DIY Invitations, Creative How Tos, Inspiring Ideas

Learn How Easy It Is To Print LCI's 4-Up Computer Place Cards

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:19:19 +0000

Today we'll show you how to print our 4-Up Computer Place Cards. Four folding place cards come on each perforated 8 1/2 x 11 sheet, and are scored to fold. Using our free Microsoft Word template, you can print the place cards using any home inkjet or laser printer.

For this video we've chosen to print on our 4Up Place Cards Palm Tree Gold.

After you've printed the place the cards, fold all four sides of the outer edges, then fold right down the middle. Carefully tear away the outer edge from the place cards. Then fold and tear each card, one at a time. Finally, fold each card along the score line and you're ready to set them at your tables!

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com

How To Print LCI's 2 Up Invitations

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:12:43 +0000

Looking for the easiest way to create custom invitations for any event using your home computer and printer? LCI Paper's 2 Up Printable Invitations are the way to go. Depending on which style you choose, each 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet (the standard size for any home or office printer) includes either (2) invitation cards or (2) folders side by side for easy printing. Once you've printed your invitation wording on the sheet, simply fold along the perforation and separate the two cards or folders.

In this example, we printed on LCI's newest color combination--our Gold Frame 2 Up Printable Invitation in Ecru. This 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet yields 2 A9 sized invitation cards, each measuring 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches. Using the Microsoft Word template that LCI provides, printing could not be simpler.

Download the free Word printing template found on our Blank Computer Invitations page
Add your own custom invitation wording, being creative with fonts and font sizes
Print your invitations.
Fold along the scored line and separate the invitations.

Note:
Since the Word template is oriented in "landscape" mode instead of "portrait" mode, before you print, access your printer driver by clicking File/Print/Properties. Make sure that landscape mode is selected as shown below.

We hope this example gives you confidence that you *can* print your own elegant invitations using LCI's blank computer invitations.

Recommended Links:
Blank Computer Invitations
Free Word Templates

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com

Interview with Enrique Garcia, Spanish Handmade Paper Manufacturer

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:19:42 +0000

Recently I had the pleasure of conducting an email interview with Enrique Garcia, founder of Arpa Artesanos del Papel (ARPA), a premier handmade paper manufacturer based out of Spain. Arpa is one of LCI's oldest suppliers of fine handmade paper stock. Speaking with Mr. Garcia, it quickly became clear that he has a lifelong passion for paper, and his dedication to his craft shows in the superb final product he and his company produce.

Could you talk a bit about your company, Arpa, and how you got started working with handmade paper products? How long have you been in business?

I am a paper engineer and I've been working for the paper world for 37 years already. Engineering, consulting, machinery building, management & paper business administration, etc... In 1993, I was working for a Swiss-German international company whose business was engineering and building machines. I was the Director of the paper division for Spain, Portugal & Morocco. At that time, as I already had been 21 years dedicated to the paper industry, I decided that it was the moment to switch to something different, on my own. So, I decided to apply my knowledge and all my experience to the Artisan Paper making process, totally convinced that I would be able to make the best Artisan Paper in the market. Therefore, in Arpa (differently from other artisan papers) we control all the parameters of the paper, as we have our own lab, where we can monitor fiber length, refining degree and lubrication (ºSR degree), glue, weight, resistance, dimensional stability, bore, etc. By doing this we can get very concrete characteristics in our papers, for [many] different applications.

What is the typical process that a handmade sheet of paper will go through during production? What techniques do you use that are specific to handmade papers, and what sets these papers apart from machine-made products? How and at what point is color added to the sheets?

Our prodution methodology is based on the traditional way of making paper, sheet by sheet, with 4 borders (each of the 4 sides). So, we makepaper exactly in the same way it was done before any paper machine was used, and even before the whited wood cellulose was obtained in Arpa, we used noble fibers from yearly plants as raw materials (which means, basically, cotton). By treating and refining these fibers in a Hollander beater (a machine from the 15th-16th century that we rebuilt in the same way it was used [during] its time), we cut, caress, fibrillate and hydrate them.

The glue process is massively done, with neutral glue (Ph-7) and the whole process is done with pure water, so no chlorine.

All the sheets, envelopes and cards are done one by one, always with the 4 borders (each of the 4 sides). We make all our papers one by one, from the small visit card (6 x 9 cm) to the big sheet (100 x 150 cm) for Fine Arts, from 140 weight to 400 grs/m2 weight. We even make round cards by request.

Once the papers are done, they are pressed between 2 wool filters, which give the paper the surface touching that all our papers have. Afterward, these papers are air dried, so we are able to keep their volume; the "hand" of the hand-made. At the end, once dried, they go into the pressing process.

The coloured papers are made only with natural pigments, solids to the light. This process is performed in the water and paste mass, right before making the sheets. Our papers do not have any surface treatment at all. Never, in any case. That's how all the sheets have such an attractive and soft cotton touching on their surface.

Do you export most of your products or is there a strong market for handmade paper in Europe?

We export around the 65% of our papers to the rest of Europe, Australia, Japan, some Arabian countries, and the US. Our papers are very much appreciated in Europe and Japan. I do think that the interest and appreciation of high quality Artisan Papers is a cultural and tradition[al] matter, from my personal point of view.

In the US we have the feeling that it is not a very well-known paper. Even thought is highly appreciated by experts, who like to touch, caress and enjoy it, at the same time it's very unknown for a lot of people, who most of the times mistake it with the so called "artisan" papers from India, Pakistan, etc, which are nothing else than recycling papers. [These] have nothing to do with the real Artisan high quality papers, made out of cotton fibers, natural water... Arpa papers!

What kind of uses have you or your customers found for handmade paper?

We have several paper "families":

A.- High Quality artisan stationery. Sheets, cards, envelopes. All these papers are ready for offset printing, typography and digital (ink-jet), and of course for handwriting. All of them in 13 different colors.

B.- Artisan Paper for Fine Arts. We have 4 under this family: watercolor papers, engraving papers, drawing papers, [and] photography friendly papers. We have them in 3 different colors: white, natural white and ivory.

C.- Artisan Papers for Graphic Arts. They are papers for offset printing and typography. they are ready for both kind of printing, either one or four ink printing, thanks to their dimensional stability. We have them in 3 different colors: white, natural white and ivory.

D.- Artisan Papers for creativity. They are only made in one size (50 x 65), but in 16 different colors.

Obviously our customers use our Artisan papers for each of the applications for which they are made and previously mentioned.

The ones with higher demand are always the Artisan papers for high quality stationery, which are mainly used for wedding invitations, event announcements, rewards, etc... The papers for printing and Graphic Arts have fewer clients, but [they are] much bigger.

We have made thousands of sheets in big sizes, like 60 x76 cm, for instance for a customer in Seattle (US), who wanted to reproduce art pieces. It is also very much appreciated for old book reconstruction, or for the highly valuable books pressing and editing, mostly with experts and collect[ors] as targets. Recently, we made thousand sheets for a special book containing all the letters that Martin Luther King wrote from jail. This is a book with leather covers, which was edited by the US Congress. And the whole printing was obviously done in the US.

How does handmade paper production differ from machining in terms of impact on the environment?

Environmental impact: between our artisan products and the industrial ones there is a big difference, because we need to take into account that:

* Our papers are made out of cotton, so no chemical treatment.
* Our artisan papers do not contain any chemical additive, but all the industrial papers contain them.
* Our garbage is almost zero and the small amount we can have does not contain any waste.
* The cotton is a yearly plant, so no tree needs to be cut.

On the other hand, the industrial paper [contains] wood cellulose, so you need to cut trees to get it. The wood whitening process is extremely pollutive. The artisan papers are counted by sheet, but the industrial ones are counted by millions of tones. The artisan process does not add any chemical product. On the industrial papers, a lot of parameters are monitored by chemical products (porosity, straightness, opacity, surface treatment, etc.)

All this industrial process [produces] a lot of garbage at the end, which obviously requires important water clearing machines. Even the weight and humidity control of the industrial paper is done through equipment which contains a small [radioactive] part!

Any final comments?

The paper is my life and my world, so I'm always more than happy to talk about it.

Recommended Link:
LCI's Selection of Arpa Handmade Paper

Will Collins
willc@lcipaper.com

Japanese Sukashi Vellum Invitation Wraps - Fresh & Inviting

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:52:58 +0000

LCI Paper's Japanese Sukashi Vellum Invitation Wraps are some of our most beautiful invitations and are also some of our easiest kits to assemble. Each kit includes:

(10) 5 1/8 x 7 inch invitation cards made with 111 pound Vice Versa stock
These cards are manufactured using ribbed, textured card stock from Gmund in Germany. Gmund is one of the most environmentally friendly paper mills in the world.

(10) 11 x 5 1/4 inch Sukashi Bloom overlays, imported from Japan
The Sukashi Bloom's warm floral pattern sets it apart from ordinary vellum. You'll actually be printing your custom invitation details on this layer.

(10) Envelopes made with Vice Versa paper in a complimentary color

The kit could not be simpler to make. After you place your order and before it even arrives at your door, you might want to download our free printing template for Microsoft Word. Find it on our Japanese Sukashi Vellum Invitation Wraps page. When you open the template, you'll notice the document is sized correctly (11" wide x 5 1/4" tall) to print on the Sukashi Bloom overlay.

The template is horizontally oriented because the wrap is going to wrap around the vertically oriented invitation card from front to back, almost like a big hug.

This is your opportunity to express your sentiment while being creative with fonts and font sizes. Choose fonts that compliment the floral pattern of the Sukashi Bloom wrap.

