What does for Personal Use Only mean? July 14, 2014

 

When you purchase any file from me, somewhere on the PDF will be the following statement:

For Personal Use Only! Do not distribute in any way. All rights reserved by A Party Studio http://www.apartystudio.etsy.com

What does that actually mean? “For personal use” means that the person who purchased the file from me has the right to use it for their own needs but not as a business or for profit. I recently had a client run into difficulties printing a file at Office Depot because the employee there said that ‘for personal use only’ indicates that it can only be printed on a home computer. This is incorrect.  Personal use only has nothing to do with how you print- just how you control the files. The file/s can be printed where ever you’d like and once printed, can be used for your party, baby shower, bridal shower, wedding, etc.

Thankfully, I happened to be online and saw her message so I was able to call the Office Depot store and talk to the print/copy center to explain that she had every right to print out the PDF.

If you head to Office Depot, Staples, Kinkos or any other commercial printing place, to avoid the situation that my client faced, please print out a copy of your receipt to prove you are the owner of the file and entitled to print.

If you are concerned about your print job, then I recommend using an online service.

Kelli at Print and Cut Your Printables or Andrea at Paper + Pop

Their print work is fantastic and much better quality than what you would get through an office supply store. Plus, both these lovely ladies will cut out your files which will save you so much time.

I’m gonna go off on a little tangent here since it’s somewhat related… what does the “Do not distribute in any way” mean? It means you can’t pass on the PDF files to your friends to use for their events. It also means you can’t sell resell the files.

A couple examples…

So, is it ok to purchase a chocolate bar wrapper from me for $10 and then open your own store and offer the wrapper for sale as an assembled item? Absolutely not. This is stealing and a violation of my intellectual property. If you have to place text boxes or make screen shots of a PDF file that you have purchased then you are probably doing something unethical. Sadly, I have actually had this exact scenario happen.

Is it ok to buy a non-personalized item from my store- for example, a banner that simply reads “Happy Birthday” and then make that banner available for free via your blog? You may think that is fine to do because you are not profiting when the banner is downloaded but guess what? No, that is also not ok.

If you are a event stylist and purchase a set of printables from me, can you use them for you event? Sure, that’s fine but if you want to reuse the items for another event, you need to repurchase the personalized files. The files I send are not editable so you cannot make a screen shot and then insert them in to a program such as Word and add a text box over the personalization information in order to ‘update’ the file.  Plus, you are cheating yourself because by doing this, you are reducing the quality of the file and your prints will not look nice. And honestly, the length of time it takes to do that, you may as well pay me for my services.

If you are still not clear, please don’t hesitate to contact me via e-mail! apartystudio@gmail.com

 

 

Tutorial: Water Bottle Wrappers February 19, 2012

 

Having personalized water bottle wrappers at your party is one of the simplest and most fun ways to decorate and add a touch of whimsy. I get lots of requests for water bottle wrappers and they are one of the most fun things for me to design. I especially love adding personal touches such as nutritional facts on the side. How cute is this gold and lavender water bottle wrapper for a baby shower:

I have loads of different water bottle wrappers in my store– for lots of different occasions but if you don’t see exactly what you want then you could send me an e-mail because I love custom orders.

Putting these water bottle labels on your bottles, is really easy. Here’s what you do:

So, to put these together…

1. print out the water bottle wrappers that I will e-mail you. Use high quality print setting (choose quality over speed).
 Depending on the design you choose, there will probably be five on a sheet. Ideally, you should print on heavy bright white cardstock. I like to use 110 lb paper.

2. trim the paper.  I recommend using a paper slicer to cut the labels so that you have neat, straight edges. When you cut the labels, do not cut any of the sides i.e. make sure your rectangle’s length stays 8 1/2 inches.  If your printer didn’t print to the edges then trim only one side.

3.  peel the existing label off the water bottles (this will leave some stickiness on the plastic bottle which will help your new labels stick a bit better). For these bottles, I have used Nestle Pure Life Juniors. I think the little bottles are so cute! The water bottle labels work on the full size bottles of water too.

4. wrap the new labels around the bottle. I like to use a little bit of tape (the magic transparent tape) or use a couple dabs of a glue stick on just the paper that overlaps.

