The Stationery Schoolmaster

How Laney Ruddell Is Redefining the Business of Paper

By the time you finish your morning coffee, Laney Ruddell has likely launched a course, answered a dozen questions in her Stationery Squad Facebook group, and nudged a few more creatives into taking themselves—and their businesses—more seriously. That’s just how she operates.

From her modest beginnings lettering quotes on Sapphire Street to helming a stationery empire packed with resources, education, and inspiration, she has changed the way thousands of creatives approach paper.

“It's always okay for you to teach,” she says. “You're never ready. It just becomes your turn.”

That mantra is embedded in everything she creates. A full-time stationer since 2016, Ruddell now focuses heavily on education—especially through her expansive Stationery School, a membership-based resource hub packed with over three dozen video courses, digital guides, and weekly support.

From Telecom to Typography

Ruddell’s journey into stationery wasn’t born from a love of paper as much as a need to escape corporate burnout. She spent years climbing the corporate ladder, swapping bosses so often she jokes one quit without telling her. “I had seven bosses in five years,” she laughs. “One literally left the company and forgot to mention it.”

That disconnection drove her to intern with a wedding planner where, on a whim, she took a beginner calligraphy class. That day set a new course. “I think anyone can learn calligraphy,” Ruddell says. “But it’s about who actually keeps practicing. I just never stopped.”

The Accidental Educator

Though Ruddell's initial goal was to design wedding stationery, she found herself constantly fielding questions from other creatives—where do you get envelopes? Which printers do you trust? How do you assemble an invitation suite?

Rather than keep repeating herself, she started packaging the answers. Her first paid product was a print and paper vendor guide. “It just became too much to explain in an Instagram comment,” she explains. “So I thought—why not create something cohesive?”

More guides followed, then templates, then video content. Before long, Ruddell had built a business model that straddled both product and pedagogy. But her approach remained the same: provide high-level content that’s accessible and refreshingly transparent.

“You can find all this for free, if you want to dig,” she admits. “But why would you?”

The Netflix of Stationery Education

Today, Ruddell’s Stationery School offers a library of on-demand courses, everything from invitation design and assembly to mindset coaching and watercolor techniques. She updates it monthly and sends out two emails a week—one for motivation, one for tactical how-to’s.

“I think of it like Netflix,” she says. “You can binge what you want, when you want, and come back later for more.”

Her audience is broader than just wedding stationers. Members include calligraphers, greeting card designers, and letterpress printers—all drawn by the promise of reliable, well-organized, and non-judgmental education.

“It’s the opposite of those Facebook groups where everyone’s afraid to ask a question,” says Moriah from Moriah Creates, one of the Hot Off the Press co-hosts. “Laney built something truly supportive.”

Even her former competitors are now her collaborators. Jillian of Studio Soprano, another co-host, is among the Stationery School’s featured educators. “Laney’s business structure fascinated me,” she says. “You could join today or two years from now, and still feel like everything is relevant and at your fingertips.”

Building Better Businesses

Ruddell’s success, however, isn’t just about providing answers. It’s about pushing creatives to think like business owners.

“There’s a difference between being an artist and being a businessperson,” she says. “Artists tweak endlessly. Businesspeople hit deadlines.”

That mindset extends to how she prioritizes her time. Ruddell rarely touches client work before lunch. Mornings are reserved for her business—writing content, building tools, designing new products. The urgent stuff waits until the afternoon.

“If I start at 8 a.m., I’ll finish at 5 p.m. If I start at noon, I’ll also finish at 5 p.m. It has to get done either way,” she says.

Her advice resonates deeply with creatives juggling multiple jobs. Moriah, for example, recently scaled back work at two wineries to go full-time with stationery—and instantly saw a jump in income.

“Once you give it your all, everything changes,” Ruddell says. “You can’t grow the business you want while still clinging to the one you’ve outgrown.”

Knowing What to Sell

Still, Ruddell emphasizes clarity over hustle. One of her early mistakes was designing only what would get “likes” on Instagram—quotes and calligraphy samples—while hoping for custom stationery clients. “People were ordering custom quotes. That’s all I was showing them,” she says. “You have to display what you want to sell.”

That advice is deceptively simple but hard to follow, especially in an algorithm-driven world. “It’s a discipline,” she continues. “Post what represents your best work, not what performs the best.”

That mindset has helped Ruddell stay focused—even as she experiments with tools like the Printable Palette, a downloadable swatch book that matches hundreds of printed CMYK colors to their on-screen equivalents. “I just got sick of printing something that looked purple and having it come out green,” she says.

Designing for Letterpress—and for Life

One of Stationery School’s newest additions is a letterpress printing class, taught by Jillian. The class doesn’t just teach technique—it helps designers understand how to build for production. From avoiding tight registration to explaining why certain papers behave differently, it’s the kind of insider knowledge that prevents costly mistakes and elevates your entire workflow.

“I’ve done letterpress work for years,” Ruddell says. “But I learned new things in that class—like how to overlay colors to create a third tone. Game changer.” Which is exactly the point. For Ruddell, education isn’t just about empowerment. It’s about making things easier, smarter, and more joyful. “I want you to work on your business—not just in it,” she says. “That’s the only way to grow.”

What’s Next

As Ruddell moves all of her previous digital guides into the Stationery School ecosystem, the value of the membership continues to climb. And yet, her mission hasn’t changed: share what she knows, support who she can, and remind every stationer out there that, yes, they can do this.

“Even if you’re side hustling,” she says, “you’re still a business. It’s time to start acting like it.”

Interested in Stationery School?

Laney Ruddell’s Stationery School is open year-round. New members get immediate access to the full library of courses and weekly email content. Learn more at designbylaney.com or find the Stationery Squad group on Facebook.