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

And we're back!

We had a wonderful two-week trip celebrating our anniversary and I took another two-weeks back at the office but not working on inviting. (I was *thinking* about inviting but not working.) I think the break did me good; it's important to take a break every seven years, right? I'm refreshed, motivated, and inspired.

Now that I'm back, there is lots to do! I need to make room for all the new products coming soon, which means new markdowns. Plus, the website needs a bit of a refresh, and new items photographed/listed. We got into a rather large show in San Antonio (more on that later) which takes place in October so we need to plan for that, and I'll have loads to print for it. And since summer is generally slow, what better time than then? It'll be great and I'm so looking forward to it. I love printing in the studio!

Thanks for your patience while I was away. Stepping back for a little while did wonders and I'm eager to take inviting to new places.
Cheers,
ashley

Les Vacances

Photo from here.

Yes. It is happening. I'm taking some time off.
For real though, not just a few days here and a couple of days here. I'm actually taking time off. For someone who is constantly called a workaholic, this is pretty major.

I'm not allowing myself in the studio or office, no printing or designing (but there might be some business reading. The learning never stops!) No selling, packaging, or shipping. No ordering supplies.

Part of the reason for this is to rest from the crazy spring. Part of it is to rest for the crazy fall. And part of it is because, well, I'm tired! So starting May 1st, please consider inviting on vacation. We'll see you at the end of May with a spring in our step!

Thanks for your understanding and I already can't wait to see you again in June!
(See? Workaholic. What can I say, I love what I do!)

Cheers,
ashley

How to Get More Custom Work

I think I’ve discovered the way to increase one’s custom order workload: plan a proper vacation. Okay, so I don’t know if that’s completely true, but it seems as a planned vacation gets closer and closer, you get more requests for custom work. Luckily, it looks like everyone’s deadlines are workable with my availability, or lack thereof. Trusting that my calendar and careful scheduling won’t let me down.

These two month are looking to be very busy, yay!

Curious what I’ve got lined up for Vera the printing press to print? We’ve got some personalized cards, thank you cards for newlyweds, business cards, and are in discussion with two brides. Plus I’ve got printing to do for the upcoming spring shows in San Antonio and Austin. So yeah… if you were to invite me to a daytime event on a weekend from now until June, unless I’ve already accepted, I’m going to have to decline.

You know, I thought that juggling a day job and inviting was hard before I took inviting full time in 2013, but wow. It’s even more challenging now. The growth that I experienced in those 18 months makes for some long days and full weekends; the planning, designing, scheduling, project discussion, printing, sharing, packaging, photographing, listing, accounting, setting up additional store fronts (did you know you can find some of our products on Amazon now? Sorry, we’re not with Prime.)… I’m wearing all the hats that I was before, but now I’m away from the home office and studio 40+ hours a week. I’m not complaining, just stating that It. Is. Really. Hard.

And I want to thank one of our loyal clients, Becky, again for her sweet note and pampering gift. That was such a wonderful surprise and came at the perfect time.
Thank you all for your support!

Cheers,
ashley

Flashback Friday: Our first wedding job

It’s fun to look back at some of the past work we’ve done, and here’s our very first (paid) wedding job, from 2008.

The invitation suite, designed by the bride, was printed on pearl paper with her requested Pantone color. My favorite part of this set was the map. We don’t print a lot of maps, but they sure are fun.

The following year, we did her sister’s wedding invitations. If repeat customers and referrals aren’t the greatest compliment, I don’t know what is.

Cheers,
ashley

Collaborating with Pigsey Art

I love printing other people's designs. Not sure if you know that, but I find it refreshing to print something completely different than my offerings. It allows me to not worry about the design, because it wasn't in my hands at all, and focus on the printing, which just feels good.

A recent collaboration has been with Austin's journal maker, Pigsey Art. Brandy's "vintage wit and whimsy" are fun to print and were quite popular at the holiday craft shows.

Her current letterpress journal styles.

Because we use a non-cotton, non-absorbent cover paper for her work, I have to let them dry before stacking them for pick up. This is usually how my studio looks for a couple of days after printing a run of covers for her:

Having all these type drawers certainly comes in handy!

She told me that she's working on some new designs for me to print and I can't wait to see them. Which one is my favorite to print so far? The Awesome List of Awesome. I love the way the bolder design works with my printing; it's quite fun. You can shop them all here.

