Now through July 31st, get envelope printing or a 2nd letterpress color for free when you order your invitations or baby announcements from Wiley Valentine!

Smudge Ink is offering free return address printing on envelopes when you place an order from their letterpress imprintable book through March 31st. Consider imprintables for a cost-effective way to do letterpress for invitations to birthday parties, bridal showers, baby showers and more.

Take 10% off your wedding invitation order from Wiley Valentine through the end of the month. Choose from decorative letterpress and flat printed options.

]]> http://thesociallifeofpaper.com/blog/2010/03/09/march-promotions/feed/ 0 http://thesociallifeofpaper.com/blog/2010/03/05/what-to-say-in-a-birth-announcement/ http://thesociallifeofpaper.com/blog/2010/03/05/what-to-say-in-a-birth-announcement/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:36:18 +0000 pamelajaye http://thesociallifeofpaper.com/blog/?p=1416

There are typically four parts to a birth announcement:

Introduction
You may choose to open with a short phrase or poem like “Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice…” for a baby girl or something simple like one of these options:
“Welcome…”
“We welcome with love…”
“We’re thrilled to announce…”
“Announcing the arrival of…”

Baby’s Name
Your baby’s name should be the focus of the birth announcement. Along with his or her first and middle name, you may also want to include your baby’s last name.

Birth Information
You’ll want to share the basic details: date, weight and length. You may also choose to mention the time of birth and the city and state of the hospital.

Family’s Names
Conclude the announcement with the parents’ first names, followed by the names of siblings. Some people even include the names of beloved pets! It is not necessary to repeat your last name if you already included it with your baby’s name. If you’d like, you can use a complimentary closing like “Proudly” or “With love.”

(image: Wiley Valentine)

As seen in the February 12, 2010 issue of The Jewish Press. “Simchas” means “joyous occasions” in Hebrew.

It’s not uncommon for a couple of weeks to pass after having a baby before new parents remember to send out birth announcements. Don’t worry! Your friends and family understand that life has suddenly gotten very busy for you. The grace period for sending birth announcements is about six months.

To speed up the process, spend some time during the final weeks of your pregnancy to gather the names and addresses of everyone you’d like to receive an announcement. Think of your family, friends and co-workers. How about sending one to your hairstylist or personal trainer? You may also want to schedule an appointment to browse through my design books. It may be too soon to place an order, but it’s never to early to start getting ideas. If you can narrow down your choices to your favorite two or three, the next time you come in — with your baby! — finalizing the details of the birth announcement won’t take very long.

(image: Wiley Valentine)

I have been a big fan of Photo Cards for years.  When my friends started having children, I would receive the ubiquitous holiday card with a photo of their kids (and/or pets) in a best-dressed, posed shot. I looked forward to seeing the photo cards and how different they would seem from year to year.  When we had our trial child (our dog) in 2001, I thought, “Now, I can send out Photo Cards!”  Giddy?  Yes, very much so.  But the giddiness waned, as I searched for a place that had interesting designs AND printed on cardstock.  Paper-lovers want quality and I could not find it.  So, I created a quality photo card myself and that is how my business was born.

I think most of us conjure the typical image of a thin, photo paper holiday greeting with a posed photo where the kids usually look uncomfortable or angry when we hear the phrase “photo card.”  Thankfully, this is not your only option in 2009.  With constant improvements in technology, digital imaging and printing, the photo card options are rich in quality and design.  You can also use candid shots in many designs for a more natural look.  Here are a few of my favorites…

Before I began making all my personal cards myself, I was a huge fan of Cardstore.com (above image).  I could personalize a card easily and they would send it to my recipient for the cost of a stamp.  Now, they have many more well-known and well-loved designers for you to choose from, such as Delphine and Tam Tam Design.  I found this fun baby announcement created by Alison and Jessie from Sweet Street Gals.  Cardstore.com prints on high-quality, 130lb. matte recycled cardstock.

For the preppy that lives inside you, Whitney English (above image) has many background designs to set off your photos.  Each card design is printed on 80 – 100lb. cardstock, giving that quality feel.  My favorite is the Pink Gretchen design.  You can see her other designs at whitneyenglish.com.

One more option to consider is a digital photo card.  The place I would recommend to find yours?  Etsy.  There are many designers that will create a custom photo card for you and send it to you as a digital file.  From there, you can take it to your favorite printing place or have a go at printing the card yourself.  Most files are high resolution and will print beautifully.  A favorite is Paper Mango (above image) and its Bubbly Christmas design.

As you can tell, I have a passion for Photo Cards.  I think it comes down to that thrill of sharing great photos with the people you care about.  And when these great photos are married with fabulous design, it’s a very special creation.  Thanks PJ for the opportunity to be a “guest blogger.”  I enjoyed sharing my passion with all of you!

And thank YOU, Cyn, for being The Social Life of Paper’s first guest blogger!

(top image source)