Stace Hasegawa

Cath Edvalson

I’m not gonna lie. These are my least favorite kinds of blog posts to write. You know, the ones where I have to talk about a beloved colleague who is moving on? I pretty much dread these.

But Change is the game of life and as Jennifer mentioned in this post, as a result of this Change, we recently lost our beloved Art Director, Stace Hasegawa.

Art Director Extraordinaire Stace Hasegawa

Stace has been the Art Director here at Paper Crafts magazine since its inception. She is one of the most talented people I know in this business and she has established the Paper Crafts “look and feel” that you have come to know and love.

The shots you see in the magazine are all directed by Stace. She determines the concept for how a feature will be shot based on our editorial goals and then she turns it up a notch. She sets up each shot, painstakingly arranging for props, lighting, and how the set will be dressed. She designs all the covers and determines how the magazine will look, how it will be laid out, how it will flow, and how you, the reader, perceive our brand.

She also designs many of the openers for the magazine. Here, the word “painstaking” resurfaces. And though I realize that some of these openers have previously been featured here on Paper Crafts Connection, I wanted to share some of my favorites with you today:

For this opener appearing in our November/December 2008 issue, Stace designed and cross-stitched everything herself. Believe it or not, there is nothing digital about this except the introductory text.

Stace created the set for our Enchanted Forest feature in the September/October 2008 issue from scratch, making all the paper trees herself. It took unspeakable hours of time and unmentionable attention to detail.

I love how Stace used the sky as a backdrop with real branches and real nests for our For the Birds feature in the March/April 2008 issue.

This is, quite possibly, my favorite Stace opener of all time. Hand-painted by the artist herself for our Art of the Tattoo feature in our October 2007 issue, I think Stace loves creating these out-of-the-box openers even more than we enjoy looking at them!

If you know anything at all about Stace, you know that she is known for her passion for all things Halloween. I’ll never forget the first time I met her. She came to a luncheon carrying a purse that she made out of a Jack-o-lantern bucket and a belt. It was May, and I remember thinking, wow, that’s brave…and cool…and wow, she must really like Halloween.

Since Stace carries this Halloween bucket all year round, she's often been at the grocery store or mall and suddenly felt little hands searching the contents of her purse for some candy!

Little did I know, that was really just the beginning, for I soon learned that for Stace, Halloween is a year-long celebration. Which is why this shot is so cool:

We all did cartwheels when we saw that Stace had “suspended” these cards in mid-air!

And while Stace has brought an unbelievable attention to detail, an over-the-top approach to every task she’s given, and a set of standards that raises the bar for all around her, I think, selfishly, what I’m going to miss the most about Stace is the love that she brings to our team. When it’s tough around the office, Stace is there with ice cream bars. She’s the mastermind behind our beautifully handmade Christmas cards, our award-winning Halloween costumes, and our freebies at tradeshows and events. You’ve seen what she does with our birthday signs and cakes! And when there’s a holiday, it seems that she’s always leaving little gifts for us which she thinks are anonymous, but it’s a dead give-away when what she’s left on your desk is so far beyond what anyone else would have done.

She is, in three words, a most excellent friend.

Yes, it’s hard to imagine what life will be like around here without our beloved Stace, but we know that her opportunities outside our folds are innumerable, and we wish her every success.

It’s hard to say good-bye, Stace, but even though we won’t be working together anymore, I know we will always be friends.

Paper Crafts Team, July 2009

Yours in wishing Stace all the best,
Cath