A Few More Website Updates + Awesome New Products + A Halloween Card Discount

Hi! Just a quick post to share a couple of things about the recent website updates I announced. I have made a few additional changes, to hopefully make things easier for everyone in the shopping and ordering process! In my last post, I explained that I was moving to a more printable-design focused format. I changed everything to be in DIY digital/printable format, with an option to add printing in a different area. This was based on a recent order trend of many, many DIY printable orders! BUT... I have to admit that once the site changes went live, I just wasn't comfortable sending customers to a different area for printing, and honestly, I wasn't happy that I was not promoting the awesome, fabulous, wonderful quality cardstock that our printed cards come on, which so many of our customers order. It just didn't feel right and I wasn't happy with the new order process for adding printing after a few weeks of testing it out SO.. I changed it again and it's even better than ever! I think the new set up in the shop is the easiest it has ever been and it works for everyone - the DIYer or anyone ordering high-quality printed items! While I was updating this, I also finally added MANY new items that I am so extremely excited about! More on those below...

So here's what has changed in the shop in terms of ordering options:

1 - DIY & PRINTED CHOICES FOR EVERY ITEM, ALL IN ONE PLACE. You can now select DIY or printed quantities in the same area on the site. Simply click on the drop down next to QUANTITY and you will see that you can choose DIY for $18, or your printed and shipped quantity. For printed orders, your paper selections will be on the next drop down.

2 - NEW MINIMUM QUANTITY FOR PRINTED CARDS IS 15. Yay! I know many of you will be very excited about this - we now offer a lower minimum quantity for printed cardstock cards - 15!  For years, our minimum quantity has been 25, so this is an exciting change that I think many of you will enjoy for smaller printed orders. Our new pack of 15 printed cardstock cards is $30 and comes with your choice of FIVE high-quality, premium cardstock papers, plus white envelopes.

3 - NEW SMOOTH FELT CARDSTOCK PAPER OPTION. We are excited to add another fabulous cardstock option for you to choose from - Smooth Felt! Smooth Felt Cardstock is a 130 lb. cover cardstock and features a luxurious feel and smooth finish for an ultra-luxe, high-quality cardstock card at no additional upgrade price!

And here are the NEW categories and fabulous items I added to the shop:

1 - PERSONALIZED WALL ART FOR KIDS! Our new personalized wall art prints are available in DIY format, or printed on Kodak Professional Archival Digital paper and mounted on 50 pt backer board. All of these designs can be personalized with name, colors and photos! Our new personalized wall art prints come in a variety or styles that feature photos, alphabet designs and more and they make the perfect keepsake or adorable gift for a new mom! You can see all of our new personalized wall art prints here.

CALEIGH Perfect Patterns 8x10 Personalized Photo Wall Art Print by Inkberry Cards

2 - NEW MODERN MONOGRAMMED STATIONERY DESIGNS! If you love modern circle monograms as much as I do, then I think you will love our new monogrammed stationery designs! All designs can be customized with your own color scheme to truly personalize them just how you want them! Check out all of our new monogrammed stationery designs here.

Chic Gray Chevron - Circle Monogram Stationery by Inkberry Cards

3 - NEW MONOGRAMMED CALLING CARDS! I am really excited to add new calling card designs to the shop featuring the modern circle monograms that I love! Calling cards may also be completely personalized and customized just how you want them with colors, text and with or without the monogram. View all of our new calling card designs here.

Aqua Dot Circle Monogram Calling Card by Inkberry Cards

4 - NEW 2 INCH CIRCLE RETURN ADDRESS LABELS! Another NEW & EXCITING addition to the shop, I have added 2 inch circle return address labels available in both DIY & printed/shipped format, just in time for the holidays! I am gradually adding matching labels for every card and invitation in my shop, but for now you can find labels to match our most popular holiday card designs. If you do not see the design you need, just email me (jenn@inkberrycards.com) and let me know and I will be happy to add it for you to purchase! View all of our new circle address labels here.

