you’ve been carded

Did you know there’s only 132 days left ’til Christmas? Design Aglow is to the rescue with a special offer in this new vendor / guest post!

Design Aglow presents a revolutionary way for your photography studio to sell holiday cards. With a mix & match studio sales system to enable you to work smarter, not harder, save time, increase sales, and streamline your holiday workflow, this product is more than just holiday card templates. It’s like having a stationery shop in your studio and comes complete with everything you will need to launch your holiday card line within minutes of download.

INCLUDES:
• A 10-page holiday card sales catalog. This catalog is a turnkey, professionally designed way to present your holiday card offerings to clients. The catalog easily walks clients through every step involved in designing the holiday card of their dreams. It includes a built-in order form on the last page on which your clients will note their design choices, keeping their information impeccably organized, and saving you lots of valuable time.

But, by far, the most unique feature of the catalog is that it includes professionally, studio-shot stock photos of finished holiday cards. This means you won’t have to worry about taking the time to photograph your holiday cards for the catalog – this step is already done for you. All that is required is that you add your studio logo, update the policies to reflect your own, and add your pricing on the last page.

• Three beautifully designed card modules (a cover, an inside design that includes 12 different greetings, and a back), consisting of six different designs each. These are in unflattened Photoshop PSD format and will allow you to design your clients’ cards with just the click of a mouse, all in under 15 minutes per card. Simply mix and match the front, inside and back (which are completely interchangeable) for virtually limitless combinations.

• A comprehensive 10 page tutorial that will easily explain everything you need to know about launching your holiday card line. It also includes ideas for presentation, selling, and publishing your catalog online.

I am completely in love with this – talk about impressive to clients and a time-saver all in one! If you sell birth announcements, you must check this out!




We have two winners to announce in our See Jane Work giveaway…and they are…Jamie Delight Photography and Jessica Hester Photography.

Congratulations to both winners and thanks again to all of our vendors and readers that made our birthday celebration such an amazing success!

-Robyn and Todd

je l’ai fait à ma façon—trente et un

Happy 2nd birthday to Paperie Boutique!
Visit PaperieBirthday.com for all events!

Winner announcements started on Monday, July 25th…

But we’re not done quite yet. We have one big “prize pack” giveaway for one lucky reader (from Melissa Davis Designs and Collages.net) before we sign off for the evening tonight – and another big “final giveaway” on Tuesday before we empty the punch bowl and take down the streamers. So let’s get to the fun, shall we?

Melissa Davis Designs is offering up a $100 gift certificate for this prize pack! You can see a sneak-peek of her new 2011 holiday card templates above.

And Collages.net is back one last time – this prize pack winner will also receive a $25 gift card for a Canvas Gallery Wrap.

So how do you win? It’s simple!

1. Go to your Facebook and Twitter accounts and post the following on either or both (then tell us where you did):
Win a @Collagesnet & @brandsushi & Handmade Paper Album Boxes gift packWin a @Collagesnet / Collages.net and Melissa Davis Designs gift pack at @PaperieBoutique / PaperieBoutique.com – http://PaperieBirthday.com

2. Like Collages.net on Facebook.

3. Like Melissa Davis Designs on Facebook.

4. Comment here with your favorite Melissa Davis Designs template.

Each entry requires its own separate comment here. (In simple terms: If you want FIVE chances to win, you have to do the five things listed above, and then make five separate comments here telling us how you did them.)

Comment that you have posted to your Twitter and/or Facebook account(s), with a link to where you did it – or that you’ve liked one or both vendors on Facebook – in separate comments here to have multiple chances to win!

ATTENTION: All links you post must direct to public-access accounts. We cannot verify links on private, friends & family only, or passworded accounts and they will not be eligible to win this item. If we have to subscribe to your feed, a website, or forum – or request permission to see them – your entry will automatically be disqualified.

