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Friday, April 26, 2013

Get Inspired to Send Those Cards!




Last week, I outlined 5 simple steps to improve your ability to send cards to friends & family. Let's review shall we?


I also mentioned waaaaaaay down there at the bottom of the post that I started a Pineterest board to help keep you inspired. I thought we might revisit that today. 'Cause I want to procrastinate & what better way is there to do that than on Pineterest??


How about a fun way to keep your stamps to start?? It's totally uneccessary & that's why I love it. This stamp holder from the USPS is cute & reminds me of the old days when my parents ordered stamps by the roll.

One of the things that makes me excited to seal up an envelope is the return address. It just goes to show you that it's the little things in life that make a difference :) Like this one from 2712 Designs...




Oh, and then there's the cards...Don't be afraid to get some all purpose cards to start your collection. There are plenty of lovely cards that can be used for anything. I found these on sale on One King's Lane this morning:


I could go on! Especially with ways to corral all these goodies & keep them handy for use. Stationery boxes!!

See more inspiring ideas on my Stationery/Cards/Accessories board. AND!! Look for my Paper Porn column here on the blog for chic paper & stationery related products of all kinds!

Top image from Veer.



Free Friday! :: Free Shipping for You



YAY!!! For the second time this week I am a PNS Daily Pick! I am so excited that I'm giving everyone Free Shipping in my shop today. Check out my PNS items OR go straight to my Etsy shop for a larger selection. It's all free shipping today!!

Enter code FRSHIP at check out. Happy Friday!

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Paper Porn :: NY Ships Harbor Birthday Calendar




Oh. My. Goodness!!!!! How awesome is this calendar? I'll tell you...SUPER AWESOME!! It will be mine.

NYHarbor Ships Birthday Calendar is the creation of Bowsprite on Etsy. Check out the Bowsprite shop for more fabulous ship art & other products.

**  Paper Porn is a column about paper products & accessories that elevate your everyday life. Love stationery & paper products? Submit something for Paper Porn via email: Kbatty {at} ymail.com or twitter @kmbatty **

Monday, April 22, 2013

Mother's Day Trunk Show :: my first!!




I did it! I've had this idea for a while & it is FINALLY going to be a reality!

Thursday, May 2nd, from 6 to 9pm I'm throwing a trunk show with some of my partners from the Dekalb Market. At my house. For real.

Soooooooo excited!

With me will be: Melissa Kelly of Be In The Moment (jewelry), Ilka Werner of Ilara Design (great pillows & felt appliqued onesies) & Zsuzsuanna Barbu of Roots in Rust (terrariums). All great products & great women who I am so glad to have the chance to not only work with, but to call my friends. I know the show will be fun & a success because they are a part of it.

Also exciting is that my friend Eric will be coming to take pictures at the event. His photography business is doing really well & I am so flattered that he's fitting in our event. YAY!! See some of his work on his Facebook page - Eric Vitale Photography.

I wish I could invite everyone who reads this blog, but 1. my house isn't big enough & 2. not all of you live in the area anyway. Bummer! But, after this is a wild success, we'll move it to a bigger venue & then everyone can come! Cool??

PS Don't forget that Mother's Day is Sunday May 12!!

Friday, April 19, 2013

Paper Porn :: Laundry Day




Today is National Hanging Out Day! It's a day that encourages people to learn about energy consumption & reducing it by drying your laundry outside on a clothes line.

In honor of that, Paper Porn is featuring this Clothespin Art Print by Kristina Proffitt from Baby Bird and Bub on Etsy. There is also a set of 3 of these laundry-themed prints. Super cute!



Obviously these are for hanging inside...not on your line. :)

**  Paper Porn is a column about paper products & accessories that elevate your everyday life. Love stationery & paper products? Submit something for Paper Porn via email: Kbatty {at} ymail.com or twitter @kmbatty **

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Paper Porn

Isn't this cool?


State Return Address Stamp by Paper Pastries. Sent to me by my girl Aynsley (best taste ever!) via A Cup of Jo.

SEND ME SOME IDEAS YOU GUYS!! I know that Aynsley isn't my only friend with great taste :)

**  Paper Porn is a column about paper products & accessories that elevate your everyday goings-on. Love stationery & paper products? Submit something for Paper Porn via email: Kbatty {at} ymail.com or twitter @kmbatty **

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Don't suck at sending greeting cards

I hear this all the time, "I wish I was better at sending greeting cards! I'm terrible."

What? I'm confused. This is not hard!! In a few simple steps you can go from Greeting Card Zero to Greeting Card Hero.

Here are 4 simple steps to improve your Happy Birthday Card sending ratio:

First: You need to have the cards on hand. 




When you see cards you like, buy them. It doesn't matter that you have someone specific in mind or not. They're for someone. If you want to jump start your collection, go to your local Hallmark & pick out 5 that you like. Get a mix - birthday, thank you, just sayin' hello...

And/or start with a set like these from Kate Spade. Or these from my shop. Everything you need in one little box!

Second: Buy stamps!!


Yes, stamps. Remember those? It's good to have these on hand because you can have all the best intensions in the world, but your card can't be sent without a stamp. With USPS online, you don't have to even go to the dreaded post office to buy them!

Third: Keep a calendar




Put birthdays on it, national holidays, anniversaries. There are free printable calendars all over the internet, or  this one from Organized Home, that you can print, fill out & put on your fridge, bulletin board...mirror...wherever you see it on a regular basis.

