... And Baby Makes ...

The ...and Baby Makes Three shower invitations have been quite popular these days. I've have many requests for different colors of the invite. I just recently did a set for a baby girl shower in pink. And a neutral set for another shower where the sex of the baby isn't known yet. She's having her shower at a French cafe, so we went with a bold, bright yellow with red and green accents.

Another set, that is quite special to me was designed for my cousin. In her case, baby actually makes four so we designed around that concept. We also added a little diaper raffle insert. Isn't it cute?

Perideau Designs Interview

Today I am featured on my friend Bridgett's lovely blog! Thanks girl!

The Winter Birch Wedding Suite {Complete!}

These babies are done!


Remember the customer I had a while back who wanted a birch tree themed Save the Date Card? She also wanted her wedding suite to be customized with the same idea. Well here it is.

We went with the same colors, a couple different shades of blues and grays. We changed the fonts to make for a more formal appearance. Overall, I'm very happy with how they turned out. One hundred and twenty invitations, response cards, and accomodation cards. Both the return address and recipient addresses were printed on the the envelopes. {And, let me just say I wasted a good handful of 3.5 x 5" envelopes. Remember the ink smudge incident I tweeted about?}

They shipped out today. I wish I could have hand delivered them. I'm a little nervous about them getting lost in the mail. I put a TON of time into these and I would just cry if anything happened to them! I guess we'll find out in a few days.

More pictures here. Thanks for looking!

Seller to Seller {Sparkle + Metal}

I just wanted to show off these lovely calling cards I made for a fellow Etsy seller. I love the papaya color! The Big Bloom Calling Cards are printed on a sturdy, yet soft textured card stock.

Speaking of, have you checked out Sparkle + Metal on Etsy? Natasha's handmade jewelry is delicate with a touch of sparkle. This is one of my faves...

Holiday 2009

My holiday line will make a full debute in my shop next week, but until then I will leak a few items in here and there. Note cards, gift tags and calendars, oh my!

Scraps.

I hate to throw away paper, even the smallest scraps. So I keep it. Sometimes I'll save it for the boys to color on or cut shapes with, sometimes I use it to print business cards, and now I found a new use. Coming soon to my shop...

Green Bloom Save the Date Cards

A few months ago a sweet young lady named Katie asked me about my Green Bloom Wedding Suite. At first she was just interested in the invites and the response cards. Now I will be creating all the stationery involved in her 2010 summer wedding. Including the invitations and response cards, wedding programs, escort cards, thank you cards, and I just finished the save the date cards. I love the colors, very summery. This set includes a 5.5 x 4.25 save the date card with a coordinating accomodations card, an A2 moss green envelope, a coordinating recipient address label and return address printing on the back flap of the envelope.You can see more pictures here. I'll post more pics when they're all packaged and pretty. Thanks for looking!

2010 Calendars are here!

Happy New Year! Almost. After a couple months of trying to think up twelve different designs for two calendars, I have finally listed them on Etsy and soon to be added to my main shop. I am contemplating one more, but we'll see. Here's a little looksie...

More photos of the calendars here.

...and baby makes three {shower invitations}

Just finished these custom baby shower invitations. They are a spin off of one of my greeting cards. I really like how they turned out and I'll be adding them to my shop tomorrow. What do you think?

See more here!

Etsy Front Page

I'm so excited! To my surprise I found my Halloween Night party invitations on the front page of Etsy this morning. Totally made my day. :)

Thank you Etsy!!

Blossom Noir Wedding Suite

I have been blessed with three wedding orders. ALL AT ONCE! It's a lot of work, but I'm loving the challenge. All three brides have been wonderful to work with. Here is a glimpse at one set I'll be mailing out tomorrow...

You can see more on Flickr!

Cooper's Dog.

Meet Cooper Giron. He is my son Nathan's best friend. Cooper is a sweet, fun loving, active, four-year-old boy with severe allergies. Any exposure to any form of nuts or oranges will send him into anaphylactic shock, which can lead to death in a matter of minutes. To prevent future occurances and potential death, Cooper's family would like a specially trained service dog that will protect Cooper by detecting minute traces of nuts and oranges. A service dog will help Cooper attend school without the worry of accidentally ingesting foods he is allergic to.