Cheers,
ashley

Ma'am, step away from the computer!

Whether it's for research, inspiration or taking a little break, I visit a LOT of websites on a semi-/daily basis. I feel like I spend every moment on the computer, which is why printing is such a special time- no computing, just printing.  

Netflix doesn't count.

Insane amount of tasks + online shipping labels
Sadly, this is how my office desk looks most of the time :(

pinterest - for the pretties, but when someone hogs the feed by pinning every image they can find for a personal project, that gets annoying.

goodreads - where I get the majority of quotes for the monday posts.

amazon - because i'm always needing something, or looking to see if the thing in my head actually exists and is available for purchase.

imdb - big fan of movies over here, plus sometimes you want to see if there's a new Ewan McGregor or Michael Fassbender movie coming out. 

random - how i pick winners for the giveaways on instagram and facebook.

paypal / usps - for shipping things and sometimes for getting paid. Nice.

well-appointed desk - for awesome fountain pen info and deliciously-nerdy (and nicely designed) desk/office goods. This is also part of the reason I am on amazon so much.

gofugyourself - not only is it a fun fashiony blog, but the community (Fug Nation) is amazing and supportive and it's one of the only places where reading comments don't make me stabby.

Plus there's the facebook/twitter/instagram pages, blogger, our website, our etsy site, our supplier sites, and on and on and on. So you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to step away from the computer. For a little while at least. Starting... (have a wonderful weekend and we'll see you back on Monday)... now!

Cheers,
ashley

New Challenge: Returning to Work

Last Wednesday I returned to work full-time, back to the law firm! That was the reason for the hiatus earlier this month; I needed the time to get as many things in order for inviting as possible before I returned to work.

The thought of a daily commute was a major deterrent (it takes way too long to drive 5.3 miles, each way), but after speaking with my former office manager I agreed to return. And it’s actually really nice to be back! The work is zen-like and the coworkers are great. They’re, for the most part, the same group that I left, some of them I’ve worked with since Day One, oh so many years ago.

And honestly, the paycheck will be a treat; if I told you how much I was living on for the past year and I half you’d laugh in disbelief. Plus, Mr inviting and I are going on a faux-honeymoon in May (for our fifteenth anniversary) so having a real paycheck will definitely help fund that!

Now the challenge is to continue to run inviting as though it's full-time, when in actuality it's back to a morning-lunch break-evening-weekend venture. I have my new daily tasks for inviting, a strict printing schedule and I’m pretty confident that I can handle it. Mr inviting is insisting that I not drive myself crazy.

I told him I'd try my hardest to stay sane. Wish me luck.
Cheers,
ashley 

Which shall I read next...

Here's a snapshot of what's on my bookshelf to be read in the first bit of this new year:

Currently I'm re-reading The Fountainhead, and for some unknown reason I want to re-read Cold Mountain (will re-read a bunch of books to see if they deserve their spot on the bookshelves, shelves which are over-stuffed). And since I'm on a journaling/letter-writing kick, Virginia Woolf seems appropriate. Plus, you know, business books.

Because I'm not completely old-fashioned, these are what's up next on the ipad to read:

I've also created a Pinterest board for the books read this year; nothing there yet. (And here's last year's board, not nearly as lengthy as I had hoped!)

Are there any books you re-read every couple of years? One of my favorite re-reads is Rebecca.

What's are you reading right now?
Cheers,
ashley

A little review of 2014

While often the most helpful, it's also sometimes the most painful: looking at last year's goals & resolutions, seeing how many you slipped on. Oh, the list of things I did not achieve... goodness. But that's no fun to share, so let's focus on the positives!

Business-wise, we had our greatest year yet. It was a whole year of running inviting full-time (even though I did get a retail job for a few hours a week,) my printing skills improved even more, our first wholesale catalog was released in June, we got into some great handmade fairs with exposure to new audiences, and even got a little publicity in the stationery blog world for our Snarky Parking cards.

Sold an insane amount of these in 2014!

Personally, some of my achievements are that I finally enjoy running (thanks to Zombies, Run!), read a few good business books, and have been more ruthless about purging the home and office- several trips to Goodwill were made and there will be many more in the future!

