The storks, the blue and pink – it can all seem a little overdone and cheesy to the modern mother who is looking for shower invitations. There are some great options out there in the stationary world for a mom-to-be that doesn’t fit the stereotypical mold. Some new trends and ideas can help you send out great modern invites that give a bit of a personal flair to the standard mommy fare out there in the online invite selection.
Shower invitations in an unusual color are a great way to break free from the blue and pink tradition. Eschew pastels in favor of some bright colors – even going with fuchsia or electric blue can be a bold move that isn’t’ traditional. If you don’t know the sex of the baby, feel free to go crazy with colors. Primary colors of blue, yellow and red are a good selection. They evoke the basic toys of infancy and yet can be gender-neutral. Tailor the colors to your personality – if you are an earthy mama, find some grass greens, tans and sky blues to give off the mother earth vibe.
Find some images for your shower invitations that aren’t the standard baby carriage, mini footprint or stork. There are so many icons out there that stay away from these tired images. One invite that an expectant mother created had an image of a baby bump. The invite wording then played off this idea of a bump. Find something more abstract – if this is your first kid, look for images that evoke the idea of adding one to two. There are images that evoke an ultrasound without being so literal – that would be a great way to break the mold.
Using type and fonts is a great and simple way to modernize your baby shower invite. Using a large bold type on the front of your invite – a single word like preggers could be good for a fun, casual invite. Or find a phrase like “Coming in December 2010.” This phrase could be used to set off a whole invite evoking a movie premiere. Just using modern, simple wording can be a nice touch to the usual frilly language on old baby shower invites.
A baby will reflect your values as a couple and a family, as you will raise it with those in the forefront. You should allow your invites to show this off, as you are proud of what you stand for and how your baby will be raised. If you live in a fun household, play this up in your invites. There is no reason to feel forced into cutesiness or sentimentality if this is not your style. Embrace your uniqueness and let it come out in the invites.

One grief counselor told a woman who was wondering what to say to a grieving friend that you will never know what to say. This problem often rears its head when looking for sympathy cards. When sending out a note to a friend in mourning, it’s easy to feel a loss for words. Any thought or sentiment can sound shallow or meaningless in the face of what your loved one is going through.
There are some obvious statements that you can and should put in your sympathy cards. Saying “I’m sorry for your loss” might seem weak or trite, but it doesn’t matter. Put it in your own words if you have to, but no matter what, these words won’t sound empty to the person in mourning.
Let the person who has experienced a loss know that you will help them in any way in the sympathy cards. And then follow through. Talk to them once and ask if there is something you can do, and give them suggestions. If you know they have a lawn that is being ignored, tell them you can go over on Monday to mow it. Or let them know in your card that you donated money in the name of their loved one to a charity. Don’t be pushy – you might really want to help, but they might be overwhelmed. If they turn down help, give them some space. Come back in a month to see what you could do then.
Use the card to tell a positive story about the deceased. Giving a concrete story is better then generic adjectives. Write down something small that happened with you and the deceased that the person in mourning didn’t know or wouldn’t remember. These sorts of little moments can mean more than any sort of bouquet or frozen meal. One woman mentioned a story between her and her aunt to a cousin mourning her mother’s loss. It was a small moment of silliness that passed between the woman and her aunt, a joke the aunt told about her life as a kid. The cousin never knew the story and later told the woman how much it meant to have that written reminder of her mother in a playful mood.
Remember that you might never know what to say, and that’s okay. Try not to shy away or overwhelm the mourner. Be sensitive to their needs, whatever they may be. And keep trying to learn what they need, whether that be helping around the house now, proving food for later or lending an ear in a few months, after the funeral is over and the guests have gone home.