Comment(s) must be posted here by 11:59 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, July 27th. You can enter up to five times total. Post that you have met both requirements in separate comments to have multiple chances to win!

You can enter / post up to five times total – one entry each for both the options listed above. (PLEASE NOTE: Comments are held for moderation and may not appear immediately. Please be patient! They will show up eventually.)

You have five chances to win, but only one chance PER OPTION – please do not post the same link multiple times. Duplicate links will be removed. Each entry requires its own separate comment 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 48-72 hours of the winner-announcement to claim their prize.

Good luck!

Huge thanks to Melissa Davis Designs and Collages.net for the amazing prize pack! Check in on Tuesday for the very last birthday party gifts!




Don’t forget several of our merchants are offering discounts and coupon codes to all Paperie readers this week! Check and see if your favorite vendor is there!

Just one giveaway to go – make sure you check back Tuesday!
-Robyn

just my type

Today we have a vendor / guest post by Design Aglow. They’re announcing the release of the adorable new “You’re My Type” cards.

You’re My Type: Multipurpose Cards
Perfect match

Although pictures are worth a thousand words, it doesn’t hurt to use a few once in awhile! This set of multipurpose cards uses cutting edge typography in a variety of styles to let your loved ones keep track of your life’s milestones. To satisfy all your design needs, this set comes with six different and fully customizable designs that announce everything from your new bundle of joy to your high school graduation, to your engagement!

PERFECT FOR:
• Birth announcements
• Event invitations
• Marketing materials
• Thank you notes
• 5×7 note cards
• Holiday Cards
• Save the Date

PRODUCT DETAILS:
• 6 distinctive two sided designs
• Fully layered PSD files for unlimited customization, including color changes
• Designed using WHCC’s flat 5×7 card templates for easy printing
• Cards can be customized to be flat or folded
• Compatible with CS2 and newer, Photoshop Elements 6 and newer, Windows and Mac

Click here to check it out in the shop with special introductory pricing through May 5th!

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.

appletinis for everyone!

Rare weekend post for an even more rare sale opportunity – the one-year birthday / anniversary of La Pomme Design! Read on for the incredible offer in today’s guest / vendor post and giveaway…

It has been such an exciting year for La Pomme Design! LPD opened on January 15, 2010, and had our first sale that day! We started out selling card templates and storyboards, and throughout the year have added digital papers, album templates, accordion album templates, business cards, phone skins, textures, designed textures,marketing supplies, business forms, pre-designed logos, custom logos, custom marketing design, and so much more! It is only because of our amazing fans that we have grown and flourished so much, and I cannot tell you the sense of awe I feel when I read the emails and notes of appreciation I get, and when I see photographers using LPD’s products in their marketing and client products! It is incredible, and I love each one of my fans!

So, on to the celebration! To celebrate our One Year Anniversary, La Pomme Design is having a sale that is bigger and better and more incredible than any sale we’ve ever had – and will ever have! La Pomme Design has over 100 fantastic products in the Shoppe, and if you were to buy them all at the regular price, you would spend over $1000 stocking up!

But for one week – from today, January 15th, through Saturday, January 22nd, you can buy the entire Shoppe – EVERY SINGLE PRODUCT – for a grand total of $49!!! This is such a phenomanol deal, and it is the perfect time to stock up on everything you need, in one fell swoop! And for one incredibly low price!

So what do you get? You get holiday card templates, birth announcements, boudoir templates, marketing collections, textures, designed textures, actions, Dream album templates, accordion album templates, canvas templates, storyboards, digital papers, ornament templates, bookmarks, business cards, stickers, Moo minicard templates, phone skins, and more!

And because this week wouldn’t be complete without at least one fabulous contest – at the end of the week, I will draw one order number from everyone who purchases the whole Shoppe, and the order number I draw will receive their purchase FOR FREE! I will send the winner a refund of the Shoppe – and they will get the whole Shoppe FREE!!!!

