sign on the dotted line

Recently I shared my purchase of the Design Aglow “Essential Birth Announcement Worksheet“. Even if you’re not a newborn photographer, if you sell press-printed cards, this post is for you!

Since that original post I have added to my purchase with birth announcement quotes and religious phrases I have collected, and the press-card print release form I have created, during my five-plus years of being a newborn photographer. (Read to the end to find out how to win!) This makes a stunning presentation to your clients, and also makes their ordering much easier, sparing you both countless time spent back-and-forth during the design process.

I have designed the following as a supplement to the Design Aglow “Essential Birth Announcement Worksheet” (although it can certainly be purchased / used stand-alone with much more limited function). The Design Aglow “Essential Birth Announcement Worksheet” includes one full page of birth announcement quotes and phrases for boys, girls, twins / multiples, sibling-welcomes, religious-themed cards, adoptions, and all-purpose introductions.

My new four-page supplement includes three pages of additional quotes and phrases – plus religious quotes / scriptures – for baby boys, baby girls, and seasonal / holiday-themed birth announcements (Valentine’s, St. Patrick’s, Fourth of July, fall / autumn, Thanksgiving, and Christmas). And a one-page release for your clients (see below) saving you from expensive reprint costs due to their errors, omissions, or typos on press-printed cards.

Included in this supplemental packet:

1. Press-printed card print release for clients (applicable to
    announcements, invitations, seniors, etc.)

2. Boy-themed birth announcement quotes and phrases
    (including religious and scriptures)

3. Girl-themed birth announcement quotes and phrases
    (including religious and scriptures)

4. Holiday and seasonal quotes, phrases, and scriptures for
    birth announcements

In addition to that, I have included my “Press Printed Card Release” (wording included). This is a form I make all of my clients read and sign off on before their cards and announcements go to print. It eliminates reprints at my expense for their misspellings, typos, and failure to include information. Once this form is signed off on, the customer is liable for the cards or announcements as they approved them (unless the error is a print lab defect or I failed to order the cards as they were approved, for instance if I accidentally submitted the lo-res version for print).

If you’ve ever been burned with the reprint of an expensive card order – this form is for you! And if you haven’t, you need this now before it happens!

This form wording will work for birth announcements and / or any kind of press-printed card you sell (Christmas / holiday card, birthday invitation, wedding announcement, graduation announcement, etc.)

I use the “Press Printed Card Release” text in an online web form that my customers sign off on digitally. You can print and use the text as presented if you do ordering in person, or convert it for online or e-mail use.

These forms are bare-bones to work within the template by Design Aglow (which I highly recommend purchasing). The one .psd file is divided into four folders of text. The only graphic included is a division line. There are no additional graphics or design-elements. Just the text, ma’am! If you choose to use them as a stand-alone product rather than a supplement, space has been left at the top to add your logo / letterhead to each of the pages. See below for excerpts from the different pages.

My holiday / seasonal wording quote sheet helped a customer create this design:

Purchase this now at a special rate before it’s available on Fit to Print:

Purchase this four-page kit:

Special Paperie Price $15.00

This is a layered .psd file design created in Adobe Photoshop CS2 and should work in Elements, but I cannot provide technical support for Elements purchases. The background color can be changed from white with just one click. Purchases will be e-mailed the download link during “normal waking hours” (U.S. Eastern Daylight Time). Please ask any questions before you buy! You are responsible for checking these files for spelling and formatting before presenting to your clients.




And just because we care, three lucky Paperie readers can have a chance to win the card / announcement four-page supplement. If you buy it and win it, we will refund your purchase!

1. Go to your Facebook and Twitter accounts and post the following on either or both (then tell us where you did):

Win birth announcement / holiday / religious card wording & press card release @PaperieBoutique / PaperieBoutique.com http://is.gd/KPTM5W

2. Friend / Like / Follow Paperie Boutique on Facebook and come back here and let us know (or tell us you’re already a fan)

Each entry requires its own separate comment here. (In simple terms: If you want THREE chances to win, you have to do the three things listed above, and then make three 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 us 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 Saturday, September 10th. You can enter up to three times total. Post that you have met each of the requirements in separate comments to have multiple chances to win!

You can enter / post up to three times total – one entry each for each of 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 three 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!
-Robyn and Todd

and I’ll have more ideas for you

It’s been one of those months. Holiday weekend = good. Entire family battling yet another cold/flu = bad. I’ve been trying to post this entry for the last 8 hours. But finally a bit of peace and quiet to my day and we all win!

Literally.

Because thanks to the fine folks at Clickin’ Moms*, this entry comes with goodies and the chance to win a fabulous (free, year-long) prize!

Clickin’ Moms* is one of my guilty pleasures these days during that rare thing known as free time. Directly from the website: “We are a community of women who have a passion for photography. Some of us are amateur photographers who just want to take better pictures of our family, some of us are hobbyists, and some of us are seasoned pros. We learn from each other and help each other…this is a safe place to share your photos and chat about photography. Our forums and galleries are closed to non-members. Our site features great and easy to understand tutorials, lessons and challenges. All of the contributions are from fellow members who are more than happy to help and give advice to one another. We host amazing photography vendors who offer us discounts and group buys on their products…we have great bunch of women that enjoy hanging out with people that have a common passion – photography!”