One frustrated aunt sighed in exasperation this Christmas after yet another beautiful gift was sent to her 15-year-old niece and yet no thank you cards arrived. She had spent over a decade sending specially selected gifts to her favorite niece and hearing nary a word about the packages. The aunt knew they were used, loved and appreciated – phone calls would usually elicit appreciation for the new objects. And she knew who the real wrongdoers were – the parents, her sister and brother-in-law.
Teaching your children to send thank you notes is a great way to show them how to be appreciative and how to follow rules of etiquette. In this day of evites and social networks, it might seem silly to your child to sit down and put pen to paper. It’s an important lesson, and it should be taught early.
Teaching by example is a great way to show your kids the importance of sending thank you notes. Take the time after the holidays to sit down as a family and write thank yous. Start this at an early age and your child will learn by route that this is the proper etiquette. Make writing out thank yous fun – let them pick out their own thank you stationary, or have them make individual cards for each person that sent them a gift.
Show your child thank yous that other people send to your house. Make sure you point out how important you thought it was, and how kind it was for that person to send along a note. When your child knows that thank yous are noted and appreciated, they will see their importance and necessity.
Make sure your child knows that thank you notes aren’t only for gifts. When someone does something kind, send him or her a thank you note. Tell your child what you are doing, and when your child experiences touching kindness, make sure you have them write out a card as well. By showing your child that thank you notes are important year-round and not just on birthdays, they will begin to use them regularly to express gratitude.
These touches will not only make your child versed with etiquette – sending thank yous in the business world is a great way to be noticed, to stand out from a crowded employment pool and to build relationships within the office and with clients. It might seem like yet another thing you have to force your child to do, but by starting early and incorporating it into your family’s life, you can be sure that your child will be a model of gratitude throughout their life.

Finding a thick paper at a good price is one consideration when planning your wedding invitations on a budget. One of the biggest costs, however, is the printing. There are several options for what kind of printing you can choose, the results and feel, and the price. Finding the right printing technique is a great way to work your budget and create a beautiful memorable wedding invite.
The most traditional printing technique for wedding invitations is engraving. This technique is also the most expensive when it comes to lettering for wedding invites. Engraving is accomplished by incising a design onto a hard surface, like a printing plate. The plate is then inked. The paper is pressed into the plate so that it picks up the ink in the grooves of the plate. The final effect is raised inked letters on the front of the invitation and indented lines on the back of the paper. This time-consuming and expensive technique also requires a thicker paper to be used, which adds to the total expense.
Another option that mirrors engraving is to use thermography for your wedding invitations. Thermography is created by dusting a powder onto wet ink and then melted. This technique creates a raised texture, but the initiations do not have the indented lines on the back of the paper. The letters do end up having a shinier look to them versus engraving. These are the only differences between engraving and thermography, but they are small details that many people today might not even notice. Thermography can also be done on a wider variety of paper, which can reduce the cost even further than engraving.
A third printing option, lithography or off set printing, uses ink but the letters are not raised and are not indented through the back of the paper. This is less costly than engraving or thermography. This printing technique is used often when printing brochures or other printed materials for the business world, so most people know the technique. The technique lets people print directly on to the paper using heat-set inks. The results are smooth, with no raised lettering. Colors, however, are easy to manipulate and not costly to change. This technique is great if you plan on using a photo on your invitation itself, as lithography is great for reproducing photographs.
Understanding the printing techniques is important in order to find the right style and cost for your big day. Enjoy the search!

Going green is not just a goal these days – it can seem like a mandate. With threats of global warming everywhere we turn, it seems like everyone is under pressure to reduce their global footprint. While finding the perfect eco friendly stationary can seem like a small step, it’s still a great way to start thinking about the environment in every purchase you make.
There are a few key things to think about when looking for the best eco friendly stationary. The obvious first step is to find a recycled paper for your note cards and envelopes. There are many varieties of recycled paper, and they vary from paper with a bit of recycled fibers to 100% post consumer waste papers.
Many papers use virgin fiber, which is not ideal when looking for eco friendly stationary. Virgin fibers mean that the paper uses only fibers that have never been used by a manufacturer. A tree that was felled was then put directly to use in order to create the paper you use. This is wasteful, but it does create a paper with a very smooth and strong surface.
Many recycled papers contain a certain percentage of post-consumer waste. This means that a certain percentage of the fibers used to create the paper come from items that were procured from a recycling program. Those fibers were saved from a landfill, allowing you to benefit by creating beautiful writing paper. There are also some papers that contain pre-consumer waste. This means that fibers used to create paper products were recycled before being used. They were either rejected as flawed items and then recycled or they were scraps left over from manufacturing.
There are also a lot of great paper products on the market that don’t use tree fibers, which take much longer to grow and have a bigger environmental impact when logged. Bamboo, hemp, cotton and flax straw papers are all great choices for easily sourced and grown fibers for paper.
Chlorine is another environmental consideration when looking for earth friendly note cards. Chlorine has been found to have adverse effects on humans and animals alike, with negative effects being noted in animals’ reproductive systems and immune systems. Totally chlorine free paper is where the virgin fibers are not bleached at all, or are not bleached with chlorine or its derivatives. This is a great environmental choice. There are also processed chlorine free papers and elemental chlorine free papers. Processed chlorine free papers use recycled content which is unbleached or bleached without chlorine. Elemental chlorine free papers use a chlorine derivative, which is less harmful than chlorine itself but is still a bad choice for the environment.

