Next year in letterpress

Last year, I snapped up ten or so Ilee calendars - one for my desk at work, and the rest to give as gifts. The Ilee 2009 calendar is gorgeous... every month I love turning to the new design as much as I hate to say goodbye to the old one. For someone whose office is a bit lacking in the inspiration department, this little rectangle of paper happiness on my desk has gone a long way over the last nine months.

As we inch closer to October (how did that happen, by the way?), it's getting to be time to think about 2010 calendars. The problem, though, is that I can't decide which one to buy! I'm partial to Ilee because of how much I've enjoyed their calendar this year. Here's Ilee's 2010 calendar:

It's lovely, and I'm sure the intricacy of the designs and letterpressing in person is as amazing as 2009's, but I'm just not sure I'm as head-over-heels with it as I was for 2009's calendar. I think it has a bit less vibrancy of color than this year's. There are two other strong contenders right now, too.

First up, Linda & Harriet. L&H were responsible for some of our holiday cards last year, and I really love their work. I have several greeting cards from them as well. Their calendar has such lovely designs and I adore the different typefaces used each month. The Linda & Harriet 2010 calendar:

Bonus: the bottom of each tears off and can be used as a postcard after each month is over. Genius!

The other top contender is from Egg Press, who also makes some of my favorite holiday and greeting cards. Their calendar is offset, not letterpress, so it'd probably lead to less stroking of its pages during office hours (what? is that creepy?), but it does have coordinating backs with a spot for taking notes. And really, just look at the April design - it's like they knew it's my birthday month. The Egg Press 2010 Calendar:

What to do, what to do? Buy one of each and then pick my favorite to give as gifts? Pick a different one to give to each friend according to the designs? Too many lovely choices!

For you fellow paper lovers, keep an eye out on Oh So Beautiful Paper, where Nole will be publishing her 2010 calendar review soon, and further complicate my decision, I'm sure.