When you are happy with the invitation wording and layout of your invitation on the screen, you should cut a few pieces of ordinary copy paper to the size of the Sukashi Bloom wrap (11" wide x 5 1/4" tall) to use as test sheets. You don't want to print test runs on the fine Sukashi. Load the test sheets into your printer and adjust the plastic paper guide to meet with the edge of the paper.

You're almost ready to print a test. Your Word template is sized correctly (11" wide x 5 1/4" tall) and set to landscape mode. You'll just need to communicate this size and orientation to your printer. In Word, click File/Print. Select your printer and click the Properties button. You'll be inside your printer driver. Every printer driver is different so you'll need to navigate around to find the paper size. Choose a "custom" or "user defined" setting and enter 11" wide x 5 1/4" tall. Choose landscape orientation as opposed to portrait orientation. If there is a paper type option for transparency, use it. You've just configured your printer to recognize the Sukashi Bloom wrap sheet size! Go ahead and send a test through using the copy paper that you've cut to size to match the Sukashi. When you're satisfied with the text for your invitation, you can load your Sukashi into your printer, 20 sheets at a time, and send them through.

The final step is to wrap your Sukashi Bloom wraps around your 5 1/8" x 7" invitation cards. You can secure the Sukaski layer to the card using our Double Sided Tape Dots, Glue Marker, or glue stick. You can also use our Envelope Seals to secure the Sukashi wrap on the back of the invitation.

This is one of my personal favorite invitations because of the fresh, natural look inherent in the Sukashi and Vice Versa stock, and the ease of printing and assembly.

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com

Ask Us a Question

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:35:58 +0000

With our current Better Business Bureau “A” rating, and if you have any experience at all with LCI Paper, we hope you’ve noticed that customer service is an area that is very important to our business. Daily, all of the office staff at LCI Paper, including the President and Founder, are involved in customer service. It’s something that is expected, and it’s something that we enjoy doing.

Our web site is set up to accept e-mails sent directly from our product pages. For example, a person might be looking at a particular Save The Date card, wondering what envelope size is the perfect fit. Of course that person can pick up the phone and call us, but they can also "Ask us a question" via e-mail directly from a particular product page. That e-mail is received and assigned to a qualified person in the office. On the right is a screen shot from one of our newest product pages, our Sage & Chocolate Border Save The Date kit. You can see the "Ask us a question" link just under the "View Larger Image" link.

Now that you understand the way our customer support e-mail system works, I’d like to write a series of short blog articles addressing specific e-mail questions that I receive and respond to. One day I might write about a unique question and another day I might write about a popular question. If people are asking these types of questions, chances are, others have the same question but might not be as motivated to ask. Expect my series to commence later this week. In the meantime, if you have a question and you think others might benefit from a public answer, post a blog comment right here!

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com

Get Inspired With Our Blue Blossom Pocket Fold

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:13:42 +0000

Our Office Manager, Linda Giesin, is one of the nice people you'll speak to when you call LCI Paper. As a contribution to our first issue of the Creative Invitation Guide, she designed this lovely pocket fold kit.

Click here to order the complete kit in quantities of 10.

The kit includes:

(10) 5 x 7 Rivus Blue Pocket Folds
(10) Ecru Invitation Cards 4 1/4 x 5 1/2
(10) Blue Flower Tree Chiyogami Sheets
(10) Summer Sky Invitation Envelopes
(10) Ecru Response Folders
(10) Summer Sky Response Envelopes

This kit begins with our Vice Versa Rivus Blue pocket fold, a heavyweight imported card stock with a soft and exquisite texture. Linda made the perfect choice in pairing it with our Blue Flower Tree Chiyogami; this pattern features light blue, white and teal tree blossoms outlined in gold paint on an off-white background. The chocolate brown accents of the tree branches forms a beautiful contrast with the light blue color of the pocket fold.

This invitation is very easy to print, including a simple A2 ecru invitation card and response folder. Envelopes for both invitation and RSVP are matching Summer Sky blue in the Gmund Colors line (the color is exactly the same as Gmund's Vice Versa Rivus, only in a smooth finish).

Without further ado, we'll now show you step by step how to print and assemble this invitation - free Word templates included!

Step One: Cut Chiyogami Paper To Make Layers

In each package of 10 kits, you will receive 10 chiyogami sheets in 8 1/2 x 11 size. Using a paper cutter or scissors, cut two layers measuring 4 7/8 x 6 7/8 inches out of five of the sheets, as shown in the image below. You will need five sheets to make 10 invitations.

Step Two: Cut Chiyogami Strip For Response Folder

Using a single sheet of chiyogami, you will cut strips that measure 1 x 7 inches to border the left edge of the response folder. (For efficient paper use, which is always recommended, you can also use the leftover paper from making the layers, above.) Use a ruler to measure out 10 of these strips on the sheet as shown below. Cut out the strips and save them to glue to the response folders after you've printed them in Step Five.

What To Do With The Leftover Chiyogami Sheets...
The leftover chiyogami sheets can be used to make liners for either the invitation or response envelope, or you could cut a band to wrap vertically around the finished pocket fold. The perfect size for a pocket fold band is 1 1/2 x 11. See our Flowering Bronze Pocket Fold article for an example of this band.

Step Three: Glue Chiyogami Layer To Pocket Fold

Adhere a chiyogami layer to the invitation panel of the pocket fold. You can glue or tape the layer using the following:

Ordinary glue stick
Glue Marker
Double-sided tape

Step Four: Print & Adhere Ecru Invitation Card

Download the template below to print the Ecru Invitation Card measuring 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches. Place your invitation wording on the template and print on an inkjet or laser printer. (Tip: Use the sample verses on our Invitation Wording page to get started) When you've printed the cards, adhere them to the center of the chiyogami layer on the pocket fold as shown below.

Download Invitation Printing Template

Step Five: Print Response Folder & Envelope

Use the templates below to print on the Ecru Response Folder measuring 3 1/2 x 4 7/8 inches (when folded) and the Summer Sky response envelope measuring 3 5/8 x 5 1/8 inches.

Download Response Folder Printing Template

Download Response Envelope Printing Template

Step Six: Glue Chiyogami Strip To Response Folder

Secure the 1 x 7 inch chiyogami band to the left edge of the response folder. Do this by laying the printed folder flat on a surface, printed side up. You can use glue stick or double sided tape to adhere the band to the folder.

Step Seven: Print Invitation Envelope

Download the template below to print the Summer Sky Envelope measuring 5 1/4 x 7 1/4 inches. Place your finished pocket fold inside the envelope and you're ready to mail your invitations! LCI also carries gold envelope seals which are a nice way to seal the pocket fold or envelope. They are a great accent to complement the chiyogami paper.

Download Envelope Printing Template

We hope you enjoyed creating this unique invitation! It makes a great wedding invitation, but is versatile enough to suit other occasions as well - fundraisers or dinners, birthdays, and formal spring events, to name a few.

If you encounter any problems with our templates, don't hesitate to contact us by emailing Amy at amy@lcipaper.com.

Amy
amy@lcipaper.com

From His Daughter's Bat Mitzvah Invitation To a Kit You Can Buy

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:36:24 +0000

You might have seen our new Stardream layered invitations and read the recent blog article, "How To Assemble Stardream Bar & Bat Mitzvah Invitations At Home." Now you'll read words directly from the Stardream layered invitations designer, LCI's own Barry Levine. The twist to this story is that when Barry was designing the invitation for his daughter, he never imagined it would be sold on our web site.

"I was working on it privately. We’re a little less than a year away from the Bat Mitzvah of my oldest daughter and I had some time on my hands. I figured I would get started with it because the plan is to create our own invitations."

Noticing the transition from Barry's personal invitation design for his daughter's up-coming Bat Mitzvah to a series of invitations to be made available to LCI's customers, and noticing Barry's occasionally squirming during the process, I had to ask him more about the experience.

"I didn’t really plan on it that way. My intent was to do a creation of my own. I was playing around with colors, with type, with design... Nobody gets the design right on the first attempt. I also wanted to give my daughter a chance to see various layouts to see what she liked because her input in all of this is important to me. I’ve been around design and printing for more years than I care to admit right now. So I want to make sure that it’s a design that not only I’m happy with, but my daughter -- it’s her event and it’s a memorable event and I want all parts of the event to be a memory for her, not just the event itself but what goes around the planning of it."

"I’m not claiming to be a premier designer, but I take a lot of pride in the stuff that I create. Especially when it’s personal to my own family, yeah, I have this little bit of reluctance to share it with the public, especially since the event hasn’t even happened yet. I don’t want someone else coming out with the design before I even send mine out."

With a smile, I pointed out that fact that unless he changes his design, that’s going to happen because the invitation is already available on our site.

"I understand that. That’s not to say that I won’t change it. I haven’t carved anything in stone yet. Do I like what I did? Sure I do. Apparently other people do too."

The entire invitation ensemble is designed with Stardream stock, a brand of specialty paper produced by Italian manufacturer Gruppo Cordenons. I asked Barry about that choice.

"I liked the color variety that some of the Stardream stocks offered. I thought that my daughter would also like the various colors that I showed her. I think Stardream has a little more of an offering to the specific designs I was working on than maybe some of the color palettes that we have in other stocks."

Barry closed with this thought regarding the inspiration he feels when he sees other invitation designs. He hopes that his designs and the other invitations at LCIPaper.com can inspire our customers.