Thank you to all of our loyal fans who have brought LPD to where we are today. Enjoy this sale as a huge “thank you” (and if you know me, you know I’m big on hugs) and a hug from La Pomme Design.

Happy birthday, La Pomme Design from Paperie! And many more!




P.S. We have other contests going on right now, so don’t forget to scroll to enter those as well!

And one to grow on!
-Robyn

rock the vote

It’s time to vote for the winner of our first-ever “business packaging / holiday packaging contest“! It was nearly impossible narrowing the submissions down to three choices – but here they are (in order of submission):

Amanda of Amanda E. Photography
Entry: http://paperieboutique.com/2010/12/28/amanda_e_photography/

Julie Oliver of Julie MayRee Photography
Entry: http://paperieboutique.com/2010/11/23/julie_mayree_photography/

Heather Beadles of Heather Beadles Photography & Design
Entry: http://paperieboutique.com/2010/11/20/heather_beadlesphotography/

POLL RESULTS posted below – poll is closed!

Just one vote per person. Please no cheating – let’s keep this fair and square, ok? Voting will run through 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, January 7, 2011. Thanks so much to everyone who entered, and good luck to the three finalists!

-Robyn

Happy New Year!

Believe it or not, this is the final entry in the “business packaging / holiday packaging contest“! Please make sure you scroll through the previous entries to make sure you haven’t missed anything!

Here is Kristina Stredwick of Just One Photography…

My name is Kristina Stredwick from Just One Photography. Here are pictures of my regular packaging and my special Holiday packaging. My regular packaging is simple and classic with the kraft colors (since different products bear different tones) and silver. I have many Senior Sessions and they love the tin boxes that come with the zip drive and then again when they order wallet size pictures. The accordion albums come in a bag which is usually matching their school colors. For the newborn sessions they get baby blue or pink. Brown bags and boxes are adorned with silver ribbon and logo oval stickers.

This is my first Holiday Season with my business and I am so excited. I only offered the watermarked proofs on CD’s for the holidays (instead of my regular option of CD or zip drive) and people loved the snowflakes! I wrapped up each holiday card set with ribbon and special tags or buttons as shown, then I tucked them into a snowflake adorned bag.

All I had left to deliver were my own cards – so that is my family peaking out from the ribbons! Enjoy and have a happy holiday season!

Absolutely stunning Kristina – and the perfect close to a long string of amazing submissions!

I have no idea how I’m narrowing the entries down to three, but check back next Monday and you can help select one of those as the big winner in the first-annual Paperie Boutique “business packaging / holiday packaging contest“! The voting will run from noon EST Monday, January 3, 2011 – 11 p.m. EST on Friday, January 7, 2011.

The lucky winner will receive a $20 Paper Source gift card and an additional $100 gift certificate to HB Photo Packaging!

Don’t forget – you can still get the entire “Fit to Print” store on sale (for $40.00) through January 1st, 2011! Get over $300.00 in products (including the binder template) for $40.00 – an 87% savings and some designs retire in 2011!

The $9 Zazzle gift code off custom binders (template included in this sale here) expires at 11:59 p.m. PST on 12.31.10

Have an amazing 2011 everyone!
-Robyn

finding your bliss

The next post is an “honorable mention” in our “business packaging / holiday packaging contest” by Elizabeth Bailey of Studio Bliss. Elizabeth is just starting out and doesn’t have a website yet, but hopes to be up and running with her business by this time next year. I’d say with packaging like this – she’s off to a great start!

Bravo, Elizabeth! Job well done!

Don’t forget – you can still get the entire “Fit to Print” store on sale (for $40.00) through January 1st, 2011! Get over $300.00 in products (including the binder template) for $40.00 – an 87% savings and some designs retire in 2011!

And I’ll be posting more “business packaging / holiday packaging contest“ entries soon so stay tuned!

