Adventures in Baby Showers

Saturday, I had the great pleasure of spending the day at the Washington Duke Inn, in Durham, NC, with my good friend Tracey. Along with many more of her friends & family, we had an afternoon tea {slash} baby shower to celebrate her first born, coming the end of April.

I hosted along with 4 other lovely ladies. And! I got to design the invitations! Here were the contenders:

Can you see the jumping off points for my current Minted.com submissions? Voting is still open, btw.

The 5 of us unanimously decided the paisleys were the way to go {obvious from my first picture, right?}. They are very "Tracey." She's using them in the decor for the baby's room, along with a bright green that we brought into the invitation suite with Pop-Tone envelopes in Limeade. Ta-da!!

What invitation suite would be complete without Thank You cards? Not this one! I planned to suprise Tracey with a set of these in her shower gift, but like the fabulous friend that she is, she follows all my blogging & saw my Posterous post about making cards on Feb 21st. So, I blew my own surprise. But no matter! She was thrilled anyway!

{These are from my Posterous & available on Etsy}

Congrats to Tracey & her husband John. We are all very excited to meet Baby Bailey!

{all photos taken by me}

Cards of the Week - 2/14-2/19

Tired of the winter blahs, my cards of the week post is full of bright tones to get us all in the mood for our next season. Spring! It may be weeks away, but we can start to dream.

Totally smiling just looking at this card with its over-sized monogrammed & punchy colors. Buy as is or choose your own colors. From Em And Bee on Etsy.

This bright yellow stamped bird with matching yellow envelope is singing to me! {Holy Corniness. I need to go back to Barbados, people.} Find this lovely design on Etsy from Pink Bath Tub.

This fun Thank You note is a FREE printable download from Hey Susy. I smiled the second I saw it.

Did those put a smile on your face for Spring? I feel better already. My grandfather always said not to wish my life away, but man, I wish Spring would spring itself!

See ya!

The Anatomy of a Thank You Note

(New Thank You notes up on my Etsy shop. Red for the holidays!)

'Tis the season, my friends, for parties, gifts & holiday cheer. Guess what follows? Well, yes, the occasional "cheer" hangover, but also, the time to send thank yous to your hosts & gift givers.

These days the best excuse you have to put pen to paper might be a thank you note. Keeping up with friends has become almost entirely electronic, but that just doesn't cut it when it's time to express your gratitude. So, pull out a pen, grab a card & write (yes, actually write!) your thank yous.

But wait...you are pausing...do you feel awkward writing a thank you note? Fear not! Lots of people do, strangely enough. The more you do it, the better you will get at it, the easier it will feel. Plus, there is a simple formula you can follow to guide you. I put this together based on posts from The Morning News & eHow.com

1. Greeting the recipient:

Dear Chris,

If "dear" is too familiar, no worries. Just say Hi!

2. Express your gratitude:

Thank you so much for _____!

Fill in the blank with the gift or reason you are writing - a vase, watching my kids, having us over, etc. Mention the gift specifically unless it's money. That is a no-no. In that case you could recognize some one's "generosity."

3. Mention something about the gift -
how you like it, where it will go, how it will be used.

The vase matches our living room perfectly.

The point is to let the person know how you like & appreciate the gift beyond just saying the words "thank you." It brings sincerity to your thanks.

4. Add a personal thought:
Really enjoyed getting together for dinner last week. Let's do it again when we get back from vacation.

Nothing major about things going on in your life in this section. Leslie Harpold of the Morning News.Org says it best in her article: Let the giver know how they fit into the fabric of your life.

5. Re-thank them:

Again, I love the vase! Thank you!

6. Sign off:

All the best, Kerry

Many options here: Love, Best, Cheers...whatever you like. Keep it simple.

And BOOM! You have written a quick & meaningful thank you note. It could only be easier if it was a Mad Lib. Write a few drafts on scrap if you like to get warmed up & organize your thoughts. Then move to your note or social stationery & bang it out.

A common question: Does your thank you note need to say thank you on the front? No! You are saying it on the inside in your note. But, it should be appropriate & reflect the meaning you are sending. (Maybe don't send Grandma a thank you note with skulls on it, even if they are super cute.) Don't know why writing notes is important in the first place? You can start with my earlier blog post here.

Sending you all Holiday cheer! Happy Note Writing!