This is the tape I like to use:

DO NOT put these on cold/refrigerated bottles. The condensation will make the paper wet and ruin your lovely labels.

I also sometimes like to mix things up and use them on Frappucino bottles when I serve cold drinks, such a lemonade out of a pitcher. These need a bit of goo be gone to remove the residual stickiness from the Starbucks labels and I usually put them in the dishwasher too! Don’t they look super cute?

Here are some other water bottle wrappers available in my store. Simply click on any of the photos to the taken to the item listing 🙂

 

Don’t forget to like my Facebook page, follow me on Twitter or Pinterest! I love comments and feedback 🙂

 

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!

Sailboat Birthday Party July 13, 2011

Just realized that I never posted actual photos from the Sailboat Birthday Party I threw for my son’s first birthday back in April! Here are some photos from the party. The colors for the party were navy blue, cream, beige, and sage green with accents of orange and dark red. A couple weeks before his party, I found a cute long sleeve t-shirt at Gymboree that said “I run this ship” and it had green stripes on it! How perfect! Of course, I had a welcome door sign to greet guests when they first arrived.

Welcome door sign

Sailboat Birthday Party

 

Banner

The party was in the morning and most of the kids attending were very young, between 12 and 16 months so I wanted the food to be kid friendly but at the same time, appetizing to the adults. My menu was bagels with cream cheese, ham and cheese breakfast croissants, and star (jam filled) sandwiches. I put out goldfish crackers which went perfectly with the orange accents of the party decorations. For dessert, I offered a healthy fruit platter, both chocolate and vanilla cupcakes which were decorated with the personalized cupcake toppers. I also had a large doughnut cake from a local doughnut shop, Allie’s in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. I gave them a copy of the invite and they were able to match the sailboat.

 

Buffet

 

Buffet labels

Fruit platter

 

Cupcakes

 

 

Personalized cupcake topper

 

Doughnut cake

 

For the party favors, I made chocolate dipped pretzel rods. These were very easy to make and a lot of fun! I put each one in a clear pretzel bag (available at craft stores) and then added a personalized label and a bit of grosgrain ribbon. I also had bottles of bubbles with personalized labels on those. The bubble labels said “Ships ahoy! Bubbles away!” I also had Hershey bars of chocolate that I wrapped. I have done these every year for my daughter’s birthday and I am continuing the tradition with my son!

 

Bubbles

Chocolate bar wrapper

Party favors

 

Table

Water bottle wrappers

Finally, here’s a picture of the birthday boy enjoying his first ever cupcake!

Birthday boy

If you are interested in this collection, everything is available at my Etsy store. Also, if you wanted to use this for a baby shower, then I will be happy to change the wording for you! Send me an e-mail or convo me via Etsy!

Superheroes and Princesses! May 16, 2011

A couple weeks ago I was contacted by Amy. She asked me to revise the Comic Book Superhero collection that I have posted in my Etsy store to make it appropriate for her twin’s birthday party. Steven and Kaitlyn were going to be celebrating their third birthday party and the theme of their party was Superheroes and Princesses! How fun is that? To keep the flow of bright, saturated colors in the existing collection, I added a touch of hot pink. I also revised the party sign to read: Welcome Superheroes and Princesses! No Villains Allowed!

Take a look at the photos Amy sent me from the party! Everything came out looking amazing! Thank you so much for sharing.

Water wrappers

I love how Amy propped up the welcome sign in the middle of the table, against the rock candy. By the way, if you are planning on doing something similar, check out Oriental Trading. That is where she found the colorful rock candy and the superhero gummy fun packs! She also had pop rocks which looked like kryptonite!

Welcome sign

Superheroes and Princesses

In the front, you can see the custom chocolate bar wrappers- hot pink and royal blue! Isn’t it gorgeous? As party favors, Amy made all the kiddos capes with their initial on the back! I bet they came out SUPER cute (pun intended).

There are a few of the other items in the Comic Book Superhero collection.

Invitation

Personalized cupcake toppers

Starbursts

If you are planning a Superhero birthday party then check out the full collection in my Etsy store. I offer a package- everything you’ll need to throw a fabulous party- for only $45.

Collection

Collection