After several years as owner of Little Rock stationary emporium By invitation Only, Gerritt Wittaker began to notice a certain niche that was missing in the products she could find for her store. Despite her constant search for a clean simple line with hand-painted designs, she remained unsatisfied. But rather than dwelling on her fruitless quest, Wittaker decided to create a stationary collection of her own, selling her business and launching Polka Dot Papers.

“Really I just thought it would be so fun to do,” she says. “I’m not terribly artistic, but I do have a creative mind, and I thought I knew I wasn’t out there.” Exclusive hand-painted designs grace the imprintable invitations, from geometric designs to bridesmaid dresses and holiday themes. Every image is an original work of art, commissioned just for Polka Dot Papers. A second collection of monogrammed cards and die-cut, scalloped notes in fun, intriguing color schemes rounds out Polka Dot Papers’ selection, creating endless options that appeal to a wide range of “paper people.”

Launched at the National Stationery show in New York last May, Polka Dot Papers is available in over 100 stores nationwide and in Little Rock at Papers and By Invitation Only, as well as Ebeez in Fayetteville. And while Whittaker misses being a retailer herself, she’s starting to feel that her gamble had paid off. “It was am idea I’d been playing around with for such a long time,” she says. “The experience of actually seeing it come into being has been amazing.”