I was so excited to hear from a favorite client, A from Canada, when she initially contacted me about her ideas for her son’s upcoming birthday party a few months ago.  The title of her email to me was “Funny Request” and I just knew before I even opened up the email that this would be a fun, challenging, and special project.

A’s son is obsessed with all things Lawnmower.  Not ride-on mowers, not John Deere, but push mowers and all things lawn care.  So we collaborated to create the perfect custom invitation for this Lawnmower themed birthday party:

From there, I created a custom party package for Angela that she printed and assembled on her own, including a banner, stickers, favor tags, signage, and lots more.  Here are the pics she shared with me of her handiwork:

Favor bag tags and custom stickers for the Seed packets

Look at all those party favor bags with the Lawnmower motif!

And the best part of all….check out this gorgeous cake!

Cake Design by Slice Cake Design

In the market for the perfect holiday photo card but can’t find exactly what you are looking for?  Maybe you have a ton of photos, a specific font request, or want a personalized photo card that truly reflects your families interests and hobbies (Rennaissance Faire Holiday Photo Card, anyone?).

You’ve searched my Etsy photo card shop and like the general style of the premade designs, but there’s not one that’s really perfect or winking at you through your computer screen saying, “buy me!  buy me!”

Or, you just enjoy the creative process and look forward to letting an artist bring to life your ideas and vision for the perfect holiday photo card.

Well, you’ve come to the right place.  Sweet Cricket Design offers completely made-from-scratch, custom photo cards, invitations, and stationery design.  The process is quick, fun and most of all affordable.  Here are some of the questions my clients have about what a From Scratch Custom Design entails:

What is the cost for a completely custom photo card design?

The cost for custom card design for 2011 is $14, same as the other cards in my shop.  I’m able to offer low prices because the designs that I create for you during the process will ultimately also be added to my premade card selection.  If you would prefer your custom, from scratch card design to be one-of-a-kind (ie, I will not use the design again), the cost is $30.

How long does it take?

Typically, once I have received all the information from you including photos, text, and design ideas, you will receive the first round of proofs to review within 2-3 business days. Once the first round of proofs have been created, the rest of the process moves very quickly.  Depending on how many revisions /changes you need, you could have the final jpeg, ready for printing  as early as 1 business day later.  The more revisions, the longer the process.  The most revisions I’ve had on a custom card was 10 and the entire process took about a week.

Once the design is finalized, you can print on your own – click HERE for a tutorial or I can print for you.  If you choose to have me print them, you can expect to receive your cards within  5-7 business days.

What does the first set of proofs entail?

The first set of proofs that I email you usually contain 3 different photo card options, incorporating your requests in different ways, playing with different fonts and colors, etc. 

How many proofs will I receive?

You will receive unlimited proofs/revisions of your photo card until it is exactly the way you like it.  Once the initial round of proofs go out for your review, we usually mix and match ideas between those proofs to come up with what I call a Hybrid Proof – a 4th proof that mixes together all the ideas you liked from the first 3 proofs into 1 card.  If you need more after that, we tweak until it’s just right.

What is the cutoff date for Custom Holiday Photo Cards for 2011?

The cutoff date to order a completely from scratch, custom holiday photo card for the 2011 season is November 6th.  You do not have to have photos ready by that date, but an order must be placed by then to ensure you have a slot on my custom design calendar.

How do I get started?

Shoot me an email at sweetcricketdesign@gmail.com and I will set up a custom listing for you via my Etsy shop !

{names and info changed to protect the innocent}

Ok, so projects like these are my absolute favorite – I loved creating these custom, totally from scratch moving announcement / housewarming invitations for this fun client!

TC got in touch with me via my Etsy shop asking if I could create a custom combo change of address / housewarming party invitation for her.

Of course I replied “SURE!” and I asked her to tell me a little bit about herself, her family, and what she had in mind for her custom announcement.

She replied:

“here’s what i was kind of imagining and please let me know if i’m not very clear.
my husband and i and our 4 rabbits, just moved into a new house with his mother and grandmother and their two dogs, in chicago.
So i was hoping to get a little of our character in there using the animals, not necessarily photos- that’s a little too litteral, but maybe a silhouette or something that just brings them together. i don’t want to get cartoon-y or too cutes-y, but it doesn’t have to be serious either. “

WOW!  Was I chomping at the bit to get started on this one.  What a creative challenge!  I was playing around with ideas for a while, and not really getting anywhere.  I had some cute ideas, but nothing really inspired enough for this interesting situation.

Finally, as I reread my client’s email, I realized it:  there were 4 rabbits, 3 women, 2 dogs, and 1 man in this new home!  and that’s when the 4,3,2,1 idea finally came to me.  I made a mock up, that you see above, incorporating this clever little discovery.

And she loved it!  From there, we were able to tweak it a bit and my client had some other ideas that she wanted incorporated, along with some color changes.  I put it all together (complete with an updated dog silhouette that better reflected what her pups looked like) and we quickly came to this final version:

{names and info changed to protect the innocent}

The entire process, from conceptualizing details to the final product, took about 4 days once we got started and it was a blast.  My client decided to print her own via Snapfish (remember my Snapfish how-to post?) and was really pleased with the results.

