I look forward to our Christmas in July Open House every year. It gives us a chance to celebrate my favorite holiday twice! Each year in July we build miniature versions of our three Christmas sets and invite our clients to come choose which one(s) they would like to reserve in November. It is great for our clients because they can actually see what their different options are, and it is great for us because it solidifies our November calendar in July when clients pre-book and pay for their sessions. This is a great way to get some momentum in the middle of the Summer and to market to our clients for Christmas before anyone else does!

Since this is our 4th year doing the open house, I wanted to add a little something extra to the celebration. I wanted to create Swag Bags to give the first 25 people to book their Christmas Session. Our premiere limited set this year is “A Peppermint Forest”, so we went with a red/white theme for our bags. Many of the components of the Swag Bag came from different posts here at Paperie Boutique.

I used the free Holiday MOO Tag design … but changed it a bit to fit as a tag for our swag bag. (Purchase mini cards at Moo.com.)

The snowflakes came from Paper Source.

The bookmarks were printed at WHCC and have the 2nd half of the year calendar on them from the free calendar template post last week.

The wine glasses are full of cinnamon candy and we made red/white wine charms for the bottom. The wine glasses I ordered from threadartfl.com and the wine charms we made out of jewelry making materials purchased at Michaels.

The lip balm was custom ordered in a peppermint flavor to fit our theme from threadartfl.com. We ordered enough so that during Christmas we can keep them out on the front desk in a pretty bowl.

Extra items included were a Christmas ornament, tea light candles and a set of 3 blank note cards that preview a greeting card line we will be releasing this Fall.

I hope this helps to inspire you guys to put some “Paperie Boutique” ideas for good use in unique packaging for your next special event.

Thank you so much, Jeanine, for not only sharing your adorable packaging – but also how easy it is to put Paperie’s free product downloads to good use! Stop by the Cloud 9 Studios blog and tell her how much you appreciate it!

Have a great weekend!
-Robyn

P.S. Don’t forget the Photographer’s Wall Display Guide giveaway ends late tonight! Hurry up and enter to win!

Purchase any ad (excluding our fADtastic program and Blogads) between now and 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 25th, and get 10% off AND three months FREE!

Our readership has grown 30.9% since the first week of June and we’d love you to be a part of it! Just contact Todd FAST for more details.

And don’t forget that we’re currently doing a giveaway with the Photographer’s Wall Display Guide. Contest ends Friday night, so hurry up and enter to win!

The Photographer’s Wall Display Guide is a Photoshop template system that uses clipping masks and images of real room interiors to help you create amazing examples of wall displays for your clients:

I was inspired to create this guide when my friend Sara commissioned me to take images of her daughter for her retail store. She wanted to order several images for the store walls, but had no idea how many or what size so she asked me for help.

And you know what? I had no idea either until I sat down and cropped and arranged the photos and saw with my own eyes exactly what photos worked together in what grouping and at what size. Which got me to thinking…

If WE as photographer’s don’t know without seeing it, how can we possibly expect our clients to have the imagination to see the possibilities on THIER walls?

How can they know unless we SHOW them that an 8×10 over their fireplace mantle will be practically invisible:

But a 30×40 will look this fabulous?:

Or that this three piece grouping would look amazing over their couch?

Or in their hallway?

There are several other wall display guides on the market, but there are none (that I know of) that use real room interiors.

There are some guides that are incredibly pricey and others are just flattened jpgs so don’t offer the ease of use of these templates which use clipping masks to make placing and resizing your images a snap. And, even better I’ve made these incredibly affordable!

There are so many possible uses for these templates, here are just a few:

• Create a visually stunning framed or canvas grouping to add to the end of your client galleries to encourage large size print sales
• Create a page on your website about canvas displays using your own images as an example for your clients
• Create a page on your website or blog showing the difference in impact between an 8×10 and a 30×40 in a REAL ROOM!
• Use to prepare for or during in person client ordering sessions to nail down the perfect scale and arrangement of an image grouping or even a single image
• Show the difference in terms of ratio and cropping that an 8×10 vs an 11×14 has on the same image.

Read about more of the product features or watch a behind the scenes tour of the templates here!

If you don’t know how to use clipping masks, don’t worry because I have created a video tutorial to explain it all.

I have priced these at $50 each for the couch, the chair or the fireplace template, but for a limited time am offering an introductory price of $40 each or $85 for all three.

Even better, I’m giving one away right here! But if you just need to have these RIGHT NOW, I’m also creating an additional 25% discount for Paperie Boutique readers that ends at midnight EDT on Saturday, July 24th! Use the code “paper” (without the quotation marks) at checkout.

To enter for the free giveaway, you can do one (or all) of these three things:

1. “Like” the Photographer’s Wall Display Guides “Facebook fan page”

2. “Like” Ariana Falerni Photography’s “Facebook fan page”

3. Follow becoming-mom on Twitter

Then come back and comment here that you’ve done so – each entry requires its own separate comment.

Comment(s) must be posted here by 11:59 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 23rd. You can enter up to three times total. Post what you have “liked” or “followed” in separate comments to have multiple chances to win!

Comments on this entry will be numbered in order of posting. The winning number will be chosen by Random.org, and the winner will be contacted within 24 hours of contest’s end to claim their prize. Good luck!

UPDATE: The winner has now been announced in the comments – congrats to her, thanks to everyone who entered, and huge thanks to the Photographer’s Wall Display Guide!

