Tis the Season...for holiday cards

I love checking the mail box this time of year.  It is the one month that I can expect to find something other than junk mail (a waste of paper) and bills (a necessary evil).  I'm always intrigued to see who we will be receiving cards from as well as the types of cards that are sent.

In the past we've received everything from the homemade, handcrafted holiday 3x5 note cards to the 7 photo photo-paper card to elaborate professionally taken family photo for the triple-ply card stock 5x7 with silver-lined, embossed address envelope.  They come in all shapes and sizes, from friends and families, near and far.  All are cherished and sit in our kitchen during the entire holiday season.

Holiday Cards

However, while I love receiving these festive greetings, I find that I'm at a loss for what to do with them once the holidays are over.  When we first started receiving them, I would keep them and put them a scrap album so that we could look back over time and see the evolution of the families sending us their cards.  But after about the first five years of collecting, while scrapping the cards was fun, it was extremely time consuming and not a terribly efficient way of keeping the cards.

I then switched to a card box, which I indexed by year.  This was great because it allowed me to catalogue them and put them away, but now I just have boxes of cards put away that we really never look at and are sitting in my home office taking up the limited space I have in there.

Over the last couple of years, the cards have just been sitting in piles on my desk, waiting for a place to go.

So this year I'm putting it out there to all my card giving/receiving and crafty friends to share what they do with all the lovely holiday cards they receive?  I'm curious to know as I would love to figure out what works for you and maybe try it too!

Happy Holidays to everyone and I can't wait to see your cards and your suggestions!

TinyPrints Deal of the Day

I can't believe it but summer is right around the corner and like many of you, most of my weekends are already planned with birthday parties, weddings and other fabulous summer events.  Invitations are a great way to set the tone of your party!  Finding the right one at the right price can be a daunting task, especially since there are so many out there and almost everyone is having some kind of sale.

For those of you who are in the process of planning your summer get-togethers, if you are thinking of sending out actual paper invitations, you might not want to miss out on TinyPrints' Deal of the Day.

TinyPrints is a one of the most popular online invitation and stationery stores.  Right now they are offering 25% off on the following Invitations - Summer Parties, Engagement Parties and Wedding Rehearsals!

Deal of The Day

25% off all Summer Party Invitations (See All)
Code:  DOD0616  |  Expires: 6/17/2011 at 8:00 am (PT)
Summer Parties :

25% off all Wedding Rehearsal (See All) and Engagement Party Invitations (See All)
Code: DOD0616  |  Expires:  6/18/2011 at 8:00 am (PT)
Rehearsal Party :

Engagement Party:

I have used them in the past for holiday greetings and announcements.  They are good quality and I have found them easy to work with.

Here are some quick tips to keep in mind when picking and ordering your invitations:

1.  When you pick your invitation you should consider the color, style and theme of your party.  Your invitations set the theme and tone of your party.   If you are having an adults only 4th of July Party and your colors are red, white and blue your invitation should reflect that.

Deal of The Day

2.  Make sure your invitation gives all the relevant information - the who, what, where, why and an RSVP date.  These invitations have the ability to be customized.  Take a minute to sit down and think of creative ways to share your information on the invitation, but be sure to include all the relavant details.  Note:  if you don't want to get phone calls or random emails to your personal for RSVPs, TinyPrints is now offering select invitations with an option to have a FREE RSVP manager website.  You still get to send your paper invitation, but the guests go to the website to reply. 

3.  Give yourself at least two weeks time to place your order, have them printed and shipped to you.  For summer fun parties 3-4 weeks is sufficient time to give your guests to RSVP.  However, if you are having a Rehearsal Dinner or Summer Engagement Party, you will want to give your guests 6 weeks.  So if you're thinking about having that Engagement Party in the beginning of August, now is a great time to be ordering your invitations.

Deal of The Day

4.  Before you order, go through the list of invited guests and make sure you have everyone's current address.  Take a final count and then make sure your order 10-15% over what you actually need.  You always want to make sure you have a couple extra for the "just in case" or "opps I forgot...".   The nice thing about TinyPrints is that all you need is a minimum of 10 and then you can order in additional increments of 5.

5.  Get a Proof.  Take the time to look at the invitation one more time before you send them to final print.  No one is perfect and we all make mistakes.  Getting a proof gives you (and someone else) the opportunity to look at it one more time and catch that mistake or missing information.

So have fun planning your summer parties and don't forget your invitations!

Paper Princess's Paper Picks and Tricks

I just finished reading my May/June Paper Craft Magazine.  It was mostly about making cards for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.  However there were a couple of things that I thought might be of interest to share with you. 

New Collection!  BasicGrey, one of my favorite paper companies, was advertising its new collection of papers - Life of the Party.

It looks like a really great line that will be perfect for scrapping your favorite party photos.  I’ve been able to find it on occasion at various A.C. Moore Stores and random craft supply stores in my area, but it’s been hit or miss for the most part.  So, since I have a business that lends itself to carrying craft papers and fabrics, I’m working on opening a retail account with them.  Stay tuned for more information on availability.

Cards, Cards and More Cards.  This issue focused mainly on card crafts for May and June.  Since Mother’s Day had already passed, those cards weren’t as appealing to me as the ones for Father’s Day.

  As I was looking at the cards, I realized that I actually have this paper sitting in my paper stash.  While I won’t be making this card, it gave me some ideas for future scrapbook pages.   If you would like the instructions for the card though, visit http://www.papercraftsmag.com/articles/Walkin__Boots_Card.

