but Friday, never hesitate…

An incredible end to an incredible week – today an amazing giveaway / guest post from Jamie Schultz Designs. I’ve been a fan of Jamie’s work forever and I’m beyond thrilled to have her here at Paperie!

Jamie Schultz Designs is so excited to be featured as a guest on the Paperie Boutique blog. Let me take a moment to introduce myself. I was raised in a very small town in Nebraska where my passion for all things creative developed. My grandmother owned a charming flower shop and I spent countless hours watching her design works of art right before my eyes. As a child, I dabbled in art but didn’t find my niche until I picked up a camera. At that point it was evident that photography would serve as my creative outlet.

A childhood dream was realized when I opened my studio loft in the quaint downtown area of Hudson, Wisconsin. Inspired by the charming details in my grandmother’s shop, my boutique style studio offers the capability for unique custom photography. With that came a client base who came to expect a wide array of products to preserve and showcase the images from their session. As my photography business grew so did the number of inquiries from other photographers interested in purchasing my designs for use in their own businesses. Thus, Jamie Schultz Designs was born.

Using my signature style, I create templates that are clean and simple with a splash of defining detail that will undoubtedly impress your clients. These timeless designs include collections of holiday cards, birth announcements, graduation announcements and coffee table books for engagements, high school seniors, families, and babies.

As a token of our appreciation to the loyal Paperie readers, Jamie Schultz Designs is offering a $10 gift code off $50 or more to you just for reading this blog! (Enter code: paperie10)

In addition, one lucky winner will receive a $50.00 gift code to www.jamieschultzdesigns.com

See below for details how to win!

First become a Facebook Fan of Jamie Schultz Designs.

Then post this in your status…
I’m loving http://paperieboutique.com -and- http://www.jamieschultzdesign.com

Next come back here and leave a comment here where you’ve done so … and you might just be the lucky winner. Good luck!

UPDATE-EDIT: Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, May 16th.

Thanks so much Jamie (and Natasha)! Don’t forget to stop by the site, the blog, and become a Facebook Fan to show your appreciation!

UPDATE: The winner has been announced here. Thanks again to Jamie Schultz Designs and everyone who entered!

Also don’t forget that the iPhone case template kit collection by Go{4}Pro is still up for grabs through 11:59 p.m. EDT on Saturday, May 15th – there’s still a chance to win!

Have a great weekend everyone!
-Robyn

P.S. Look around the sidebars and say “hi” to several of our new advertisers. 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.

Good. Friday!

You might have noticed it’s been a little quiet around here this week. It’s spring break and between my ‘regular’ job, and hurricane advisories and tornado warnings occurring approximately every 15 minutes in my living room, something had to give! But to close off the week I have something to give…you!

Not only a new contest, but also a free download – so everyone wins!

This gift set for today’s contest includes:

• one Martha Stewart Crafts package of 8 champagne-tipped CD labels with 8 matching 5×5″ white and champagne envelopes (“includes handy alignment pad to ensure perfect label application”)
• one Martha Stewart Crafts 4.75×6.75″ photo-corner-accordion (cardstock construction with decorative front label and ribbon-tie – holds eight 4×6 photos)
• one baggie of 40 Paper-Source acid-free photo corners in Pool

How do you win? Easy-pleasey! Go to your blog, Facebook account, Flickr account, or Twitter account and post the following:

Win Martha Stewart Crafts & Paper Source accordion + CD label set – visit Paperie Boutique / paperieboutique.com by @shutterblog for more!

Please note: The link you post must direct to a public account. I cannot verify links on private, friends & family only, or passworded accounts and they will not be eligible to win this item.

You can enter up to four times total – one entry each per public, non-private blog URL / Facebook / Flickr / Twitter account. Post the URL(s) to your link(s) in the comments for THIS ENTRY. Comment(s) must be posted here by 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 4th.

You have four chances to win but only one chance PER LINK – please do not post the same link multiple times – duplicate links will be removed. And post your 1-4 separate links 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 everyone!

UPDATE: The winner Susan B. Photography has been announced here!

In case you missed the free download for the 5×7 flat press card “baby girl birth announcement”, I now have a printed example of what they look like. I knew one day it would be the perfect fit for someone!

These announcements were designed for, and printed by, my favorite lab ProDPI.

And I’ve updated the post to include the template for the new card-back as shown in the photograph above. So if you’ve downloaded the front in the past, make sure to go back and grab the back too!

