Photos by SuperSource Media, LLC.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Ashley Campbell utilizes her artistic business to encourage local children to express gratitude for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) at the Saratoga Children’s Museum’s “Day of Gratitude.”
On Jan. 2, Coral and Blue Paper Co. partnered with the Saratoga Children’s Museum to honor MLK with hand-written thank you cards. Campbell, the founder of Coral and Blue Paper Co., began by reading My Uncle Martin’s Words for America to the children, and led a discussion of MLK’s use of love and peace to fight for African Americans’ civil rights. They concluded by hand-writing personal thank you letters, which will be hung at the museum all through February to commemorate Black History Month.
“I thought it would be really great to have kids write thank you notes to show gratitude for somebody who did something, not just a gift that they received,” said Campbell.
Campbell founded her company in 2017, when she realized there was a need for stationary for pre-K through 2nd grade kids. “I really wanted stationary with elementary lines and a creative space for artwork. I started looking for stationary stuff, kid-friendly stationary and couldn’t find any on the market.”
Her business has allowed her to flourish a mentality of dedicating gratitude among the youth. “It’s my mission to encourage gratitude, thoughtfulness and creativity though note-writing. It’s also my mission to help parents by making it simpler for kids.”
Campbell explains, “Elementary-aged kids need space to write, elementary lines to help keep sentences straight, and an area to get creative.”
The stationary has a line for boys and girls, where the front of each has a colorful silhouette of either a boy or girl writing at a desk.
“So, I went with a silhouette for every card. It goes back to a time when people did write their thank you notes.”
As for the inside, there is a blank canvas dedicated to the children’s artwork, with elementary lines below where they can neatly write their heartfelt thoughts.
“I wanted to keep it really classic and simple on the front because I wanted what was most important to be on the inside the card; what the kids had to say.”
Coral and Blue Paper Co. Stationary can be found in Northshire Bookstore and Paper Dolls of Saratoga, three storefronts in Boston and is sold online, nationally.