Kodak moments

We have a winner in the Vegas portion of our HB Photo Packaging contest – it’s Katrina Weingart! Here she is pointing to the Paperie Boutique sign at the HB Photo Packaging Booth (#1565):

Here’s a photo of the Paperie display at the ProDPI booth (#1219).

And here’s a shot of Buttons and Bows on the Moo booth (#1246) backdrop.

Don’t forget, there’s still one more chance to win the remaining HB Photo Packaging box set – check this post for more info!

viva Las Vegas 2 – electric
      boogaloo

In case you’ve been under a rock or trapped under heavy furniture, this week is WPPI in Las Vegas. This afternoon I got an e-mail from Ryan at HB Photo Packaging with pictures from today’s events and this report (and keep reading on for an HB-giveaway):

The show is going great!! Were are meeting…a ton of Paperie readers, many of which are international. Your blog seems to have quite a following in France.

In that last photo, you can see one of my Buttons and Bows signature photo boxes – and just behind that on the backdrop are two Paperie Boutique signs! (If you happen to be at WPPI, don’t forget to get in close and read them for a special “Easter egg” treat.)

To celebrate our appearance at WPPI I’m giving away two prizes – one for those of you who are there (we have our Vegas winner!), and another to those of you who couldn’t make it this year.

Each winner will receive TWENTY 8″ x 10″ x ½” aqua/aqua skinny boxes – one set will include a 25-yard roll of 1½” Bella Terra paper ribbon in white – and one set will include a 12-foot spool of 1½” Offray ribbon in pewter.

The first person (here’s the winner of one set!) to post a photo of themselves at the HB Photo Packaging Booth (#1565) pointing to the Paperie logo over at HB’s Facebook Page wins one packaging set above.

If you aren’t at WPPI and want to win (or are at WPPI but didn’t win the other set), head over to the HB Photo Packaging website and find your favorite box color. Then come back here and post that color in the comments through 11:59 p.m. EST on Thursday, February 24th. I’ll use Random.org to select the winner and post it here.

So two chances to win…get busy!

BUT WAIT! That’s not all! If you’re at WPPI and want more Paperie, stop by the ProDPI booth (#1219) for a special offer from Paperie Boutique!

AND! If you spot Paperie Boutique or Buttons and Bows Photography anywhere else at WPPI (Moo*cough*#1246) and send me a picture, I’ll give the first person to do so a $20 gift certificate to Paper Source!




And I’m excited to announce the winner in our Malane’s prop set giveaway…it’s CrystalB Photography!

Congrats to Crystal, thanks to everyone who entered, and special thanks to Malane’s for such an adorable contest prize!

Viva la Paperie!

gratitude. journal.

When word got out from a recent post, I can’t even begin to describe the response. My brain, and heart, are overflowing with joy and amazement. How do you truly say thank you for something like this? Or the forum posts full of concern? Or the vendor notes of support (like the one when Moo‘s Vice President alerted several colleagues on staff to make sure I was taken care of just because he could). Or surprise gifts in the mail. Or Tweet DMs to check in – one from Pixel2Canvas on vacation in the middle of the Grand Canyon. Or the dozens of e-mails we’ve received. Or a note from a photographer who had just lost her husband and the father of her 5 children, worried about MY FAMILY. (We are so ok by comparison.) Or the little surprises in our PayPal account just because. I mean, it’s more than the human mind can really wrap around.

You go through life trying to do good and just make it day to day. You stumble. Sometimes you stumble hard. Sometimes you even hurt people. You dust yourself off eventually, regroup, reprioritize, remember you’re not really all that (well maybe all that, but often minus the potato chips), and promise yourself that if you don’t learn from those past mistakes what’s the point of the future…so buckle down and get to it… That’s been my 2010. I’ve buckled down and got to it. I had another such gut-check / perspective experience on a CT-scan table just over a week ago to make me even more focused on what’s really important.

In my recent Rangefinder piece, I wrote about the photographer community and my close relationship with my vendors. While being interviewed about this website, the article opened and closed with the following:

I let ‘Fit to Print’ evolve into Paperie Boutique, a standalone blog, through which I’m paying it forward to those who helped me along the way…..What has this experience taught Robyn? “I’ve learned to never underestimate the generosity of people and their willingness to teach and share,” [Robyn] says. “Just when you think you couldn’t possibly be more proud of your professional community, something as simple as a ‘thank you’ or ‘I can help with that’ never ceases to amaze.”

I’m used to being on the organization and donation collection end of things. It’s been humbling to be on the receiving end to say the very least.

Then yesterday the latest ‘random act of kindness’ showed up on my door step.

It’s no secret that I love HB Photo Packaging, but this was just beyond unreal. This was a surprise just for me, just because. You can read more of the details over here at Flickr – please make sure to add to the comments and thank them on behalf of our professional community!

And shop their weekend sale—HB Packaging is having a 10% off summer sale!

And speaking of vendors, we have a winner in the recent Design Aglow contest! It’s Silvine Designs / Silvine Photography:

Congrats to Michelle and another huge round of THANKS to Design Aglow for being such big supporters of this site, and for donating such fantastic prizes! Thanks to everyone who participated as well, and have a great weekend!