High 5 for Friday :: March 29, 2013

1. Look at this face! Sophia is here!! Last night...her first here & away from her liter mates... was rough, but after a few hours she stopped fussing in her crate & Mr. B & I got some shut eye. Thanks to Bridgette & the Leyendecker family from Great Lakes Gun Dogs for everything!!

2. What a week! If Sophia wasn't so cute, this would have been picture 1. Lots of work at VMG and orders to fill for K. Batty Design & Stationery. Yay!!

3. On Sunday last weekend, Mr. B & I took a drive through Green-Wood Cemetery here in Brooklyn. It is a historic site on so many levels & boasts some great sculpture...albeit they're grave markers, but beautiful nonetheless.

4. The great letterpress adventure continues! I got some more ink this week, as well as Super Soap, gloves & wipes to aid my clean up routine.

5. I love this graphic from Calypso's Pinterest boards. I do love the life I live!! I hope you do too. 

Happy Weekend!

Join the linky party here:

Happy Easter :: A Free Printable Banner

Freeeebiiiieeeee!!! Yes! Remember the above banner from last year?? Well, it's back - new AND improved! Almost equally as colorful & definitely as fun. Use it for a party, for fun or for a photo! Just remember it's for personal use only. Thanks!

Download it from my Public Dropbox folder.

It's easy to put together. Simple print each page on card stock. Trim according the gray lines on each page. I would use a whole punch to make holes in the cards for stringing on twine or ribbon, but you could also use tape & put them on your wall...or tape them to ribbon. Your choice!

PLEASE share pictures of however you use the banner with me! I'd love to see your finished product. Tweet @kmbatty or post them on my Facebook page.

Happy Easter!!

TGIF!

{pic of some new card designs I worked on the other week} 

Hi kiddos! Happy Friday!!

Been a busy week at my other job...working with my husband at Velocity Made Good on our software product, Avalanche. We make ads that you can TOUCH! I'll post some links to some of our demos sometime.

Anywho! Preparations are simultaneously underway for the market season. I've been working on wrapping paper, notepads and of course, more letterpress work. I don't have pictures to share yet, so I'll leave you with this:

Hahah!! Back to the digital grind...

**illustration from PoofyToo**

Paper Porn

Just a little blast of pretty paper to brighten your day...

Sent to me by my friend Anysley from Collected Blog, written by Brianna Webb.

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

The New Studio Mascot Is...

In case you missed this on Facebook yesterday...{drum roll!!!!!} .........

Please welcome Ms. Aqua!! Or as we will call her... Sophia.

Sophia comes from the Greek word for wisdom. Weighty for a small pup, but we hope it will be something she can live up to.

If you'd like to learn more about the Braque Francais Pyrenees breed, you can read up on Wikipedia or check out Gun Dog Magazine. Also give some love to our breeders, Great Lakes Gun Dogs.

Instagram followers, get ready for lots of puppy pictures...I go to Chicago to pick her up on March 28th.

If I had $1000...

{ok, this song is about a million dollars, but you get the point. And it's a great song!}

In January, I signed up for Blogging for your Creative Business with April of Blacksburg Belle. I started this blog to drive business to my stationery & design business & thought it's time I did a little focusing on how to do that bigger/better/more efficiently.

The course has been great! I'm almost done (finishing a liiiiiitle late...) & I was struck by the writing prompt that arrived in my inbox from the course this morning:

If you had $1000 to spend on improving your business, what would you do?

The first thing in my head: Sign up for B-School with Marie Forleo.

Not - buy more paper or letterpress ink. B-School! If you don't know Marie, definitely visit her site & check out her episodes of MarieTV. I have found them helpful for business & for life 'cause let's be honest. For women in small business, those 2 things are intertwined.

Each year she offers an online course in how to "get the business & the life you love" - a 10 week intensive on finding your clients, talking to them & making money doing what you love. April took the course...as did Mayi Carles...and put it to use with amazing results.

The course is more than $1000...double actually...which puts it way out of my budget. For now. But if someone were to put $1000 up for grabs, I would scrap the rest together to take the course. Fo' Sho'!