Traditional Christmas Stripe (monogram) Circle Return Address Label by Inkberry Cards

5 - NEW HOLIDAY CARDS FOR 2012! Yay! Our newest holiday card designs have been added to the shop, including three new ornate cut designs! You can check out all of our new holiday card designs here. I hope you will love them as much as I do!

Polka Dot Stripe Ornate Cut Holiday Card by Inkberry Cards

I think that just about covers all of the fun new items I have been working on and adding to the shop! I hope you will check them out and I would love to hear what you think!

Also, Halloween is right around the corner and we are offering 15% off all of our Halloween photo card designs October 16th through the 25th. Just enter coupon code HALLOWEEN15 at checkout to save 15% on your DIY or printed/shipped Halloween photo card order. We suggest ordering by October 22nd for printed/shipped delivery in time for Halloween mailing! :) Check out our adorable Halloween photo card designs here.

Thanks so much for reading all about what's new at Inkberry! Have a great week!

 - Jenn

New Party Pack Options and a Facelift for InkberryCards.com!

It's been quite a while since my last blog post, mainly because I've been super duper busy filling orders and working on some very exciting NEW projects! Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some info on the new projects, so stay tuned...but first I thought I'd debut a little website and shop update.

Over the weekend, some new updates went into effect on the Inkberry Cards site. Our new website format has some cool new features for ordering invites and oodles of matching items to go with our most popular invitations and themes. Below is a quick peek at the new look but feel free to click and check out the new site yourself! I've outlined the main changes below and would love to hear how you like the new site when you check it out!

So what's new on the site? A LOT! Here's a quick list and some helpful information for getting around:

1 - All designs are presented and sold as DIY, printable designs. While I had this feature before, in the past you also had printing options directly on the same page, showing different papers, quantities and address options. It could be confusing at times and after over a year's worth of research on our order trends, DIY won out as the more popular option amongst shoppers. It was a close race though - almost half of my customers DO purchase our professionally printed invitations, so do not worry - you can still add printing services, it's just in a new place on the site now. See #2, below.

2 - Printing can now be added for invitations and large stickers in a new section called Printing Services. Professional cardstock printing is still available for all of our cards, but now it will be added in a separate section where you can choose your quantity and paper. You will receive the same premium quality, professional grade cardstock as before, along with white envelopes for all printed orders. Cardstock paper choices available include Standard Smooth, Fine Linen, Metallic Pearl and 100% Recycled Cardstock. You will simply choose your invitation or card design first ($18) and add it to your cart, then go to the Printing Services tab to add your paper choices and quantity.

3 - Oodles of new matching items and new DIY party packages are now on the site! This is probably the biggest change in the shop and one that I am really excited about. There are now 34 new party packages currently to choose from with even more going up in the next month. I had to call it somewhere if I ever wanted to release the new site and I thought 34 should be a good number to start with, don't you think? :) The 34 you see on the site are my most popular designs so I think it's a great start!

4 - New Matching Party Printables section is where you can find our new and improved DIY Complete Printable Party Packs. You will also find categories in this section for cupcake toppers, favor tags, water bottle labels, banners and pattern papers for any of these items that are not included in the current party packs.

5 - New pricing for the complete party packages and a change to what's included in them. Our new printable party packages are $29 and come with new and improved printable items such as: coordinating cupcake toppers, decor stickers, favor tags, water bottle labels, thank you notes, food buffet cards, a happy birthday pennant banner and a circle alphabet banner that allows you to create any custom worded banner that you may need! You will receive your PDF print file for your selected printables within 24 hours of purchase (if not much sooner).

6 - Invitations are sold separately from the party packages. The new party package pricing of $29 does not include the invitation. I did this for a few reasons - mainly because we have multiple invitations that could go with certain party packages - for example a photo version or non-photo version. This way, you can pick the invite you need and we personalize it for you, separately from the party pack. This also allows customers who may have purchased an invitation at an earlier time, to still order the matching party pack whenever they are ready! Also, most of our party package items are available only in DIY printable format, whereas the invitations may have printing services added to them. (You can also add printing for any of the 3" round circle stickers).

7 - A la carte options for party printables - This is also a huge, exciting change for our party packs. You no longer have to buy the whole party pack - you can choose a la carte items out of every available party pack and simply purchase what you need! You just select what you want and "Add To Cart" and you are done! In the past, I have always set up special orders or mini party packs to accommodate this, but I know going forward this will be a much easier way of ordering just what you need, when you need it! Check out the party packs and a la carte feature here.

Just select the items you want from the drop down boxes and "Add to cart"

8 - Banners are now included! While I have always designed banners for customers for special orders, they were not part of our previous party packs. I'm happy to say that now all of our party packs include a 5x8 Happy Birthday pennant flag banner, as well as a 3" circle alphabet banner, which can be used to spell out any words you need for your celebration and decor! 

9 - Color variations and custom party pack designs can be requested to be added to the shop. While we continue to add to our line of DIY printable items, we have changed the process for requesting color variations on our party packs. We now ask that a request be made at least 2 weeks in advance of purchase and we will add your requested party pack design or color variation to the shop for you to place your order. This helps us maintain a standard practice for custom design requests and allows the new party packs or color options to be available for everyone as a brand new item offered in the shop. Requests can be made by email at jenn@inkberrycards.com. (NOTE: this does not apply to invitation designs needing color changes. Invitations needing custom colors can still be requested at time of order and invitations will still be received in the same turnaround time as indicated on the site which is currently 1-2 business days).

10 - Condensed categories for easier browsing and shopping! You may notice that our main categories have changed from the old site. We have the majority of our children's party invites in the Party Invitations section, and you can now choose to browse by Kids Invitations (this includes ALL children's invitations we carry), Twins Invitations, First Birthday Invitations and Milestone Invitations. If you are looking for Baby Shower invites, you will now find those under Baby, along with baby photo announcements and baptism/Christening invitations.

11 - A cute new website facelift and logo. Of course, I could not make all of these technical and product changes without making some cute new design changes as well. You will notice the new site design colors, fonts, backgrounds, buttons and logo!

12 - There is still more to come! While this is a TON of new items, improvements and enhancements that we have rolled out - there is actually still a lot left to do! My next phase of updates coming over the next month will include 10 more party package designs, plus all of my NEW 2012 Christmas and holiday photo cards. If you are already shopping for Christmas and the holidays now, my 2012 holiday photo cards are already up on Snapfish and you can check them all out here!

I really hope you like the new site and changes! I would love to hear your feedback or answer any questions you may have.

Have a great week!!
Jenn

Free Download: Spread Some Kindness & Cheer with Christmas CAREoling!

So just what is Christmas CAREoling? Christmas CAREoling is a sweet, new version of a classic tradition. Instead of singing Christmas Carols, you surprise friends, family, and STRANGERS with sweet surprises and leave a CAREoling Card for them!

Still confused? Jennifer Melda, the super creative, kind and talented girl behind this idea explains, “An example would be to give warm treats and a CAREoling Card with an appreciative little note to the person who collects your trash on a cold, winter day. How amazing would the Holidays be if everyone was surprising each other with kind words and fun surprises? This is a great way to introduce our children to the goodness of GIVING too!”

I could not agree with Jennifer more! I think this is just awesome and I am so happy to be a part of it, not only with my printable cards, but doing this with my children & family too!

Click any of the links below to download your FREE Christmas or Holiday CAREoling card, so that you can share this with others! There are three versions to choose from: Christmas Swirls (using Christmas wording and a classic red swirl design), Festive Polka Dots (using Christmas wording and a fun polka dot design great for kids!) and Blue Holiday Swirl (using Holiday wording in lovely blue & silver design). Print them out and include them with each surprise!

To read more about Christmas CAREoling, visit Jennifer’s blog: http://www.christmascareoling.blogspot.com/ for a TON of ideas to get you started. You can also visit Christmas CAREoling on Facebook to share your ideas, stories, photos and more!

You can turn this into a project for ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’, The 25 Days until Christmas, or just one sweet act of kindness this holiday season!

Click below to go to InkberryCreative.com to download your FREE Christmas CAREoling Printables!
 
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE “CHRISTMAS SWIRLS” VERSION!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE “FESTIVE POLKA DOTS” VERSION!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE “BLUE HOLIDAY SWIRL” VERSION!

ENJOY!!
Jenn

My feature as "Doer of the Week" on MarthaStewart.com - Dreamers Into Doers!

So, many of my blog readers are also my wonderful Facebook fans, so many of you know this news already, but I had to share on my blog too! This week has been so very exciting, as I was chosen as the MarthaStewart.com's "Doer of the Week" from their Dreamers Into Doers community! When I received an email from Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia a while back asking me to answer their interview questions for a feature on their site, I was THRILLED to say the least, but also did not want to get too excited too soon, just in case schedules changed or anything like that. SO... to my surprise and excitement this week, I received the link and post on Martha's site and facebook page that I was featured and I have been overwhelmed, ecstatic and just extremely thankful ever since! I think the word that best describes the experience so far since the article went live on the site is...whirlwind?! Past Doers of the Week can relate I am sure - site traffic goes crazy, emails, inquiries and questions increase and there are tons of sweet people offering congratulations and well wishes! It has been such a great experience!

If you are not familiar with the Dreamers Into Doers community on marthastewart.com, it's a community portion of Martha Stewart's website created for everyone out there "dedicated to making their business dreams come true". It's not just for present business owners, but also for anyone dreaming of starting their own business and looking for inspiration, tips, networking, support and advice. Members create profiles where they can share blog posts, photos, links and talk with other members. There are also groups that members join that suit their interests such as "Mompreneurs" for the moms balancing kids, jobs and new businesses, "Shop Girls" for anyone with their own retail sites and stores, and "Party People" for party planners and designers. I am a member of all three of these groups and just the support, inspiration and positive spirit seen throughout the site and within these groups in particular is really great!  If you have your own business or are thinking of starting one, it is a must see & join!

So each week, the team at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia & marthastewart.com chooses one member of the DID community to feature as their Doer of the Week. They share their story of how they started their business, their obstacles, their achievements, and what they have learned along the way. I was so honored to be chosen and asked to share my story - I am a huge fan of Martha's and love her businesses, her website and the awesome DID community. To be chosen and featured is such an honor for me. One of the best parts of it all has been how many people have reached out to me to say that my interview has inspired them since they too are juggling being a mom, and still working at their full time job while trying to grow their dream business that they hope to also one day make their full time career. It means so much to me that they liked my story and that it has helped them to continue to stay positive and focused during this difficult part of growing their business.

Here's the link to the complete interview and article if you'd like to read more! :)

Have a great (and SAFE!) weekend!

A Pancake Party Invitation in Every Color + Another Breakfast Theme Must-See Party

I posted Sherry's adorable Pancakes & PJs party last week, which she did in the bright primary colors for her boys Atticus & Nash! Her request for my design in primary colors was a custom design request that I was happy to design for her. My pancakes & pajamas party invitation has long been a favorite of both mine and customers alike and by now, I've done this design is so many fun color schemes for special requests. I thought I'd share my full line of color options with you, just so you can see all the variations that have come to life from this fun invitation I created over a year ago!

It all started with this design, specially created for a customer of mine. I loved having an excuse to sit down and design from scratch, these homemade pancakes with sprinkles on top! Her color scheme was for her twin boy and girl, so it needed to work for both of them! The aqua, red and lime green was fun & festive and a perfectly unique color combo.

Pajamas & Pancakes Original Invitation by InkberryCards.com

A "girlier" version was soon a popular request so it was my next version I soon offered in my shop. It's also a great way to show this design for a single child instead of twins:

Pancakes and Pajamas Party Invitation - Pink Green Aqua by InkberryCards.com

A photo version soon followed, in another softer, pink, purple and green color scheme:

Pancakes and Pajamas Party Invitation - Pink Photo Version

I can honestly say from these versions, I have since created a version in any color scheme you can think of! I love mixing it up and making this for any style requested. I do not sell every color scheme I've made, instead, I wait to see if a certain color palette seems to be requested frequently. I recently went through and picked some of my most popular color combos to be rolled out with tons of my newest invitation designs, so you now have these other fun colors and styles of Pancakes & Pajamas Party invitations to choose from!

Pancakes & Pajamas Party Invitation - Light Purple & Aqua by InkberryCards.com

Pancakes & Pajamas - Bold & Bright - Photo Invitation by InkberryCards.com

Pancakes & Pajamas - Hot Pink, Aqua and Black - Photo Invitation by InkberryCards.com

Pancakes & Pajamas First Birthday Photo Invitation - Blue by InkberryCards.com

UPDATE - NEW FOR 2013: Rainbow Chevron Pancakes and Pajamas Party Invitation (Photo and Non-Photo Version)

I have to wrap up this post with a link to another adorable breakfast theme first birthday party that I feel anyone who enjoys this theme MUST check out. The Sweetest Occasion featured this on their site earlier this year and I love the vintage feel and the unique ideas for this party! Think red velvet pancakes and a full cereal bar! I love it!

Below are a couple of fantastic images of this party, via http://www.thesweetestoccasion.com/2011/02/first-birthday-ideas/, photographed by Christian Cruz.

See what I mean? Get all the party details and a lovely review of this unique party on The Sweetest Occasion's site right here. Happy pancake party planning!

Pancakes & Pajamas Birthday Party Inspiration - Adorable Party Photos!

I am so excited to share these AWESOME party photos with you of an adorable pancakes and pajamas breakfast theme birthday party for siblings, Atticus and Nash. Sherry contacted me last month about my Pancakes & PJs invitations, and asked if I could customize my invitation design to be in her primary color scheme and make it work for a sibling party. I was happy to customize this for her so she could have the perfect invitation for her little boys' special day! I also helped her with some coordinating party circle tags and matching thank you notes before the party too. As you will see in the photos she shares below, Sherry did a fantastic job turning this cute theme into an colorful and fun, breakfast birthday event for her boys!

The invitation I designed for her:

You can find this invite in my shop here:

(Stay tuned this week for another post that features tons of other color schemes and formats for my Pancakes & Pajama party invites!)

Sherry welcomed guests to the party with this fantastic balloon wreath she made herself. Great job!

Fabulous stacks of rainbow pancakes! Love it!

More rainbow pancake fabulousness...

Bacon & Eggs treats (chocolate covered pretzels!!)

A close up of the bacon & eggs because do you love this as much as I do?? Adorable!

Everyone's favorite - chocolate milk in cute bottles

Sugar cookies made to look like pancakes! So perfect... (Cookies from Ruth's Sweete Justice in Oklahoma City)

The party room - loving the bright colors and the balloon lanterns hanging are awesome!

Cute and colorful cupcakes, from Target!

Topping bar for the pancakes! Love this idea and tons of fun for the kids!

The kids' craft was making Fruit Loop cereal necklaces!

Birthday boy with his craft!!

Birthday Boys Atticus & Nash enjoying their party and friends!

As favors, the guests received the book "If You Give A Pig A Pancake" along with treats including Yohoo chocolate drink boxes! So cute!

Thank you Sherry for sharing your lovely photos! I know these will be a huge inspiration to so many people planning an adorable pancake and pajamas party! Happy 4th & 2nd Birthday to Atticus & Nash!

Invitation Design: Inkberry Cards
Cookies: Ruth's Sweete Justice, Oklahoma City
Cupcakes: Target
Photos: Sherry Sage

Cute Ideas for a Sweet Watermelon Party!