Trying to find kids birthday invitations that are a cut above the generic ones without having to spend a lot of money? You are in luck. There are online printers that offer you affordable options when it comes to personalized kids birthday invitations.

Throwing your children a special birthday party can be costly enough, having to pay a ton of money for personalized invitations can completely bust your budget. Kid’s parties seem to be getting more and more expensive these days which is why a lot of parents also opt to hold fun-filled parties with tons of activities at their own homes.

Personalized kids birthday invitations can make a big difference. Unfortunately when it comes to kid’s birthday party invites, there are slim pickings available from the local stores. You might have to buy generic invites with outdated cartoon figures or try to make your own at home, which never ends up looking like the example on the box.

The last thing that your third grade son is going to want is an invitation with a pre-school theme. Finding a generic invite that matches your child’s personality and that serves as a great invite to their party will be extremely challenging.

If you really want to signify your son or daughter’s milestone and bring the focus of the party on their year’s worth of accomplishments you should purchase personalized invitations. There are affordable online printers that offer these cards for extremely affordable rates. They will carry a large selection of children’s themed invites but also the option of creating one yourself.

Imagine your child’s excitement over assisting you in the process of customizing their own party invitations. They will love the idea of having their names monogrammed on a real invitation. They can pick the design and the colors so that the invitations are sure to capture your child’s unique personality.

Make sure that you include all of the important information about the party, such as: time, date, address, and R.S.V.P. instructions. You can also add any special instructions such as: arrive on time since it is a surprise party. There are so many different things that you can do with personalized invitations that there just isn’t space for on generic ones.

If you love the idea of having a custom invitation for your child’s party but you want to remain within your budget, you can find online printers that offer affordable invitations for children’s parties.

Are you looking for bridal shower invitations that won’t end up costing you a fortune? After you have probably seen how expensive wedding invitations are at your local printer you are probably still suffering from the sticker shock.

You’ll be pleased to hear that your bridal shower invitations don’t have to be expensive in order to be good quality. You can find shower invitations that are elegant and professional for affordable prices. Put down those generic fill-in-the-blank invites that you were considering buying to save yourself some money and get online.

The most expensive place to buy your bridal shower invitations is at your neighborhood invitation store. These stores are extremely pricey and your invitations will take forever to get your invitations done. Don’t waste your money on overpriced invitations, especially when you can find quality ones elsewhere.

More and more women are searching online for places that make custom invitations. These invitations are much more affordable and some printers can have them ready to be shipped off to you within a day. They also come with the coordinating envelopes so the minute that they arrive in your mail you can drop the cards in the envelopes, put stamps on, and mail them back out.

While some online printers may be pricey, you will be able to find printers that can provide you with high quality invitations for a very reasonable price. And you don’t have to worry about them carrying a limited selection either; these printers will have an invitation that matches your color scheme perfectly.

These cards are also printed on high quality paper, just like the invitations from your neighborhood printer. You’ll be able to clearly see the layout when you customize your order online so that you will have an excellent idea of what the finished product will look like.

Having these invitations created online will also save you time that you can spend planning your wedding. Most invitations can be created and you can have the order placed with a half an hour’s time.

For women that feel as if they have to choose one extreme or the other when it comes to shower invitations, it is simply not the case. You don’t have to spend a ton of money on expensive custom invites, and you don’t have to purchase the generic ones from your local party store. You can find reasonably priced, professional custom invitations online.

What better way to announce the birth of your little bundle of joy than by sending out birth announcements? Instead of trying to call dozens of friends and family members to share your good news while trying to take care of a new born, you can send out birth announcements with all of the info that they are just dying to hear.

As soon as you deliver you are going to be inundated with calls from well wishers that are looking to get every little last detail about your precious new born. While you will also be anxious to share the exciting details those first few days back home after the hospital can be action packed.

This is why it I such a great idea to send out birth announcements as soon as your little one is born. You can have professionally made cards that will include all of the details about your little baby girl or boy. You can find these cards online for affordable prices which make them easy to have made and to share with your friends and relatives.