When new clients check out my Etsy shop, they get so excited about the printable baby announcements, printable invitations, and photo cards they see and love the idea that they can work one-on-one with me to tweak the colors, fonts, and really customize each design to make it their own unique card.

While I do offer professional printing services, a good portion of my lovely clients prefer to print their own photo cards, but it can be a little intimidating / overwhelming to them!  They have lots of questions about where to do it, how to do it, where to purchase the envelopes and what size.

I have a wonderful (and affordable) option for those looking to print baby announcements, invitations, or any other card design that I create for them.  Follow the easy steps below to have your cards printed through Snapfish, on either photo paper or card stock, with envelopes included (and even a coupon code for 30% off at the end of the tutorial!)

Print Your Own Holiday Cards, Baby Announcements, and more

1.  After working with me on a photo card or invitation design, I will supply you with the final, high resolution version in jpeg format.  This is what you will use to create your card on snapfish.

2.  Head over to snapfish.com to their Blank Card listing HERE for 5×7 cards.  You’ll see a screen like the one below, click the CUSTOMIZE button so you can upload your card design.

3.  Once in there, click on GET PHOTOS on the right, then UPLOAD on the left, and follow the dialogue in the pop up box to add the jpeg of your custom card  from your computer.

4.  At this point, your card design jpeg will be uploaded and placed into an Album.  Select your uploaded card design by clicking on it, and it will move to the right of the screen under “Selected Photos”.  Then click “Done”

5.  Drag your photo card into the grey box in the middle of the screen, then click “ORDER” at the top right of the page

5.  From there, you can choose your paper type, your quantity, and place your order!  Prices start at $16.99/set of 20 on photo paper with envelopes included or $29.79/set of 20 on 100# card stock which is a fantastic deal.  The more you buy, the cheaper they are each, so if you are ordering more than 20, the prices are even better!

Now through the end of the year, you can use Snapfish Friends and Family coupon code FFCARDS30 to save an additional 30% off the total!

So, it’s easier than most people think to print your own diy holiday photo cards, baby announcements, invitations and more.  If you follow the steps above, it’s actually pretty easy and definitely a thrifty way to get quality cards with a custom design at a really great price.

This month marks Snapfish.com’s 11th birthday, and I feel honored to play a part in that as one of their stationery designers – what a great experience it has been so far.

To mark the occasion, Snapfish is offering all kinds of discounts and sales for their customers on a whole variety of their products.

For this weekend only, customers can receive 11% off and free shipping sitewide, which is a pretty sweet deal.  Enter code 11FREESHIP at checkout to take advantage.  Good through April 10th.

There’s also free shipping on photo  and greeting cards until April 15th with the code11STATIONFS.

I’ve been adding a ton of new photo cards to the site, including plenty of Easter photo cards, Mother’s Day photo cards, and Graduation photo cards.  Check them all out {here} and take advantage of these great deals.

Here are a few of my favorite new photo card designs:

Have a great weekend everyone!

I can TOTALLY remember, as a kid, saying to my mom “There’s Father’s Day and Mother’s Day, when is Kid’s Day?”  to which she quickly answered, “Every Day is Kid’s Day”, much to my chagrin (although I clearly understand that sentiment now!) Well now, there actually is a day that honors kids around the globe.

What is Absolutely Incredible Kid (AIK) Day?  AIK Day was started in 1996 by Camp Fire USA as a way to take a moment to let our favorite kiddos know how great we think they are.

The folks at Camp Fire USA think the best way to show a child you care is to take a moment and write them a letter telling them why they are so special.  I think this is fabulous!

They are even offering FREE downloadable, printable AIK stationery here and letter writing tips here with great ideas on how to start your letter.

What do you think?  And what exactly is a “Lounge Suit”

Hey everyone!  Just wanted to share the news that you can now buy photo cards, invitations, and announcements by Sweet Cricket Design on Snapfish.com.  I’ve got the first 50 or so of my exclusive designs up on the site so far….with many more to come.  Check it out by clicking the badge below!

So far, Halloween and autumn designs have been my top sellers, but I did sell my first Christmas photo card of the season yesterday – which means it’s almost that time of year again (can you believe that?!?!)

I’d love it if you took a look at Sweet Cricket Design on Snapfish.com and would love to hear your thoughts!

Kate

I thought I was really lucky a few weeks ago when I won a contest being held by Kelli of Fresh Sugar Mineral Cosmetics and a bottle of her incredible, 88% organic, Olive Nourishing Creme was shipped to my door….

…but I got even luckier!  Kelli and I got to talking, and she asked me to design some custom stationery for her!  I was thrilled to create a custom design for her company correspondence and also her own personal stationery!

Take a look at how they came out:

Here’s the whole she-bang (plus my business card in there):  For her personal stationery, we kept it simple and just a *wee* bit girly with the scroll monogram and vintage-esque silhouette.  For her business stationery, I used some her logo as a starting point, then created a design that incorporated that vintage-meets-modern vibe that her website and products already exude.

It was so fun creating these for you, Kelli!