Tips to Stay Sane During the Holidays

Here are a few things that I do these days, to keep my sanity during the holiday season.

1. Decorate early.
   I love my Christmas decorations, the memories that go with each ornament, the twinkle lights, garlands, etc. And growing up, that was what we did on Black Friday. As a business owner with holiday orders to print and ship, and craft shows to prepare for / participate in, waiting until after Thanksgiving is no longer an option.
   The tree went up last Sunday. The lighted garland is dead so was replaced. (And to make things even easier, I even ordered it online. Still need to go to Target for a few things though, like replacement bulbs for the pre-lit tree.)
   I also don't decorate as much as I used to. Wreath with plastic ornaments on the front door, holiday tree, lit garland in archway. Stockings for the cats, swapping out silk flowers with silk poinsettias, and a few sparkly baubles. That's about it. And scented candles, of course.
2. Doing holiday cards? Get them done before Thanksgiving.
3. When cooking meals, throw some leftovers into the freezer to have for busy nights.
4. Order your stamps online.
   Big fan of ordering stamps online, and shipping hasn't been more than $2 for LOTS of stamps. Saves a trip to the post office and you won't risk hearing "Oh, we're out of that design."
5. Wrap holiday gifts as you purchase them, and don't forget to tag them!
   I also keep a list so I don't forget what I am giving, and don't accidentally give duplicates!
6. Divide, conquer, and plan ahead.
   If you're attending a holiday dinner at someone's house, ask early what you can bring.
   (Mom, are we doing Christmas Eve at your place or mine?)
   Hosting? Don't fear asking a guest to bring something, just do it early so that they have time to prepare.
   Want to do it all? Then plan ahead. And embrace Excel spreadsheets.
7. Add a few appetizers to the freezer to have for last minute visitors. I used to have a bag of gougères in the freezer at all times. Easy enough to prep, they freeze wonderfully, and are fancier than they feel. Puff pastry is also good to have on hand, but right now I'm looking for more paleo-friendly items. Any suggestions?Also good to have on hand, cookie dough in freezer, hot chocolates, crackers, olives, and mixers.
   
8. Don't do more than you can handle.
   I overheard, at the JLSA show, Heloise giving hints for the holidays and she says to never try out new recipes for holiday dinners, don't make things outside of your comfort zone, and you don't need three sides or three pies, just do one!

My holiday stamps this year.

Do you have tips and suggestions to make the holidays easier?
Cheers,
ashley

Happy Times!

Please excuse us as we celebrate the holiday and rest of the year with our families, good food, and lots of fun. It's been a wonderful year and we're going to end it by putting our feet up. Much deserved, I'm sure you'll agree.

Happy Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Everything.

Cheers,
ashley

Holiday Shopping Notes

A few things for holiday shopping with us:

• We're offering free (domestic) shipping- no minimum order requirement!

• Last day to order personalized cards for holiday delivery: December 10th (domestic) / Nov. 22 (int'l)

• Last day to order pre-printed / in-stock items for holiday delivery: December 17th (domestic) / Nov. 29 (int'l)

• Looking for ideas?

• Sign up to receive our newsletter here (weekly or monthly updates) and use the coupon code at the top of each email for a savings code.
   
• Have a safe and happy (and food-filled) Thanksgiving! We're spending time with family so will get back to you next week. Enjoy the holiday! 

Cheers,
ashley 

Pumpkin Spice Biscotti

For your holiday dunking pleasure, here's my recipe (adapted from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking)

Preheat oven to 350*

In medium bowl, mix:
2 cups flour
1.5 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

In mixing bowl, beat on medium speed for 3 minutes:
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
Beat in on low speed until blended:
1/2 cup melted (and cooled) unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
Add dry ingredients and beat until combined. Dough is soft and very sticky.

Divide dough in half. On a sprayed baking sheet / parchment sheet covered baking sheet, shape each half into a 10"x3" log, 3" apart. Bake for 23 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 300*.
On a cutting board, use a serrated knife and cut logs crosswise into 3/4" slices. Place them cut side down on baking sheet, 1/2" apart, and bake for another 17 minutes.
Remove from oven, cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then cool completely on wire racks.

Store in airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Enjoy!
ashley

Road Trip Time!

Not a major road trip, but I'll be heading up to Dallas for the Jingle Bash on Saturday, and I really hope to see you DFW-area people's smiling faces!

I'll have lots of holiday cards and gift tags, our popular quotation prints for framing, newly reprinted You Suck at Parking card packs, thank you cards, and classic stationery. Looking forward to the show, seeing a bunch of new faces and meeting more fellow creatives!

