Thank you all so much for participating in my little survey! Your feedback was more than helpful. I was even surprised by a few of the most popular answers! My random number generator chose Post #20 from last week, so that’s Michelle C! Congratulations, Michelle! Let me know what prize you’d like!

Well, this week, for those of you who have not yet become addicted to it, I must introduce Pinterest to you. How much do I adore Pinterest? Well, a lot. Why? Well, because there’s all sorts of pictures there of anything you’re interested in. Say you’re interested in…I don’t know…weddings. You go to the weddings section and there are hundreds upon hundreds of photos there and they refresh all day long. They come from all over the place.

Pinterest gives you a little app to download into your web browser so that any time you find a photo you like, you can click “Pin It” and save it to your own virtual bulletin board. You can have as many virtual bulletin boards as you want. You can make categories and add captions and, the best part, is that when the photo saves to Pinterest, the link saves with it, so you can return to the web page any time you want. At the same time, it goes on the general page for other people to see and, if they like it, they can repin it to their own boards and the networking goes on and on.

It’s fully integrated with Facebook and Twitter so all your friends and followers and fans can follow your Pins if they Pin. It sounds more complicated than it is. Trust me. It’s awesome! I’ll tell ya, if I’d had Pinterest when I was getting married a few years ago, it would have made life so much easier! I can’t tell you how long I searched for wedding hair examples and cakes and bridesmaids gowns!

So, take a few minutes today, to maybe take a look around and get yourself acquainted with Pinterest. I don’t know…there might be a contest involving it sometime very soon. It would be a shame not to be able to participate right away, right? Might as well get a head start and get a jump on that (very quick) learning curve! Try not to get too addicted…

UPDATE: I forgot to announce the winner of the last contest!! The winner, chosen by the Random Number Generator on Random.org is Post #2. That’s Nicole P.! Congrats, Nicole! Let me know what prize you’d like!

Yesterday, I alluded to some big changes that will be taking place very soon (I hope!). Don’t worry. Nothing is happening to me or the structure of Evenstar Paperie. They’re cosmetic changes. But, before these things go into effect, I want to get your feedback on a few items of business. Doing so will enter you into this week’s contest/prize drawing to win a prize only if you 1) Log in 2) Comment, when you’re finished, and let me know you voted, 3)Vote only once (the number of votes tallied at the end of each question should equal the number of people who commented to say that they voted! If it doesn’t, I have to go snooping around my poll app to find out who logged in and voted more than once and that’s no fun!)

The prize winner will be allowed to choose one of the following prizes:
1. Free return addressing on up to 100 mailing envelopes
2. Free response envelope addressing on up to 100 response envelopes
3. 100 free place cards and standard table numbers
4. Free ground shipping of invitations

Thank you, in advance, for answering!!

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When it snows in Seattle, life grinds to a slick, frantic halt! An inch of snow is enough to cancel schools and the threat of major snow is enough to dominate the news, produce special reports (complete with graphics containing phrases like “Snowmadgeddon 2012″ or “The Great Freeze 2012″ or, my personal favorite this year, “Winter’s Warning 2012″ ) and prompt school and business cancellations before there’s even a dusting on the ground. It’s kinda ridiculous, but when you live in a place that has a small allotment of snow clearing machines per county, you kind of have to expect that it’ll be awhile before things get moving again.

6+ inches and counting...Winter's Warning, indeed!

The “major snow” moved in overnight and, thus far, we’ve got a little over 6 inches on the ground with more on the way this morning. So, with that said, if you’re expecting a mailing this week, expect that it might take a little longer than usual to leave the state! Also, there is a threat of freezing rain and if that coats the power lines around here, I’m without power for awhile! I’ve got my trusty iPhone charging so I can check email, but productivity might decrease a bit if it’s out for too long. Luckily, this kind of “weather event” only happens once every few years, so the inconvenience is annoying, but temporary.

Nice work on the last contest! Your feedback was excellent and all “entries” are definitely being considered for the line! We’ve got some major upgrades/improvements in the works at the moment and I want everyone’s input as these new features start coming into fruition throughout the next couple weeks. Tomorrow (weather-permitting), I’m going to have a survey up for all of you to complete. Completing it will, of course, enter you for a prize drawing. I’ll also announce the randomly-chosen winner of the last contest tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for my power to stay on!