7 levels of the Candy Cane Forest

It’s completely unlike me, but this year I just didn’t have time to do a lot of product and packaging shots for the holidays. 2010 has been anything but normal. Between being sick and juggling three jobs, I still haven’t caught up on Paperie mail and “business packaging / holiday packaging contest“ entries from November. I’m getting there. Just not there yet.

But cheating the clock…I’ll share what few pics I did take. This isn’t my standard Christmas card packaging. (This year I used 5x7x1″ red boxes from H-B Packaging, decorated with white groisgrain ribbon with red stitching and holiday-colored buttons, then adding on either mini candy cane or peppermint twist faux candies.) The box shown below is by Jolie Wraps for a particularly large card order:

The white chipboard is from CK Resale, the candy decoration is from Michael’s, the grosgrain-stitch ribbon is from eBay, the aqua tissue is from Paper Source, the snowflake and satin ribbon are from Michael’s, the bag is from H-B, the snowflake on the bag is from the Michael’s $1 bin, I switched out the regular white bag handles for Christmas fabric ribbon from Michael’s, the red and cream snowflake tissue is from Target, and the Moo minicard bag-tag is available for free download here at Paperie.

Don’t forget – you can still get the entire “Fit to Print” store on sale (for $40.00) through January 1st, 2011! Get over $300.00 in products (including the binder template) for $40.00 – an 87% savings and some designs retire in 2011!

And I’ll be posting more “business packaging / holiday packaging contest“ entries soon so stay tuned!

blush and bashful

Still wading through the final entries in the “business packaging / holiday packaging contest“! I’ll be posting these as I can individually. Please make sure you scroll to the previous entry each time you visit so you don’t miss anything!

Up next is Courtney of Courtney Jade Photography…

I got everything from Target, except for the boxes. Those are from HB-Photo in Titanium!

Thank you Courtney for showing it can be done on a budget and still look high-end and lovely!

Don’t forget – you can still get the entire “Fit to Print” store on sale (for $40.00) through January 1st, 2011! Get over $300.00 in products (including the binder template) for $40.00 – an 87% savings and some designs retire in 2011!

And I’ll be posting more “business packaging / holiday packaging contest“ entries soon so stay tuned!

twinkle, twinkle little star

Still wading through the final entries in the “business packaging / holiday packaging contest“! I’ll be posting these as I can individually. Please make sure you scroll to the previous entry each time you visit so you don’t miss anything!

Up next is Susan Peck of Susan Peck Photography…

How to achieve this look:

• The white bag is from Target

• The thin ribbon is from the dollar bin at Jo-Ann’s

• The sheer, sparkly ribbon (large bow on bag) is from Costco

• The stars are made from German glass glitter and although it
   would be super easy to do them yourself, I purchased them
   here to save time

• Although I would love to have custom imprinted bags, it’s not
   cost effective for me right now. The custom logo stickers
   do the trick nicely for the moment and are from here

• The keychain acts not only as a surprise gift for my client, but
   as a way to quickly identify orders during the busy holiday
   season – I got mine at MPixPro at the same time I was
   ordering custom printed DVD’s

• I should be receiving my titanium boxes from H-B this week
   and I can’t wait to start using those in my packaging

Those glitter stars rock – thanks for the great inspiration, Susan!

Don’t forget – you can still get the entire “Fit to Print” store on sale (for $40.00) through January 1st, 2011! Get over $300.00 in products (including the binder template) for $40.00 – an 87% savings and some designs retire in 2011!

And I’ll be posting more “business packaging / holiday packaging contest“ entries soon so stay tuned!

a dash of curry

Still wading through the final entries in the “business packaging / holiday packaging contest“! I’ll be posting these as I can individually. Please make sure you scroll to the previous entry each time you visit so you don’t miss anything!

