Louie Awards Finalist!

A “Kiss” of Intuition
Prescott Artist Becomes Finalist in International Competition

“I never imagined that my one little note card would be noticed in the sea of greeting cards submitted by established greeting cards companies throughout the world.”

Four years ago when artist, Melanie Banayat, told colleagues, family and friends that she wanted to design a line of greeting cards using images from her fine art she didn’t get a whole lot of enthusiastic support. When she told them that she would be writing words to compliment the artwork, once again she received such remarks as, “Why don’t you let the artwork speak for itself – why not just do blank art cards?” and, “Your going to shoot yourself in the foot, because your cards will compete against your fine art and kill your fine art business.” But in her heart she truly believed in her dream to create inspirational cards that truly touched an emotional cord in people. Melanie wanted her images and words to reach a larger audience on a more intimate level of communication.

“There were many moments when I felt very alone and unsure that anyone would even look at my cards, let alone read them or buy them. So I sought out support, advice, and encouragement from other greeting card artists who helped me face my fears. I tested the market with a few dozen cards that I printed from my home computer and held my breath when I displayed them for the first time at a high-end art festival in Carefree. To my delight – people were buying them. They were buying multiple cards at a time; some even bought the entire line of 24 cards. Festival after festival the cards kept selling like hotcakes. After six months of testing the market I decided it was time to take the plunge and print a large run of the cards. Then a few months after I officially launched my MiliGirl notecard line I received an invitation to participate in the International Greeting Card Louie Awards competition. This competition is equivalent to the academy awards for the greeting card industry. I left the invitation on my desk, thinking that I wouldn’t have a chance at winning so why bother. Eventually the invitation got buried under a pile of paperwork and I forgot about it.”

“A few months later when I finally got around to clearing off my desk I found the invitation again - right where I left it. This time I said to myself, why not? I’ll go ahead and submit one card and see what happens. I filled out all the paperwork, and sent it off in the mail just one week before the final deadline – and then I put it out of my mind.”

“Three months later I received notification that my card was a finalist. I was standing in the lobby of the post office when I read the notice and screamed with joy, “Oh my gosh, you’ve got to be kidding me! This is Great!” There was a gentleman standing a few feet away who looked over at me and said, “Good news, huh? Gee, all I ever get is a stack of bills.” Then he shared a giant smile with me.”

“There were over 800 entries from 140 companies worldwide. Melanie’s card entitled, “Kiss” made it into the top three (3) finalists for the ‘Superbly Stated’ category. Melanie’s card will be displayed along with the other finalists at the International New York Stationary Show in May 2009 where winners will be announced during the awards banquet in New York.”

Melanie originally entered her note card into the "Rising Star New Business" category for greeting card businesses less than 2 years old; she felt this was the right category since she only recently launched her MiliGirl notecard line this past July of 2008. However, the Jurors moved her card into a more appropriate category called: "Superbly Stated", for it's editorial content. The cards were juried based on Imagination, Impact, Artistry, Harmony, Sendability, and Value.

“The cool thing about all of this is that there are nice little perks to becoming a finalist, I have now earned the honor and prestige of placing the Louie Award finalist logo/seal on my card as well as on all of my promotional materials – this is very exciting to me. My single submission was up against many of the big name greeting card publishing companies – I never imagined that my one little card would be noticed in the sea of greeting cards submitted by established greeting card companies throughout the world. Twenty-five of my cards will be distributed to key people in the greeting card industry, who knows, maybe I might get a few phone calls and some orders -- That would be really nice.”

“The image featured on my “Kiss” note card is part of my series of paintings on Motherhood. I began painting these images as an exploration into my personal struggles as a mother and the tumultuous relationship that I had with my own mother throughout my life. I wanted to take a closer look at the mother & child relationship through the process of painting and writing. It was a powerful and healing process that played a key role in the mending of my relationship with my mom.”

“I believe that greeting cards are a wonderful tool for communication. I truly love what I do – combining my fine art with words on greeting cards. And just as I had hoped from the beginning of my greeting card venture, I believe I made the right choice in trusting my intuition (this time), and going for it.”

Melanie’s cards, prints, and original artwork can be found online at www.MiliGirl.com or by calling (928) 239-5656. Prescott retail outlets include: Grayleaf Galleria, The Phippen Art Museum, and Fountain of Youth Day Spa.

Louie Awards Finalist!