I’m wondering if it might be a good idea to launch a pre-designed, order-ready invitation line that would contain 15 or 20 fully designed invitations, with pricing, that could be ordered straight from the website. The colors and fonts would be customizable, but all the rest would be standard. Clients would be able to order a sample before they placed a full order, but it would eliminate the need to wait through “the lists” and might also be a tad bit less expensive since the custom-design fees wouldn’t be added to the price. What do you think?? Of course, I’d still be offering custom-design service like I do now…this would just be a quicker, more economical option for those who might be looking for one.

For this week’s contest, post a photo of an invite that, you think, ought to be considered for this stationery line. Perhaps it has a graphic you’ve seen multiple times in other invites or, perhaps it’s “generic” enough to appeal to a wider audience. I’ll choose a winner, at random, from the posts. If you need help posting a photo (and please make sure you’re posting a photo of one of my invites…not someone else’s!), click here.

The winner of this contest will receive her choice of one of the following:
1. Free return addressing on up to 100 mailing envelopes
2. Free response envelope addressing on up to 100 response envelopes
3. 100 free place cards and standard table numbers
4. Free ground shipping of invitations

Thanks, in advance, for your input!!

Happy New Year! I figure I might as well post the winner of my contest since it’s been a couple weeks! Time just flies by around here! Anyway, I decided to give the prize to my favorite of the contest entries. All of the entries were wonderfully entertaining and well done, but there was one that I found myself sharing with other people at holiday gatherings, so I figure I should give that person the prize, since I got a lot of mileage off her story! So, without further ado…

Congratulations, Heather B! That logistics officer of yours has won you free stuff! Let me know what prize you’d like!

Stay tuned for a new contest tomorrow!!

The holiday season is the most wonderful time of the year for engagements! Did you know? Either guys get really inspired by the season or they figure they’ll kill two birds with one stone (no pun intended…or was it? ) and make Christmas gift shopping a wee bit easier on themselves by combining the proposal with your Christmas gift. Either way, January and February get really, really busy around here!

So, in the spirit of the season, our new contest is calling out for your proposal story. Simply log in and comment with your story! I’m not sure how I’ll determine the winner, yet…it will probably depend upon how many stories are entered. Regardless, the winner of this contest will receive her choice of one of the following:
1. Free return addressing on up to 100 mailing envelopes
2. Free response envelope addressing on up to 100 response envelopes
3. 100 free place cards and standard table numbers
4. Free ground shipping of invitations

Good luck!

Stay tuned for an all-new contest tomorrow! Yay!

UPDATE: Ok…might as well make this a prize-type thing. If at least 10 different people order cards from the Evenstar Boutique, I’ll be choosing 3 lucky people who will get DOUBLE the incentive below. DOUBLE!

Boy, am I a blog slacker or what? Time is flying! My first order of business is to announce the latest contest winner, chosen at random because I really loved all of your anecdotes! I related to many of them! Our random winner is post #5, so congrats to Mara H.! Let me know what prize you’d like!

This week, I want to turn your attention to Jen Fowler of J Fowler Designs. Jen is my very awesome, very talented friend who is a middle school science teacher, the sister of my cousin’s husband (try to figure that one out!) and a former New Yorker who now lives in South Dakota. She also makes some wicked-cool greeting cards as an exclusive merchandiser for the Evenstar Boutique. I started the Boutique a couple years ago to showcase ready-made handmade crafts and specialty items as they are made available by Evenstar Paperie staff members and exclusive designers (like Jen).

Jen has just come out with a bunch of all-new wicked-cool greeting cards, just in time for the holidays. Plus, there are special event cards for baby showers, birthdays, etc. These aren’t your ordinary holiday cards. These are the kind of cards that get noticed because they’re just so crafty and cute. Not only will these cards get you noticed, they’ll also earn you free stuff from me!

Starting today:
If you spend $15 in items from the Evenstar Boutique, you get $10 in free things (i.e. 10 free table numbers) from me for your wedding day
If you spend $25 – $49, you get $20 in free things (or 50 free table numbers) from me for your wedding day
If you spend over $49, you get to choose one of the weekly contest prizes, which could take $25 – $40 off the price of your invitations or wedding day stationery.

