New business logo and shop make-over! August 10, 2011

My goal for the month of July was to create a new look for my Etsy store. I knew the colors that I wanted and I knew that I wanted the logo to match my whimsical style. You’d think it would have been the easiest job ever because after all, who knows my tastes better than me? Ugh. Not so… after the stress of moving from Rhode Island to Florida and then going on a lazy family vacation for a week, my creativity was at an all time low. I took on a couple new projects for clients and that totally helped me get back into the groove.

I am absolutely loving my new logo! Here is the new store banner and my Facebook picture!  

And I had so much fun creating a flyer for the business. I’m gonna get this flyer posted in various bakeries here in Pensacola, Florida. Isn’t it cute? Hope you like the new look as much as I do!

Finally, if you are on Facebook, make sure to LIKE A Party Studio!!! I usually announce all my latest projects on Facebook and also I will periodically announce promo codes on there too! And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!

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Tutorial: Personalized Candy Bar Wrapper April 25, 2011

Things you’ll need:

Print out wrapper*. Be sure to use bright white heavy paper

Bars of chocolate (1.55 oz)

Paper cutter

Adhesive such as a glue stick or photo tabs

Stylus (useful but not essential)

The things you'll need

*I can make personalized chocolate bar wrappers to match any of the invites in my Etsy store or I can make a design for you from scratch. You think of the theme and colors and I’ll create it! For this tutorial, I used the Sailboat wrapper.

Step 1: cut the paper on the grey line. Use a paper cutter to ensure a straight neat edge.

Cut the wrapper on grey line

Step 2: fold on the black line at the top of the illustration. Use the flat end of the stylus to sharpen the crease of the fold.

Fold on top black line

Use stylus to crease sharp crease

Step 3: fold on the bottom black line. These are the only two folds you’ll need to make. Again, use the stylus to get a nice crease.

Fold on bottom black line

Use stylus

Folded wrapper

Step 4: slip the chocolate bar behind the wrapper.

Insert bar

Insert bar to wrap

Step 5: turn the wrapper and the chocolate bar over so that you can apply adhesive to the back of the wrapper. I like to use a glue stick for this.

Turn over

Apply adhesive

Fold wrapper on itself

If you are using a glue stick then you’ll need to press very firmly for a few seconds to make sure it sticks.

Press firmly

Et voila! Cute personalized chocolate bar wrappers– the perfect party favor! These are a huge hit every time I throw a party- adults love them, as do the kids. Plus, the personalization mean that these wrappers make fabulous keepsakes. When you do these every birthday, you can create a fun way to track milestones.

Personalized chocolate bar

Custom party favor

Check out the other personalized chocolate wrappers that I have made in years past for my daughter’s birthday parties!

Seal in the back yard and FREE seal notecards! April 6, 2011

High drama in our household over the last couple days! We’ve had an adult harp seal visit us and he spent a couple days enjoying our back yard! He was a very cute visitor and my daughter thought he was her new pet. I was sad to see him leave this morning but also very relieved because I was starting to worry. So, here’s the story.

 

At the crack of dawn yesterday when my husband woke up and went downstairs for his coffee, he spotted something white in the back yard. The sun came up a couple hours later to reveal a big fat seal. Crazy stuff, huh? Who expects to see a seal in their yard? If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you already know that we are lucky enough to rent a house on the water in scenic Jamestown, Rhode Island. So, I guess finding a seal in the backyard should not be all that surprising.

 

Adult Harp Seal

 

Checking us out

Seal in the yard

Of course, since he was up on the grass (as opposed to sunbathing on the rocks), my husband and I were concerned. We got in touch with the local NOAA division, which in turn led us to the fantastic people at the Mystic Aquarium Animal Rescue program.

 

They immediately sent a local coordinator, the amazingly sweet and informative, Pam, to our house. She gave me some pamphlets, let me use her binoculars and took tons of photos. She determined that it was an adult harp seal and since he seemed healthy and very content, we should just observe him. Pam returned in the evening to make sure he was ok and I think we were all hoping that he’d go back to the water at some point in the evening.