If you’ll scroll down in the right sidebar you’ll see a category called “free product downloads” with several links for more goodies!

To those who celebrate, Happy Easter weekend! See y’all next week!
-Robyn

If you’re interested in having your own business packaging, marketing ideas, or photography-related products featured please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment).

If you are interested in advertising with Paperie Boutique, please contact todd @ this domain.

third time’s a charm

The Internet is full of photography-related forums now, both free and paid, private and public, new and old. Sometimes it gets pretty overwhelming to figure out what to choose—not only from the sheer volume of groups out there, but also deciding which ones will benefit your business and be the best investment of your time. On the 17th of last month, I gave one recommendation. Now I’m proud to feature the only other paid-forum that I’m a member of – Pinkle Toes 4 Photographers (PT4P). I have been a member of PT4P since day one of v1, and immediately renewed my membership for v2 and v3. I’ve always found it more than worth the expense for the member forum alone—nevermind the business and marketing materials, templates, card designs, website expansion tools, etc. So it is with great excitement that I introduce Michele, a.k.a. Pinkletoes, to explain more.

Spring your photography business into action with Pinkle Toes 4 Photographers! Now in its third year, PT4P is the original ever-evolving, all-in-one design, marketing, and resource center for photographers. Whether you’re just starting out or even if you’ve been in the business for years, PT4P has materials to help save you time and money and keep your business fresh and moving forward. New materials are released quarterly, but here is just a small sample of the kinds of templates created just for PT4P members:

Be sure to check out ALL of the offerings in PT4P including webinars (topics chosen by the members), album and framing actions, contract and brochure templates, and so much more.

Special Limited Time Offer: Purchase your v3 membership by March 7th and mention “Paperie Boutique” in your payment message and you’ll receive a bonus Senior Save the Date postcard template.

Thank you so much for doing a guest post, Michele! I look forward to seeing some of you at PT4P soon!

If you’re interested in having your own business packaging, marketing ideas, or photography-related products featured please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment).

a moment like this

Just in time for Christmas, a new guest post that comes bearing gifts!

Hey, I’m Moon! I am an 18 year old photographer who is very interested in graphic design, photography, and art in general. I’ve just started a small business called “Moments Photography“. I have done most the designing myself and was working on digital papers for albums, business cards, etc. So I thought I might as well share them here!

I also do custom logo designs, headers, and basically anything graphic-based thing needed for photography.

Thank you so much Moon! Please visit her website Moments Photography and don’t forget to download your (FREE!) gift!

This weekend I finished these cute holiday-themed birth announcements for a client’s baby who decided to make his debut about six weeks early. The artwork is by Holly Brooke Jones at twopeasinabucket.com, commercial license available.

Last but not least, one final look at my “Christmas wrapping 2009“. You can see my two Moo mini-card free template downloads (one, two) – recently featured at the Moo blog – in action.

I’m taking another break for the holidays so Merry-Happy! See you next decade… Thanks for making the 2009 Paperie Boutique debut a smashing success!

tag – you’re it.

Sorry it’s been really quiet around here lately. Most photogs are up to their eyeballs in “holiday” right now which means I haven’t put out the call for guest features so as to not impose.

That goes for me as well…so… I’m trying to keep the content new here. Promise!

I packed these up to ship tonight and thought I’d share. It’s a holiday gift for my newborn clients. A photo of their baby on the front, and graphics to make it into a gift tag on the back. I had them printed as square business cards by ProDPI.

The background “papers” and frame element on the back of the gift tag are by Sassy Designs, recently featured here at Paperie Boutique.

To complete the look, I rounded opposite corners and used a heart-shaped hole punch to create a “tag” — then finished each one up with ribbon. I’m very pleased with them. Can’t wait to hear the client reactions later this week!

the dotted line

I don’t make custom announcements very often because quite frankly, it pains me to have the one I love the most rejected. Here’s a (FREE!) baby girl birth announcement (view larger demo) that recently got tossed in the “nope” pile. I loved it too much to just throw on an external drive. It’s ready to print at ProDPI as a 5×7 flat press card. The ProDPI crop-guide is included as a hidden layer.

Text is customizable, but color and design are not. Fonts used are Freebooter Script and Helvetica-Neue.

If you plan to use a lab other than ProDPI to print this announcement, please make sure you check the design in their crop-guide template first! (This file is actually 7.25 x 5.25 inches, 300dpi.) Otherwise the stripes and dots may not appear as you would like them to.

