Bao Mei Mei

Archive for December, 2011

You will find each year during October is Red Ribbon Week; “Say no to Drugs” week. There are many things you can do as a small business owner in support of Red Ribbon Week which are relatively inexpensive, but make a huge difference. If you are in the automotive business you can tie a Red Ribbon on each car you service. If you are a car dealership you can put a Red Ribbon on every car on the front line. The ice cream man can tape a Red Ribbon on the bottom of each Popsicle stick. Medical and Professional offices can put a dish full of ribbons and safety pins on the counter for patrons.

Your total cost for a Red Ribbon spool is about $2.50-3.50 and you should cut them in 4 to 5 inch lengths. If you are dealing with small children use tape, for everyone else a box of safety pins costs about $3.00 or so. Illegal Drugs are a huge problem in the United States cutting short lives, adding to crime and costing billions each year in police, first responders, hospital and rehabilitation. The lost productivity to businesses alone is said to be in the tens of billions per year.

All small business owners should show their support for a drug free community. The cost is next to nothing and the good will and positive PR is nothing short of excellent for your business. Won’t you join us in making a statement against illegal drugs and unite your community to be proactive in teaching our youth to; “Say No To Drugs!”

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.

A great invitation is the first order of business when planning a party. And, it’s the first thing your guests will see to let them know they are invited to your party. So, shouldn’t an invitation be as special, personal and as great as the party is going to be? Let your guests know they are being invited to the bash of the summer, the dinner party of the year or the first birthday of many with the perfect invitation.

Making your own homemade invitation means no searching to find the perfect one. When you make your own invitation, you get exactly what you want. You get to make what you want and how you want it using colors, papers and words. You can express yourself using creativity and style you never knew you had!

And, every invitation you make is always one of a kind!

Not only is it fun to make homemade invitations, but it is also cost-effective. Most of the time it is much less expensive to make your own rather than buy ready-made invitations or make your own online. Enlist the help of your family and make it a fun evening of invitation making.

You don’t need a bunch of fancy tools to make great invitations either. All you really need is a good pair of scissors, a couple different papers, a paper-cutter, adhesive, maybe some ribbon and a little creativity!

To create the perfect invitation for your event, just follow these easy steps and tips, and you’ll be on your way to beautiful homemade invitations…

1. Determine the theme

Identifying whether the party is for a birthday, anniversary, shower or house-warming should obviously be the first step in not only designing the invitation, but also planning the party. This is by far the easiest step in creating an invitation, but a vital one. Not only does the theme mean what the party is for, but it also means what the overall design of the invitation will look like. You wouldn’t want to design an invitation that looks like it’s for a 1st birthday party when it’s actually for a bridal shower.

2. Decide on a color palette

Selecting a color scheme for your invitation is the next step in the design process. This also contributes to the style of your invitation. Color plays a big part in the overall look of your invitation, so getting it just right is very important. When choosing colors you need to first think about who or what the event is for. If the party is for a young woman turning 30, then design the invitation depending on her personality. Think about whether she is fun, out-going and full of spirit, or if she is more relaxed and simple. If she is more fun and out-going, then you would want to choose colors that portray that, such as a bright pink and black color scheme with maybe a zebra print paper. But if she is more relaxed and simple, then it would be a good idea to either choose a light floral scheme or maybe even a simple black and white scheme.

The same thing goes if you are planning a party for no particular person, such as a Super Bowl party or a summer get-together. You need to decide colors depending on the theme. For a Super Bowl party, obvious colors would be the playing team’s colors. For a summer get-together, a fun red and white checkerboard design would fit perfectly with a picnic theme.

3. Choose your style

A style for an invitation basically means the overall layout and design of the invitation. Decide if you’re going to use lots of layers or maybe a ribbon or even a translucent text sheet. Also decide if your layout is going to be vertical, horizontal or a folded card style. You can design some great invitations using any layout. For a vertical design, using a lot of layers works great. Adding a ribbon either at the top or through the middle looks beautiful too. For a horizontal design, try off-centering your text sheet to the right and adding a strip of printed paper to the left side. The offset text and the print sheet balance each other out and create a really great look. A card style invitation looks great for any party and there are a lot of design options. Layer the front of it with different papers and add a ribbon, or use some punches and create a beautiful eyelet trimmed edge. The possibilities are endless!