In order for Cooper's family to obtain a special service dog, they first need to raise over $10,000 to cover the costs of the specialized training the dog will undergo. Anyone can make a contribution to Cooper's Dog Fund at any Chase Bank (formally known as Washington Mutual Bank) care of Cooper Giron. For more information about Cooper and his allergies, visit his blog at http://www.coopersdog.blogspot.com/.

To do my part, I designed a special set of note cards that I will sell in my Etsy shop and my Main shop and will donate proceeds towards the funding of Cooper's Dog. Cooper and his family are very dear to me. I want to do whatever I can to raise awareness about Coopers severe allergies as well as make it possible for him to have his special dog.

Halloween. Already??

Here's a little bit of a sneak peak of what's coming to the shop...

A Couple's Shower {Damask}

Here is another custom order I just finished. I love the light blue with the rich chocolate envelopes. I think the size and length of the invitation gives it a classy and sophisticated feel.

Winter in August.

One of my favorite Etsy customers is getting married! Her wedding will be in January. I just finished making her save the date cards (110 of them!) and I love how they turned out. She wanted to use birch trees (in Russia, they represent good luck) so we incorporated them into the design. So with shades of blue and gray we came up with these.

They are printed on a thick, textured cardstock with coordinating envelopes. I am really happy with how they came out. I can't wait to get started on the wedding invitations and the RSVP cards. They will have the same "Winter Birch" theme.

Another Sweet Giveaway.

A fellow stationery girl, Vana, is hosting an awesome giveaway on her blog. Adorable tote bags, I really hope I snatch this one up! Get all the details at Le Papier Studio...

EDIT: Guess what?? I WON!!! I'm so excited to get my Kasual Tote! Thank you Vana and Mi K Babe!!

Shop Update

Man, I've really been neglecting my little blog here. I really have been busy, though. Honest. There was a bit of a dry spell in June {did anyone else feel that, or just me?} but July has almost made up for that already. By the way, where has the year gone?

Here's a little of what I've been up to...

1. Personalized Bicycle w/ Training Wheels Note Cards, Set of 16

2. Personalized Victorian Bloom Note Cards, Set of 16

3. Personalized Dandelion Note Cards, Set of 16

4. Dandelion Calling Cards, Set of 20. I turned these into place cards for a customer's wedding, in chocolate brown. Very pretty.

5. Little Birdie Calling Cards for Mom, Set of 20. I had one customer order these to represent her company, Three Birds Concierge. Cute idea.

6. Aqua Dandelion Note Cards, Set of 10

7. Peony Shower Invites, Set of 10

8. Vine Shower Invites, Set of 10. I made four sets of these for my cousin who is throwing a bridal shower for her friend.

9. Blossom Shower Invites, Set of 10. My aunt ordered three sets of these for my cousins upcoming baby shower. Congrats Vicki!

10. Bunches of Thanks Note Cards, Set of 16

11. Blossom Noir Wedding Suite. I really love these. I've a few orders for these in the past couple of weeks.

12. Blosson Noir Note Cards, Set of 16

I'm really going to try to start blogging more often. I've been trying to come up with some really interesting things to post as a weekly thing. Stay tuned...

Simply Hue

My interview with Vicki, of Simply Hue, goes live today. Please check it out!

Sneak Peek.

So here is a little sneak peak of what is to come to The Stationery Boutique this summer. You all know how much I L O V E D my Paper Source field trip last week. Just their colors alone are inspiring. I can't get enough of those bold and beautiful hues. Oh, the ideas!

I also plan on trying out a new size, A2, for my note cards. Up until this point I have used the 4Bar size exclusively, with a few exeptions here and there. I'm also going to give flat cards a go, too.

While I was on R + R I created a lot of new designs, as well as modifications to existing designs. For example, I made a few adjustments to my existing Seashell and Dandelion Note Card sets to accommodate the new color palatte I'll be using. Now that I'm back home I'm in the process of printing the new designs and going to start photographing them within the next couple of weeks.

It's great to get back to work! My "work" is so much fun!!

Seven Years and Counting.

It's been seven years today since Mike and I got married. Wow, I can't believe we still haven't unwrapped the china! No really, time has seriously flown by...