UPDATE on April 2, 2010 – here is an example of this announcement as printed by ProDPI. I have added an additional “back” file (as shown in the photo below) so both sides – front and back – of the 5×7 flat press card can be submitted for print.

→ download link – card FRONT ← (please note this file was designed in CS2 and you must have Photoshop or Elements and know how to edit a .psd layered file — I do not provide technical support for this download)

→ download link – card BACK ← (please note this file was designed in CS2 and you must have Photoshop or Elements and know how to edit a .psd layered file — I do not provide technical support for this download)

If you end up printing these, please send me a product shot so I can see!

This template is ©Robyn Pollman, 2009. All rights reserved. It may not be copied, resold, made available for download or given away elsewhere, or redistributed without my written permission.

café d’album

When I ran across The Album Cafe website online, I knew I had to feature it here. It was instant-love. I put off an entire morning full of work just combing through the site. Thankfully they offered to do a guest post so now you can see what all the fuss is about, too!

Hi there, we are The Album Cafe!

We were so excited to be contacted by Robyn about doing this guest post! Be sure to read to the end for a great coupon! There is so much to talk about, so let’s get started…

The Album Cafe provides professionally designed Photoshop templates exclusively for photographers. As the name implies, we of course have tons of Album templates…oh, but there’s so much more!

When our company first began, we added a Suggestion Box to our website so that photographers could suggest products that they felt would be useful to them and their businesses. All the following products are a direct result of those suggestions…

Need a business card for your business? It can be so expensive to have a card designed for you, and all the “pre-made” cards out there are so generic – why not create your own card, with YOUR OWN IMAGES… our business card templates range from $3 to $7!

One of my favorite suggestions we’ve ever gotten was for blog photo templates. Most of you have a blog already that you like, but what fun to spice it up by adding fun borders and collage style layouts to the photos you upload? Check out a few of our super fun “Blog It” templates… they even include automating actions that place all your pictures in the layouts for you. Sweet!

Okay, I realize it’s only October, but the holidays will be here before you know it! How about offering your clients the option of ordering their holiday cards through you – with photos from your shoot?

We want you to have fun with your templates and maybe even learn some new cool things about Photoshop, so we have OUTSTANDING customer support! There are tutorials on our “Learn” page to help you out and free actions on our “Free Actions” page to speed you along. We are always available to answer any questions you may have (and we won’t make you wait days for an answer!) – if you’ve got a question, no matter how big or small, please ask! That’s why we’re here. That’s what we love to do.

Also, don’t forget to check out our “Free Stuff” page for totally free templates available for immediate download!

See something here you like? Want to save some $$$? Just use the code Paperie20 at checkout to receive 20% off your entire order! This code is good through December 31, 2009.

Huge thanks to The Album Cafe for an amazing guest feature and coupon code! What are you still reading here for…go…now!

If you’re interested in having your own business packaging, marketing ideas, or photography-related products featured please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment).

the word ’sassy’ comes to mind

A couple of days ago I got an e-mail from Jen at Mesmerizing Moments Photography (recently featured here) letting me know about Sassy Designs:

“She did such an amazing job…..she will make [digital papers] completely custom for you, with your logo colors, and give you exclusive rights so she won’t sell them to anybody else! I gave her my color #’s from Photoshop so they match perfectly! Now I have a great unique set of papers [shown in image above] to make all my marketing material with, and decorate my site and blog! She completely rocks so much that I cannot keep her a secret. She deserves to be known about for sure in the photography community!”

You don’t get a better testimonial than that, so I contacted Terry at Sassy Designs right away. And she graciously offered to do a guest post here. Read on…

Hi, everyone! I must say I am honored that Robyn invited me for a guest spot! My name is Terry Taylor and I’m the designer behind Sassy Designs, Ltd in Cleveland, Ohio.

I started off as a website designer back in 1997. I was intrigued by the web and I wanted to learn how to create my own website. So I did. I read books and tutorials and I taught myself HTML – and everything else I needed to know.

I started Sassy Designs in 2002 after a few years of experience and enough confidence that I could actually make it. I focused on website design but as the years went by I began branching out and doing different types of projects – logo design, print design, and ad design. I even had the opportunity to design the layout and masthead for a local newspaper/tabloid publication devoted to canines.

After the birth of my son in 2006 I realized that I didn’t quite have the time to devote to large scale website design projects so I focused more on the smaller ones. When my oldest and dearest friend started her own photography business she hired me on the side to design custom business forms for her so she could get her brand in place. Then she asked for my design help in creating custom birth announcements for her clients. That is ultimately what got me started designing card templates.

