Logo Design

It's no excuse, but the last few months of this year have been crazy- and so I had to set aside posting here to work on logo projects, invitations, new designs, etc, etc...but here I am, showing off a great logo I did for Tricia LaPonte, a NY wedding photographer.


Tricia contacted me initially through twitter asking if I did logos- which was right about the same I was starting up this side of the business. Tricia liked the aesthetic on my website and felt we'd be a good match. I started off getting a feel for Tricia's personal style and what sort of decorating things she liked, colors, etc and if she had thought of any icon that would be representative of her.


After some back and forth emails, I found a great handwritten style font, and created a custom kissing lady bug logo:

You can see it in action on her new website- created around the logo's colors: http://tricialapontephotography.com/


If you're in need of a little logo overhaul or a complete refresh, I'm currently taking on new clients as my wedding invitation schedule allows. Just email hello@15eastcreative.com for more information.

It's Somebody's Birthday!

Party #1- In which the singing is a little overwhelming and where we don't actually eat the cupcake, just the frosting and get super hyper.

Party #2- In which we switch it up and do "ICE CEEEAM" cake, which gets gobbled right up.

In which he is actually TWO, today :)



Ink, Ink

Every stationer knows that ink is expensive- in fact the cost of replacing toners and drums can be DOUBLE what you paid for the machine itself, and then, you're replacing them in a used machine. Often times, with certain lasers, it can make more sense to replace machine rather than replace toners and drums.

The other day I twittered something about a printer ink conspiracy and was surprised by the number of comments I got.  I'm not the only one who thinks so and apparently we've all discovered ways to "cheat" our machines and get what we've paid for.  I twittered that I'd gotten a ridiculous number of pages off my "empty" toners (in my HP 2025).  In fact, I've gotten more than 250 8.5 x 11, double-sided cardstocks out of it. And I know there's been waaay more than that, because the color toners have been "empty" for a while.  So why is this happening and how did I do it?

As it turns out his machine has a supplies override somewhere in the settings, here, in fact:
1. On the control-panel menu, press OK.
2. Use the Left arrow ( ) or the Right arrow ( ) button to select System setup, and then press
OK.
3. Use the Left arrow ( ) or the Right arrow ( ) button to select Print quality, and then press OK.
4. Use the Left arrow ( ) or the Right arrow ( ) button to select Replace supplies, and then press
OK.
5. Select Override out to enable the feature. Select Stop at out to disable it.

(from fixya.com- which is a great source for printer malfunctions). 

This all being said- it may not be safe to do with all printers- it can damage the print heads (because they'd be getting hot and not having any liquid in them- though from what I can see this primarily applies to ink jets).   In the spirit of sharing (and helping us all save some money)- have you found your printer's override? Share it below!

Lesson Learned

Wrap around labels for invitation envelopes have become a stylish and fun way to address your invitations.  BUT, I've heard stationers say their post office doesn't like them, that they don't conform, etc. I checked with my PO, and according to them, they were fine. So last week I used one on a 4.25 x 5.5 box.  So when I went to mail out something the other day, they told me the box came back and went back out- because someone only saw the return address side and thought there was no postage on the box.  Guess it didn't occur to them to flip it over.  Luckily the box arrived to its correct destination a day or so late, but the lesson learned is easy- make sure it clearly states which is the return address, or position in such a way that it's obvious (if possible, like above). Labels are too new a thing to risk losing an invitation or having them returned because the machines or human sorting the mail don't realize what they are.

When in doubt- check with the post office.  You won't be sorry :)

What Stresses You Out?

As a mother and business owner, I'm constantly juggling 80 million things.  99% of which I don't have time to deal with. Like URLs that don't resolve properly. For reasons unknown, blogger and my URLs suddenly aren't working together. My URL company says it's my ISP company, because it's working fine for them. Well, nope, because someone across the country with a different provider is having the same issue. And it's not all the time, just some of the time.

It's things like that that will drive me crazy in the end. What drives you crazy? Go on- vent!

Signs of Early Fall

For me, Fall is bittersweet. The kids are back to school (which even THEY are glad about). My house has a couple of days each week where it is QUIET. Sliding on a pair of jeans in cooler temps is like a hug for your legs. The leaves are starting to turn:

And the foliage in Vermont is stunning, just STUNNING. But it also means that cold temps and snow are right around the corner.  I'm not a skier. I don't enjoy two feet of snow.  So while Fall slowly slips in, I'll take a few extra moments to soak in the sun and colors so I'll have that to keep me a little warmer during the winter months.


What will keep you warm this winter?

So You Wanna Be a Stationer:

I been asked this many times over the past 5+ years. How did I get started? What do I use for printers? What software? What computer?  I could tell you all of that, but it really wouldn't matter.  In truth, my way of doing things probably wasn't the best way.  I jumped in, head first, pocketbook second.  There wasn't a ton of information on the internet and there certainly wasn't this explosion of social media until the past two years.  I went through printers that were complete garbage because there weren't the stationery forums there are now to warn me off of them.  I think I counted the other day that I've bought well over 15 printers.  FIFTEEN!  I wussed out buying Adobe because I hadn't the foggiest clue what a vector was, so I spent money on other software that's great for getting started, but kills you in the cost of upgrades. I've blown money on print and web ads that completely seemed like a good idea at the time and netted absolutely nothing. 

I could warn you off everything that I've ever done that hasn't worked for me, but here's the thing. It might work for you. I have no idea how you're planning to run your business.  Do you want to be local? National? International? Do you want to print in-house? Do you know your printing terms? The truth is that there's no easy answers in running a stationery business.  But there's a wealth of information on the internet.  Let's Talk Stationery is a great resource for beginners. Tons of talk about printers, software and the like.   If you're more seasoned looking to connect with other pros and delve deeper into the industry, Paper Peeps might be the place for you.

And if you find yourself wanting to e-mail a particular company, please be upfront about who you are. It seriously not hard to find you on the internet with a little bit of creative googling.  Many stationers, including myself, have been "shopped" by other companies starting up, who fish for information in dishonest ways.  It's so easy to find information. Just research, research, research. Go into it with a plan and you'll do all right.

Oh- and one more thing- which I quickly learned my first year. It's stationERy ("e" like envelope), not stationARy (which means to not move).