Not bad, huh?? Here’s the website: http://evenstar.mybisi.com

Quantities are limited, so order today!

First, I was very impressed by the two answers to my little “hints” I gave you as to my whereabouts last week. They were both correct! I had been waiting for September 20 and 25th for months! September 20th was the one-day-only theatrical screening of Cameron Crowe’s “Pearl Jam Twenty”. What a great film! I don’t go to the movies, like, ever (I find it difficult not to multitask…and, yes, I know I’m weird!), but I hauled the hubby off to that one and we had a great time! A few days later, we packed up the car and drove to Vancouver, British Columbia to see Pearl Jam in concert on the 25th. I guess I should probably mention that I am a huge, gigantic, borderline obsessive Pearl Jam fan. It doesn’t seem to be a phase either. It’s been going on for 19 years.

A few months back, I befriended an Australian photographer and helped to promote her “I Want to Take a Portrait of Eddie Vedder Project”. She fulfilled her goal and, after her photo shoot with him, was kind enough to ask him to sign one of her project photos for me. It is my most treasured possession and she became one of my most treasured friends in the process.

Alright, enough of Pearl Jam! I know I’m mostly alone in my enthusiasm there. So, today, one of my clients had the misfortune of calling me on the phone and having to go through my husband to get to me. Honestly…the man can speak like an adult in real life, but can he answer the phone like one? Not so much. I always know it’s a client call when I hear the, “Uhhh, yeah…um, yeah…uhhh, let me get my wife, ‘k?” By the time he reaches me with the phone, I have my face buried in my hands out of embarrassment. “Uhhh, honey…I think the phone is for you,” he says. No…really?

As much as I love and adore my husband, his demeanor on the phone can drive me a little batty. This leads me to this week’s contest. Does your fiance have a slightly annoying habit that drives you a little batty? Care to air your grievance? (note: Grievance…that’s a Pearl Jam song! No, really, I’ll stop. I promise! ) I’m not sure how I’ll award the winner of this contest, yet. I might pick my favorite or I might conduct a poll and have everyone vote on a favorite or I could choose someone randomly. I guess it will depend upon how many responses there are.

However the winner is chosen, the prize will be the winner’s choice of one of the following:
1. Free response envelope addressing
2. Free return addressing
3. Free ground shipping of invitations
4. Free table numbers and 50 free place cards

To enter your anecdote/commentary, log in and click on “Comments” at the bottom of this post. Good luck!

Well, either all of you were busy last Tuesday or everyone has given up on checking my blog! LOL! So, since only 1 person actually responded to my little contest last week, I guess I’ll deem Christina R. the winner (!!) even though her movie wasn’t the one I was actually looking for!

The film I was looking for last week corresponded with my whereabouts this past weekend. I rarely travel and, when I do, it’s usually with my entire family and it involves planes and things. This time, it was just the hubby, me and my trusty little car that took us 300+ miles north to Vancouver, British Columbia. So, let’s see…we’ve got 2 hints:
1. A film that came out September 20th
2. A trip to Vancouver, BC from September 24 – 26

Hmmm…how ever could those two be linked?? Any guesses?

How strange is this? My first contest in a long, long, long time and it doesn’t even have to do with weddings? What’s the deal?

I’ll let that be known at the end of the contest. But, for now, here it is…ready? It’s weird, but if you’ve got the answer I’m looking for (and the proof that you went), there are prizes in store! So, without further ado:

Anyone go to the movies yesterday (Tuesday, September 20th)? If you did and you have access to a camera or a scanner or something that will send an image of your ticket stub, post it by logging in and commenting below! You’ll probably need to upload your image to TinyPic first (see here for details on how to post a photo).

What kind of prizes are in store? The lucky winners (yes…there can be MORE than one!!) will receive their choice of one of the following:
1. Free response envelope addressing
2. Free return addressing
3. Free ground shipping of invitations
4. Free table numbers and 50 free place cards

Good luck! I’m hoping there might be a couple of you out there with some ticket stubs!! And, don’t worry, I’ll have a “normal” contest soon enough. This one’s just a little bonus.

I hope everyone on the East Coast managed to escape all the earthquakes and hurricanes unscathed. Amazingly enough, as I looked through my list of summer weddings last week, I had only 1 bride getting married this past weekend…and, perhaps, luckily (?) for her, the wedding was Saturday and not Sunday.