"Every time I see a new invitation, it inspires me a little bit in thought for how I could create my own invitation. That will always happen and that’s why we try to show printed invitations on our site so that people can give themselves a little bit of a catalyst in what they may come up with. They may use bits and pieces of a design that they see that we’ve created on our site. Even if it’s just that, then it’s served its purpose. My personal feelings are that when I see different invitations, there are different elements about them that I may like that I’ll try to remember for later use in something that I’m doing. And that happens on a daily basis."

Thanks to Barry for sharing his daughter's Bat Mitzvah invitation to a product line that all of LCI's customers can consider using.

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com

Customer Feedback - Janice on Hard-To-Find Envelopes & Her LCI Paper Experience

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:05:48 +0000

http://talk.lcipaper.com/audio/lcipaper17.mp3

One of LCI Paper's newest customers is Janice in Pittsburgh. She found us while searching for a hard-to-find envelope size in a particular color. I had the pleasure of assisting Janice on the phone. We found the perfect envelope to match the custom-designed invitation for her son's Bar Mitzvah. Janice was nice enough to participate in LCI's 17th podcast episode and convey her thoughts about LCI Paper's products and customer service to all of you.

To save the audio to your computer, right click and "save as."

Here is a transcript of the interview:

The project that I've been working on is my son Jonathan's Bar Mitzvah. And, you know, I decided to design the invitation instead of just buying an invitation from a book. Because I actually wrote a cookbook and so I'm using the graphic designer that did the cookbook for me to do the invitation. We did this great invitation but we designed it in a unique way so it's not standard.

So what happened was I needed a 7 1/2 inch square brown envelope with a square flap in the back. And my printer went to her regular sources and she couldn't find it and she said, "Well, it just isn't available."

And I decided, "Well, let me kind of search around for it." Because it would ruin our whole concept if I couldn't find this 7 1/2 inch square because all that was available was 6 1/2 inch square and 8 1/2 in square.

So I'd searched around, and sure enough, your company had this great 7 1/2 inch square envelope and that's how I came to find you.

I have to congratulate you guys for an incredible customer service experience that I had with you. I had a difficult request to find. First of all, as I said, the 7 1/2 square envelope, which you were seemingly the only people on the web that had these difficult to find items; but then on top of it, when I dealt with you in particular Josh, you were so accommodating. You immediately were willing to send me samples at no charge. You knew all of your stock down pat, no problem. You did tremendous followup. I immediately had followup e-mails, not just one, but multiple followup e-mails tracking the progress of my package that my order had been filled, that it was in the mail, what my confirmation number was, that UPS had sent it. And you basically couldn't have been more accommodating, couldn't have been more knowledgeable, and truly served your customer marvelously. And I was very happy with both the underlying product and with the service experience I had from you and was more than happy to come back and buy the product from you.

And in fact, I have to say when I got the envelope in the mail, I hadn't had time to open it before I got to the meeting with my designer. So I walked into the meeting and I ripped open the outer UPS envelope and we pulled out the brown envelope and we were both so happy with the product that the designer stood up and threw his arms around me...

[laughter]

...because we were so genuinely happy that after this whole search, we'd finally found the product. So it was great. You really made this invitation work. And everything from that grew from there. So it was a great success story and I was happy to call you up today and reorder the stuff. And again, I was asking you for another sample because now I'm going to do a thank you card. You were more than accommodating with all of these different colors of beige, and I'm happy to buy from you a second time.

I read your blog after I talked to you and I mean, I can see that your company is really well-run and I saw those pictures of your boss that you put in there. And I mean, it must be a very sharp company because everyone seems to be very committed to customer service.

Yup, that definitely is a central focus.

I appreciate Janice's willingness to talk about her positive experience with LCI Paper. Of course, I appreciate her compliments. It's always rewarding to be recognized for one's work. And I always like to try to inspire others by asking customers to talk about their own unique projects. I think when you hear from people that are being creative, it inspires you to be creative.

After our telephone interview, I asked Janice more about the cookbook she mentioned. She writes, "Hi Josh. Here is the photo of my cookbook, An Acquired Taste. It can be purchased for $19.95 from my son's school in Pittsburgh, Winchester Thurston School. Customers can call the school to order it at 412-578-7500 and ask for the Development Office or they can email brelsfordd@winchesterthurston.org and purchase a copy."

Thanks again Janice!

Recommended Link:
LCI Paper's envelopes by size

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com

How To Assemble Stardream Bar & Bat Mitzvah Invitations At Home

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:35:37 +0000

Our new Stardream Bar & Bat Mitzvah Invitations offer an exciting new design made with a beautiful, imported metallic card stock. Click here to see the complete line of invitations.

Read the step by step instructions below and download our easy-to-use printing templates to assemble this invitation at home.

Step One: Print The Bar Or Bat Mitzvah Invitation

Print the invitation card that measures 3 7/8 x 6 3/4 inches using Microsoft Word and our easy-to-use template available for download below. Simply open the template in Word, then replace the placeholder text with your own wording. When you're ready to print, you will need to specify a custom paper size for the printer. To do this on a PC, go to File, Print.. in Word and click on the Properties button. In this window there should be a tab called Paper/Quality where there is a menu of common sizes. Enter a custom size of 3.88 inches wide by 6.75 inches tall, the same dimensions that should already appear under Page Setup for the document size.

The wording we've used includes a blank space below the child's name to place one of our silver metallic brads. Alternatively you could punch a hole in the card and secure the card to the backing card using our self-adhesive bows (place the adhesive strip over the hole to fasten the two layers together). If you need help getting started with your wording, see the sample wording on our Bar Mitzvah Invitation Wording page.

Download Printing Template
Click here to download our Bar & Bat Mitzvah Invitation Template for Word

Step Two: Secure The Invitation To The Backing Card

Once you have printed your invitation, the next step is to secure it to the backing layer. You can use a brad or bow as mentioned above, or you could use our double-sided tape dots, glue marker, or ordinary glue stick. You can also choose to place the invitation at an angle to the backing card as we've done or vertically for a more traditional framed look. Experiment according to your preference.

Step Three: Print The Envelope

The final step is to print the Stardream A9 envelope measuring 5 3/4 x 8 3/4 inches.

Download Printing Template
Click here to download our A9 Envelope Template for Word

We hope you enjoy these unique invitations! Be sure to see the other colors available for this kit by visiting our Stardream Layered Invitations Page.

Amy
If you encounter any problems with our templates, don't hesitate to contact us by emailing Amy at amy@lcipaper.com.

How To Make LCI's Computer Printable Table Number Cards

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:06:05 +0000

In this How To video, you'll learn how easy it is to create and print custom table number cards for your important function. LCI Paper's 2-up Table Cards are easy to print on any home printer. In this video, we'll use our 50 pack Red Frame Table Card. Each standard sized 8 ½ x 11 sheet is a 65 pound card stock and each sheet contains two folding cards. The cards are scored to fold in half after printing.

We're going to print on the cards using the free template available for download at lcipaper.com. On our Blank Table Cards page, click the link for "Download easy printing template for Microsoft Word." At the Table & Menu Card Templates section, click on 2-up Table Cards, and download your template. Open the template in Microsoft Word, and then customize your table cards with table numbers, names, or images. Be as creative as you want!

We printed these cards on a Canon inkjet printer using black ink and decorative graphics that we found on the web. We'll fold the sheet along the perforated edge in the center, and then separate the two cards. Finally, we’ll fold both of our table cards along the scored lines.

Printing on our 2-up Table Cards is the easiest way to create personalized table cards for your important function. See the Table Number Cards link below for our entire selection.

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com

Victor Domine of the Craft & Hobby Association

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:04:31 +0000

Each year, the Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) presents two large annual conventions. This summer, Orland, Florida will host the Summer Convention & Trade Show and the debut of the Craft SuperShow. The 2010 Winter show in Anaheim, California is according to Victor Domine, CHA Public Relations Manager, "the must attend industry trade show of the year." I had the opportunity to interview Victor for the blog. Below, you'll learn all about the big, up-coming events and about the Craft & Hobby Association.

What is the history of the Craft & Hobby Association and did the
organization start off producing shows?

In 2004, the two most influential organizations in the craft and hobby industry, the Hobby Industry Association (HIA) and the Association of Crafts & Creative Industries (ACCI), joined together to form the Craft & Hobby Association (CHA). As CHA, the new Association formed a single more dynamic and powerful force to drive the craft industry into the future.

The 2009 Summer show is July 28 through 30 in Orlando, and the 2010
Winter show is January 24 through 27 in Anaheim. Does the CHA have a
long history producing shows in these cities, or have things changed
up a bit over the years?

Each organization had its own tradeshow. The HIA had moving trade shows that moved from venue to venue each year and even moved across Europe. Today, the HIA Show is the CHA Winter Convention & Trade Show held each Winter in January or February. It has been around for almost 70 years and attracts thousands of craft companies from around the world and has established a reputation for being the must attend industry trade show of the year. Most recently the Winter Show has been held in Anaheim, California although no permanent home for the Winter Show has been officially established.

The ACCI tradeshow, today’s CHA Summer Convention & Trade Show has been held for almost 30 years in Rosemont, Illinois. This year in efforts to expand the Summer Show, CHA opted to relocate the Summer Show to the Southeast, namely Orlando, Florida where the consumer craft spend is the highest in the country. In addition to relocating the Summer Show to Orlando, CHA has also moved the Show dates to run Tuesday through Thursday to accommodate more buyers and to enable more families to take advantage of the local attractions in Orlando. As if that weren’t enough, for the first time, CHA will be introducing a new consumer show, the CHA Craft SuperShow (July 30 – August 1) that will immediately follow the Summer Show in Orlando and will enable craft enthusiasts of all ages to experience the professional grade craft education, interact with make-n-take manufacturer projects and try new and different types of crafts under one roof massive at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

Tell me about the relationship between your vendors and attendees.
What kind of opportunities are there for both?