In the meantime, I'm doing other things - like meeting with a group of ladies who are all small business owners here in Brooklyn. Most of us met at the Dekalb Market & we've added a few friends. The point of our group is to pool our collective talents & resources to help each other grow & prosper. Oh, and we drink wine while we do it :)

Where do you go when you want to grow & learn? I'm always looking for new resources so please share! 2013 is shaping up to be the year of more resources!

Paper Porn

Just a little blast of pretty paper to brighten your day...

From Lydia & Pugs - Hello Scottie Card

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

St. Paddy's Day :: Hat Freebie!

It's almost here! Are you celebrating on Sunday? No matter if you are watching the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade, having green beers with friends or making Irish Soda Bread at home, I have a freebie today that will make you click your heels together - Leprechaun hats!

That's it there in the picture above. Here's what you do:

1. Download it from my Public Dropbox folder. 
2. Print on card stock. 
3. Cut the hat out. 
4. Page 2 has a few bands you should also cut out, tap to the hat & size to your head. You'll also find free printable stickers in the Dropbox if those are more your speed.

Wear it with pride! And send pictures! Tweet @kmbatty (same for Instagram)!

Fridays with Victor

Last week, I got to spend some time making stationery for my mom & I. It turned out REALLY nicely. I learned how to level my press. The impression is looking great. I made correspondence cards (which are flat 4x6 notecards) and my usual A2 folded notecards. 

I've had questions on when I'm going to sell some letterpress stuff - SOON! 

The fruits of my labor...Ta Da!!

{Correspondence cards for my mom} 

 {More correspondence cards for Mom. She now has stationery for eons!}

{I had to make some for myself} 

{And my folded notecards. These might be my favorites...}

A reminder: St. Patrick's Day is coming up on Sunday! I posted free printable stickers earlier this week & have one more freebie up my sleeve for next week. Stay tuned!

New products in the works :: Wrapping paper

Yesterday I pulled out some paper samples, the stamps, the pads, the paint, the brushes...the works! All to work in a new product - wrapping paper. Ta-da!!

I'm working out what colors & stamps to use, what designs to start with...but I am SUPER excited about this. This wrapping paper is going to be fabulous! More exciting, non-iPhone pictures to come...

Paper Porn

Just a little blast of pretty paper to brighten your day...

Iomoi "Monkey & Elephant" note cards on Neiman Marcus. Love? More iomoi on their website, under paper.

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

St. Paddy's Day :: Freebie stickers

Nothing green in your closet?? Not everyone plans their St. Patrick's Day outfit as far in advance as I do. It's cool.

I put a sheet of stickers for you in my Public Dropbox folder. Download it here! And in case you need some motivation, here's a little song to get you going...

Paper Porn :: A New K. Batty Column

{From Mrs. John L Strong Fine Stationery :: Buddha note cards}

Clearly, as I am a stationery maker, I LOVE paper. It's texture. It's weight...all the colors...Paper is to designers like me what horsepower & Ferrari posters are to a gear head...porn.

Am I exaggerating? Well, yes, a little. But I have your attention, don't I? {muahahahahahaha...}

Welcome to a new column here at K. Batty - Paper Porn. A column about amazing stationery, paper products, accessories and all things personalized. Those of you who have read this blog for a while will remember my Cards of the Week posts. This will be similar, but will focus more on high-end, high-design...probably custom...extravagant pieces rather than every day stationery. That doesn't mean the pieces featured will be expensive, just quality goods that elevate our every day experience!

{Tiffany & Co Kent Correspondence Box}

Audience participation - totally optional, highly encouraged!

If you read this blog you are most likely one of the following:
A. a connoisseur of paper & stationery
B. an artisan, maker of things, DIY-er or appreciator of craftsmanship
C. are a bride or in the wedding world in some way
D. are a friend or family member I force to read my stuff...thus you are A and B!

In all cases, you have great taste.

I want to know what paper products light your fire! Have your eye on a foil stamped custom monogram? Seen any fabulous notepads lately? What about party pieces on your favorite event planner's blog? Bookplates for you kid's books? Pens? Stamp holder? Seriously, how cute is this?

Send them over! Email is good - k b a t t y {at}ymail.com - or find me on social media: Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest.

{Smythson of Bond Street - Poem Notelets}

We all need a little splurge in our lives, whether it's an extra cup of coffee or just something pretty to look at. I hope you enjoy this new feature & feel inspired to participate!