They also provide ideas for teacher appreciation cards.  If you are looking to do something special for your child’s teacher(s) this year, consider making a homemade card.  Anyone can buy a ready-made card, sign it from you and your child and send it into school.  If that is all you have time for, that’s great. I’m sure your child’s teacher will be most appreciative. 

However, if you have a little more time, consider making a homemade card with your child.   If you’re a scrapper, card-maker or crafter, then you probably have the materials around to create a card.  If you don’t, there are plenty of online resources – like www.papercraftsmag.com and www.marthastewart.com that have pages and pages of templates, lists of supplies and tips for creating that perfect card. 

One of the things that I’ve been encouraging my daughter to do is be creative.  While she may be too little to cut out the patterns and write the actual sentiment for the card, she is not too little to paste the paper and embellishments together.  She and I can sit for an hour or more, working on paper projects together.  For cards, I will cut or fold the paper for her and then give her stickers, kid-safe/friendly markers and other embellishments to use to decorate the card.  If you don’t want to write in the card and your child is too young to write, try giving them appropriate sentiment stickers to stick in the card.  Don’t worry if they are upside down or catawampus, that’s part of the charm and makes the card unique to them and their personality.

If you don’t have scrapbook paper or craft paper lying around, but you have loads of “art” projects from school, consider using one of them to make the card.  It’s a great way to use something that your child made and give it new life instead of making its way into the tired art portfolio or the ever loving recycle bin at the end of the year.

If you’re child’s teacher has been encouraging creativity in the classroom they will love the specially made card just for them.  Who knows, they may even keep it as a memento.

Mother's Day

Hard to believe but Mother's Day is right around the corner.  Two years ago, I celebrated my first Mother's Day as a new mother and I have to say it was one of the most emotional days I ever had.  It ranked right up there with the passing of my grandmother and the day I got married.  One of the things that made it so emotional was the cards that I received.

Until that day, I was always the sender and giver of the cards.  I bought cards for my mother, grandmothers, sister-in-law, aunts and mother-in-law.  I would spend hours poring over the cards in the local drug and card stores trying to find the perfect one and raying I hadn't given it to someone the year before.  This, by the way, has happened.  Eventually I would find the right ones and I would be set for another Mother's Day.

However, that year, I was not up for doing the card shopping and left it to my husband.  I must say, he is a wonderful card shopper in his own right.  I'm never disappointed with his choices and sometimes, I even think they top mine.  But that year he out did himself.  I must have had ten cards to open on Mother's Day that year - each one better than the next. 

So why am I sharing this with you?  Well, the answer is simple - I love getting cards full of thought, love and meaning.  And I know I'm not alone. 

There is something about opening up the envelope, seeing the beautiful, colorful, sentimental and sometimes funny choices people make when deciding what card to give their loved one.  It shows that someone took the time out of their busy day to stop for a few minutes (or maybe hours depending on how you shop) to think about you, remember what you've done for them in the last year and find the right words to express themselves. 



Hallmark Card



Yes, I've gotten my fair share of email cards - and I do like looking at them.  I've gotten some pretty funny ones, some elegant ones and some down-right "what were they thinking" ones.  But at the end of the day, I still love my paper cards.

True to my paper passion, I keep a drawer full of all the cards I've received over the years.  Yes, I've thinned out the pile, but I've kept most of the ones from my husband, parents, in-laws, and now my daughter.  They are thoughts and sentiments that I can go to when I'm having the worst of days.  They are a constant reminder that there are people out there who love me and think about me. 

This year, I'm back in charge of getting the Mother's Day cards for our mom's and grandmothers.  My husband is in charge of getting mine - hard to by cards for myself, but I must confess, I do look.  I haven't really started shopping for them this year, but here are a few places to look if you're an online shopper.

Tiny Prints: 

Tiny Prints has you covered this year for Mothers’ Day with their Tiny Prints Greeting Card Collection, which lets you create individual personalized cards with photos starting at $1.99. They have cards for everyone in your life from your mom, to your grandmother, sister, daughter or anyone else important to you.  In a matter of seconds, you can create personalized Mother’s Day Cards and have Tiny Prints mail them directly to you or the recipient.  No more scouring the racks at your local convenience store for a lame last minute card, Tiny Prints has removed the hassle and added the fun back into Mother’s Day shopping with a personal touch.

Hallmark:

Don't have time to get to the store, check out Hallmark.  http://www.hallmark.com/product/photo-cards/mothers-day.  They have a great selection of cards and right now they are running a Get Free Stamps on Card's promotion, with cards they address for you.  Use promo code FREESTAMPS at checkout.  Offer expires 6/19/11. (see the fine print for more details).

For those of you who are DIYers here are a couple places to go for some great make your own Mother's Day Cards.

Disney Family Fun:

Great ideas on how to craft a homemade card for mom. Be sure to also check out our lovely collection of Mother's Day crafts that can be made and given as gifts.  http://familyfun.go.com/mothers-day/mothers-day-cards-gifts/mothers-day-cards/

I actually saw this one in their magazine. It looks like it will take a little time, but I know that special mom in your life is worth it.  Click here for the directions on how to make the Flower Pot card.

Martha Stewart

Known for her do-it-yourself crafts and projects, she's got some amazing Mother's Day Craft and Card Ideas.  Click here to see what her website has to offer.

Now a final thought.  Just remember, no matter what you decide to do for this Mother's Day, whatever you do will be appreciated - even if it's just a card.