Coupon Clipping Party!

This week I was asked to make some invitations for a Coupon Clipping party, which I had never heard of before but that sounded like a fun idea.  After doing so research into 'Coupon parties' (thanks to google) I found out some fun things about how to host a coupon clipping party and thought I'd share them with you.

Coupon clipping seems to be a growing trend with several reality television programs following extreme coupon clippers and their goals to not pay a penny for their weekly grocery shop.  There are many tricks and tips to learn to become a savvy coupon clipper so having a party is a great way to share the tips with everyone you know! Here are five easy ways to throw a coupon party yourself!

1) Invite every single person you know. But always leave the kids at home! Some of your childless friends won't appreciate the distraction, and besides, clipping coupons is hard enough work without dealing with the little ones every five minutes.
2) Have plenty of beverages & simple finger food on hand. Coffee/ tea/ juice and plenty of finger food works best~ you'll being touching every single coupon you clip with your bare hands, so you want simple, non- messy snacks that aren't greasy and won't spill.
3) Everybody brings papers. Ask each person to bring X number of papers for maximum coupon effectiveness. While one friend may not need her coupons for men's razors or diapers- coupons new parents would use- she could trade them with another friend who was a new parent.
4) Sundays work best! While most papers have fliers or coupon inserts almost every day of the week, Sundays are the gold mine of coupons; here you'll find three major coupon inserts: P&G, Smart Source and Red Plum. You're certain to find a use for almost every coupon in these inserts.
5) Keep it fun.Turn on the radio. Play "coupon poker" using coupons, instead of money/ poker chips for your antes. Include coupons for your friend's favorite products in her next birthday card. Play coupon bingo. Or start a facebook page/ yahoo group for your very own 'coupon club'~ this makes it easier for all of your friends to stay informed. Always help your friends, and in return, they'll help you back!
Here are the invitations that I made for my customer for her Coupon Party!

So why don't you plan a fun coupon clipping party yourself, and be on your way to saving $$$$.

Custom Wedding Invitations

I love designing and  making custom wedding invitations for people.  Taking their thoughts and ideas and putting them together to create the perfect reflection of them and their special day.

My latest 'Bride to be' came to me with a color scheme of red and turquoise, and a damask pattern that she wanted to incorporate into the wedding.

Trying to find a damask patterned card stock in red was difficult and led me to investigate digital papers that I had seen Etsy.  It was amazing all of the patterns and colors available in digital paper, and it didn't take long for me to find the perfect pattern for the invitations.

The bonus of using a digital paper is that you get to print as many or few copies as you need. The added bonus was that a local printers had a special offer of 25 cents per copy for all printing in February, so I took advantage of that great deal and stocked up on plenty of copies to make all the stationery from.

After making up a couple of different styles, one design was chosen, and then the task of reproducing it 75 times, along with RSVP cards, thank you cards, place cards and cupcake toppers!

For some fun we incorporated a little cupcake image onto each of the invitations and also on the outer envelopes to tie in the theme of 'Love is Sweet'

I found the perfect rubber stamp, and so set to work stamping the image onto each of the invitations and envelopes.  I like to work in a production line format, and so in the end my desk was covered in invitations, which added up to a whopping 450 cupcakes on my work desk!

The contrast between the red damask pattern and the turquoise card looked great and really went well together.

I believe that the wedding invitations set the scene for the wedding itself and give the guests a clue as to what the wedding will be like.  Its also important to have elements of the design run through all of the other items for the wedding stationery, and so the color combination is being used in the table place cards, thank you cards, cupcake toppers and a special banner for the candy buffet table!

I always hand write the addresses on the outer envelopes, and used a red calligraphy pen to coordinate with the font chosen by the bride.  With a little work on word I managed to create some fun return address labels using the same damask pattern and fonts as the invitations.  This helped to tie everything together perfectly.  The finishing touch was getting some great stamps from the post office that matched the whole theme.

Spring is Here

The clocks have just sprung forward, and the flowers are beginning to bloom in the garden, so Spring must be here.  Its always so exciting to see the green sprouts of plants in the garden start to peak through the dry mulch, pushing their way back up to the light after hibernating all winter.

To help them along them way I spent several hours in the garden tidying up and removing all the 'dead' stuff that had protected them throughout the winter. Thankfully this winter wasn't anything like last years, with hardly any snow accumulation for us.

I bet by the end of the month we'll be hearing the sound of lawn mowers revving up and smell of freshly cut grass in the air.

Spring is a great to to have a clear out ready for the year ahead, and that's just what I've been doing. Going through my closet and pulling out the things I no longer wear, putting the books that I've read in a pile, and finding other unused items around the house, and taking them up to the Goodwill donation center where hopefully they will be of use to somebody else, as well as helping to raise a few dollars for charity.

The extra hour of daylight in the evenings is the real bonus, and means that I can take my two dogs out for a walk in daylight when I get home from work.

Love is in the air!

It's almost the end of January already and Valentine's day is just aroud the corner.  I've been making some fun new cards to help people show their love on February 14th.

Here comes the Bride.....it's wedding season!

Everywhere I turn I here about upcoming nuptuals, so wedding season must be in full swing!  I'm actually working with a bride to be on her wedding stationery and other items for her big day.  So far I've made some beautiful wedding invitations, complete with RSVP cards, Thank you cards, place cards, and wine bottle cuffs.

Yesterday I made some new wedding cards to add to my Etsy store, and think I'll be making lots more later this week.  Here is a preview of some of the new designs available at my Etsy store.

For every card I sell on my Etsy store in may & June I'll be donating the proceeds to the National Kidney Foundation.  On Saturday June 18th I'll be taking part in a 200ft rappel down a building in Baltimore, Maryland and hope to raise $1000 for the charity!  By buying a card from ym store, you are not only getting a wonderful hand crafted card, but you will also be supporting a very worthy cause.

Raising Money for the National Kidney Foundation

On June 18th I'll be going over the edge. Over the edge of a 200ft building in downtown Baltimore to be precise.  You may think I'm mad but it's all for a great cause and hopefully will be a bit of fun too.  I'm doing a rappell down the Canton Crossing Tower to raise much needed money for the National Kidney Foundation.

My dear father passed away in January 2005, following Kidney disease and so this is a cause that is close to my heart and I hope that I can raise at least $1000 to go towards more research and treatments.

On my quest to raise my goal I am soliciting the support of friends, family and nieghbors and will also be donating all the proceeds from my Etsy store for May & June, so I'm hoping that together we can reach the $1000.

For more information on the event you can visit my fundraising page here .

Please help me to reach my goal and help other people in the world fight Kidney Disease.

April showers bring May flowers, but why wait till May!

Today I have just finished decorating a beautiful birthday cake for a little girl who is turning 4.  I love making new cakes and this one was challenging as the little girl can't eat wheat or dairy products!  I always want to make sure that my cakes are as delicious to eat as they are to look at so after some research I found a delicious gluten free recipe for the cake and used dairy free butter to make the buttercream.

Once the cake was baked and filled with buttercream, the fun began in decorating it.  Like most little girls Cici loves pink and so what better than a huge pink daisy on the top of her cake.  I added 7 fondant purple butterflies fluttering around the side of the cake too.

I'll be off to deliver the cake shortly so I'm excited to see Cici and her Mom's face when they see it!