Of course, then there are all of the things that I did that weren't on my lists, like travel! T and I went to Washington DC, saw family in El Paso, and visited his family, with a side-trip to the beach. While family trips weren't a huge surprise (though learning to shoot on one of those sure was), the trip to DC was a proper touristy trip- no family, no friends, just us and the city. I also said Yes to more things, which is one of the whole points of having your own business.
I've had a quote on my wipe board for a while: We create our businesses so we can create the lives we want. (Jenny Shih) While it's hard to break away from the work, sometimes it's best to in order to live the life you want. 

Us in Washington DC, August 2014

This week, I've gone back to work full-time for a while so it feels like I am stepping back from that, but I know that working really hard at both the day-job and my dream-job will help me live the life I want. 2015 is going to be an amazing one, though I know the juggling act of essentially two full-time jobs will be rough, but I've made my list of goals and resolutions for this year, personally and for the business, and now it's just time to make it happen.

Cheers,
ashley

Happy 2015 to You!

2014 was a wonderful and exciting year. New shows in new cities, a rather large project for some friends at a magazine, beautiful wedding invitations, and fun, custom orders. I also learned about the Wonderful World of Employment Taxes; boy are those fun... Oh well, the price to pay for self-employment!

And please excuse the following short hiatus from blogging as I work very hard behind the scenes, prepping to make this year as amazing (and as sane) as possible. I'll be back on Monday, January 12th. Until then, may you have the most wonderful start to this new year and save 15% on boxed stationery orders on our website using code AGOODYEAR (expires 1/12/15)

Cheers,
ashley 

Surprise Find for Pen Lovers!

On the way back to Austin from Dallas this weekend, I swung by the stretch of shops in Salado to see if the bead shop was open (it wasn't) and I stumbled upon a sign for "Pen Station." What is that?! Could it be a store of fancy pens? And, more importantly, could they be open on a Sunday? I've been wanting to get myself a nice fountain pen, and felt I deserved a celebratory present after the weekend, so I hoped so.

Pen Station was open, and they carry a LOT of pens, including fountain pens. The nice owner, Gary Hoover, makes all of the pens in his shop- I had no idea! His son-in-law was there, he helps out on weekends, and Mr Hoover kindly showed me his studio:

The pen kits used for the various pen styles.

So cool! It's amazing that all pens are created from a block of resin on these.

I bought myself a green vertex magnetic fountain pen for $35.
The magnetic cap is fun to play with and the pen has a nice weight to it.

Once I master this, I might be asking Mr Hoover if he can make me a pen in a color close to inviting's fuchsia.

If passing along on 35, south of Waco and north of Austin, hop off the highway for Salado and get yourself a proper, handmade, pen!

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

Task on My Dislike List

When inviting grows up a bit and can hire outside help, one of the first things to go to outside hands is product photography. Even with my set up of light box, lights, Photoshop, etc... Oof, such a pain.

Most of last week was spent not blogging, obviously, but updating photos:

I removed all the old, tan-pattern background photos, and slid the styled photos aside, making clean, white backgrounds as the featured photos for all. Still having issues with keeping the light unvaried, but overall... better, right?

Cheers,
ashley

What does July mean to you?

For us, it's Birthday Month! Both Trent and I have birthdays later this month and to celebrate, we've got a coupon code to share the joy.

Use code BIRTHDAYFUN10 for 10% off your order

And as a bonus, the first five people to use the code will get a Mystery Bag (contains 4 different pieces of flat stationery)

Shop now, and happy July!
Cheers,
ashley

Ever wonder where our paper is made?

The majority of our paper is Crane's Lettra, and we love it because it's soft (so takes the impression nicely), strong, and made specifically for letterpress printing. But what's also great about it is that it's made in the USA and:

Our matching cotton envelopes, same deal.

And our colored envelopes:

The polymer for our modern printing plates is from Japan; a company in New York turns them into printing plates for our use.

Thought you might be interested!
Cheers,
ashley 

P.S. Don't forget: save 15% off your order of $50 or more with coupon code DAD15 (code expires on 5.31.14) when ordering from shopinviting.com

Playing Catch Up

Well, we made it through the 3 weekends of shows in a row, which was very fun, if extremely warm on the last one. (I know at least three of us vendors were wiped out and hit with mega-headaches and/or nausea from the heat. Seems like summer is here in Austin...)

 The week of the last show, I also started a part-time retail job which is fun but wears me out. Am still struggling to strike the balance between inviting and the retail gig. Surely I'll have it figured out by the end of the month!