Up next is Amanda of Amanda E. Photography…

Just a little bit about my packaging: I very recently re-branded my business. I wanted something fresh, very modern and clean…with a little bit of whimsy. My 4 year old daughter inspired my new little birdie logo design. I drew it while we were doodling one day. I’m a Graphic Designer, so I designed everything myself. I chose the colors (“curry” yellow and gray) simply because they’re two of my favorites. I launched the new look just about 2 months ago and I’m loving everything. But especially my packaging. It’s still a work in progress, but I like the direction it’s headed.

Now, I’ll try to break down everything pictured:

Grouping no. 1
• 8×10 white box (h-b photo)
• 5×7 kraft box (NPD Box)
• round stickers (Zazzle)
• ribbons (Hobby Lobby, Michael’s)
• yellow tissue (Target)
• prints in sleeves (Clearbags)
• mini accordion album in handmade drawstring bag (locally made)
• press printed gift tag (local lab)

Grouping no. 2
• 4×6 image box wrapped in “curry dot” wrapping paper (Paper Source)
• Recycled kraft CD case (Re-Binder)
• Kraft label printed at home (Re-Binder)
• ribbons (Hobby Lobby, Michael’s)
• CD printed at home
• press printed mini-accordian “wall design guide” (ProDPI)

Grouping no. 3
• press printed square business cards (ProDPI)
• floral printed hand-written thank you note (Target)
• 5×7 white pocket folder to hold them (Paper Source)
• white paper gift bag (local craft store)
• white label printed at home (custom rubber stamp on order)
• white/silver polkadot tissue (Hobby Lobby)
• snowflake ornament (Hobby Lobby)
• kraft wrapping paper (Target)
• yellow raffia (Michael’s)

Thank you so much Amanda! This seriously makes me want to do a color-change with my own branding!

Don’t forget – you can still get the entire “Fit to Print” store on sale (for $40.00) through January 1st, 2011! Get over $300.00 in products (including the binder template) for $40.00 – an 87% savings and some designs retire in 2011!

And I’ll be posting more “business packaging / holiday packaging contest“ entries soon so stay tuned!

Secret Santa

Last night about 8 p.m. my husband confessed he’d forgotten something – today was his gift-exchange for work and he was supposed to bring a homemade gift to it. Nice.

I had some Starbucks regular and peppermint cocoa packets on hand – plus candy canes, mini marshmallows, and sprinkles (which I had to separate by hand from rainbow colors to red and green only). While I got started on that, I sent the Mr. out on a rush-job to Starbucks to get a mug, syrup, and biscotti. After that he grabbed a $3.99 basket from Michael’s and flew home. By some miracle the basket and mug he picked out matched my snowflake tissue paper. Voilà. (Click below image for larger pop-up.)

And by 10 p.m., I had saved his merry arse. I also reminded him more than once that he’s lucky to be married to a professional!

P.S. I’ll be posting more “business packaging / holiday packaging contest“ entries as I can individually. Please make sure you scroll to the previous entry each time you visit so you don’t miss anything!

back to your regularly scheduled
     programming

Well that was fun now wasn’t it? Sorry for the LONG gap in posting and returning Paperie-related e-mails! Juggling a business, a website, and magazine duties proved to be more than one person could handle in a holiday pressure-cooker (especially while my assistants were in finals) — and that meant this place was the first to give.

But my last client cards and packages have finally been shipped and hand-delivered, so now I can get back to the fun stuff. Like the final entries in the “business packaging / holiday packaging contest“! I’ll be posting these as I can individually. Please make sure you scroll to the previous entry each time you visit so you don’t miss anything!

Up next is Lauren Shinn of Shinn Shots Photography…

After a year of having a “photography business on the side,” I decided to update and upgrade. The most important piece of this was branding. I chose colors, look, and a feel that I wanted to represent my business. When it came to packaging, I wanted to incorporate all those things. The challenge was that I also wanted to go green. It’s hard to go green without going kraft brown! But I managed to do it. (I hope to come back here to Paperie Boutique and post about it, but in the meantime, you can read a little bit about my regular packaging at shinnshots.com/blog/beinggreen/green-packages/).