CHA is unlike other trade associations. Where most other organizations will represent one sector of the industry like retailers, or manufacturers, CHA is composed of every category from designers, to manufacturers, to wholesale and distributors, to independent and national retailers, to publishers, media outlets, and the service providers that cater the special needs of the craft and hobby industry. CHA membership spans 39 different industry segments of the craft and hobby industry from Scrapbooking, to art materials, to needlecrafts & sewing, to general crafts, etc… To become a member of the Craft & Hobby Association, companies need to provide business qualifications. Companies that are involved in the production and sale of products and supplies found in art, craft, hobby, sewing and other leisure industry outlets are eligible for membership. In order to attend CHA Shows attendees likewise have to “qualify” in order to attend. Additionally, CHA shows are order writing events so the qualified exhibitors meet with qualified buyers on the show floor resulting in a unique business environment where over 75% of the attendees are qualified buyers and more than 70% of attendees make a purchase with 3 months of a CHA show as a direct result of attendance. In a recession, there truly is no better place to conduct business than at a CHA Show.

Are craft and hobby enthusiasts able to attend or is the show for
industry folks only?

Due to the qualification process, craft and hobby enthusiasts are generally not able to attend the Summer Show.

This July in Orlando, what might people expect to experience at the
show and why might they want to attend?

This July the CHA Summer Show is the buying event of the season. With a product base expanding beyond Scrapbooking, to art materials, general crafts, to needlecrafts and more, CHA’s new venue for the Summer Show has sparked additional interest from some of the larger national retailers who will be supporting the Show and sending buyers, and participating in the Craft SuperShow. The Summer Show theme deals with Connecting with Consumers and will offer top-notch business education from PR, to email marketing, to the latest on the Consumer Protection Improvement Act, and will provide attendees with competitive advantages on how to attract and keep customers and to compete in a tightening economy. Business leaders like Maria Thomas, CEO of Etsy will be the keynote presenter and will share how her company has grown from $0 to $88 million dollars a year in sales in just four years and why they were invited to present at the World Economic Forum in Davos, this past January on ‘how handcrafts will change the global economy.’ In addition to the education, the business writing on the show floor, there is nothing like CHA for networking with the who’s who in the industry.

For about 70 years of the Winter Show, and about 30 years of the Summer Show, CHA has been turning consumers away from their events. But this year with the Craft SuperShow, CHA will be courting them to help our members better connect with them to establish customer loyalty programs and to better understand their buying motivations.

Recently, I interviewed Amy Roszak, creator of the Perfect Printing
Pouch, who seems to have benefited from attending, and then later
actually showcasing her creations at your winter show. Are there any
other stories you might have about people with ideas that you’ve seen
turn into successes?

There are hundreds of success stories that have been the direct result of CHA participation. Here are few from the 2009 CHA Winter Show.

Spiral Eye Side Threading Needles were invented in 2008 by Pam Turner, as an easy threading alternative to traditional needles. Pam joined CHA, exhibited at the 2009 Winter Show and entered her needle into the CHA Innovations Showcase and her product was named as the CHA Innovations Product of the Year. Her business and orders have taken off.

The Modern Surrealist, Marissa Pawelko responded to a CHA Indie Craft contest on Etsy.com. She submitted her entry, and it was selected to be part of a display at the CHA Winter Show. As a non-CHA member she couldn’t see her project being displayed at the Show so she joined CHA. She was then asked to host a demonstration area, she networked with industry VIPs, came back from the Show, upgraded her CHA membership, and will be hosting a CHA Craft Challenge at the upcoming Craft SuperShow in Orlando.

It’s not always about being discovered; sometimes it’s just about doing good business. An adhesive company called GlueArts, attended the CHA Winter Show and had a tremendous show, the best ever for them. In fact, they had a 68 percent increase in new customers and had to double their assembly team to fulfill the orders.

The CHA Shows are so popular that Paris Hilton selected the 2009 CHA Winter Show to launch her new line of Scrapbooking, jewelry and fashion craft kits.

What are the benefits of becoming a member of the Craft & Hobby Association?

Aside from being able to attend and exhibit at the CHA Show; you also have access to the CHA’s Attitude & Usage Research Study results that are issued each year; CHA provides its members with public relations tools including press release templates, how-to booklets, and free local media lists valued at $10,000 if you were to purchase these through a PR agency. CHA membership also includes being listed on CHA buyers and seller’s guides, trade show exhibitor lists, ongoing business education, special discount offers, and subscription to CHA Portfolio, a quarterly association magazine.

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com

LCI's Community Involvement & a Conversation With Employment Options Member Mark

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:22:01 +0000

Last Thursday, May 14, I had the opportunity to attend the Employment Awards Fundraising Banquet at Employment Options in Marlborough, Massachusetts. The event honors the companies that employ Options' members, the staff at Options, and most importantly, Options' members. When I heard about the event from my co-workers, I said I'd like to go.

In just a minute, I'll tell you about my experience at the banquet. Later, you'll read about a conversation I had with an Options member and an LCI employee, Mark. First, let me quote the Employment Options mission statement:

Through inspiration, support and encouragement, Employment Options creates a home-away-from-home, where people can overcome barriers to employment and discover personal growth, self-sufficiency and hope.

Back to the banquet... At my table was Linda, our Office Manager, Iem and Mark (both LCI employees and Options members) and Joe Valarioti and his wife. Joe is a Marlborough business owner and is active in local government.

At LCI Paper, I'm fortunate to work with a lot of good people that have been willing to be patient and show me the ropes. After working in the music business for the first part of my career, transitioning to LCI Paper was a steep learning curve. Mark--I mentioned he was at our table--is one of the people that is always available to answer my questions. Whenever I'm helping out in the warehouse, I can always go to him with a question about finding an item, putting together a kit for a sample order, or anything else that I might need.

Dave MacNeill, a radio personality from local classical music station WRCB FM, was the guest speaker. He talked about different people who had inspired and influenced him over the years. He also recognized his daughter, Emily Greenwood, who received Options' "Voice of Hope Award" that night.

At the end of the night, when Executive Director Toni Wolf extended an invitation to those who'd like to speak, I took the opportunity to recognize LCI's employees, Iem, Mark, and Scott, all of who are also Options members. I relayed a conversation I'd had with LCI's President, Larry Chase, who told me that LCI's error rate is "ridiculously low." I relayed that working in the warehouse at LCI takes a special kind of person with amazing attention to detail.

Earlier today, I sat down with Mark who told me about his experience at LCI and being a member of Employment Options.

"I started in August of '07. Before that, I worked at Verizon through Options for three years, in the kitchen. I didn't know too much about LCI before I started. It's Options' best job. It's cleaner work. It's better work."

Mark was recognized for his great work at Verizon and that's how he was fitted for his current job at LCI.

I asked Mark about some of the key people at Options.

"All the staff are great. There's Keith. He's definitely a stand up guy. He's the Employment Coordinator. He goes out and gets new jobs and places people in the jobs and tries to match people to each job. The drivers... You always get a chance to talk about whatever is on your mind, just informally, when you're driving to work. Dave, Fran, Beth... I really can't say enough about the staff over there. They are really good, like Shannon, the Director, is always really encouraging. Toni Wolf, she's the Executive Director. There's Maria... When I first got there, when I was having problems, she got me work in the kitchen. I worked there for about three months before I went to Verizon. And that was a really difficult time and it was really nice to have a place to go. She helped me out, training me in the kitchen, and then I was able to do the kitchen work at Verizon after that. Any one of the staff I could probably say something nice about."

I asked Mark if he remembered what I said in my little impromptu speech about the attention to detail that people need when working at LCI.

"Yeah, I like that. That was the perfect comment and that's what I like most about the job is just working for exact standards or precise standards. I like the freedom too. It's not like someone is breathing down your neck. That just makes you want to work all the harder because people aren't ordering you around."

Mark said he appreciates the thorough training he received when he started at LCI.

"Will [LCI's Warehouse Manager] is a great boss. It just makes you work all the harder when people give you room to work and they expect you to work at an exact standard and it just makes you want to be that much more precise. The job really does help me out a lot. I love running around the warehouse and working hard, being around professional people, getting good experience. It's nice working around a nice, clean working environment with an aesthetically pleasing product. I like working with the product. It's perfectly clean and the paper is spotless."

I asked Mark who he thinks is responsible for the organization in the warehouse. "Is it Will? Is it a group effort?"

"I try to keep the stock in order, labeled right. Everybody does. Will does most of the organizing. Little things are important like labeling, making sure the samples don't get confused with the regular packs, if you have an open pack of samples. Making sure everything's labeled. Everything has its spot."

Regarding his LCI training, Mark credits Will, Naomi, Keith from Options, and former employee Lisa (now in another job through Options).

"I started on the samples which is good because that's the quickest way to learn where everything is. Because you're dealing with so many different items repetitively that you learn where each thing is."

I learned my way in the warehouse by starting on samples too, and as I mentioned earlier, Mark was always there to help me. I asked Mark, "How long did it take you to get acclimated, to really feel confident about what you were doing and to feel like other people had confidence in you."

"About six months. There are a lot of little details like everything from weighing individual cards to get an exact count, how to get the shrink wrap just right on each machine, assembling the kits, how to keep everything organized, knowing exactly which box to use for each order and how to pack the boxes. There's a lot of details."

Mark closed by listing the aspects of his job that are most important to him.

"Being productive, being around professional people, making good money."

I thank Mark for his time and for his willingness to share some of his experiences.

German Fine Paper Manufacturer Representative Visits LCI Paper

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:49:38 +0000

Many of LCI's most dramatic and most popular invitation stationery is custom created to our specifications using fine paper and cardstock from Gmund paper mill in Germany. An example is LCI Paper's Slim Layer Card, using Gmund's beautiful textured Vice Versa card stock.

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of meeting with Gmund's Worldwide Sales Director, Herbert Eibach, as part of an annual reintroduction to the Gmund lines. Herbert was able to get a feel for our business, see how we have been using the Gmund stock, get feedback from us about the papers, and make suggestions on how we might expand our business together.

For most of the afternoon, Mr. Eibach met with Larry Chase, President and Founder of LCI Paper, and Barry Levine, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. As you can see, I poked my head in to snap a few photos.

After those meetings, Herbert got to circulate a bit. He talked to Amy about his weekend plans in New York like meeting with some of his commercial accounts that include perfume and fashion companies and attending the 63rd Annual National Stationery Show. With me, he spoke about those Gmund retail stores that have recently opened in several cities worldwide. He was most excited about the Tokyo store that, since its recent opening, has done amazing business, with much of that business being wedding related.

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com

St. Charles Elementary 4th Graders Visit the Elderly

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:42:23 +0000

Barry Levine, LCI Paper's Vice President of Sales & Marketing, was pleased to receive a letter written by Shelbe, a fourth grader at St. Charles Elementary School in St. Charles, Michigan. She wrote that the class was planning to visit the elderly residents at a local assisted living facility. The students came up with the idea of making cards and stationery with the seniors so that they could write to their friends and family. Shelbe asked LCI Paper for a donation.

Barry, along with Larry Chase, LCI's President, assembled and sent a selection of products for the fourth graders. Barry wrote back to Shelbe, commending her on her beautiful letter. He wrote, "The tradition of giving should always be an ongoing practice. I am of the Jewish faith, and those of us who practice this tradition refer to it as a Mitzvah. It has also come to express any act of human kindness. Working with the elderly would certainly fall into that category."

Earlier this year, we received a wonderful letter from Mrs. Shultz and Shelbe who included thank you notes and photos of the kids unboxing LCI's donation, along with photos of the kids interacting with the seniors at the Union Court Assisted Living Facility in St. Charles, MI.

Everyone at LCI appreciated seeing the photos and hearing from both Shelbe and Shelbe's teacher, Mrs. Shultz. We are thankful for the opportunity to help the St. Charles Elementary School fourth graders bring cheer to their local seniors.

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com

Perfect Printing Pouch Creator Amy Roszak - Part 2

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:51:37 +0000

http://talk.lcipaper.com/audio/lcipaper16.mp3

Welcome to episode 16 of the LCI Paper podcast. Ready for part 2 of my interview with Amy Rozsak? If you haven’t heard part 1, run and listen to that show before you start this one. Amy is the creator of the Perfect Printing Pouch, a versatile and unique product that helps in challenging printing situations. Now, Amy will talk about her professional background, more uses for the Perfect Printing Pouch, feedback she’s received from people who use the pouch, and her latest projects. Enjoy part 2 of the interview.

To save the audio to your computer, right click and "save as."

Here is a transcript of the interview:

Are you working on any new products or projects?

Well, I have another product, actually, that kind of goes with the pouch. That’s called the Perfect Cleaning Cloth. And the cloth is for removing the powder. Let me explain it. Most of the time, when you use the pouch you really don’t notice the powder. It is there but you’re putting on so little you don’t notice. If you were to use the pouch on very dark paper, like if you’re using it as an anti-static bag and you’re wanting to put it down on a black card stock and you’re going to use white embossing powder, you’re going to see the powder on the dark paper. So after embossing, you can use the cloth to remove the powder. Or I’ve used the pouch for printing on transparencies like a thirty-five millimeter film negative. And on something like that, again, you see it. Or on a metallic paper... So you could use your cloth and just dab it and it removes the powder residue afterwards. The cloth is also really good for your laptop screen, fingerprints on the laptop, or your scanner bed or your camera lens, or even your eyeglasses because it uses no chemical. It’s just the cloth itself. Of course, you don’t want to use the same cloth on your eyeglasses that you’re using to remove your powder ‘cause you don’t want the powder to potentially scratch your glasses.

But my new product is called Embellie Jellie and that one is very, very cool. Think of a small wad of a sticky substance. Maybe think about chewing gum except for it’s totally not that. And you would take a small pearl-sized piece of the Jellie, and you put it on the end of the wooden wand. And what it’s for is for picking up and placing small embellishments. If you have tried to pick up a gem or a sequin or a punched out shape, and you want to put it down on your card or on your scrapbook page, it’s hard to pick those up with your fingers and if you try with tweezers, a lot of times they go flying out of the tweezers. So you just this little sticky stuff, touch it to your little embellishment, and then you have your glue, glue dot, or liquid glue on your paper, and you just touch it to your glue. The Ebellie Jellie is sticky enough to pick up the object, but it’s must less tacky than the glue so it lets you transfer it.

So my daughter used it last week when she cut out a whole bunch of Cricut letters. And they’re little flat vellum letters. So she just took this. And if she tried to pick it up with her fingers, the letters would crumble and crunch. And so she just took the Embellie Jellie and letter by letter, just put it right down on her poster board. So that’s Embellie Jellie. That’s the newest. And that one also lasts forever. It comes in a small case with seven little strips of this gel.

How do I spell “embellie”?

E-M-B-E-L-L-I-E and then gellie is G-E-L-L-I-E.

Alright and again folks, go to that YouTube video because Amy demonstrates it. And that’s... Just search for Perfect Printing Pouch on YouTube. Also, if people want to read about all of your products again, and read about you, what is your web site?

www.scraperfect.com and Scraperfect is with one “P.” S-C-R-A-P-E-R-F-E-C-T

Before the Perfect Printing Pouch, what were you doing? (laugher)

Well,

Teaching

I was a hydrologist for the forest service for a number of years and then I became a math teacher.

Amy, sorry, what is a hydrologist?

Oh it’s the person on the forest that deals with water, so anytime there was water testing or making sure that pesticides didn’t get into the stream or if there was going to be a cut done on the forest then I would be on the team that would make the recommendations on how they would have to do the cutting.

Being an entrepreneur, has life changed since the Perfect Printing Pouch?

This is totally my first product. I never had any kind of business or sales experience at all. I was always in some kind of human service or public kind of position.

I guess my life has changed in that it’s very exciting to speak to people and have people e-mail me about how cool this product is that I invented. But I don’t really do a full, I don’t know, a good enough job of marketing because most people know about it from hearing about it from Google searches, from their friends and I like the inventing side of this business better.

Ah ok, yup. Well, then I appreciate you coming out of your comfort zone a little bit for this little marketing piece, promotional piece.

(laughter)

And what’s next? Are you going to hire Billy Mays to do an infomercial for you?

(laughter) Next for me, actually, is I have with my Embellie Jellie, I am looking at putting it in a kit and developing an adhesive that would go with it. And after that, I have another idea for a stamping product.

But basically, you know, it’s not that I sit around trying to think of what I can invent, it always comes down to when I’m doing something, what problem I’m having and how I can figure out to solve it.

Gotcha.

So I’m sure what my next product... It depends what next frustration I have. Most of my enjoyment comes from figuring out a problem, finding the solution, and then hearing back from all the people that just absolutely think it’s fantastic. It really is unbelievable, but I get e-mails continually from people just saying that they can’t believe what this can do. And many of them started out... The comments I’ve gotten were from designers. They’re in the professional world of this. But I get lots of e-mails from people. One woman said she had a house fire and after she got an apartment this was the first thing that she wanted to order. That was like, “Oh my goodness!”

But what’s interesting is that a lot of people know they have this issue, but they don’t know that there’s a solution and then when they find it, they’re totally impressed. A lot of people don’t think they have a problem. This is just the way vellum is and when they look at it, it’s not that they’re... It’s hard to explain. The difference between using the pouch and not using the pouch is often night and day and that for a lot of people, I’ll say, like when I’m at the trade show, “Do you have an issue printing on vellum?” And they’ll say, “No.” And then when they look at it they go, “Oh my goodness! I didn’t realize I had a problem!”

That’s the other end of it is. And I’m not trying to convince anybody to use it or to do something differently; it’s just I get e-mail after e-mail from people explaining what they’ve done. And part of the cool thing is that I invented it strictly for vellum and inkjet printers because that was the problem I was having. And the way that the pouch is being used now in so many different applications is because people have kind of had the same freedom that I had where they went, “Wow! I wonder if it’ll work for this?” Like people can stamp on muslin or on ribbon or on twill tape or on popsicle sticks or other wooden objects, tags. People are using it on cork. And again, like even the stamp idea or the markers, that each of these were like from someone going, “Oh, I wonder... I’m having problems with this.” Someone else used it at CHA in a class for a clay and they wanted to stamp on the clay and they used it as a release agent so that the stamp didn’t stick to the clay and then they used it with ink so that the ink would print better onto the clay. And another company, another woman from an earth-friendly company that does inks, they’re using it and just think it’s unbelievable with their product. It’s neat the way people are able to take it and extend it to their own uses.

How do I spell “muslin” that you mentioned, and what is it?

M-U-S-L-I-N

What is it? It’s a off-white kind of natural looking cotton and kind of like, I wouldn’t say a pillow case, but that kind of... It’s just a cheap fabric. I know on the market there’s like inkjet printable fabrics, but actually, if you just put my pouch on most fabrics, you’re going to be able to print on it anyway.