* Right now Clickin’ Moms is hosting an affiliate referral contest and the link I am posting will help this site in the contest. All new registrations sent from Paperie Boutique though midnight January 31, 2011, will receive 20% off new member subscriptions by using the coupon code PAPERIE2011 at checkout.

But wait! There’s more! Clickin’ Moms has also donated one free year’s subscription to a Paperie Boutique viewer.

To enter, go to your blog, Facebook account, Flickr account, or Twitter account and post the following:

Get your cameras clickin’ with paperieboutique.com & @clickinmoms / clickinmoms.com – pass this on and win a year’s subscription!

You can enter up to four times total – one entry per blog URL / Facebook / Flickr / Twitter account. Post the URL to your link(s) in the comments for this entry. Comment(s) must be posted by 11:59 p.m. EST this Sunday, February 21st.

Comments on this entry will be numbered in order of posting. The winning number will be chosen by Random.org, and the prize code will be e-mailed to that person within 24 hours of contest’s end.

But the fun doesn’t stop there because now there are pretty pictures and product recommendations to pass along!

Recently I received this e-mail from catherineamissphotography.com:

I wanted to share the valentines that I made for my son’s kindergarten class exchange.

I chose a picture of my son and my husband and added the following quote about love: “There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.” On the back I wrote “Happy Valentine’s Day! From, Austin.” And then, yes, I [shamelessly] added my website address. The background paper and frame element is from Sassy Designs.

I printed the cards on pearl paper as 4×5 promo cards from Miller’s. I put two Valentine’s per 4×5 card and then simply cut them in half. Then I punched a hole in the corner and tied a little baggie filled with 3 chocolate kisses onto the card with ribbon.

I had considered punching two holes on the side and sticking a lollipop through the card, but I decided that the children’s mothers would be more likely to notice chocolate (and thus my website address).

When my son saw the cards, he loved them! Then he saw the dandelion graphic on the back of the card and exclaimed, “Mommy! It’s the same flower from your logo!” ( I just worked with a designer to come up with a new logo.) Hopefully, the Valentine stood out in a sea of Spiderman and Spongebob and wished his classmates a very “Happy Valentine’s Day” all the same.

Thank you so much for sharing those, Catherine! They’re absolutely gorgeous and as a fellow-kindergartener’s mom, certainly would have got my attention — what a brilliant twist to up the ante and win mommy’s heart through Kisses!

Last but certainly not least… The longer I’m in business, the tighter I get with my prop budget. I allow myself a few splurges each year, but really like to keep things to a minimum if at all possible and keep my profits. I’ve lusted after the Urban Outfitters Distressed and Whitewashed fake wood Trompe L’Oeil Floor Mats for a couple of years now. I just couldn’t stomach the $140.00 pricetag. I’ve also seen links to the Bargain Outfitters Barnboard Fo Flor (by Bungalow who also carries the Whitewash), and links on sites selling the mats wholesale, but they always ran between $99.00 – $187.00. Deep down I had my heart set on the Whitewash version because this portrait of mine (shot on an actual wooden bridge) has always been a favorite. It was just a matter of digesting the pricepoints.

Recently though, I ran across the Fo Flor Mat in Whitewash from Grandin Road.

I Googled for a coupon and ended up getting two 23×36″ accent rugs for $34/each (plus shipping) instead of one large area rug style mat. Together they make a nice-sized 36×46″ faux-floor. My total order was $82.00. Much better on the budget. As you can see, they will work with room to spare for newborn-in-basket type shots and close-up toddler portraits, which are the bulk of my work.

For the planks coming at me instead of going horizontally, I may need to clone the seam line just a bit, but overall they photograph very well. And the white has the added bonus of being a minor reflector.

These are the same fabric-printed-on foamy-mousepad-material you may have seen discussed elsewhere. Very thin, lightweight, easy to roll, and extremely portable.

It really does pay to do a few minutes of extra homework. The 23×36″ Barnboard version at Bargain Outfitters is now on sale for $29.97 and there are tons of coupon codes floating around for that site on Google. I believe their shipping runs about $9.

You can also search for Bungalow Fo Floors at Amazon.com, some of which will allow you to take advantage of their free Prime Shipping option.

With the money you save, you just might have enough to hit Etsy for a cute baby hat or tutu as well… Happy propping!

(P.S. Wondering where I got that cute little cupcake? That one is custom-made, but I got it (and this one) from Shimrit’a cupcakes. I have a lot of “baby’s first birthday” sessions coming up, and I wanted a non-melty-icing option for my outdoor ones. These look good enough to eat in real life and in photos!)

totally sweet

Since The Album Cafe did their last feature here at Paperie, I get multiple hits in my stats daily looking for their products and coupon codes. So I contacted them again to see if they’d be interested in doing another guest post / promo. Luckily we all win because they said “yes!” Read on…


Hi everyone! We just wanted to share with you a SUPER CUTE new product we recently announced – Accordion Mini Book templates! These little books are the hottest thing out right now, and I can certainly see why – they are adorable! Our mini book templates are designed for printing at White House Custom Color, and we’re offering 20% off the entire store until Valentine’s Day so that you can try them out!

While you’re over checking out the new mini books, why don’t you grab our newest freebies!!

Don’t forget to grab the code at the bottom of each image to receive your “20% off entire order” through Valentine’s Day! And huge thanks to The Album Cafe for this promotion!

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).

P.S. Paperie Boutique was featured in the latest moo.com February 3rd “Photography special: Ideas to fall in love with!” Moosletter. Did you catch it?