Before going to the store to pick out the papers you will use, sit down and sketch out what you think the invitation should look like, or what you want it to look like. Once you are at the store, it is easier to choose papers if you know what the overall design is going to look like. You can even make a few different sketches and then when you are picking the papers, you may end up liking the design more of one sketch rather than another. Keep your options open and look online and in magazines and books for inspiration.

4. Pick your papers

Now that you’ve chosen the style and layout of your invitation, the next step is to pick out the papers you will be using to assemble it. Picking the papers you are going to use goes right along with choosing your color palette. Once you have decided on the colors you want to use, you just need to actually find those colors on paper. You can find thousands of scrapbooking papers in sizes 8-1/2″ x 11″ and 12″ x 12″ at any craft or scrapbooking store or even online. The prices are very reasonable starting at about $0.29 a sheet and going up to $1.00 a sheet depending on the type of paper. And, you can usually get 2-3 invitations out of one sheet of paper. Watch for sales on scrapbooking papers. Stock up when you find one and the next time you need an invitation, you may already have enough paper!

If you plan on using a patterned or print sheet of paper with your invitation, then choose that first. You can choose the other colors of cardstock for your invitation from within that pattern. Choose a couple different colored sheets because layers look great. Try lighter shades and darker shades and determine which looks best with your pattern and the style you’ve chosen for your invitation. Don’t forget the text sheet, which is usually a white or cream cardstock, but can also be a light shade of a color that is readable when printed with black ink. You can also use a translucent paper on your invitation which works well as an overlay sheet or directly as the text sheet.

5. Decide if you will use embellishments

Once you have chosen your papers, decide if you want to add embellishments to your invitation. Embellishments can include metal brads, gemstones, ribbons, stickers and more. Sometimes an invitation looks great without using embellishments, but then again you may think there is just something missing. If you want to use a ribbon, chose a color that coordinates with the rest of the colors or pattern. If you are using a translucent sheet, consider using a ribbon or some metal brads to attach it to the rest of your papers.

6. Write the text of your invitation

When writing the text or wording for your invitation, it is helpful to use a computer program, which is quick and easy. Or, you can always hand-write each invitation using calligraphy which adds a beautiful touch, but is very time-consuming. If you are going to use a computer program then decide if you need to print in a landscape or portrait layout. Landscape means horizontal and portrait means vertical. You can either do a page set-up using different margins and columns to create equal text boxes or you can eyeball it and test print to see if it is right.

When determining wording for your invitation, think about whether you want it straight to the point or if you want to add a little fun saying or quote in too. Remember to include who or what the party is for, when the party is, the time, the location and a “respond to” or RSVP name and phone number and/or email. Make the text eye-catching. Use fonts that fit the look and style of your invitation. Sometimes a large round font looks best with a child’s invitation using fun patterned paper, but an elegant cursive font accentuates the beauty of a timeless bridal shower invitation. It also looks great when you use two different fonts. Be sure that the fonts blend well with each other. Try using a print font for the main body of the text and a cursive font for the name or event.

Once you have written the text, you need to test print it. Test print on inexpensive printer paper rather than your more expensive cardstock. Once you know it is correct, print all the text sheets at one time so they are complete.

7. Cut all papers to size

The next step in creating your invitation is to cut all papers down to the size they will be used. Most invitations overall size is 5-1/2″ x 8″ which is the size when one 8-1/2″ x 11″ sheet of cardstock is cut in half. Remember that you will get two invitations from each full sheet of paper. Depending on the style and layout of your invitation, you will need reveals or margins between the layers. Proportion is key to making an invitation look perfect. A good reveal size is between 1/4″ and 3/8″. In some cases, a 1/2″ reveal looks best.

Make one complete invitation before cutting all the papers to size to make sure it looks exactly as you planned. You may need to tweak a size here or there and it is much easier to do on one sheet rather than multiple sheets. Once you know each layer is the right size, it is a good idea to cut all your papers down before assembling them. This makes the assembly process go much quicker.