Wow! Ok.

Well, without it, it bleeds into the fabric, and then with the pouch it stops the bleeding. And I won’t say on anything. That’s the other thing is I never say I know it’s going to work, I just say if you’re having difficulty with an ink, this is the best shot you’ve got, and there’s a good chance it will work.

Yes.

I can use it both with stamping and with inkjets on silk flowers and can print on that. And again, the difference with it and without it is the bleeding.

And folks, if you do want to follow up and leave a comment... I’ll ask Amy to come back and read them, but just visit our blog where this show is hosted at talk.lcipaper.com and find this episode with the Perfect Printing Pouch and leave a comment for Amy.

I will definitely check back and read them. And if they have questions, feel free to post a question and I will answer them too.

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com

Perfect Printing Pouch Creator Amy Roszak - Part 1

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:35:47 +0000

http://talk.lcipaper.com/audio/lcipaper15.mp3

The Perfect Printing Pouch is a unique product developed by Amy Roszak that makes challenging inkjet printing situations a breeze. But its usefulness doesn’t end with inkjet printing. There are a wide variety of scenarios where the pouch is valuable. To explain exactly what the Perfect Printing Pouch is and what it does, I went to the source and interviewed Amy Roszak. Enjoy the first half of the interview.

To save the audio to your computer, right click and "save as."

Here is a transcript of the interview:

Before we specifically talk about the Printing Pouch, tell me about some challenging scenarios you’ve experienced where printing can be difficult.

Well, when you’re using an inkjet printer, because it’s a wet ink, it tends to have two kind of difficulties. One would be where it resists and smears and one would be where it kind of bleeds into it [the paper] and fades. And it depends on the paper. If it’s a shiny stock--something like vellum, a metallic paper, something like that--those are the ones that tend to smear and resist. And then if it’s something like a handmade paper--a mulberry, that kind of absorbent--those are the ones that tend to fade.

Before I ask you to describe the Perfect Printing Pouch, we should let our listeners know that you have a great YouTube video that people can find by searching for “printing pouch.” If they watch that video, they’ll see you demonstrate exactly how the pouch solves some of these difficult printing jobs.

That’s the Craft & Hobby Association Winter Trade Show. It’s the largest craft trade show in the world, in California.

That was earlier this year?

That was in February of 2009, yes.

I really like how that video was shot, like it was sort of an average person just coming up to your booth. That was cool.

(Laughter)

I do want to stress that people should watch that video because before I watched it, I didn’t exactly know how the Printing Pouch worked, and of course Amy’s going to talk to us about how it works but it’s really good just to see it in action. She applies the technique and she shows you what happens and it’s really amazing.

Yeah, a picture’s worth a thousand words and it’s a hard product to explain. It’s easy to use but it’s hard to explain because there’s nothing else like it in the world and so people are always saying, “Well, do I spray it?” “Do I put it on afterwards?” “Like, how do I know when it’s going to do it?”

And it’s really very simple. It’s just that because there’s nothing else to relate to, it’s hard for people to imagine it.

For people who have not used the pouch or seen your videos, why don’t you describe the surprisingly simple technique?

Well, first of all, the pouch, I would have them think of a felt, powder-filled ravioli. And what you’re doing is you’re wiping this pouch onto your printing surface before you print. And some of the special magic powders inside are going to seep through the felt and a very, very fine layer will be applied to the paper. Kind of like, for those of you that wear blush, it would be like putting blush on your cheek. You’re just putting a very, very fine later on. And most of the time, you can’t really see it. The powders bonds the ink to the paper and also have a drying agent so that when you’re using an inkjet printer, pretty much within--coming out of the printer--within ten, fifteen, twenty seconds, the ink is dry.

How in the world did you ever come up with a product like this to solve so many of these issues? Are you a chemist?

(laughter) I do have a background in science and I was a math teacher for a while and I stopped teaching to stay home with my daughter when she was born. But I started scrapbooking and I was trying to print on vellum. And sometimes it works fine and sometimes it didn’t. Sometimes there would be lines across it kind of like there was a streak of oil and other times it would be just fine. But it would still take forever to dry. And when I started asking around, people would say, “Well, that’s just the way it is.”

And I kind of thought, “Well, there’s gotta be something.” And so I started researching and working on setting up all sorts of trials until I found the right combination of acid-free products that’s also talc-free. There are a number of people with talc, talcum powder allergies and so it has no talcum powder in it.

Ok. And can I ask how long that process took from the idea in your head throughout the experimental phase to your finished product?

I think it probably took around three or four months. And some of that also was trying to figure out the best way--once I had the chemicals--the best way to get that onto the paper. Like I tried with a brush, or whether it was going to be some kind of roller. And then, once I came up with the little pouch, even the design of how to hold it. The powders don’t hurt you at all. They’re completely non-toxic and non-irritating. But I still didn’t want them to be getting all over the table or in your hands so the pouches are lined. They have a grip. And so all of those kind of things kind of played into some of the time.

Do you remember when it was that you started working on the idea, and then when you launched it?

Yes, it was in April of 2003 was when I started. And in September, I was attending a scrapbooking show as a consumer and I brought seventy-five of these pouches that I had with me and I just happened to mention it to somebody and people in line were like, “I want one. I want one.”

All my friends, I had made them for my friends. And then I took a class. It was a vellum class and I mentioned it to the instructor and she looked at what I did and she was just thrilled. She mentioned it to the class right then and I sold out. And that was when I decided, “Ok, I guess I need to go into this as a business.”

Yeah. So you were attending a scrapbooking show. And tell me and tell me and the listeners a little bit more about you. What’s sort of your history with crafts and scrapbooking?

Hmm. Well, my background, professionally was as a hydrologist. I have a Master’s in science and I was a teacher, but as far as crafts go, I pretty much will try anything. I do some basket weaving, some beading, some quilting, some sewing, and when I discovered scrapbooking it was like the world, because all of the crafts that I’ve ever done can be done on a page. So that’s why I think the pouch was so important because I wasn’t satisfied with just printing on regular paper. I wanted to use muslin fabric or use really kind of cool textured papers that I saw. And when I discovered, you know, vellum, it was like, “Oh, I really like the way that looks, it just doesn’t print well.”

And that’s how I kind of came to it.

Many of LCI’s customers want to print on vellum. How might the Perfect Printing Pouch make their jobs more successful?

Well, one thing that people should realize, the problems that they experience are not the printer’s fault and they’re not the paper’s fault. And it’s not their fault. It’s just the combination of trying to put a wet ink on a paper--which vellum is--but it’s not absorbent. And so the ink kind of beads up on the surface and it has a hard time both drying and not smearing. So that’s kind of the basic where I come from is that it’s not anything you’re doing and there’s no defect in the quality of papers you’re using. In fact, there was another paper company I was speaking to when I was first developing this and the man said, “Well, if you can’t print on the vellum, don’t.” And he said, “That’s why we make inkjet vellum.”

Well, inkjet vellum is very nice but it’s also very basic. It can come in pastel colors only, although I mostly print, I will admit, in clear white. But it still takes forever to dry, and during that time is when you’re going to get the smearing. So the pouch will make the printing crisper and it will also dry the ink so you don’t really have to worry about what kind of printer you’re using or how your paper has to set around the room. It just does it for you.

I was also going to say that there are printed vellums that have little patterns on them and they’re very pretty. And those are especially difficult to print on because the printing on the paper doubly resists the ink that you’re trying to put down. But with the pouch, you just wipe it down and the ink will just adhere to it perfectly.

Alright. Are we mostly talking about inkjet printing here?

I am only talking about inkjet printers are far as printers go.

Ok.

You can also use the pouch for stamp ink, for gel pens, for markers, but not for laser printers which most people who are having problems printing, it’s usually an inkjet printer that’s the problem. But my demo, in fact, for trade shows is just taking a marker and scribbling on vellum and you can see it bead up and then you just take the pouch, wipe it, and the difference is like night and day. And if they see that YouTube video, I believe it’s on there too.

Yes it is. I loved seeing that. It was just crystal clear. It was like, oh, that’s the revelation. Ok, that’s how it works, simple.

Right.

I’m sold. (laughter)

And it’s kind of the same deal with stamps. There’s a number of other applications for stamps, in addition to it making the ink crisp and drying quicker, it also works as an anti-static bag for people when they’re heat embossing. They don’t want the embossing powder to stick where they don’t want it. You put the pouch down and then the embossing powder will only stick to the stamp. So that’s another one.

Another application for stampers is if they want to stamp first and then you could use it with another stamp or your inkjet printer on top of that first stamp. And typically, that first stamp resists anything you want to write on top of it. But here you can stamp first, then put down the pouch. And then the second printing image, either your printer or another stamp won’t be resisted.

This is probably a question you get a lot which is kind of vague. How long does the Printing Pouch last, and maybe more to the point, how will someone know when it’s time to order a replacement?

Actually, it’s a great question. The pouch lasts, and I kind of put this in quotes, "forever." There is no expiration date so the powders are not going to go bad. It’s just a matter of when it’s empty it’s time to replace it. And you will just feel it. After a while, there won’t be any powder coming out. This could be, for the average user, and I don’t know if I can say average, but it could be six months to three years or more. When you’re using it for something like wedding invitations where you’re printing a lot, you’re obviously going to use a lot more powder than you would if doing it for, you know, an occasional card or a scrapbook project. But I would not be surprised for people to not use it up very quickly. In fact, it may be that they lose it or they would rather another color before they actually need a new one.