In June of this year I officially re-launched my website and opened up a shop on Etsy. I was nervous to make the leap but I must say it is one of the best decisions I ever made! I now offer a variety of card templates designed around WHCC’s print specifications along with digital papers and other design elements for those photographers that want to create their own. I also take custom orders. So if you’re looking for something specific to coordinate with your existing image just let me know!

As a special thank you to Robyn for hosting me I’m offering a FREE template download (shown above) to all of the readers of the Paperie Boutique blog. Enjoy!

Thank you so much Terry—be sure and stop by Sassy Designs and her Etsy shop to let her know how much you appreciate her time (and 5×7 folded card freebie)! And don’t miss her Facebook and Twitter accounts!

P.S. Bonus points to anyone who gets the post-title…

If you’re interested in having your own business packaging, marketing ideas, or photography-related products featured please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment).

for example

I posted an entry here a few weeks ago that discussed the paper sample kits I send to my clients for birth announcements and holiday cards. I enclose paper sample kits with every client “welcome kit” I mail following a package booking. I’ve created a new template for Fit to Print based on that kit, but with a twist.

Birth announcements, invitations, and holiday greeting cards sell better if the client can see both the product — and the QUALITY of the product. This will help each of your clients feel the difference between the type of custom, press printed professional products you offer vs. cheaper, consumer-grade products from chain stores and public online printing services.

Having paper samples in-hand while ordering also minimizes client confusion and makes certain their cards arrive exactly how they envisioned.

These templates were designed to maximize your client purchases while reducing your costs. You select the paper types you want to offer your clients and then print your various cardstock samples accordingly. Save money and paper at the same time!

Most professional print labs will print 4×5.5″ flat-postcards in qty. 25. By dividing the template into three parts, with a simple paper cutter you can triple that amount and offer your paper samples in “bookmark” form with sample text and images on the fronts, and paper type and your logo / URL on the backs. (All you will need to do is cut each card into three parts, flip over, and write down the particular paper-type in the space provided, as shown above.) The paper sample packs can be held together with binder-rings, brads, snaps, or “belly bands” — or even presented looseleaf inside of a decorative envelope. Get creative!

These custom-made .psd templates are designed ready-to-print and have been tested at two different professional labs. You will only need to add your own images, logo, sample text and change any colors if desired. A .doc file will be inclued with instructions on how to use and order (including font names and the print labs used). You must be able to edit layered .psd files in either Photoshop or Elements.

I’m making “design eleven” available now at a special PRE-ORDER discount. The first batch of templates has already been mailed out. The pre-sale discount price has been extended through 11:59 p.m. EDT on Friday, October 16th.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask in the comments!

mesmerized.

Jen Gentry of Mesmerizing Moments Photography recently shared how she set up a booth for a community event.

Now we’re lucky enough to have her back for another guest post, which proves without a doubt that like Mary Poppins she is practically perfect in every way.

I am a member of PT4P, and Michelle made us these great wall gallery layouts, so I made mine into a handout that I give to every client!

I print most of my marketing material through Miller’s – a little trick for all of you, is when you are ordering in quantities of 25, always add 1 more (ex.26) and it will push your pricing into the next category, and make it cheaper!

My gift cards, they are 4×5 cards – double sided, and I put them in the envelope shown, and then into a really pretty envelope from Paper-Source and top them off with ribbon (not shown)

My baby’s first year handout – it’s a 5×5 tri-fold

My pricing guide including all my boutique items, printed on a 5×5 tri-fold

My date reminder card – printed on folded business cards – I just circle the date and fill in a time, my clients tell me it’s perfect for their fridge!

I really love Miller’s, their turn around time & quality is top of the line, I couldn’t ask for more! To keep everything a little nicer I print it all on their pearl paper, which is to die for!

My brown envelopes from Paper-Source, and all my clients’ forms & handouts go inside

I put all my client forms and handouts into a large brown shimmer envelope from Paper-Source with a logo sticker on the front.

My photo packaging boxes

I get my photo boxes from DNL – I love them, great quality, a variety of sizes, and they match my colors perfectly. ☺ I use the 11×14 brown box, and the 8×10 green box, and just decorate them all a little differently with ribbon (from Michaels & Paper-Source), logo stickers (from WHCC), and bands (from Envelopper Inc.) For my prints, inside the boxes, and everything larger than 11×14, I use clear bags from clearbags.com and just make them pretty with a variety of ribbon. ☺

My photo packaging bag, with a common gift for my clients – the accordion wallet album from Millers

I put all my orders in a large chocolate tote that I also get from DNL, and I finish them off with prettyness, including my bag tags from Jessica.