Dos-aritas

If you follow us on instagram, you saw a ridiculous amount of food & drink photos this past weekend! T and I spent the weekend in San Antonio, on the Riverwalk, and Saturday I spent the afternoon with good friend @acbarbour

Sipping cava at Cured, with sliders & bread pudding.

Such a nice time away, but now... gotta attack the To Do list hardcore for the Shop Update next month. Plus, Father's Day is June 15 so if you haven't ordered your card(s) yet, hop on over to the shop- I've re-printed and re-stocked, just for you!

Cheers,
ashley

The Violet Crown Festival + New Things!

It was so nice visiting with those of you who came out on Saturday and braved the heat! I didn't get to run around the festival and check out the other vendors, but it looked like a good variety of creators!

Changed up the outdoor set up a bit; love the hanging pegboard!

We have one more show this month, on Saturday, and I must say, I'm looking forward to the break. Am behind on designs for this season, and have more new designs to print for the Summer Shop Update on June twentieth.

You might have seen these on instagram; they'll be available for sale online on June 20:

Art Nouveau carnation note cards, based on a vintage image.

Parasol thank you cards, original parasol design.

And there are more to come. Friday's project will be pretty (maybe there will be a snapshot on instagram that day), and Wednesday's project is to reprint some pretty birthday cards in colors inspired by this poster:

Hello, Mr. Newman! Love the pink and gray in this Cannes poster.

Cheers,

ashley

Not Going to Deny It, April's Been Rough...

... but it's also been great.

Started the month off seeing lots of family: the first week I got to see a Grandma and Aunt from one side, then that weekend a quick road trip with Mom to see an uncle and my grandparents from her side. A few days later, my Dad and stepmother came for a visit. It was really fun seeing so much family within a week.

But then that night we got a phone call from Trent's Aunt that his Grandpa was nearing the end of his 102 years so we raced to Brownsville to see him. We made it in time to say good-bye, but he was already in a morphine-induced sleep and passed away shortly after we arrived.
It was a very rough couple of days but also led to seeing a lot of Trent's family, which we don't do often enough.

We spent four nights in Brownsville and helped out the sons and daughters by clearing out the walk-in storage closet at Grandpa's, and also the buffet/credenza, both jam-packed full of photos, cards, and in the case of the closet, 20+ bags of trash (plus a huge To Be Donated stash!) While doing so, we came across this photo of the Grandparents as 19 year olds, before they were married:

1931, age 19. What a find!

Very appreciative of our understanding clients whose orders were delayed a couple of days while we helped family and attended the funeral. And our posting here (everywhere!) has been spotty at best due to all the travel and family visits.

But now we're back and I think almost back to normal. Except not, because Trent is determined to lose some weight so we're on a (gasp) diet (hate that word) this week, 1100 calories/day. (I'm doing it too, since I can afford to lose a few, though I'm still enjoying a soy chai latte for tea time.) We have discovered a few good snack recipes thanks to his fitness dvd's quick start meal plans, like turkey slices with some goat cheese, chopped walnuts and an avocado slice rolled up. Yum, but the dinners leave me hungry. What can I say? I love food.

Unfortunately he's discovered that avocado is not disgusting so there goes my extra portion at taco places!

When not playing catch-up, or feeling hungry, I've been prepping for our first of three spring shows in a row, the King William Fair! Worried that a) I'll forget something b) it won't all fit in the car and c) that San Antonio won't like my products. But either way, I'm sure it will be a fun show. Trying a new display/booth set up and if it's a success, I'll probably repeat it for the Violet Crown Festival and the Mother's Day Flea, since they're also outdoor shows.

Expect a recap of the KWF early next week.

If you're in the San Antonio area, you know I'd love to see you! Or if you have friends there, please spread the word. I'll be set up in booth space K210 but since my best friend from high school will be helping me out, you can probably just follow the laughter to our booth. :)

Cheers,
ashley

{Favor} Can I Ask You Something?

Where do you hang out? Online, that is. Where do you check in and scroll most often? Twitter? Instagram? Facebook? LinkedIn? Tumblr? Flickr? Blog readers? (Are there other places that I'm missing?)

Personally, Instagram is my favorite. I love posting pictures of works in progress, videos of Vera the Press hard at work, my furry co-workers, and random pretties. (We're @shopinviting if you want to follow us!) But what about you? Leave a comment with your favorite!

Cheers,
Ashley