Yeah, I notice on your web site that they come in a variety of colors. The color doesn’t matter, does it? It’s the same product.

Right, it’s just a matter of the felt being different because some people really like to have pink and some people don’t like pink at all. So the color of the pouch is irrelevant. It’s just what’s on the inside that counts.

Recommended Links:
ScraPerfect - The Perfect Printing Pouch
Part 2 of the Amy Roszak Interview
Purchase the Perfect Printing Pouch at LCIPaper.com
Craft & Hobby Association Convention & Trade Show

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com

WeddingWire.com's Molly Lanigan and Megan Hermeling

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:58:42 +0000

http://talk.lcipaper.com/audio/lcipaper14.mp3

Left: Molly Lanigan, Right: Megan Hermeling

WeddingWire.com is a web site where future brides and grooms can plan their weddings using an impressive suite of free planning tools. Last year, the site began an association with Martha Stewart. I had the opportunity to talk to two WeddingWire managers, Molly Lanigan and Megan Hermeling about their roles and contributions to the company, and about the rapid growth that WeddingWire is experiencing. Molly is the vendor relations manager and Megan is the community manager. You’re about to hear the interview and it starts now.

To save the audio to your computer, right click and "save as."

Here is a transcript of the interview:

Molly, how long have you been with the company and how has your role changed since you started with WeddingWire?

Molly Lanigan: Sure. So I’ve been with WeddingWire for a little over a year now, since March of 2008, and I started with about five other people in the Vendor Relations Manager position and came on to work under Erica Smith who’s the Director of Vendor Relations here. So basically my roles change. We started by kind of just, you know, learning all about the wedding industry and the vendor side of things and now everyone kind of has their own territory and much more comfortable in my position now.

Great. And Megan, why don’t you tell me about your history with the company?

Megan Hermeling: Sure. My position is Community Manager at WeddingWire. I’ve been here since January of 2008, so a little over a year, similar to Molly. I started out on the bride side of things, still as the Community Manager, but more checking on all the user generated content—managing that content—and I’ve moved into the marketing side of things. So now I’m handling all of the bride marketing for WeddingWire.

Ok. For newly engaged couples that haven’t yet been to WeddingWire, tell them about some of the free tools that are offered on the site.

Megan: Sure. This is Megan. WeddingWire is the best resource for engaged couples to use and to plan their wedding online. We have over 100,000 wedding vendors in our database so any engaged couple coming on to the web site is sure to find somebody in their local area that they can use. We have a whole suite of planning tools as you mentioned. They’re all free for the engaged couple. So we have anything from the guest list—you can build your guest list right into WeddingWire.com. You can manage your budget. You can create a seating chart. And then we have a whole wedding web site tool. You can build your own wedding web site and leave any information for your guests for the big day.

Yeah, sounds excellent. Really a one-stop resource. I bet you there are a lot of surprised brides that are like, “Wow! I’m surprised I can manage all of this online. I sort of thought I’d have to be in charge of it myself, but I can get a little help here.” Right?

Yes, absolutely. And everything’s free and I think that’s the best part about it. They’re not used to getting all this stuff for free. It’s really a great resource.

Meghan, you mentioned WeddingWire.com allows engaged couples compare or at least sort through 100,000 online vendors which is just a huge amount to me. Can you give examples of some of the different types of vendors that engaged couples might be interested in?

Molly: Yup. This is Molly speaking. Josh, we have over twenty different categories of vendors that brides can kind of search through, so really anything that an engaged couple might need for their wedding, our vendor catalog has that. So, you know, that ranges from ceremony and reception venue to photographers, invitations and favors, wedding cakes, band, catering, beauty and health, and as far as to a name change service, so really a range of different vendors that we have. To give you kind of an example, our top three most searched categories specific to the Boston metro region are the ceremony and reception venue, photography, and wedding cakes. So, there are definitely a lot of vendors on the site that brides can search through.

As the vendor relations manager, tell me about how you’ve contributed to this huge database of vendors. You guys mentioned 100,000. How do you monitor and maintain such a huge vendor list?

Molly: Yeah, sure. So kind of on the vendor side, there’s a lot of things that we can do to monitor and maintain it. When I have conversations with vendors, you know, I’m always asking them a little bit about their business and trying to convey to them how important it is for them to kind of build out their storefront and, you know, to put some pictures up there just so it’s friendly for the bride side as well. In terms of kind of how we’ve grown so much, there’s lots of different ways, and Megan will get into the review side in a second but not only is WeddingWire a great for brides to come to execute the planning process, but it’s actually also a great place for vendors to be able to network with other vendors. So, you know, if one vendor hears about WeddingWire, they sign up for an account, they can tell five of their, you know, friends who they have through the wedding industry, and it’s a great cross marketing tool for the vendors.

Ok. So in not every case do you two have to seek out these vendors. They might just come to you.

Megan: Right. Ideally, yes. Ideally, they would hear about us from another vendor or from one of their clients and come to us. And as Molly mentioned Josh, we also get a lot of our vendors from our newlyweds who have graduated from WeddingWire as an engaged couple into a newlywed. We ask them to write reviews of all of their wedding vendors, just so we can give the new crop of engaged couples some insight on who they should use, who they shouldn’t use... And these could be vendors that we already have on the site, but also vendors who have yet to sign up with WeddingWire, so our users definitely help us build the database.

You mentioned “who they shouldn’t use...” Interesting. That leads me into my next question and it could be a controversial one. Are there any horror stories where a vendor just wasn’t up to par and you had to remove them from your database or even take further steps?

Megan: Well luckily no horror stories and I will knock on wood, so hope that we won’t have horror stories in the future. But we have a great team at WeddingWire who validate all of our vendors. They approve all of our wedding vendors to help us prevent those horror stories that you talked about. And our vendor members are very respectful. They’re respectful of our guidelines. They’re respectful of their peers and they’ve built a strong community within WeddingWire so I don’t think they take that too lightly. So I think luckily, no horror stories yet.

Excellent. Megan, I was looking at your forums and there are just so many posts within the day that I was checking them out which tells me it’s a very active forum. I haven’t really perused the forums yet, but I look forward to that. It must be satisfying though, that people are choosing to discuss their wedding planning on your site rather than somewhere else.

Megan: Absolutely. We have an amazing community of users on WeddingWire. It’s a place where couples can share their commonalities, ask questions of other engaged users, and then also ask questions of our wedding professionals. Our vendors are the experts in their field, so they are sure to have the answers to most of our questions that our brides have.

I read the community posts every day, and that certainly keeps us at WeddingWire in the loop of current trends and what’s going on in the wedding industry so we can keep up with our brides and make sure we’re still offering what they want.

I think that’s so cool to have a job where you are able to hang out on forums.

Megan: Yeah! (laughter) It’s a pretty good job!

Molly: Just to add something quickly Josh, in terms of the forums, we also just... One of the newest features to WeddingWire is our vendor forum. So there’s actually a place now where vendors can go on the network and discuss any topics that are coming up. That ranges from, you know, “Where is the best place to advertise?” Or whether or not to charge for, you know, consultations fees, so that’s kind of our newest addition to the network and the vendors seem to be enjoying that as well.

Ok, sounds like something that I might have access to, working at LCI. I will check that out.

Who would like to tell me about WeddingWire’s relationship with Martha Stewart?

Molly: I’ll tell you about that Josh. This is Molly. Martha invested about forty percent stake in the company back in February of 2008. The technology went live back in May of 2008, so it’s almost been up and running for about a year. And to kind of give you a little history, Martha was obviously attracting the number of brides that she wanted to her wedding section through her Weddings magazine, but the bride’s weren’t staying there because there weren’t any planning tools or a vendor catalog for them to really execute the planning process.

You said on Martha’s “wedding section.” Did you mean on her personal web site or her company’s web site, or her section on your web site?

Yeah, so the way it works is actually if you go to just www.marthastewartweddings.com, so her web site, all of our planning tools and vendor catalog live there. So the engaged couples might not know that it’s the same exact vendors and planning tools that they can find on WeddingWire, but that’s kind of the great thing about it is that we’re, you know, reaching the brides and the vendors through, you know, two different avenues—through WeddingWire.com as well as through MarthaStewartWeddings.com. So yeah, so Martha kind of put some money in the company and it’s been, you know, a really great relationship on both ends so far.

What about WeddingWire’s history? We know that in 2008 you partnered up with Martha Stewart, but how long has WeddingWire itself been in business and where is it based?

Megan: We are in Bethesda, Maryland currently. We started out as a much smaller company. It started out as five people working out of our CEO Tim Chi’s basement and that was in 2006. And they worked really hard, these five people. And the full web site launch was in May of 2007, so almost two years ago now. And since then, we have just signed over about thirty people so we have about thirty people in the office now. And we are no longer in the basement, we are in a real office building.

Are you able to see or hear about any firsthand connections between your vendors and the couples that make contact with them and ultimately do business together? If you do have that opportunity, it must be a satisfying feeling to know that you’ve facilitated that link.

Molly: Yup. This is Molly Josh. Yes, absolutely. I have the opportunity to be able to speak with vendors all day, so it’s great to be able to hear kind of their experiences with the WeddingWire. Sometimes I hear stories when they say, you know, “It’s great that they referenced a promotion that I had up on my storefront, Molly. I’m so excited. They’re a great client.”

In terms of the bride side, we get e-mails all the time saying, “Thank you so much for all the planning tools and the vendor catalog. The reviews are great.”

So on the vendor relation side, I... It’s definitely satisfying to hear the great relationships between the vendors and the brides of the connections that they’ve made through the network.

