PAPER LOCKET'S STUDIO BLOG

Be Fun - Be Mine

I really enjoy it when a client calls upon me to 'create' something fun and unique for them ~ so carefree and trusting!

Without really knowing where we'll end up, I begin with their favorite photos, their vision of what they want (absolutely not necessary), and then I just go for it. Somehow the photos lead the way for me. Maybe it's a design I pull out of my portfolio that seems fitting or something created from scratch...either way it's a one-of-a-kind.

I recently had the honor of creating a custom Valentine's Day card for one of Misty's extremely fun and photogenic clients (Babes Wherry Ink).

Design Steps:

1. Client's 4 incredible photos ~ of course we had to use every single one of them!

2. Client's thoughts on the design - "The look I’m going for is that bright, fresh, 70’s-esque, candy-colored style.  I would like the text to say, Wishing you lots of love and laughter this Valentines and all throughout the year!"

3. What designer wouldn't be inspired by these photos? When I think of the 70's, I think of Woolworth's photo booth (WAIT, editorial correction ... that would be very late 70's/early 80's for me).  I went with the 3-D photo frame look, textured paper, a very fun font, and stamped hearts. We went with a 4x8 flat card on a pearl paper. All this created in photoshop.

4. Happy client - happy designer. :-) And many happy recipients! Thank you for being fun and for being mine to design for!! XXOO

And the card for us is ...

So it seems that every single one of my most favorite designs was chosen by someone very close to me or I chose it for them...so, what to do?

 

 

As a designer of holiday cards I should create something completely unique, right? Pressures on! So, this is what I came up with. We marked a date on the calendar that would be photo day - no turning back. I took the kids in the backyard and snapped a 100 shots of them, then let them pick their favorite, altered the photos with some amazing software (phew) and here we are! This card size is a 4"x8"  in size (unusual). Happy to say, 3 days later, we are done! Lesson learned - take advantage of the amazing photographers that partner with Paper Locket and schedule a session late summer or early fall and BE MERRY all season long! 

HOLIDAY JOY

FA LA LA LA LA.....and why do some of us wait until NOW to take some amazing photos (shown in a personalized 2006 anniversary design?!

 

Okay, I'm guilty of waiting...even with a summer trip to Cape Cod. I really thought I'd have some great beach candids, but given the ages of my kids (15,12,10) I think those days are over (for now).  Next year, right?!

Celebrating 5 years of Redefining the Holiday Photo Card!

Was it really 5 years ago when I thought...why not design personalized holiday cards that are not from a template?! I loved coming up with something unique for my family's holiday card every year, so threw the idea out there and watched it take off.

To celebrate our 5th year of re-defining the holiday card we've brought back 4 designs from the past at celebration prices. These designs are still hot hot HOT! Who knew ~ ! Check out our 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008 designs. Classic, simple and timeless.

 

  

What I celebrate most is receiving orders year after year from the wonderful families that have made Paper Locket cards a tradition. THANK YOU!!!

Holiday Card Season is Upon us ~ well some of us!

Of course Holiday Cards are my passion, so this is the most exciting time of year for me! The store is open (so to speak) with new and unique designs that are meant to showcase photos first and foremost. That's the reason all our designs are made-to-order. I think our most recent review from My Four Monkeys said it best:

"I received a few samples of some of the holiday card designs and I have to say that I am impressed. These cards have so many things going for them. Here are some of the ultra cool features:

• 1 - 6 photos on any design: The card is designed exactly to your specifications!
• 2-sided designs on a flat 5x7 card: Most holiday card websites do not offer two sided cards at no extra charge.
• pearl paper {our favorite} or smooth thick cover: The cardstock they use is amazing! It's not glossy, but it has a faint shimmer to it, very "expensive looking" and thick too!
• white envelopes included
• return address can be added for .20 each
• proofs provided in less than 72 hours
• delivers in 2 business days"

 

Modern and Chic

And you thought I was referring to my holiday cards? Well yes, they are modern and chic, but so is YouData, advertisement that pays customers for their time.

As an online designer of custom photo products my biggest challenge is how to effectively reach out to my nationwide customers on a slim budget. I feel like I've done it all, short of radio and TV, and have questioned my results..until YouData came along. YouData is free to the consumer and easy to use. In short, a consumer sets up a MeFile that tells the advertiser exactly who they are. The advertiser pays the consumers to look at their ad only if they are a targeted match. Clever! Of course I tried it out as a customer, bookmarked some very cool sites, and used my YouData profits towards a business purchase.