My office -

The view from in front of the garage door – into my office and the front door to my house

We bought a townhouse about a year and a half ago, and it works perfectly for my office! The entry level only has a half bath, our entryway, the garage, a closet, and my office, then all our living space is on the second and third floor, so my clients come right inside my door, but never into my home, and I love it!

View from the office entryway – most of those gallery wraps from the back wall are now at a local OB/GYN office ☺

I have clients come in for an optional consult (a lot of clients do this over the phone or via email though) and a mandatory in person ordering session. This really helps clients see what they are getting, get a better feel for it, see their photos on a large calibrated monitor, get my help and opinion, and helps sales too! Once they see it, they want it!

View from the window

View from my chair – my custom framing area

View from the back corner

Well – thanks so much for inviting me over Robyn – Hope that helps some of you readers!

Thank you so much for the inspiration, Jen! Once again, don’t forget to stop by her website and blog and tell her how amazing it is she put all of this together for everyone to see and learn from!

If you’re interested in having your own business packaging, marketing ideas, or photography-related products featured please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment).

put a ring on it

(Originally posted to Flickr forums in June 2009. Announcement template design shown below is by Diana Hall.)

Since I’m only taking packages at this time, most include either a holiday card or birth announcement selection. I have online galleries of the designs I offer, and each "client welcome kit" includes a paper sample packet. I use this card design to print on five different paper types (when my lab runs its annual press-printed sales, I stock up in bulk):

I’ve found that red changes the most between the paper types (because not all paper is “true white” before printing). This gives them a pretty good example of the color-shifts between their available choices. Two envelope paper selections are included as well. The back of each sample has the paper type listed:

I bring accordion albums along with me to the newborn (or holiday) sessions – they are filled with samples of previous clients’ flat and folded press items so they can see paper types and styles with the other designs I offer for their own birth announcements and Christmas cards:

Quick tip if you’re on a limited budget to start… Design your sample template with 3-4 identical “strips” either horizontally or vertically. Like basically fitting 3-4 bookmarks on a card — instead of designing an announcement or card here, you’d be designing a bookmark and then printing multiple ones uncut on one flat postcard. When they arrive, take a paper cutter and slice into your bookmark-sized strips. Voilà! Paper sample pack for clients, with 3-4 more times the samples for you to give out. (If you don’t know where to begin, I now offer a template for this at “Fit to Print“!)

P.S. Don’t forget the Moo.com code exclusive to Paperie Boutique viewers expires on August 25th, 2009!

eye candy

This is part two (of two) of yesterday’s guest post by Kimberly Kyle Photography of Augusta, GA. You can find yesterday’s entry here.

“Why I chose my business colors…”

That question made me do some thinking. I began KKP using black, white and hot pink which I used for two years. I loved the combination but felt the colors limited me in some way to girls so I began the journey to find what colors really suited me best.

I began looking around in my life, paying attention to what colors caught my eye in stores, and looking at color collections using paint sample cards. I also contacted the fabulous Amy Grace with Candy Apple Studios. She helped pull the “new me” together. I asked her to use red, brown and blue or green when developing logos. I gathered those colors mainly from the colors I have painted our home. We have a red kitchen, brown living room and green dining room. I heart color.

I ended up being drawn to the logos using aqua…I’m guessing my love of the beach caused that. Something about aqua blue is calming yet so fresh.

So there you go… My colors are now red, aqua and brown which I am thoroughly enjoying. I love the “pop” the aqua and red give with my packaging. Choosing to use the two brighter colors for envelopes, ribbon and boxes give the packages a unique look. I use the natural wrapping paper mainly because it is easily found at the local craft store and is great for wrapping large prints. The aqua ribbons I use are found here and there.

Packaging doesn’t really have to be the same each time. It’s fun to make it personal just like we do with our photographs.

I also throw in a lollipop…sometimes three depending on how many kiddos are in the family…on each package to add to the fun. Who doesn’t like candy?!

Please drop by Kimberly’s blog and thank her for the amazing two-part guest entry!

As mentioned over and over and over again now…I’m working with a handful of photographers to add more guest posts to this site so it’s not filled with my ideas and photos/demos only. If you’re interested in having your packaging, marketing ideas, or products featured please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment).