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!

Sweet & Girly Barnyard Birthday Party Inspiration

Here's a little barnyard bash party inspiration for anyone looking to throw a traditional farm party with a sweet, girly twist. I had a lot of fun searching for a perfect mix of colorful, youthful and fun, but still dainty, mostly pastels & pink and totally girly farm party accents! I have quite a while before my daughter's birthday rolls around again, but after creating this board I'm secretly hoping she tells me she wants a farm party so I can create a party like this! Pink is a primary color for this style of party, but I love how you can mix it with so many accent colors like aqua, light blue, greens and oranges.  You can also go crazy with patterns for this - bandanna prints, polka dots, stripes, and of course - cow prints and lots of gingham check!

OK, so here's what I found in my search that I loved the most:

Our Barnyard Bash invitation is a perfectly adorable way to set the tone for your pretty in pink farm party. With lots of accent colors and cute farm animal illustrations, it really leaves for a lot of room in your color and decorating theme for your party. A photo of your little one outside, with green grass or a blue sky in the background makes for the perfect photo for the invite! 

I always look for a cute, coordinating outfit although it's not a must have for a great party, it can be fun to have the birthday girl dressed for the occasion! The perfect party dress I found for this is by My Sweet Emma who has an Etsy shop with tons of cute dresses for little ones. You can find the dress I featured here. 

The chocolate chip cookie mix favors inspired by Bakerella's would be such a cute favor to the kids or adults. I love any type of baking mix favors since they are cute and fun to make, and these are at the top of my list for some of the cutest I have seen! I also love all of the old fashioned milk bottle party themes and displays lately, and thought that these strawberry milk bottles in wood crates are so cute for this theme! As for the sweets, I adore the pink pig cookies I found at TSCookies on Etsy, plus the AMAZING farm cupcakes from Whipped Bakeshop! They were the cutest farm cupcakes I found using sweet pastel colors! So very cute! For something a little more involved but super adorable, the mini apple pies are a must have for the dessert or favor table! 

For decor, I have always loved Martha Stewart's Bandanna Party and I thought it would be perfect for a girly farm party. The party blower wreath I came across on Silly Pearl's blog was so unique and the mix of patterns also fits well for this. At the end of the party, the little ones can take a blower with them - how easy is that? 

Last but not least, the crafts and activities... I always love a cute party hat, and the adorable farm hats on Better Homes & Gardens' website were perfect! Pinwheels are always adorable and are very popular party accents right now, so they would be perfect as a craft for older children, or to make yourself to give out as favors. I loved the ones I found in Scrapafrass' Etsy shop. And I cannot explain how much I love the post on Oh Happy Day's blog for the Confetti Filled Eggs! This is such a cute idea and tons of fun for everyone! You must view the post on Oh Happy Day to see the amazing photos of how to make the confetti filled eggs, and the action shots of the game! Absolutely stunning photos and an adorable craft & game for everyone! 

Hope you enjoy this post and inspiration board as much as I enjoyed creating it!  Happy party planning!

 

Photo/Designer/Site Credits (Top Left to Right)

Invitation: Inkberry Cards - Barnyard Bash Photo Invitation
Cowgirl Cookie Mix in Jar: Bakerella  
Strawberry Milk Bottles: Spotted on Beau's Barnyard Party Animals
Pig Cookies: Truly Scrumptious Cookies (TS Cookies) on Etsy
Dress: My Sweet Emma on Etsy
Pinwheels: Scrapafrass on Etsy
Bandanna Decor: Martha Stewart
Mini Apple Pies: Style Me Pretty via One Stylish Bride
Party Blower Wreath: The Silly Pearl
Farm Cupcakes: Whipped Bakeshop
Farm Animal Hats: Better Homes & Gardens
Confetti Egg Craft & Game: Oh Happy Day
Inspiration Board Design: Jenn from Inkberry Creative, Inc. & www.inkberrycards.com

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

Totally Cute & Yummy Father's Day Cookies from SugarBelle's baking blog!

Love these father's day cookies from http://sweetsugarbelle.blogspot.com/

I've seen lots of cute father's day tie theme cookies recently, but these are definitely at the top of my list as my favorites. Lots of fun to make and you can get step by step instructions, including how to make an easy stencil for the ties on The Sweet Adventures of SugarBelle's baking blog right here! I recently found her blog and keep going back to it for tons of cookie ideas and instructions. I just love it!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Father's Day!

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.