THE LITTLE CANOE Portland illustrator—and former professional cake decorator—Brooke Weeber creates these adorable numbers in her Southeast Portland studio. Her hand-painted watercolors (reprinted and reproduced on her cards) often feature animals and wilderness scenes from the Pacific Northwest, with clever, punny ways of expressing common sentiments. Canoe believe it? 

EGG PRESS If you’ve been in Portland for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard of Egg Press, the reigning behemoth of local stationery. That’s only a slight exaggeration. Founded in 1999 by a former Nike designer and based in Northwest Portland’s iconic 1910 Schoolhouse Electric building, the stationery store employs seven
old-timey, mechanical letterpress machines and cranks out 850,000 cards a year—simple, elegant, often geometrical designs for the house brand, as well as cards for international greeting card companies. 

TIGERPOCKET PRESS Tammie Bennett began creating greeting cards in 2018 when, wanting to reach out to old friends after an acrimonious split, she went on the hunt for something to break the ice. When she couldn’t find anything in stores that conveyed her message, she made her own “forgiveness cards” to help her reconnect. Now, Bennett’s company celebrates what she dubs “real” moments: the happy ones, of course, but also the raw, ugly, all-too-human ones.