Andrea came to me via Etsy wanting a set of the Letterpress Sprinkles Cupcake Tags adapted for a brand system for her bakery/patisserie. A local baker in Salt Lake City, Utah she also needed something that would cross over into the online arena where she could promote her brand/shop she’d opened on Etsy as well. In the end, the designs had her two business names but we kept with the same styling and typographic nuances so that there would be visible recognition if one was searching her out but couldn’t remember a business name (like me sometimes ;) These were both letterpress printed on 110# paper in one color of ink. The business cards measure standerd 2×3.5″ and the tags measure 1.5×6″ with 1/2″ rounded corners and 3/16″ hole punch.

After completing this project, I started thinking…it’s hard to turn away orders because someone has a small budget and only needs a starter pack of business cards to get going. I really love branding for people and wanted to provide a way for it to be cost effective for my clients as well as practical on the design and  printing side. So I’ve looked at a few different options and have come up with a solution. Many times when someone comes to me, they are a new entrepreneur on a tight budget, looking for a small branding package. As a result of wanting to contribute more to my customers initial investment, I’m now offering smaller minimums if purchased in a branding suite. Here is the first of a few new packages I’ll be unveiling over the next two weeks.

THE SMALL LETTERPRESS BRANDING PACKAGE! And to announce the launch, I’m GIVING AWAY one set this month (March).

THE GOODS:
1 set of 100 standard business cards – square corners. Letterpress printed, 1 color ink front sided printing. Printed on 110# Lettra paper.

1 set of 50 tags (either 2×2″ or 1.5×6″) – 3/16″ hole punch and rounded corners. Letterpress printed, 1 color ink (same as business cards). Front sided printing. Printed on 110# Lettra paper.

1 banner OR shop avatar OR blog masthead provided in a .jpg file

1 logo provided in a .jpg file

All custom designed for you (or incorporating your own logo) – 3 digital designs presented, 2 rounds of revisions.

LASTLY, HOW TO ENTER: To be counted you must do the following:

1) blog about your business and why you want the branding package. Goals, inspiration or how you got started are all great ways to introduce your business to me.

2) link back to The Dingbat’s Agenda ( http://blog.dingbatpress.com) and my shop (http://dingbatpress.etsy.com)

3) come back to this post and comment with a link to your specific blog post (links to your blog home will be disqualified, it must be your specific post)

Lastly, the more you promote the giveaway, the more I’ll know you want it. Tweet it, Facebook it and show the world you know you want it! All entries need the first three points above to qualify for selection, the rest of the social media plugs are up to you!

Contest ends March 30th, 2010 at 12:00am MST – I’ll choose a winner and announce it on April 1st!
Once a winner is selected and notified, they must respond within 1 week to claim their package. Production will be 4-6 weeks from start to ship date.

After narrowing these mod wedding invititations down from the round I proofs and punching color to a brighter scheme, we explored some typeface options. This next round we looked at Memoir and Handsome Pro Classic along with illustration that gave a little more cirque d soleil and 60s vibe. The bride still can’t decide whether to have the layout done by a calligrapher so I tried to reflect in type as close as possible to what style she was going for.

The bride also wanted to explore incorporating a peony motif into one of the designs so here’s what we came up with on that regard. I can’t wait to see where these go for the final piece. They are going to be simply stunning when plated and printed letterpress.

Note to the right that some changes are going on in my side-bar. To the right you’ll notice a lovely Colorful array of dingbats. If you click on any of those lovelies you’ll be directed to all the work I’ve produced with those ink colors, so pick your flavor and check it out! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

So the other day I bought Evelyn a little PollyPocket size Strawberry Shortcake doll and didn’t realize until this evening that I have unleashed the girlyness that I thought didn’t exist in the tomboy 2 year old. This Strawberry Shortcake came with an 11 minute DVD that I have now memorized and am often referring to when in conversation with said 2 year old. All I hear about is Strawberry, Plum Pudding, Blueberry Muffin and Orange Blossom (among others).  As I typed this post I found myself humming the obnoxious theme song Strawberry, Strawberry, Straw-berrrr-yyyyyyyyy Short.Cake! in an even more obnoxious teeny-bopper falsetto voice. Bleh. And then I realized that Wednesday is devoted to Orange on Autumn Week with PoppyTalk and thought that I haven’t shown you this orangalicious letterpress announcement that shipped this month. Here’s to girly girls with a hint of orange blossom ink. I love it when baby announcements stray from traditional pink towards something a little more sweet.