I vividly remember seeing him walking down the halls at Cal Poly. I thought he was sooo handsome and was very excited to see him in one of my first classes. Turns out he was a Geology major, too! I think our first class together was Minerology, Fall 1999. He had me at Ordered Atomic Arrangement. We became study partners and it wasn't too long before studying became "studying". We eventually became a couple.

He left Cal Poly about six months before me. The Air Force brought him to Wyoming so we were apart of a huge chunk of time. I would fly out there when I could, and he'd fly back out to CA when he could. He was able to come home for the holidays. It was Christmas 2001 that he surprised me with an engagement ring.

June 17, 2002 is when we exchanged vows in front of a small group of our friends and family (we would have our huge wedding and reception {Mike calls it the Public Viewing} the following Spring). I left Cal Poly and moved to Wyoming with my husband.

The rest is the first few chapters in our history book. I love you Baby! Happy Anniversary.

A Great Week.

So my days of R + R are almost done. I got to spend a whole lot of time doing a whole lot of nothing. Which is a good thing. And for some reason, the boys decided to sleep in almost every day. I don't know why, but I'm not complaining. I slept until 9 a couple of times and stayed in my jammies till lunch.

But at the same time I am getting a little antsy to start getting back to work. I can't wait to relist everything in my shop. And as soon as I get some photos taken of the new stuff I'll be adding those, too. Whenever I see a "just sold and relisted" post on Twitter I get even more anxious to get back to work. That's the beauty of loving what you do!

As you can see, I've been working on changing the look of The Stationery Boutique. So far, I've made the changes to Twitter, my blog, and Etsy. I eventually want to do my main website, too, but have no idea where to start as far as html goes. I can attempt to do it myself, but who knows how that will end up. I want the design to be my creation, so I don't think I will be hiring a web designer this time. Maybe just someone to do all the html work for me? Is there a such thing?

You know what else has been awesome? In the week that I have been away from home I have been featured on Etsy Item of the Day, Pretty by Pistachio, Lemon Drop Studio is hosting a giveaway featuring my Dandelion Note Cards, AND my Peony Wedding Suite is being featured in an Etsy Treasury. I feel so honored and blessed to be noticed by all of these wonderful ladies! Thank you!

So, Wednesday I will be headed back home, back to reality. Being away has really made me realize how much I love my business and how blessed I am to be able to do it from home.

A Kid in a {Paper} Shop.

OK, so I've just recently started shopping at the Paper Source online store. I love their colors, I love the envelopes (which will start to show up in my shop this summer), I love how all of their products coordinate. Oh how I would love to peruse an actual store. Well, today I finally got to. I am at my moms visiting and she happens to live near the South Coast Plaza Mall in Costa Mesa, which happens to have a brick and mortar Paper Source. I know, to some this might sound totally ridiculous, getting all excited to go see paper. But if you love paper like me, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

So this morning I got the kids up, fed and dressed kinda early cause once 12:00 comes around they are like ticking time bombs. I wanted to spend as much time as I could in there before lunch and nap time rolled around. I had my mom with me too, because the chances of me being totally distracted by the mass amounts of Papaya and Pool were pre-tty high.

I could see it from across the mall and when I walked through the doors I swear I heard a triumphant angelic chorus. The walls were covered in Rhubarb, Curry, Moss and more. It was a sight. I could have easily stayed for a couple of hours but as lunch time approached the kids started to get restless. They even had a little section with a whole bunch of kid stuff. My mom bought the boys some monster looking finger puppets. It kept them busy while I made my final round of the store.

I highly recommend going to a Paper Source store if you are ever near one. You could definitely say I left inspired.

Etsy Item of the Day -- Bicycle Note Cards!

Yay! I'm so excited. This is my very first feature... Thank you Jackie!

Etsy Item of the Day!

Have you guys come across the Etsy Item of the Day! blog? It's a fantastic little site that totally gives props to many of the thousands of Etsy sellers one item at a time. Jackie, the lovely lady behind this wonderful blog has a passion, much like the rest of us, to "buy, sell and live Handmade". Each day you will find a new favorite of Jackie's posted front and center at Etsy Item of the Day. Keep your eyes peeled because one of my items from my Etsy shop will be featured in a couple of days. Don't worry, I'll remind you!