While you will have several different options available to you when selecting your announcement cards, keep in mind that you can also include a photo of your baby. Whether you want to send them out as quickly as possible sans the photo or have a photo included on the card, your friends and family will certainly appreciate the gesture.

Your baby’s name, height, and weight should all be included in the announcement. You may also want to include the time, date, and place of birth depending upon whether or not you include a photo. If you order your cards from an online printer you will get them much faster than if you order them from a store.

Most online printers will be able to have your order ready to ship to you within twenty four hours so you can have your cards out the very first week of your little one’s life. You can make some address labels online and affix them to the birth announcements as soon as they arrive and send them off to be mailed.

Your friends and family will be hanging their announcements on their refrigerators or finding frames for them as they tell everyone about the birth of your baby. These cards are the ideal way to spread the joy about the new edition to your family.

Jane grew up in the Midwest and lived a traditional lifestyle – a mom and dad and two brothers, a dog in the backyard and kids playing in the front. Every day she’d take a packed lunchbox to school, and within would be tucked personalized notes from her mother. She’d save the notes, but not out of sentimentality. Jane would come home, empty the lunchbox and set the notes aside in a side drawer.
After eating lunchbox food for nine years, Jane entered high school and left the lunchbox and personalized notes behind. The notes lingered in a drawer, eventually navigating up to her cedar chest along with old valentines and saved corsages from school dances. She left for college, moved out west and started her own life. When it came time to settle in her new house with her own family, she brought the cedar chest with her and started to review its contents.
Those personalized notes from her mother came as a shock to Jane. She finally sat down to reread them all – nine years’ worth. Many of the notes were simple – an “I love you,” or a reminder to enjoy the day. But some of them were insights in to her life growing up. One note told her how proud her mom was of her performance at a piano recital. Another told a story about her mom watching from a distance as Jane took care of a younger nerdy neighborhood girl. Memories from her childhood that she didn’t know existed came flooding back.
What really struck Jane was that her mom took the time to write a note every single day, even though Jane can never remember remarking on them. Day in and day out, her mom reminded her of her love, and day in and day out Jane failed to realize this as a kid. The most remarkable thing is that those daily notes, meant to be tossed aside in order to get to the sandwich and pudding, were inexplicably saved, a physical reminder of her mother’s love.
Jane framed many of the little notes, placing them throughout her new child’s nursery. She said it would be a perfect reminder of her own mother’s presence the child’s life. It was also a reminder to herself that even when you think your child is not paying attention, all those displays of motherly love do make a difference some day.

You made it through all of your thank yous, and you still have a stack of monogrammed stationary celebrating your new shared last name and your new partner. It might seem like you overbought on those initialed note cards, but there are so many great ways to use the monogrammed stationary in your new life together after the wedding. Finding ways to use the stationary together is just another way that you can enjoy your new marriage and the myriad of things you will share as a couple.
One great use for monogrammed stationary is for thank yous beyond wedding gifts. If a friend invites you two over for a dinner party or you attend a progressive dinner, a note from the couple is a great way to thank the host and hostess. As you are starting out, you might be financially pinched and have to rely on help from friends and family to make ends meet. Or you might have a friend volunteer to feed your dog or water your plants while you two take a long weekend in the country. All of these kind gestures would benefit from a thank you note. When you can send it as a couple using your new monogram, it can not only be kind but also exciting for you as a couple.
Most aspects of your life that were once separate will now be linked. Creating monogrammed stationary that can be used for correspondence is a nice and elegant touch. If you two share property or a bank account, stationary with your initials on it would be a great way to send official documents or letters. If you need to send a letter to your landlord, what better way to make it more official than through your letterhead containing your monogram?
One couple with a plethora of monogrammed notecards left over after their wedding came up with a unique way to use it all up. They divided the stack equally – 50 leftover cards for her, 50 for him – and vowed to use them all up on each other over the next year. The wife would open her briefcase and find a monogrammed note tucked inside thanking her for the lovely breakfast. The husband would find a letter tucked under his pillow before he went to sleep. They spent the year thanking each other several times a week for all the small things that they did for each other without even realizing it. When the year was up, the cards were out and they had a beautiful way of building a strong bond. Sure enough, as soon as the last cards were used up, they ordered an entire new set just to use on each other.