Huge thanks to Ariana and Photographer’s Wall Display Guide for this giveaway!

P.S. If you are interested in advertising with Paperie Boutique, please contact todd @ this domain. If you are a photographer and are interested in having your packaging featured – or are a vendor and are interested in having your business packaging, marketing ideas, or photography-related products featured – please contact robyn @ this domain to be added to the posting schedule.

One more time, a huge thank you to all the vendors (see list here) who made this last week possible, and thanks to everyone who stopped by to make the week such a success!

Cheers! *clink*
-Robyn

So one last pop-quiz. Winner takes all. First person to Google away and post all the correct answers in the same comment wins. Good luck…and GO! (WE HAVE A WINNER!)

1. What city were Robyn and Todd married in?

2. What 2 pages was Robyn / Shutterblog.com featured on
    in the book “The IT Girl’s Guide to Blogging with Moxie”?

3. What was Robyn’s first DSLR?

4. What phobia / irrational fear has Robyn had since childhood?

5. What retailer is the inspiration behind Robyn’s entire branding
    and packaging “look”?

For those who are curious and speed-readers, here are the answers:

1. New Orleans / French Quarter
2. 107 and 169
3. Nikon D70
4. mariachi bands
5. Tiffany

And a huge thanks to each vendor that made this week’s amazing parties possible!

1. Moo
2. The Album Cafe
3. Francypants Designs
4. HB Photo Packaging
5. ProDPI
6. My Funky Camera
7. Clickinmoms
8. Photographer Cafe
9. GO{4}PRO Photography
10. Photographer’s Kick Start
11. Color Inc.
12. Loktah
13. MPixPro
14. Jamie Schultz Designs
15. iProof Pro
16. La Pomme Design
17. Pixel2Canvas
18. The Designer Concept
19. Sassy Designs
20. Pepper

Many of their birthday-related sales extend through the weekend so make sure to check the birthday party archives if you’re getting here late – including the ProDPI sale which runs the 18th – 24th of July.

And last but not least, a huge thanks to each one of you! Not only would this week not have been completely amazing without your participation – neither would the last year!

…and one to grow on!
- Robyn and Todd

I worked in my Sassy Designs t-shirt yesterday. Definitely a prize worth winning, nevermind the $50! Thanks to Sassy Designs and check back here soon for the finale / pop quiz!

Thanks to The Designer Concept and check back soon for more!

No. 2 pencils out. Search engines locked and loaded. First person to post all the correct answers in the same comment wins. (WE HAVE A WINNER!) And go!

1. What U.S. holiday weekend did Pixel2Canvas move their business
    to Las Vegas?

2. Robyn appeared in “Self Magazine”. What American Idol judge was
    next to her name / write-up?

3. What’s the name of the Pixel2Canvas blog?

4. What years was Barry Switzer the HEAD COACH for the
    OU Sooners?

5. What does Pixel2Canvas include with every order?

What happens on Paperie stays on Paperie…good luck!

(WE HAVE A WINNER in the comments! Check back soon for more goodies and don’t forget you get 30% off with the above code at Pixel2Canvas through Sunday at midnight – thanks P2C!)

For those who are curious and speed-readers, here are the answers:

1. 4th of July
2. Simon Cowell
3. What’s Up Duck?
4. 1973–1988 (or 1973-89, both accepted based on
    season or resignation)
5. A rubber ducky.

Did you catch the “win the ENTIRE store” part up there?!? You bet! Check out the La Pomme Design blog for more details!

UPDATE – The winners have been chosen!

And I’m giving you a fair warning that there’s another pop-quiz coming up here in a bit. So put your favorite search engine on standby and check back soon! You snooze, you lose!

So head on over and WIN! But don’t forget to check back, and check back often, today – because things are just getting started and you don’t want to be pouting tomorrow that you missed IT ALL today. I happen to know what’s coming up next – would I lie to you?

To wrap things up for tonight, we have an awesome party favor from Jamie Schultz Designs:

Thanks to Jamie Schultz Designs for joining in the birthday fun! And I know I’ve said this before, but let me stress it clearly for tomorrow…

You will not want to miss Friday. Check in. And check in often! See you then!

P.S. Are you a vendor who wants in on the fun? Please contact robyn @ this domain ASAP for information on how to throw your own Paperie-soirée!

So grab your keyboard, fire up Google, and get ready because the first person to post all the correct answers in the same comment wins! (We have a winner in the comments!)

1. What was the title of the June 16, 2010, entry on MPixPro’s Blog?

2. What date (month / day / year) were Robyn and Todd married?

3. What link / URL did MPixPro “Tweet” at 9:46 AM on June 16th?

4. What University did Robyn and Todd graduate from?

5. What date (month / day / year) was Paperie Boutique’s very
    first post?

Be quick and good luck! (We have a winner!) Thank you MPixPro!
-Robyn

For those who are curious and speed-readers, here are the answers:

1. Introducing Gallery Wrap Collections!
2. June 1, 1996
3. http://blog.mpixpro.com/index.php/06/introducing-gallery-wrap-collections/
4. University of Oklahoma
5. July 18, 2009

Can you believe we still have a full day of partying to go? Yeah! Thanks Loktah!

If you’ve put off buying a canvas sample or doing something extra for that very special client (or even better – for yourself), it’s time to quit procrastinating! Thanks to Color Inc., and check back SOON for more!

$100 off your purchase? You can’t beat that! So hit their party and then come back here to order!

Don’t forget to check back often today – we’re just getting started.