Since my watermelon birthday invitations are two of my most popular designs in the spring and summer, I thought you all might like to see a little inspiration board with some of my favorite watermelon party theme items! There are so many cute ideas out there for an adorable watermelon theme party or summer picnic. And the colors pink, red, lime and dark green look great together! Perfect bright, summer colors! You will also see one of my newest designs featured in the bottom right corner - a new watermelon party invitation for those would do not want a photo invitation. Both invitations are available in a red/green watermelon color scheme as well. Hope you like it! Happy summer party planning!

Watermelon Party Inspiration Board Links & Credits:

watermelon invitations:

http://www.inkberrycards.com/wafibisupiin.html

watermelon cake:

http://www.womansday.com/Recipes/Watermelon-Cake-Recipe

watermelon dress:

http://www.colormehappyboutique.com/bonnie-jean-pink-watermelon-seersucker-sun-dress-toddler-girls-2t-4t.html

fabulous watermelon cupcakes:

http://www.mybakingdom.com/2010/08/my-new-favorite-cupcake-watermelon.html

polka dot cupcake liners:

http://www.shopsweetlulu.com/product/watermelon-cupcake-liner-mix

watermelon headband:

http://www.beautifulbowsboutique.com/item_100/Watermelon-Seeds-Hair-Bow-or-Headband.htm

popsicles:

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/watermelon-pops-113172.aspx

 

PS: stay tuned for a TON of new designs to be added - 76 in total as of right now and counting!! PHEW! That's a lot of new designs to add but I can't wait for you to see them all.

Congrats again to all of Pingg's Top Designers for April!

Wow, how exciting to be in the Pingg Top 4 again, this time for the month of April! Congrats to all the top designers, who you can read more about here: http://www.pingg.com/blog/2011/05/april-top-designers-staff-picks/. :)

An Adorable Winter Pool Party Bash!

I was so excited to be asked again to design a custom invitation & favor tags for a wonderful customer of mine - this time in a bright and fun pool party theme! Jennifer’s little girl Kaitlyn turned 5 in February, and the winter season didn’t stop them from enjoying a favorite summer time theme – a pool party! Kaitlyn’s party was held at an indoor pool, where she and her friends enjoyed a day full of splashing fun and games! Jennifer always creates the cutest parties for her girls (in the past I've helped her with invitations & party goodies for a pretty Pinkalicious birthday and a Hopping Froggy party!) and this one was no exception. From the delivery of the invitations (each guest received the invite with a pair of flip flops), to the treats (friends look-a-like swimming girl cupcakes, colorful fish cupcakes and flip flop cookies) and favors (cute summer sunglasses), Jenn created a festive, colorful, pool party for Kaitlyn, who I am positive will remember this fun birthday for years to come. Below are some photos of the invitation and favor tags I designed, and some other adorable photos from the party that I had to share! Jenn did a fabulous job on Kait's 5th birthday pool party bash!

The invitation I designed for Jenn. She delivered each one with a pair of flip flops! Love this idea!

The favor tags I designed for Jenn. Each party guest received a pair of cute & sparkley sunglasses.

Some other photos from Kait's adorable & fun pool party birthday bash! 

Flip Flop Cookies & Umbrella Drinks

Kait's mom Jenn made these CUTE swimming girl cupcakes to resemble Kait and each of her friends! Adorable!!

Close up of the precious flip flop cookies.

I love these fish cupcakes! She had them in purple, pink and aqua.

The birthday girl, Kait, looking so happy with her birthday cupcake! Happy Birthday Kait!

So, designing this invitation and favor tag for Jenn really must have put me in the mood for some summer parties, because in the days after I designed this for her, I designed about 10 new kids party invitations, most of which are in a summer theme (think beach & crab theme, lemonade and ice cream!)... I will post more about all of my new designs soon, but in the mean time you can view them all, along with this Flip Flop Pool Party Bash invitation in my shop, here. 

Have a great week!