Oh, and you can also follow Jackie on Twitter... @etsytoday.

New Printer

I am so excited to say that I finally got a new printer, a good one, too. I've had my on the Epson Stylus 1400 for a while now. I really wanted to save up money from my Etsy sales so I wouldn't have to dip into our savings account. So I knew I would have to save at least $300.00. Last weekend my family and I we're actually out shopping for some clothes for the boys when I we came across an Office Max. I thought maybe I'd just see how much it was at this store. To my surprise it was way less that I'd seen it anywhere else. It was on sale for $179.00! I knew I couldn't pass this one up. So, it came home with us.

Some of the things that I love about the Epson Stylus 1400:

1. Awesome print/color quality.

2. It prints thicker sheets of paper. Which means I can print business/calling cards from home now. Which means I can make them more affordable for my customers.

3. It's a wide format printer, which means I can print huge prints of my boys.

4. It's fast.

5. It's quiet.

I can't seem to stop finding things to print!

Happenings.

I feel like I've been neglecting my little blog. I've actually been super busy with filling orders. That's a good thing! It seems like just when I get the last order packaged and shipped, I come home and I have another email from Etsy! I am so grateful and thank God every day for giving me this opportunity. Who ever would have thought that I would be able to do what I love. From home. AND be with my kids all day. I am truly blessed.

Speaking of being blessed... I had THE MOST amazing Mother's Day yesterday. I did not lift a finger all day. My boys were angels. My husband cooked the most delicious dinner EVER. Well, look...

I have been keeping pretty busy trying to create some new designs, too. Here are some of my favorites...

And finally, in other news... My friend Jaimee is having a giveaway at a blog called Stuff Under Twenty. I have always been a big fan of her photography and I have my fingers crossed. I would LOVE to win her Zinnia print. I have been eyeing it!

So, that's it for now. Back to work!

Peony Note Card Winner

Wow! I am soooo happy with the participation of this months giveaway!! Thank you to all of you who participated. And thank you to those who Tweeted and Blogged, too.

I wish I could give the note cards to all of you, really I do. But the winner of this months giveaway is...

LulaBoutique, please email me (jennifer [at] thestationeryboutique [dot] com) with your mailing info. Also, let me know what you'd like the front of your cards to read!

You know what? I'm going to offer a little something to everyone who participated. I'm just so appreciative! Until the end of the week (05.08.09) I am going to offer 10% off your purchase at both my Etsy and Main shop if you participated in this months giveaway. Just enter the code PEONY10 at checkout (or message to seller on Etsy).

Thank you everyone!!

It's Giveaway Time!!

It's that time again. I'm hoping to get a little more participation this time. I'm still relatively new to the blogging world and just need a little more exposure. I got a few good ideas from the Lemon Drop Studio giveaway (which ended today, which I didn't win - boo!), so Shauna, I hope you don't mind if I use your genius idea...

THE GOODS

Folded note cards that are hand-stamped with lovely peonies in a cranberry colored ink on 80 lb Royal Linen cardstock. Can be personalized with your name or greeting. You could win:

+ 10 3.5 x 5 folded peony note cards
+ 10 3.5 x 5 brown kraft envelopes
+ They will be packaged in brown kraft box and tied with ribbon

These would even make a nice gift for Mom -- Mother's Day is in a couple weeks, you know.

HOW TO ENTER

Leave a comment to THIS post no later than Tuesday, May 5th, 12 NOON. I will announce the winner that afternoon on my blog.

IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES

1. Become a fan of my blog and you'll get another chance to win. Just leave another comment on THIS blog to let me know that you've become a fan.

2. Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter for another chance to win. Leave a comment on this post when you've done that.

3. Finally, let your readers know about the giveaway on your blog for another chance to win. Leave me a comment on this post to let me know where you've blogged.

Thank you for participating!

When life hands you lemons...

I came across a new blog/Etsy shop/Twitter-er that I will definitely be adding to my faves. Lemon Drop Studio offers all kinds of "fresh-squeezed" goodies. And, right now Shauna is offering a sweet little giveaway. Check it!

I'll be doing my April giveaway in a few days. Stay tuned...

Go Team!

