Boatman Geller Box Set of Notes to be given to celebrity one year olds

I first came across Boatman Geller stationery about 5 years ago when they were a new little vendor in a single spot at the National Stationery Show. I instantly fell in love with their designs which included all the recent fabric trends put on paper. ( I was actually wearing toile pants at the show and loved their toile cards- a little too caught up in the trend!) Well they have grown by leaps and bounds and have some of the coolest designs in the industry. I recently added their boxed set of notes which are unique cigar box style containers with personalized stationery making for a special gift. In fact the designs you see below were selected by Jewels and Pinstripes who supplies fabulous celebrity and VIP gift bags to be included in their celebrity baby 1 year old gift bags. Charming Cards has 9 different box set of notes styles to choose from including palm tree notecards, golf notecards, patriotic, golf and princess notecards.

Fright Night!

Our family has a fun little twist on movie night. I am fortunate to have much of my family living nearby with 2 sisters in the same neighborhood, making for 12 cousins within walking distance of each other and my parents a town over. Once a month we send out an e-vite invitation to get together for "Fright Night". Grammy and Papa come to my house and bring all the fixings for Fright Night. Supplies include bags of coins, movie tickets, soda, candy, popcorn, a flashlight and a semi-scary movie. The children get a bag of coins to purchase their ticket, soda, candy, and are led to their seats one at a time by their flashlight toting grandpa. Most of the movies are geared towards the 10ish year old boys who prefer semi-scary, sometimes sci fi, creepy monster type movies. Papa then welcomes them to the theater with same dialog every time "Welcome to the Giger Cinemaplex Theater, tonight we are featuring "______" (movie name) which is very, very scary. We ask that you all turn your cell phones and pagers off. There is no talking or chewing gum allowed in the theater. This movie is very scary so Danny might start crying or Simon might hide under the blanket - just cover your ears and close your eyes if you can't take it. (giggles from the boys)

Buy your tickets!

and your soda!

the most popular- candy booth

popcorn in movie bags

Some of our movies have been King Kong, Eight Legged Freaks, Lake Placid, Tremors (a favorite), The Blob, Wait Until Dark, Alien, Jurrasic Park, Critters, Terminator, Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein, Zathura. Frankenstein, Godzilla, Gremlins, Crocodile, The Swarm and we alternate a few family type movies geared toward the younger kids. It's a fun reason to get together and the kids love it!

My (rocky) road to finding a great web designer

Along with being a fruitful business, my website and blog are a source of great enjoyment and satisfaction for me. Getting to this point did not come easy. I started in 2000 with a very simple website that sold only my discount notecards. In 2006 I expanded on this and decided to sell online all of my products and for a brief time had a 2nd website designed. This ended up being a flop and a big waste of time and money (lots of both). Updates and changes were beyond my control and the simplest modification took weeks to accomplish. I was back at square one trying to find a good web designer that could meet my needs and budget. I remember the moment I came across Cathy at Cgonsa Web Design. I knew right away I had stumbled upon something special. I spent hours looking at all of the boutique websites she had designed and how each one offered different features that were hip, girly, had fun character illustration and just the feminine touch I was looking for. I contacted many of the other websites she designed to ask about their experience with her (I highly recommend this when picking a web designer) and every one of them vouched for her quality of work and professionalism. I contacted her immediately and got on the wait list. I was so excited and couldn't wait to start and when my turn came up and we started with the design process, I could tell I was dealing with a pro. The communication was quick, responsive, and I knew I had all of her attention until my site was complete. Within a few short weeks she (virtually) held my hand as I learned how to add my own products and work in the admin side of my site. Having complete control over my website felt so liberating and the end result was better than I imagined and search engine friendly. If you are looking for a hip web designer to design a website that you will learn to completely manage on your own, check her out and the other couture web designs she has done at http://www.cgonsa.com/.

Boatman Geller Giveaway

One of my favorite vendors- Boatman Geller is sponsoring a giveaway of their soon to be released new product- Carrie and Tuck. Simply go to the Boatman Geller Blog and comment on where you would bring this cute little note filled tote this summer and 3 lucky winners will receive a free one!

.

Design-her Gals is giving away free notecards!

ORDER ANY PERSONALIZED DESIGN-HER GALS STATIONERY PRODUCT THIS WEEK AND GET A FREE PERSONALIZED SET OF FLAT NOTE CARDS OR RECIPE CARDS!!

USE PROMO CODE: NOTES

It's easy! Here's how to do it:
1. Go to the Design-her Gals website, Design your Gal and place an order for ANY printed stationery product (yes this includes stickers, invitations, the works!)
2. Then design ANY Gal and order a set of flat note or recipe cards.
3. Check out and enter Promo Code: NOTES
Your order will automatically deduct the cost of the note or recipe cards (one free set per order placed.)
This offer is worth up to $45!!

Promo code works at Design-her Gals website only and expires Midnight, July 15th.

Today's Paper Hits "Home"

As you can tell, my favorite color is pink, except when it is a pink slip! Up until yesterday, my husband and 3800 unlucky other people were employed by IndyMac Bank. While we knew it was coming, the reality of it still packs a punch. The uncertainty about the future is very unsettling but I have faith things will work out. Anyway-to soften the punch, my daughter and I have had plans today to redeem gift certificates we have had for over a year for massages at a swanky local Spa. Hmmmm....laying there having someone rub my back with my husband freshly out of a job seemed paradoxical. It wasn't as relaxing as it could have been but fun to be out with my daughter. Next up- selling the gas guzzling Suburban and the $125 per week fill-ups. I know the economy is tough right now for a lot of people and I look forward to more encouraging newspaper headlines for us all in the future.

Corn on the Cob Cupcakes

A baker I am not, but I was so impressed with this entry in the bake-off contest in our neighborhood's annual July 4th Family Picnic I had to share it (the entry is NOT mine! my favorite recipe book is the Takout Menu Organizer!) These little corn on the cobs are actually mini cupcakes and were so cute it is no wonder they got a prize for the most original entry. They are sitting on corn husks and dotted with yellow jelly beans.

We enjoyed a day complete with a bike parade, old fashioned fire engine rides, a dunk tank, a chili and baking contest, lots of food and games, fireworks, and a fun time with family and friends.

Have a great weekend!

Just In! Whitney English Designer File Folders

One of my goals at the National Stationery Show this year was to come home with a bigger selection of designer file folders. I loved these brand new designs by Whitney English and have been anxiously awaiting for them to arrive so I could offer them to my customers. They come in packages of 9 and have 6 designs to choose from. They are even cuter than what I remembered!