Over here on the West Coast, I am slowly settling into this lovely new house. It’s taken some time to get everything back in order. If you can believe it, I had so much of the business stored in our little, tiny 1100 square foot house that it took three 17-foot U-hauls and countless Mazda 3 “old house runs” to get all that stuff over here! I think everyone helping us move hated me a little bit for all the paper boxes they had to carry. Nevertheless, it’s finally all here and my new work room is turning out splendidly! I will be sharing some pictures soon!

Today, though, I want to extend my deepest apologies for how slowly the lists have been moving the last few weeks. I promise to start moving through the lists a little faster! I also want to announce the winner to our last contest! I can’t believe I forgot to do that!
Debbie D, you are my random winner of the last contest! Let me know what prize you would like!

And, I also have a little show and tell…Jennette, my card box fairy, has been hard at work, creating new custom boxes for client weddings! Check these beauties out!!

Card box in lavender and purple covered in white glitter chiffon and accented by crystals, ribbon and handmade papers

Red and white box, covered in a white, debossed handmade paper and accented with scarlet ribbons and a rhinestone slide

Purple and gold box, covered in debossed ivory patterned paper, accented with a yellow and white floral handmade paper, light yellow and purple ribbons, and rhinestone slides

Close-up of Angela's box

Purple and green box, wrapped with glitter chiffon patterned paper, and accented with a gorgeous green velvet paper around the bottom and a crinkled, purple glitter paper around the top. The boxes are topped with a handmade, bouquet using exquisite high-quality silk flowers, with the stems wrapped in ribbon and accented with a rhinestone slide. The boxes are also wrapped with satin and velvet ribbons and finished with slides.

Close-up of silk bouquet...these can also be used as your rehearsal bouquet!

Close-up of papers

If you’re interested in a custom card box for your wedding, you can contact Jennette directly at jennettemorris@gmail.com or you can fill out your Wedding Day Stationery Pre-Order Form, available in the Forms section of the website, and indicate that you’re interested in a box!

Well, it’s official! The house is ours and now we’re moving! I’m going to be a tad bit busy moving boxes because if I work all day and make everyone else do all the work, my husband will start sighing and giving me dirty looks. So, in the interest of pleasantness and prosperity, I have to be present for a day or two. But, I will be checking my email periodically and should be back up and running close to full steam by Monday. Rest assured, all of you who are in production are still in production. I’ve got my worker bees working!

A few items of note:
NEW ADDRESS for EVENSTAR PAPERIE:
15383 Horseshoe Avenue SW
Port Orchard, Washington 98367

NEW PHONE NUMBER FOR EVENSTAR PAPERIE:
253-509-9139

The fax number will remain the same (253-341-4956), as will my email address.

Evenstar Paperie is moving! I’ve been keeping this one under wraps for a while, now, because I didn’t want to jinx it, but since we’re set to close in a few days, I think I can probably show you our new home!

The instant we drove up the driveway, I knew this one was a keeper…just look at the back!

After looking at a handful of homes in our price range that all had things that were wrong (or questionable or downright scary!) with them, walking into this house, was enough to make me wilt a little bit.

Living Room

The awesome kitchen...

This is one of my favorite parts...it's a window seat on the staircase!

The front hallway

Eventually, through these doors, will be Evenstar Paperie:

Inside here will be the new home of Evenstar Paperie!

So, now I have to figure out how to best decorate every room of this house. This brings me to my contest for this week! Do you have a favorite room? It can be in your house or, I suppose, it could be a photo of someone else’s house (or one of those “decorating magazine” houses). Post a photo of your favorite room and tell me why you love it! The best part? There aren’t any wrong answers! So, go ahead and post a photo.

As always, I will determine a winner by random selection (via Random.org, of course) and the winner will be able to choose one of the following prizes:
1. Free response envelope addressing
2. Free return addressing
3. Free ground shipping of invitations
4. Free table numbers and 50 free place cards

And, if you don’t know how to post a photo (or it’s just not working for you), CLICK HERE!

Congratulations to Jenna T! Jenna, your entry was picked, at random, as this week’s winner! Let me know what prize you’d like!

Tomorrow, I’m going to change gears a little bit. I’ve got a little show and tell and a contest to go with it!