The other day I was crusin around on Etsy when I had some spare time on my hands, checking out more ways to become involved and what not. I was browsing the Community section of the site and decided to learn more about the Teams of Etsy. I'm sorry to say I didn't know about the teams until now. The teams form with shared interest in craft, a shared location, or other interests. It is organized by Etsy members for Etsy members to network, support and promote their crafty talents. What a great way to support the Handmade way to buy...in a team. To quote a song from one of my boys' favorite Nick Jr. shows...

"What's gonna work? Team work. What's gonna work? Team work!"

So I decided to check this out and try to become involve in one of these teams. There were tons to choose from. I came across EtsyPaper: The Street Team for Paper Lovers. Team member shops include everything from handmade paper, stationery, scrapbooking and even calligraphy. As of now, I am an "aspiring" member. Full on membership is based on participation and contribution to the team over a three month period.

This team is set up much like many of the other social networking sites. It's kinda like Facebook for paper lovers. You can upload pictures of your work, participate in forums, write a blog.

Do any of you belong to an Etsy Team? If so, how would you rate your experience?

Sale!

This is redeemable at my Etsy shop or The Stationery Boutique. Instructions for using the code on Etsy are located in the ANNOUNCEMENTS section.

Spring is in the air.

On Monday, my big boy Nathan turned 4! I still cannot believe it. But, sometimes when I talk to this boy, I feel like I'm talking to a 10 year old. We had the most hilarious conversation on Easter Morning. The four of us were sitting around the table eating breakfast, when he notices that I am staring at him...

Nathan: "Why are you staring at me?"

Me: "Because I can't believe my baby is turning 4."

Nathan (to Mike): "Why are you staring at me?"

Mike: "Because I can't believe my baby is turning 4."

A few seconds pass...

Mike (to Nathan): "Why are you staring at me?"

Nathan: "Because I can't believe Lola's (grandma) baby is turning 33!"

What? How in the? I don't know, sometimes I think that kid is a genius. I may be biased, but come on! How does a 4 year old remember how old his parents are? AND know what age comes after that? Pure genius! ;) Mike and I were laughing about it all day.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea!

If it wasn't for all of this almost-a-hurricane wind (seriously, it got up to 65 mph), we'd be able to go outside and enjoy the spring weather. Instead, we stayed in and I worked on this...

It's got potential.

I've come across an overstock of some brown kraft paper in my inventory (actually, I ordered paper when I meant to order cardstock) so I've been trying to think of some ways to use it. I also have some darling double sided cardstock just waiting to be used for something. AND I got a new rotary perforator. So I'm thinking, thinking... How 'bout some cute little matchbook style note pads? That sounds like fun. And it was, and they are adorable! See?

I think for now I may use them as thank you's for customers and possibly a giveaway, maybe this months giveaway. Eventually I think I'll post some up on Etsy.

A Valuable Lesson

Customer service counts the most! You all remember The Wedding Invites, right? This was my very first wedding order so I was very excited. I lovingly hand stamped each and every invitation, RSVP post card, and envelope. I carefully packaged them up for their trip across the country and shipped them off via USPS just like I do all my packages. I use Priority Mail for all of my shipments so I was expecting the package to arrive at my customers door in 2 - 3 business days.

Three days had gone by and she still had not received the package. I wasn't too worried. Maybe it'll just take an extra day since we are on opposite coasts. Fourth day, nothing. Fifth day, nothing. Now I'm starting to panic, she's starting to panic and we have no idea where the invites are. I didn't purchase tracking because I had never had a problem with a lost package before. But, of course, my most important sale to date was the one to get lost. What am I going to do? In this situation, there is no question. I knew I had to make it right for the customer no matter the cost. I was ready to start the stamping process again, as this wonderful customer was willing to wait.

On Friday, almost a week after the package was supposed to arrive, my customer called me to tell me that her post office had it waiting for her to pick up. Apparently it was too big to leave at her door, yet they couldn't leave her a note to let her know!?!? We were both extremely relieved. Now, had I purchased tracking for the package I may have saved us both some worry.

Note to self: Next time purchase tracking, or go through UPS (tracking is included)!

Giveaway #2 Winner...

It's you Heather! Yay! Thank you to all the wonerful ladies who left comments. Heather, just contact me to let me know where I can send your prize. Next giveaway at the end of the month.