Hope you can make it!
Cheers,
ashley

Non-Traditional Holiday Cards (aka Cards for Slackers)

As weird as it feels talking about being behind for the holidays (already), who's feeling the pressure already? I passed hosting Christmas Eve dinner back to my Mom (Thanks, Mom!) so that helps a little, but still, so much to do and so little time to do it with.

Like to send holiday cards but dislike having to get them written, addressed, stamped and out the door by the middle of December? Buy yourself some extra time with, not Christmas cards, but New Year Cards!

Boxes of 6 available pre-printed, or order a box of 12 in your color choices.

I wanted an Art Deco-inspired, Gatsby-ish New Year's card this year and so, using a vintage frame and Deco text, these make me so happy. The matte gold is such a nice color with the black, and the shimmery chocolate envelopes look perfect with them! (Always nice when you have something in stock that works magically.)

Do you send out holiday cards? If so, when do you aim to have them completed by?

Cheers,
ashley 

Behind Again!

Seriously. It seems it is never too early to start on holiday cards, and yet once again, here we are in October, and I just started last month.

New holiday design, available {here}.

Ideally I would have new holiday designs completed in May, on the June catalog update, and start printing in July. Maybe next year I'll be on top of it.. maybe. It's just rather hard to get inspired to think about the holidays when it's 100* outside!

When do you start thinking about the holidays? Do you start shopping early or wait until December 1? Does it bother you to see Christmas decorations in stores at the same time as Halloween items?

Cheers,
ashley

{Happy Hour} St. Patrick's Day: It's Guinness Time

Well, it's not green, and not really Irish, but it's got Guinness in it so it counts in my book!

Fill a champagne flute (or similar tall, thin class) halfway with champagne/sparkling wine. Once it settles, carefully top with cold Guinness, using a bar spoon to prevent the two from mixing. The  Guinness should float on top of the champagne. 

According to Wikipedia, black velvets were first created in 1861 to mourn the death of Prince Albert, symbolizing the black armbands worn by mourners. It really has nothing to do with St Patrick's Day, but I'm going to drink it anyway.

Cheers,
Ashley

A little (holiday) break...

Thanks to the cold that I caught last week, I had to bail on the two shows that were scheduled, so I apologize if you came out looking for inviting and we weren't there. Last night we participated in a tiny Austin Flea; our only holiday show thanks to the weather and my cold. It was trunk show format, at a lady's house not far from my own. It's quite a fun idea and was especially nice visiting with Liz of Bolsa Bonita and Jinny of Lip Glosserie in between bites of queso and sales. At most shows, we're busy working but this was more laid back so there was silliness to be had, gabbing on the sofa next to our product displays. And now we're done for the year, with shows anyway. (Owning your own business, and doing it full-time, there's always work to be done, so we'll be doing a few behind-the-scenes tasks these next two weeks, prepping for 2014.)

I've shipped out the last of the custom orders so with this "free time," it's time for the final holiday tasks! Friday I'll be in the kitchen making lefse for holiday dinners (family tradition), wrapping the last of the handmade gifts (tried a fancy crochet project- something that's not a scarf or a washcloth!), and tidying for celebrations. (Tidying really means "putting away all of inviting's show/display items" as they take over the house.)

Our skinny tree. I love it!

Saturday is a holiday lunch, then christmas eve will be dinner at Mom's, and then we're hosting christmas day's dinner. That's a lot of kitchen-action but at least the lefse will be done! Looking forward to it all, it's such a pretty time of year and I love all the family time we get.

I won't be posting next week so have a happy christmas and if you get time off, enjoy it!
New items & Valentine's Day cards will hit the shop on 1/1/14 so mark your calendars for that shop update and we'll see you then.

Cheers, happy christmas and get started on your goals/resolutions for 2014,
ashley

Missing New Products?

Me too!

I haven't had much time to create new items but any new items will show up in the shop update on January 1st, as well as all Valentine's Day cards. And once I'm all done with shows for the year (two this week and 1 home show next week), I'll get back into my schedule of designing twice a week and creating new products. Until then, though...

We've been busy with lots of weddings & business cards. Some of them I share at The Beauty of Letterpress so you can see them there. This week I'm printing a large order of our Texas Wreath holiday cards, personalized Texas flats, business cards for wedding photographers, and holiday cards for a designer. I also need to squeeze in some time to print our little item to send out to this year's clients. And the international ones need to go out early next week, so no pressure there, ha!

