It’s a Crafty Garage Sale!

I’m moving out of my Ballard office and need to unload a ton of crafty supplies. All prices at or below wholesale cost!   Here are some of the treasures you’ll find: 

•  Paper and cardstock 
•  Envelopes 
•  Pockets/pocketfolds/pouches/folded cards 
•  Midori ribbon 
•  Charms and embellishments 
•  Rubber stamps 
•  Craft punches 
•  Parent sheets 
•  Seashells and sand dollars 
•  Some office furniture and related supplies 

Come visit us on Sunday, October 25 from 10-3. Our address is: 
Eiffel Printing & Design 
2801 NW 70th Street 
Seattle, WA 98117 

Be sure to come around the left side of the building to our entrance and down the stairs. 
We look forward to seeing you!

Singin’ the Postage Blues

Ahh, postage.  The bane of my existence in a career that deals with mailing paper items. Long story short, postage is going up again in May. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise, as it was decreed last year (by an act of Congress, no less) that postage would go up every May. Presumably, until the end of time, or until the Post Office is privatized. But we won’t get into that here!

Starting May 11, 2009, a one-ounce piece of first class mail will cost 44 cents to mail. Postcard stamps will go from 27 to 28 cents, only a 1-cent jump. One thing to keep in mind is that when planning your invitation timeline, you need to consider when your response cards are due back to you. If it’s after May 11, you’ll need the new postage amount. Suppose you’re aware of this and are  ready to buy those new stamps. Of course, they won’t be available until early May. So if you’re planning ahead, plan on picking up some 2-cent add-on stamps to put with your current stamps. Or, get the Forever stamp now, and don’t worry about it. Or wait until early may and pick from the new designs. It’ll be slim pickings, for sure. If you’re a fan of flags, you’re in luck!

If you’re very concerned about your stamps not matching, you can always go up on price and get some lovely 2-3 oz rate stamps. Last year I had one client who was distraught about the available stamps clashing with her gorgeous invitations, so she opted for a 58-cent stamp that matched perfectly, for her response cards. Sometimes it’s worth a little extra scratch to ensure that everything matches.

If your budget has quite a bit of wiggle room, consider custom-printed stamps. Zazzle and Stamps.com are two online sites that offer both custom, upload-your-own image stamps, and a selection of fun designs and colors. Be prepared to double your postage budget, though. Custom stamps will run an average of 80 cents each, which is a bit of a jump from 42! They are stunning though, and I’ve had several clients use a part of their invitation (motif, monogram) as their stamp. I’m happy to help, just ask me for a JPG of your image. And be sure to send me a picture of the finished product.

Vendors We Love: Mitzvahlicious

Today I’m introducing a new feature on the Eiffel Blog, the Vendors We Love category. I’m very lucky to work with a wonderful and diverse group of associates, acquaintances, and friends in the wedding and party industry! Stay tuned for more fabulous vendors and ideas.

To start it off right, Mitzvahlicious!

As you may know, my main business is weddings, but a few years back I was presented with my first Bat Mitzvah client, Laura. Being completely new to the world of Bar & Bat Mitzvahs, Laura was very patient in explaining everything to me! She came up with a fantastic design and we made it happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lucky for me, Laura told her friends, and they told their friends, and so on. For a short time I must have been the most popular custom invitation designer in South Florida!

Not long after her daughter’s Bat Mitzvah, Laura came up with a terrific blog called Mitzvahlicious, and it’s a one stop shop for any questions or advice you’d need on Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. Right after the website materialized, she hatched an idea with her friend Debbie, who’s daughter’s invitations I also got to work on! They started Party Perfect, which is your ultimate party planning source in Orlando. Be sure to check out the Event Gallery for some amazing pictures of their work!

Calling all 2009 Brides…

As the leaves turn and sunset comes much too early, we realize that the year is coming to an end. Which means wedding season is right around the corner! Traditionally, January is the month that kicks off the year’s wedding season, that’s why you find all the best wedding shows in January. What? 

 

We would like to give a jump start to those brides who like to start everything early! Clients who put down a deposit before December 31st will receive 10% off their invitation order. Slots can book up quickly, so please inquire today! brittany@eiffelprintdesign.com

It’s Almost Time for the Seattle Wedding Show!

