New Notecards and Notebooks Designed Especially for Pella

Just in time for Pella’s annual tulip festival, The Work of Our Hands has received two new Mr. Ellie Pooh products, designed especially for our local store: greeting cards and notebooks featuring graceful tulips and the words “Pella, Iowa.”

Work on the items began in July 2023, when assistant manager Anna Allen began working with Mr. Ellie Pooh to create the custom items.  Soon after, artist Lydia Steenhoek was commissioned to create a tulip design to be featured on these for-Pella-only products, handmade in Sri Lanka. Lydia is a multimedia and tattoo artist living in Idaho, with strong ties to Pella. Her grandmother Donna Steenhoek, a long-term volunteer at The Work of Our Hands, suggested Lydia as an excellent choice to create the art for the linen-like Mr. Ellie Pooh products, made from recycled paper and from cellulose derived from elephant dung. (In an amusing verbal coincidence, Donna received the store’s 2023 Elephant Award last October for her faithful volunteer service.)

Donna commented, “Lydia works with many art genres and has designed tulips before.” Lydia’s grandfather Ivan Mulder also lives in Pella, and her mother, Geselle Mulder Steenhoek, served as Pella Tulip Queen in 1985.

Lydia said she has fond memories of her ties to Pella as a core part of her childhood. She added that her work focuses on highlighting the beauty of the natural world, and that the tulip design is a celebration of her Dutch heritage and of the city of Pella as a whole.

The new Pella notecards and notebooks arrived in Pella on April 3, and are available at the store as long as supplies last.