohs, the perfect summer sipper for watching the Orioles at the Yard and did you know that without Baltimore we might not have the six pack?  Yup, it was invented here in Brewer's Hill. Of course you haven't truly experienced the city unless you've cracked crabs, with Old Bay of course, over a table covered in brown paper.

You've seen the benches.  Baltimore is the City that Reads.  We have over 20 independent bookstores, The Ivy Bookshop, Greedy Reads and Snug Books just to name a few.  We all know Edgar Allen Poe. But how about our favorite women writers of Baltimore, Laura Lippman, (Murder Takes a Vacation is on my summer TBR) and Anne Tyler's latest, Three Days in June?

What we love most about Baltimore is its quirky charm.  In what other city's harbor can you find a giant Mr. Trash Wheel eating garbage with giant googly eyes? We cheer on the Orioles and the Ravens but the city's most iconic bird is the plastic pink flamingo lawn ornament.  Thanks again John Waters. Who in Baltimore hasn't sipped cocoa on 34th Street during the holidays and strolled by a Christmas tree made of hub caps? And are you really from Baltimore if you haven't donned a bee hive wig at Hon' Fest?

Whether you live in Baltimore and love it's charm or  you know someone who has moved away and is missing home our Baltimore print includes all these great things about our city and Moore.  And if Snail mail is your thing, send a bit of Baltimore to someone far away. We promise it will bring a smile to their face.