With YouData, I get the one-on-one help from their very patient and friendly Sales Associate who can quickly set up a very specific ad campaign that is targeted to my exact customer. After I ran my first conservative campaign, I was hooked! In a matter of days, Paper Locket was in front of over 400 new or expecting moms with my specific demographics. The traffic has been instant, affordable, measurable, and again, very targeted.

YouData is an authentic way to advertise. I appreciate what they do as an advertiser probably as much as the consumer does. Money well spent and money well earned!

New Baby? New Designs!

And they're 20% off through September 18th. So spread the word to all those new moms with impeccable taste who appreciate SIMPLE! SHOP NOW

personalized designs are modified to fit 1 to 6 photos & your personal style
flat 5x7" 2-sided cards - professionally printed on thick cover stock (love that pearl paper best)
proofs in 48 hours and delivered to your doorstep in only 2 business days - that's fast!

making your precious moments a reality

Celebrate National Scrapbooking Day!

Over 4 years ago I retired my paper trimmer, rubber stamps and pattern paper for Adobe's Photoshop program ~ yet I'm still a scrapbooker.

Officially, I'm now a digital scrapbooker, designing layouts in my computer and ordering completed books through amazing professional printers. What's the digital world like? Sorta the same ~ photos piling up in my digital files, must-have purchases for patterns and designs, and best of all...still a labor of love!

Coincidentally, I found myself organizing the 'ole' scrapbooking stuff on this year's National Scrapbook Day. I was completely overwhelmed with all the paper I still have; what was I thinking?? And overwhelmed by the classes, retreats, and product assembly I evidently had the energy for...oh the fun we had!

I organized weekend retreats that included LOTS of product and classes with 30 to 50 scrappers. Our retreats were at places like La Conner's charming Country Inn, or the rustic Warm Beach (where many of us had record breaking scrapbooking success because that was ALL there was to do).

Some WOW memories for me:

40 for $40 > a class where we completed 40 scrapbook pages for only $40.

Blueprints for Never Fail Scrapbook Pages > cutting maps and assembly instructions for 10 layouts.

$1.50 Scrapbooking Kits ~ I think I must've assembled 1000 of them over the years. Everything you need to complete a unique layout: stickers, paper, die cuts, and instructions with a photos.

Oh, miss these days and friends dearly!

I want to get married again ....

to my husband just so we can dance down the aisle like this!

Had to pull out & dust off my 17+ year old wedding photos to preview the dancing potential...what do you think - holding back some dance moves?

What a fun way to take a pass on tradition and go for self expression. Love it!

Yes, my hubby would go for it ~ that's the kind of man I married...

and then there was my  Grandma Ruth, no dancing shoes needed! No question, she definitely would've danced down the aisle! Bless her heart.

Auction Wall Art - a BIG success

I was assigned the job of creating my son’s 8th grade class auction project. Every year each class at our small private catholic school has a unique item that goes up for live bidding. This is an especially important year because 8th grade is the graduating year for this school and all the students will be scattered across the greater Seattle area in various high schools.

Lucky for us, we have the amazing John Curley, from King 5’s Evening Magazine, as our auctioneer, hence our live items usually go for pretty big bucks! The classroom chairperson definitely wanted photos in the class project, but from past experience I’ve learned that photos of children, other than our own, doesn’t make very popular heirloom wall art.

So, as I usually do, I worked backwards on this project. What I wanted to bring to the auction was a piece that:

•    Is neutral enough in color and design that it will fit into any home’s décor.
•    Creates a profound emotional effect on, not only the owner of the art, but on anyone.
•    A timeless mature design that would include all 47 children without being overwhelming.

The original idea was to have the 47 children stand hand-in-hand, with their backs to the camera, looking out over the Puget Sound (at the beach only a few miles from our school). This panoramic scene would then be slightly artistically altered. Well because of our harsh winter weather and school closures we couldn’t pull this off. So as a backup plan I asked that the children stand in groups of 7 or so in front of our stage curtains and I would extract them from the photos and digitally put them on the beach! Molly Schneider  helped me with the extractions, very time consuming. She did a beautiful job.

Using photoshop, I brought together a stock photo of the ocean, 47 kids from 7 photos, a small sentimental phrase. I then tweaked the piece slightly giving it a water colored appearance.  Done! The final art piece was professionally printed on an archival 40” long x 20” high x 1.5” wide gallery wrapped canvas.

I believe that what we ended up with was so unbelievably moving that we successfully encapsulated this moment in time beautifully. Some words that come to mind: friendship, brotherhood, sisterhood, community, future, endless possibilities…It still chokes me up!

I’m happy to say that our art project was very popular and ended up raising over $2500 for our school. What a wonderful ending to the beginning of our children’s future.