This is my first year to have holiday packaging since it’s really my first year for packaging at all! For the holiday packages, I wanted to be consistent with my brand so that it would still be recognized as Shinn Shots Photography. I dropped the blue color and added in the red, but the look and feel stayed the same. I used red ribbon from Michael’s. (In future years, I hope to use recycled ribbon from Nashville Wraps.) I switched out my typical blue paper raffia ribbon for green paper raffia ribbon. I kept the quotes that I have on the tag in the middle of the ribbon, but I replaced the typical quotes with more holiday-type quotes. Then I added little white puff-balls to add to the holiday feel. (They are actually little pieces of giant chenille pipe cleaner from Michael’s…that way it matches the fluffy white stuff used to hold the ornament on the bag!)

I kept my regular bag for the holidays since it’s mostly green already. I am in love with these bags! They are made from jute. Very green and very reusable. I have a coordinating bag in a larger size for larger items as well. (They come from 1-800 Gift Box.) I replaced my typical gift tag with a wonderful holiday ornament. It’s a wood block with 6 photos covered in mod-podge. Beautiful, and non-breakable…a must in my ornament collection! I made the ornaments myself, but there are several crafty people out there who offer them (such as Live Simply and January Hart Designs).

I hope some of these packaging links can be helpful for anyone trying to go green. I’ve gotten a lot of great feedback from my clients!

Here’s to another great year full of beautiful portraits!

Thank you for being patient with me getting this posted, Lauren! I just love the quotes and the ornaments!

Merry Christmas everyone!
-Robyn

dashing through

I have been MIA around here for far too long. Our family went down like dominoes to the flu last week, then as I started to recover I had a mountain of work and shooting / editing to catch up on, and these days seems like the alarm has just sounded in the morning and it’s time to crawl back in bed again at night.

I promise I haven’t forgotten about y’all over here – or the “business packaging / holiday packaging contest“ – which still has several entries yet-to-be published (and a winner to pick). But until I can quit packaging client card and print orders, shooting sessions, and proofing sessions, and filling the orders…..most everything else in my life is on a temporary hiatus. Thank you for your patience!




To show you how behind I am, the digital edition of the December 2010 Professional Photographer Magazine was released last week – and I’m just now remembering to take a peek at it, much less post it here.

For this month’s article, I reviewed photography jewelry selections from BRAGaLittle.com, Isabelle Chase Studios, Kathy Lo Rocks, Kimbra Studios, Kimtown Boutique, Kotori Photo Jewelry, Marye Street Studio, and PlanetJill.

Click the magazine page above for a larger version. You can find the article on page 50 and page 51 of the print-version as they start hitting mailboxes.

And you can also download the digital edition now if you’re a PPA member or digital subscriber.




Last but not least, a quick-peek at some of the holiday gifts I’ve been assembling for my early-in-the-season Buttons and Bows holiday clients. I’m still waiting to get everything together for the later sessions, hence another reason for my lack of free time. But this should give you an idea (click top image for larger)…

Several will receive a dozen gift tags as one of their prezzies. These are made from Moo mini cards. The back has a small B&B logo and my URL, plus a decorative “To:” / “From:” section for them to fill out for their presents. I use a decorative hole punch and thread mini-ribbon through each tag. Since Moo allows you to submit up to 100 images for the front of their mini cards, they make it very easy to split up a pack into multiple gift tags for multiple clients.

The ornament shown is by Zazzle. I ordered these during a half-off promotion on November 9th. They did not arrive until December 6th, so you’ll most likely need to upgrade your shipping method if you opt to use them. It is not a rush-operation! I was very happy with the quality (both image and product) of the premium metal designs. The quality on the ceramic ornaments left little to be desired – however, you can add your logo to the back of the ceramic ones.

Are we there yet?
-Robyn