At inviting HQ, we celebrate christmas with lots of holiday lights and candles. I don't do much for decoration except for lighted garlands, the decorated tree, and a poinsettia here and there. I even bought a little one for the studio, since I've been in there so much:

Little sitting area in the studio for instagramming and sipping tea in between jobs.

Evenings and weekends are being spent in preparation for the holidays- crafting handmade gifts (on my new salary there's not much leftover for holiday gifts!), creatively wrapping them, and planning the cooking. We'll be having christmas eve at my mom's, and hosting christmas day dinner with my dad, stepmother, brother, his girlfriend, and my paternal grandparents. Last year I made a croquembouche as the holiday dessert but sadly I'm not feeling quite as ambitious this year.

2013's dessert, a custard-filled croquembouch, drizzled with crispy caramel whisps.

If you have any suggestions for a holiday dessert, please let me know in the comments? Pie has been vetoed by Mr Inviting.

Stay warm!
Cheers,
ashley 

Happiest Thanksgiving Wishes

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
However you choose to spend it, I hope it is a lovely (and food-filled) day.

Our table in 2011

Thank you for all of your support this year.
Cheers,
ashley

Please Excuse This Mess (+ holiday drink)

I feel like I should have that tattooed on my forehead sometimes...

We had two shows in the middle of last week so things were rather chaotic. (I'm just relieved they happened in between waves of printing!) Sorry there was no blogging or real updates, there just wasn't any time.

To make up for it, here's a wintery cocktail recipe, courtesy of The Art of Manliness (they have interesting articles, not just for men):

Hot Buttered Rum

Don't worry, that's a stirrer, not a straw.

Make the batter: 4oz good quality butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground cloves. Mix well. Use 2 Tbsp batter / serving. Put the batter in a mug/glass, add 6oz hot water (or hot cider, will try that next!),  and stir until dissolved. Then add a shot of dark rum.

It's pretty tasty, but not to be a regular drink for me, thanks to All That Butter. (mmmm butter.)

Do you have a favorite hot cocktail? If so, please share in the comments!

Cheers,
ashley

Stationery Savings!

To force myself to get in the holiday spirit early (gotta get psyched for the upcoming holiday shows- they're starting soon!) I've decided to spread some cheer and offer 20% off all personal stationery on our website. This includes personalized stationery! Woohoo!

One of our many stationery designs, available online.

When ordering, use coupon code ZN8PF8DQYN7C to receive 20% off stationery. This code is valid on Friday 11/15 and expires on Weds 11/20.

Now don't hate me while I break my rule and set up the Christmas tree *before* Thanksgiving. It feels so wrong, but once Thanksgiving hits, there won't be any time.

Happy shopping!

Cheers,
ashley

We're Almost Done...

...with 2011! While it's been a great year, I'm still exhausted and am ready for the fresh start that is 2012.

Hope everyone's winter holidays have been delightful and festive. Our Xmas was fun, but I'm ready for the quiet that is January.

Here are our "kids" on Xmas Eve:

They'll be sad when the tree comes down this weekend, but I need the space. Traditional trees take up a lot of real estate!

How are you spending your New Year's Eve? We used to throw parties, but since moving to the house, haven't. Maybe next year. I'll budget my time better and channel my inner Martha. Maybe.


Since there's no party, I will be planning for 2012. Goals, ideas, and cards. All good things. Have some ideas for Valentine's day but as always- if there's something you're looking for, or you have an idea you'd like to see at our next event (possibly at Austin Flea 2/11/11- we'll keep you posted), don't hesitate to email us!

Thanks for all your support in 2011.
See you in 2012!

p.s. - Sale on holiday cards in our Etsy shop. Stock up for next year!

BIG Holiday Show This Weekend

It's time for the Austin Craft Riot's Holiday Show, and it's inviting's first time participating!

Click for more info on the Show

 I'm excited and anxious at the same time. Never done a show so large. Do I have enough product? Do I have the right product? What if people don't like it? See? Anxious.  But I know that I don't need to worry- it'll be lots of fun. And I'm getting "in the spirit" by listening to my holiday Pandora station.
If you like non-religious, vintagey holiday music, leave a comment with your email address and I'll share it with you. Lots of Ella, Louis, Sinatra, and of course, occasionally, Wham!

This is horrible music video, but I love the song, and hate covers of it.

I've also been listening to holiday movies at listentoamovie.com - Elf and A Christmas Story so far.  See? Holiday Cheer!

This weekend we'll have holiday cards, gift items, holiday entertaining items like coasters and invitations, and of course be taking orders for custom cards, which make an awesome gift.

If you're in town, please come say hi and support local artists!