If your calendar is digital (all hail the Google calendar!!), set up reminders that these events are coming up so you'll actually follow through with sending the card. I set up the calendar entry with everything I might need to know, like the year the person was born (married, etc.) and their address.

I know what you're saying now. "But, Kerry, I don't have anyone's addresses anymore!" 

Step 4 - collect addresses. And guess what? There's an app for that. Try Postable. You send out an email with a unique link to your address book. Your peeps fill out their information & voila! Your address problem is solved.

I also came across this form on Google docs, if you have a Google account. Again, it's pretty simple to fill out. You can customize the template, add or delete information fields. When your peeps respond to it, Google puts it in a nice little spreadsheet for you in your Google docs, accessible from anywhere!

You know what else is good? Saving envelopes from Christmas & birthday cards. That's a great way to get someone's recent address.

However you decide to do it, just ask for them! I bet you'll get people's addresses AND their birthdays in return. I'd go one step further & predict that they'll be inspired by your effort & ask for your information as well.

Last but not least: Keep all of this handy.


Don't hide these cards away in your closet. Get a nice box or tray to keep them in. If they HAVE to be in a drawer, make sure it's one that you access easily & often so that you don't forget you have cards & stamps. Oh and pens! I buy myself nice Pilot pens! I love to use them.

Follow thru!

Now, when your calendar reminds you that Aunt Nancy's birthday is coming up at the end of the week, you can grab a card, stamp it & send it on it's merry way.

As I said, I have a few sets in my shop that can get you started. A variety of sentiments for occasions of all kinds. Or this one for cards that can be used for literally anything. 

Remember! Email or texts are great in a pinch, but nothing will replace the sincerity of putting pen to paper. What do you think? Can you do it? Yes you can!

To help inspire you, I started a Pinterest board on stationery & accessories. I'll pin fun cards, great stationery boxes, interesting return address stamps (omg, that's a whole other post!). Come along for the paper-fuled ride!

Any of you already masters of the greeting card? Let me know your strategies for sending cards in the comments (or on twitter or Facebook). The rest of you get out there & start sending some snail mail!

Monday, April 15, 2013

New Product :: Notepads

Last week I teased about a new product. This week I have pictures! Let me introduce you to Notepads by K. Batty...

They come in 2 sizes. The first few I'm showing here are 5.5 inches by 8.5 inches...half a letter-sized sheet...and have 50 70# opaque pages per pad.



Following up on my popular Ahoy cards, I'm launching more nautical designs with the notepads too. You can have a ships wheel...



Or a crab!! Love this guy!



I love type-driven designs, so it shouldn't be a surprise to see a simple type-driven design in my new notepad line. "Hey There" comes in 3 colors to start - a nice green for spring, navy & pink. If you order through my Etsy shop, all the colors in my stationery chart are available to you.


You can also get the same clean look of "Hey There" personalized with your name instead. I have one next to my phone at home. (Yes...I have a land line.) Or ...


You had to know that SOMETHING would be monogrammed!! This is also a custom order, fillable in 2 - 3 weeks & nicely complements my Traditional Monogram cards. Simple, elegant, classic..shown in pink & available online in whatever color you'd like.


And there are minis!! These are 3.4 x 5.75 inches with 100 pages to a pad. Designs include mini versions of the crab & the ships wheel. Mums (below) is so far only available in this smaller size. I didn't love it on the bigger pad, to be honest, so I didn't make one. 




I spent a few minutes literally putting my stamp on them. Now, how to package them...need find a clear bag to keep the pages protected & I think I'll finish it off with a wrap or belly band. What do you think?

That's what I'm working on! Look for them on the shop soon & at my Spring shows!


Friday, April 12, 2013

Spring Handmade Cavalcade :: It begins!




Market season officially kicked off last weekend. April usually signals the return of NYC shoppers to the great outdoor market season. If I can't convince you then surely the reopening of our beloved Brooklyn Flea in their outdoor location in Fort Greene should do the trick. But! They are not the only "act in town!"



I'll kick off the season with 2 events in the beginning of May - one of those being our team Spring Handmade Cavalcade. We've been lucky to book The Space in Williamsburg again, site of our super successful Holiday Handmade Cavalcade in December last year.

I'll have all the usual suspects - Monogrammed stamped cards, Thank Yous, Happy Something Birthday cards, Ahoy stationery sets...and some new stuff.

You have to know I'll bring some special Mother's Day goodies! My VERY popular I heart Mom cards will be on hand & I'm running a special - A I Heart Mom greeting card PLUS hand stamped Monogram set for $15!!

See you there!!

K. Batty + PNS = At it again...




Fans of my Facebook page probably saw my post on Tuesday about being the PNS shop of the day. Wahoo!!! You know what that means?

Yes - K. Batty Design & Stationery & PaperNStitch are together again for the Mother's Day Exhibition.

Please check out my PNS shop, especially my special Mother's Day deal - 1 I heart Mom Mother's Day card + ANY set of stationery for $15.00.

Happy Weekend!!

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Wedding Season is here!




I am filling quotes like crazy for wedding items. Menus! Invites! Very soon I'll be shipping some Celebrate Bridal Shower invites off to Tennessee.

Love is in the air, people!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Paper Porn

A little blast of pretty paper to brighten your day...

Lanvin "Air Mail" from Neiman Marcus.

** Love stationery & paper products? Submit something for Paper Porn via email me: Kbatty {at} ymail.com or twitter @kmbatty **
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