Ah, and folks are able to leave comments about the vendors, is that right?

Megan: In the reviews section, yes, yeah.

Ok, reviews then, yeah. Megan, you must hear about some of the connections on the forums, right?

We definitely do, yup. I see that every single day. So it’s nice to see. You know, and we try to answer any questions or try to fill any voids that we see that our brides tell us. So it’s a great way to get that instant feedback from the community.

Thanks to Molly Lanigan and Megan Hermeling for taking time out from their activities at WeddingWire to talk to me about the company and all of the free resources they offer future brides and grooms. The web site is WeddingWire.com.

If you want be kept aware of more interviews with fine people like Molly and Megan, subscribe to LCI Paper’s podcast so that you’ll never miss an episode. To do so, visit our blog at talk.lcipaper.com.

Recommended Links:
WeddingWire
Martha Stewart Weddings

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com

Introducing A Vibrant Invitation Idea: The Silver Azalea Wedding Pochette

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:52:31 +0000

This vibrant pink, white and silver ensemble is a flashy combination of our Stardream Azalea pochette and frosted silver deckle stationery. The way this kit came together was happenstance: the pink Azalea pochette was sitting on my desk amidst an array of other papers, and one happened to be the silver deckle card. The chemistry between the two was obvious. The radiant white color of the card really accentuated the vibrant pink color of the pochette, and the frosted deckle complemented the pleasant shimmer of Stardream's metallic card stock. Coworkers walked by and thought it would make a nice invitation kit, and conveniently, Josh and I needed a fresh idea for a pochette how-to video that was in the works (check out the video in a separate post, How To Make LCI's Silver Azalea Pochette Video, to see how easy it is to print and assemble this invitation).

Our Hot Pink Satin Ribbon turned out to be a near perfect match to the Stardream Azalea color, so I embellished the finished pochette by tying a bow around it. It's a very simple task to print this ensemble, since the invitation card, response card and the silver lined white envelope can be easily printed on any inkjet or laser printer. The only thing to note is that the Stardream Azalea response envelope is made with metallic paper and therefore can only be printed at home using a laser printer. It is recommended that you order a sample first to test the papers on your printer before placing a full order.

We have free templates to download for use with Microsoft Word. Click the links below to download them:

Click the link below to order this kit. It comes without adhesive or embellishments, so consider the tape dots and ribbon if you plan to order this pochette:
Silver Azalea Wedding Pochette
Hot Pink Satin Ribon
Double Sided Tape Dots

Amy
amy@lcipaper.com

How To Make LCI's Silver Azalea Wedding Pochette

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:05:01 +0000

In this How To video, Amy will show you how to create LCI Paper’s new Silver Azalea Wedding Pochette.

When you purchase this kit, you’ll receive Stardream Azalea Pochettes, Frosted Silver Deckle Cards, Frosted Silver Deckle Response Folders, Stardream Azalea Response Envelopes, and Silver Lined Radiant White Envelopes.

Using a Canon inkjet printer, Amy printed custom wedding invitation wording on the invitation card and on the response folder. This is easy to do using Microsoft Word and the free templates on LCI's website.

To secure the invitation card to the pochette, Amy chose to use LCI’s double sided tape dots. Peel the dot off the sheet, holding it by its small tab at the edge. Place the dot on the back of the card, top center. Place another one at the bottom center of the card. Now, line up the card in the center of the pochette and press down firmly so that it adheres.

Next, fold the silver deckle response card along the scored line and slide it into the flap of the Azalea response envelope. Place the pair inside the pochette on top of the invitation.

Fold the petal flaps of the pochette inward, one at a time going clockwise. Finish by tucking the fourth flap under the first flap to keep the pochette closed.

You can embellish the finished pochette in a variety of ways, using envelope seals, stickers, or even a personalized monogram seal. Amy decided to tie a hot pink satin ribbon around the pochette and tie a bow in front. To do this, cut off about a yard and a half of the ribbon to give yourself plenty to work with.

Flip the pochette over and place it face down in the center of the ribbon that you've cut. Take both ends of the ribbon and hold them up to make sure you have equal lengths on both sides of the pochette. Next, using both hands, cross the ends of the ribbon over the back of the pochette. After the ends cross in the center of the pochette, turn 90 degrees and pull the ribbon over the top and bottom edges of the pochette so that it encloses the pochette on all four sides.

Holding the ribbon taut, flip the pochette over so you can tie a bow in the front center of the pochette. Tie a simple knot at the center where the bow will be, and then make a loop with one ribbon end. Hold the loop steady with one finger while you pass the other ribbon end around the loop and make a second loop under the first. Grab both loop ends and pull to tighten the bow. Then simply trim the ends of the ribbon to a suitable length.

Your pochette is finished! Now you can slide it into the silver lined envelope, being careful not to move the ribbon as you do so.

The Silver Azalea Wedding Pochette is a dramatic look -- a bright wedding invitation full of personality.

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com

Amy's Custom Red White & Black Wedding Invitation

josh@lcipaper.com (LCI Paper) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:24:35 +0000

http://talk.lcipaper.com/audio/lcipaper13.mp3

This July, Amy from Oklahoma is getting married! For the occasion, Amy decided to make her own wedding invitations.

Among other items, Amy used LCI Paper’s white 6 ½ inch square black-lined envelopes to complete her unique wedding invitation ensemble that also includes a black backing card, a white invitation card, a vellum layer, and a red satin ribbon.

Her red, black, and white invitations have received nothing but rave reviews from her family and friends, so she decided to share her creation with LCI Paper and with all of our our blog readers and podcast subscribers.

To save the audio to your computer, right click and "save as."

Here is a transcript of our conversation:

Since a wedding is so personal and important, did that have an effect on your decision to create your own invitations and sort of make them personal?

It had a little bit to do with it. Mainly, we’re on a pretty tight budget for our wedding, so everything that I’ve done has started out of course with the budget in mind. Because I think anybody that’s planning a wedding knows you can easily spend twenty, thirty thousand dollars on your wedding and that’s not something that we would even want to do even if the money were available. So I just started doing a search of some different ideas of the invitations. And actually doing them myself, I think I would do that again, or really, definitely suggest anybody do that because of the personability and you can add your own flare and flavor to it as far as what you like and a little bit of yourself and my fiancé, I was able to add a little bit of him as well.

Excellent. Let’s talk about the design of your invitation, the red, white, and black, and then tell me about the way you used vellum on top of your card? How did that all come together.

Well, the red, white, and black, of course, those were the colors of my wedding. I like the combination of all of them. And then, as far as for the basic design of the invitation itself, black and white are probably the best colors to have for an invitation because there’s so many different things that you can do with it. But to keep it from looking to plain, that’s where I came in with the vellum with our initial—the last name on the vellum—it just kind of gives it a little bit of depth and a little bit of something more artistic then just the black and white. And of course the red ribbon gives it that added touch too, that ties it all together with our colors.

We’ve been e-mailing each other a bit and in one of your e-mails you wrote that you love the invitation but you had no idea everyone else would love them just as much. Can you describe the feelings you have when you begin to realize that other people love your design and then they go out of their way to give you that feedback and support?

It’s really been amazing. I really was shocked. I knew that I loved them, but I’m kind of an “artsy” person is what my friends call me because I like that kind of thing and to create those kinds of crafts and things like that. So I knew I liked them, but when I started getting so much feedback from family and friends and everything, it’s really been nice. I even had an RSVP that came back that they were unable to attend, but they made sure to put a little note on there that they loved the whole invitation ensemble, everything with it. I mean all of the feedback that I’ve gotten from all the invitations have been nothing but positive. It’s been great.

And I guess you already said that you would encourage other people who might be thinking of creating their own invitation to go for it, right?

Absolutely. Even if you’re not good at arts and crafts or you think you’re not good at arts and crafts, you would not believe how unbelievably easy these were to put together. And if nothing else, you could just try it, get enough supplies to just try one and if it’s not your thing or if it’s taking you too much time or you just don’t like it then at least you know.

Yup. Good point. I just wrote an article for our blog yesterday or two days ago about the importance of ordering a sample. So if you do have time, if you set aside enough time, go ahead and order a few pieces and put them together. Send a test run. Send one through your printer, you know, and see how it turns out.

Yeah, that’s great.

I guess one last thing. First of all, I just want to thank you for submitting this beautiful invitation to me at LCI. I just wondered where you heard about the offer to submit your work.

Well, actually, when I was doing a search on where to buy some of the supplies to make my invitations, after I knew what I was going to do and I was looking for some good pricing and things like that, I think I ordered my envelopes from you all. It was one of the searches that came up on Google—on my Google search. So I’ve kind of gone back to your web site a few times looking for other types of supplies of paper and things like that, because the response I’ve got from these invitations of mine, I’ve been thinking about doing some making of invitations for other people. So I was looking at your web site for supplies for a possible small business.

Ok, so you must have seen that new page that we have up, right on the main site there.

Hmm hmm.

Ok, gotcha.

I had actually looked at your... the blog of the invitation that’s on there right now and I love that idea. I would love to be able to design something along those lines as well.

Oh, Shawnna’s seashell invitation, that one?

Yes. Yes.

Ok awesome. So it’s working then, ‘cause that’s kind of the goal, to share these great invitations with other people and get them inspired, so awesome.

Yeah.

Alright, well, I thank you so much for your time. Is there anything else you wanted to add?

Oh, you’re welcome. Umm, no, I think that’s it. I appreciate you guys looking and choosing that one. It just makes the whole process that much more exciting for me.

Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com