I just received my yearly batch of programs and coupons for the Seattle Wedding Show, so that means it’s almost here!

I love participating in the Seattle Wedding Show, and this will be Eiffel Printing & Design’s 4th year! It’s a great place to research and book vendors all in one place. It’s great fun for us here, because I get to roam around the aisles and talk to other people in the “biz.”

We’ll be in the same location this year; we’ve found that our corner location suits us just perfectly! Our booth number is 1434, which is in the “northwest” area of the room, at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center.

Please come by to say hello! Most of the Eiffel staff who work on our lovely invitations will be there, and we’ll have a drawing for prizes. We will also be debuting our exciting new line of Eiffel Originals!  These unique and creative mix and match designs are an extremely affordable alternative to our custom line.

The Seattle Wedding Show is January 3rd and 4th, 2009. Please visit www.weddingshow.com for more information. If you would like to receive $2 off coupons, please drop me an email at: brittany@eiffelprintdesign.com and I would be happy to send some your way!

See you soon!

A Glimpse of Things to Come

I don’t want to give away too much, but I’m just so excited about a new line of designs I’m rolling out! Be sure to check back in December to learn all about Eiffel Originals, a new mix-and-match line with infinite possibilities and no shortage of style.

A few sneak peeks:

Giverny

 
Nice

 

 

 

 

Toulouse

 

 

 

 

St. Tropez

 

 

Versailles

This is just a small selection of designs I’ve come up with. Needless to say, it’s been a busy fall! I’m really looking forward to rolling out these new, easy to order styles. Of course, we’ll still be offering our custom designs, now called Completely Custom to anyone who wants it. We’ll have a new, interactive order form on the website as well, to aid you in your decision.

That’s all for now, but please check back soon!

Eco-Friendly Paper choices are here!

I’ve done a lot of research and made a bunch of phonecalls, but I’m pleased to announce that eco-friendly and recycled paper choices are now ready to go! I spent most of Wednesday corralling swatches together and figuring out in what ways they can be used. Some are printable, some are better as color accents, some can be made into pockets and some are available as ready-made pouches! 

Because paper mills tend to have different standards for production, these papers represent a variety of features. Some are 100% recycled with a smaller percentage of post-consumer waste (PCW) while others may not have PCW contents provided, but are FSC certified. For information about the Forest Stewardship Council, please click here.

With a little effort, it’s entirely possible to create an invitation suite that uses 95% recycled content! Of course, the truly eco-friendly invitation would be an Evite, but sometimes you just want the tradition of a beautiful invitation! Pesonally, I can’t see anything wrong with that.

All in all, there are over 120 paper choices. Here’s the best news: most of these papers have always had recycled content, I just didnt know about it! I’m so glad I took the time to figure these out.

In the future, I plan to look into alternative printing sources and the possibility of purchasing carbon credits to:
A. Offset my own shop and transportation usage
B. Offer to clients who want a truly eco-friendly invitation.

I need to do a little more research on reputable carbon credit retailers. Hopefully by the end of the year!

I’ll end this blog posting with a question: in what ways do you try to be more eco-friendly?

Bloggity, bloggity blog.

Welcome to the first installment of the Eiffel Printing & Design blog! I thought this would be a great way to keep everyone updated on some of the exciting Eiffel happenings that are coming this year. As you may have noticed, the News Items section is gone, and this blog will take its place. My goal is to update at least twice a month, maybe more if I can find the time!

Some things you can expect to see in the coming months include:

·         Wedding-related articles

·         Invitation etiquette Q & A

·         Photos and stories from clients’ weddings

·         Sneak peaks at new designs

·         Anything else I feel inspired to write about!

Also, I don’t want to give too much away right now, but I am beside myself with excitement at three new concepts coming to Eiffel:

·         Embossed and fancy-cut pockets/pouches

·         An exciting new line of recycled papers, pockets/pouches and envelopes

·         Truly unique catalogue invitations

 

I look forward to sharing news and goings-on as they occur. Stay tuned for updates!