8. Assemble your invitations

This is the fun step in creating an invitation! When assembling your invitations, be sure to use an appropriate adhesive. Suggestions are a glue stick, glue rollers, or permanent mounting squares. The mounting squares work well because they are repositionable for a short time and they are available in either white or clear. The clear is great to use when you need to attach a translucent paper because it is basically invisible.

Be sure to keep all layers centered and keep all reveals the same. Don’t get sloppy. If you are using embellishments or ribbons, this is the time to add them. If you are tying a bow, make sure it looks crisp, not messy. You can look online to find help and instructions on tying a perfect bow.

Now that you’ve made your homemade invitation, it’s time to hand them out! What a great surprise it will be for all the guests to find a beautiful handmade invitation waiting for them in their mailbox! You can just sit back and wait for the compliments to start rolling in. Oh, and maybe you should start planning the rest of the party now too!

Lindsay Garrett
homemade invitations

Having your child’s room neat and organized sure makes life a lot easier. wouldn’t it be nice to spend more time on getting your little girl dressed than looking for things like hair bows and hair clips? You can solve that problem by adding a way to organize all of her hair accessories.

When it comes time to dress up your little ones, and you have to spend time that you really don’t have looking for a hair bow or clip, it just makes getting ready that much more hectic. We all know how that can be. The best way to solve that problem is to have a way of keeping all of your child’s bows and hair accessories organized in a designated area.

There are several ways that you can do that. You can add an organizer that not only will help you be able to go directly to what it is you’re looking for, but, it will also add to the decor of the room itself. The organizer that I’m discussing will keep all of your little girls hair accessories neat and organized. The organizer is made using a piece of ribbon normally around 24″ long. The ribbon will be made of two layers. The first layer is the wider of the two. The second layer is smaller accent ribbon that runs down the full length of the center.

The organizer is made up of a ribbon wrapped ring, two strands of ribbon for the body of the organizer, and a crystal gerbera daisy attached near the top of the ribbon as an accent. The ring can be hung around a dresser knob, on a closet door, or on a wall using a nail, according to your preference. Easily accessible for placing all of your bows and hair accessories on the ribbon strip. Again, not only will you know exactly where to go to find what you’re looking for, but it will look great as well, not to mention keeping them clipped on the holder will keep the shape of the bows, as opposed to them laying on the floor under a shoe.

You can find just about any number of color combinations imaginable when picking out your hair bow organizer. I’m quite sure that if the room you’ll be hanging the organizer in has a colorful paint scheme, that you will be able to find a hair accessories organizer to match the colors. You can mix and match different colors of bows to compliment the organizer as well.

Perry Mink – Author
To keep your little girls hair bows and hair clips organized, a colorful hair bow/clip holder will make the job a lot easier. When shopping for hair accessories or a variety of children’s fashion accessories, one popular place to go that has great quality and very reasonable prices is http://www.beanies2bows.com

I have some great tips on designing your own hair bow/ hair accessories organizer. We all know that when you have little girls, they are going to have all kinds of hair bows and accessories spread from one end of the house to the other if they’re not organized properly. Hopefully, these tips will alleviate that problem.

Supplies you will need for a hair clip organizer: Foam Board or Art Canvas, Non-Toxic Acrylic paint, Paintbrush, Grosgrain Ribbon & a Stapler.

Hair Clip Holder: You can go to an arts and crafts store like Michaels or even Walmart, and pickup a 1/2″ piece of foam board or an art canvas, either one will work. I would suggest the art canvas because it’s more durable. The dimension of the board depends on how many bows you have to store. I personally like 24″ to 30″ wide by 24″ to 30″ tall because it will easily fit on most bedroom closet doors. It’s best to measure the door that you plan on installing it on so you will get the correct size. You will need to paint the board or canvas with a non-toxic acrylic paint in the color of your choice. Once the paint has dried, you will take your ribbon and cut it 5 inches longer than your board. For example, if your foam board is 24 inches tall, cut your ribbon 29 inches long, that way you have enough ribbon to go over the edge of the board and have approximately 2 inches left on each end. Place your ribbon from 1/2″ to 1″ apart, one at a time, across the width of the board. Wrap the excess ribbon ends over onto the back of your board and staple each one to the frame (that’s another good reason for using art canvas, there is a wooden frame to staple to). Repeat this step for each strand of ribbon. The ribbon should be snug because over time it will loosen up on its own. Once you have the organizer complete you just attach the organizer to the door with a couple of small nails and wire. If you would prefer not to have holes in your door, you can get a door hook and hang a decorative clothes hanger from the hook, attach two snap clamps to the clothes hanger and clamp the organizer to that.