Isn't he cute?

Chilling out

Well, he was still around this morning but at approximately 10:30 a.m. we were fortunate enough to see him swim away.

Leaving

 

Goodbye friend

Thank you for the visit!

The seals unexpected visit inspired me. Here are some cute note cards that you can download for FREE.  Print as many as you’d like and enjoy! They are 4 inches by 6 inches so there are two on a page.

 

Seal note cards

 

In case you wake up tomorrow and find a stranded mammal in your yard, here’s what to do (and not to do)! List courtesy of the Mystic Aquarium Animal Rescue Program.

• Do not touch the animal. All marine mammals are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. This law makes it illegal to touch, disturb, feed or otherwise harass marine mammals without authorization.
• A beached whale, dolphin or porpoise should be reported immediately and left alone pending further instruction.
• Give the animal plenty of space. Crowding stresses the animal and may cause it to act aggressively.
• Keep pets away from the stranded animal. Not only can they bite and cause injury to the stranded animal, but they may be injured by it. Diseases can also be transmitted between stranded animals and pets.
• Do not pour water on a seal, feed it, cover it or attempt to move it into the water. It is normal for seals to come ashore to rest.
• Be observant. Take note of any obvious signs of injury, the overall body condition of the animal (is it robust or thin?), identification tags, the presence of other animals (especially important with dolphins), the sea state and recognizable landmarks that will make it possible to locate the animal.

 

Tutorial: Note cards with belly band March 28, 2011

I am so happy to now offer printable note cards in my Etsy store. I’ve been wanting to branch out to the print-your-own party supplies for a while now and have had a lot of fun creating some incredible collections. The pattern in the photos of this tutorial is from the Classic Boy collection. There are invites, birthday banner, cupcake toppers and thank you tags available in this collection.

I can custom make these note cards in any color and font! They are make fabulous gifts and also make excellent thank you cards after a birthday party. Here’s how to put these together. Of course the first thing you’ll have to do is print the file that I e-mail you after your purchase 😉 It is best to use heavy bright white paper (ideally 110 lb). This is available from Staples or most craft stores.

1. Use a paper cutter to trim the paper. Each sheet of paper will give you two note cards that measure 4 inches x 6 inches. It is easiest to cut the belly bands first. Then, trim each side.

Cut the belly bands

Belly Band

Trim the sides

Trim the top and bottom of cards

2. Your printer may not be able to print all the way to the edge. So, if you have a white margin on either side of the belly bands, trim these off with scissors.

Trim belly band

3. Use a corner-rounder punch in the corners. If you don’t have one, you can use scissors for this part. I highly recommend getting a punch though, especially if you are doing a lot of the note cards!

Round-corner punch

Round corners with scissors

4. Fold the belly band about ¼ of the way up.

Fold belly band

Crease

5. Now, put the crease over the note card. Turn the card over and do the second fold/crease on the belly band.

Align crease on edge of note card

Back of card

Back

6. Et voila! Your beautiful note cards are finished.

Note card with belly band

Ribbon Wands March 21, 2011

I was recently asked about ribbon wands for little boys. The ones I’d made up to now definitely had a girly feel to them. Think soft, girly colors and flowers! But boys love ribbon wands, too. I think the idea of twirling around with the ribbon is appealing to all children, regardless of gender. There is something fascinating about the way the ribbon moves and follows their hand movements. So, I was tasked with designing wands that any parent would be happy to let their child play with…

Combination of 5 colors!

Gender-neutral Ribbon Wands

8 feet of ribbon per wand

I love this color combination. It is inspired by the Bright collection in my Etsy store. It is a combination of orange, white, turquoise, light green (celadon) and yellow. So fun! Each strand measures 2 feet long and there are four strands per wand. That means these ribbon wands have a very generous amount of ribbon- 8 feet per wand!

 

Here are some items from the Bright collection that inspired the choice of color combination.

Party picks

Birthday banner

 

I hope you love these wands! Leave a comment and let me know what color combination you’d like me to use for the next set of wands.