Headband organizer: A couple of simple and inexpensive ways to keep your headbands organized is to take your empty 2 liter plastic bottles, wash them out good and fill with water and add food coloring of your choose. The headbands will fit nice and snug over the bottle. Another good way to organizer headbands is to take an empty cardboard container, like an empty oatmeal container and paint the container with a non toxic acrylic paint or wrap the container with gift wrapping paper. Both are very inexpensive and practical ways to keep your headbands organize.

Perry Mink – business owner/author. Hopefully these tips will come in handy when it comes time to organize your hair bows and accessories. There are several websites to choose from when shopping for your hair accessories. One of the more popular websites that has good quality products at unbelievable prices is http://www.beanies2bows.com

Crafting is so much fun and is meant to be something that de-stresses your life. But if your crafts are disorganized, scrapbooking and rubber stamping can become stressful endeavors rather than the fun hobby they are meant to be. Organization makes all the difference!

Rubber stamps are the backbone of card making and scrapbooking. But you need to know what stamps you have, and how to find them quickly and easily.

There are 3 basic systems for stamp organization:

1. Alphabetically
2. Number system
3. Category

There is not a one-size-fits-all organizational system. You need to have a system that works for YOU. So let’s look at each system.

1. Alphabetical: This is a great system as it’s quick and easy to find things. In addition, we are used to looking for other things alphabetically. The major drawback to this system is that you have to really know the names of your stamp sets. If you’re good with names, this is the system for you!

2. Number system: For this system, you simply affix a number to your stamp sets and keep a list, sort of like a library system where each book has a number. You can simply number your sets in the order you purchase them or make a more specific system where nature sets begin with a 1, greetings sets begin with a 2, etc. This is a great system for the very organized people out there. God bless you all!

3. Category: For this system, you organize your stamps according to the category they are listed under in the Idea Book & Catalog. So all the Holiday stamps go in one spot, the Occasions stamps go in another, etc. This is the system I use, and it really helps me. In addition to keeping my stamps straight, it helps me orient to the catalog. Since I use my catalog a lot, not only for helping people place orders but also for my own design inspiration, I feel that I kill two birds with one stone.

Whatever stamp organization system you choose, get one going. When you can find what you are looking for, creating hand stamped projects is much more fun. Stamping is meant to be a time of creativity and enjoyment, not frustration. So organize your stamps and you will be stamping stress-free!

I’ve given you ways to organize your rubber stamps, but don’t stop there! You can organize your embellishments, ribbons, and more. And the more organized your supplies are, the more you will create, and the more fun you will have in the creative process.

There are the spools, and then there are the scraps…

You can organize your ribbons in purpose-made shelves for easy access. But then there are those little scraps. You know, the pieces you cut for a project and then didn’t use. I like to store my scraps and pieces in a ribbon “jar.” I call it a jar, but it’s actually a vase, because I don’t want to have to open a lid when I’m looking for/grabbing a piece of ribbon. Remember, you want your organization to work FOR you not against you. You want it to SAVE time not cost you time.

Ribbon is my go-to embellishment. It adds the perfect touch to most any project. I use ribbon on my hand-stamped cards, scrapbook pages, handmade gifts, and more. Of course, they also make for extra-special packaging. When wrapping up a gift, even a small or inexpensive one, I like to make it extra special with nice wrapping or even just some nice ribbon. Stampin’ Up! ribbon comes in all our core colors as well as “in” colors (trendy colors that keep everything fresh) and is very, very nice quality. I like wrap a stack of hand-stamped cards in a generous length of ribbon for gifting. Super simple, super easy, extra special!

Candy Rattray is an Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator. Her Sweet Stamper business encompasses teaching card and gift making as well as scrapbooking, and selling supplies for those endeavors. Hand stamped cards and gifts are mini works of art that bring delight to those making them as well as those receiving them. Her Sweet Stamper business is showcased on the world wide web at http://www.sweetstamper.com, and she can be contacted at candy@sweetstamper.com.