And because it’s an orangealicious day I thought I’d share some Orangealicious Etsy favs with you. Enjoy!

I’ve been featured over at Card Observer for Wendy Torello’s business cards!!! Head over there and check out all the other totally rad cards, I can’t believe I made it!

For some custom business cards of your own head over to The Shop.

Internet has been sketchy all week as I’ve been traveling and making connections with buyers ;) – thus blog world has been scarce this week for me so I thought I’d send over some eye candy for the weekend. (yes I’m a slacker, i don’t often get scheduled posts up)

I know you’ve been waiting patiently for these. Here’s the final printed piece from Wendy’s business cards – click to see proofs and brief. Wendy was a doll to work with and I’m really happy with how they turned out. I finally purchased a corner rounder as well and Wendy was the lucky first recipient of the corner rounding option!

As I was talking to my mom this week about what orders were coming through the studio, she asked me why I loved business cards so much. As I got thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that I liked the challenge that each client presented to me in trying to represent themselves on a business card. I don’t like to offer cookie-cutter designs for business cards for the fact that I feel that it is more fun to work with my clients to create a unique piece. In turn, they get something that is all their own. My pricing is a little more than some competition and a little less than others but what I think sometimes people miss when they are looking at the bottom line is what they are getting in the package. All orders that come through the studio have the option (and it’s built into the price) to get a custom design for their cards. That’s like free branding on a business card scale to all of my clients! Thanks again Wendy for being such a great customer!

To see the most recent posts on other cards I’ve branded and printed via letterpress please click on.

So I’ve had a couple of retail orders go out recently and these were some of the hot items that I printed a lot of. From the Animalia children’s and baby collection these gift tags are great for a baby shower gift or to adorn tea cups, prizes, napkins or whatever suits your fancy. Introducing:

Elephants, Ava. as a set of 10.

Butterflies, Ava. as a set of 10.

Sharks, Ava. as a set of 10.

and Froggies, Ava. as a set of 10.

To win just comment below what your favorite animal is for a chance at one set of each!
The GOODS:
1 set of each of these tags (10 tags/set) in each pattern (40 total).
2×2″ letterpress tags with 1/4″ rounded corner and 3/16″ punched hole.

Giveaway ends Midnight on Thursday the 13th of August, TIMES UP! winner will be drawn at random and notified via email as well as updated on this post!

CONGRATS SUSAN!

So the letterpress Confection Collection is out and available to retail stores along with being listed in the Shop as well! I had a hard time choosing a color scheme for these cards and tags (ava. soon) as I didn’t want it to look like a circus or too similar to the cupcake colorway. With the drab recession underway I decided I was looking for something bright and cheery, with a little bit of tangy sweetness to it. Hence pumpkin, lime and grape truffle pops!

TO win a set of 30 truffle pop recipes + treats cards
(3 sets of 10, 1 set of each color)

Be sure to comment by Monday July 20th at Midnight (MST). (Valued at $45)
For ONE extra entry, Tweet the giveaway with a link back to this post and come back to comment that you tweeted with your username.
For ANOTHER entry, blog the giveaway at your own place with a link back to this post.

Good luck!

UPDATED: CONGRATS EMILY F! I’LL BE CONTACTING YOU FOR MAILING INFO!

Here’s to hoping you all have an enchanted weekend full of sunshine! If you missed the previous posts then click here: Proofs | Shop.

Check back Monday for giveaway winner and something special!

To get your own set of custom business cards or calling cards click here for more details.

These shipped out right after baby was born! I’ve been wanting to show the final product for awhile now but just kept getting sidetracked! Thanks Monique for waiting a few extra days on these, it was really great working with you! To purchase a sample pack of various cards I’ve done head over to the shop.

To see the initial design proofs click here!

Announcing our new little peanut: Baby Charlie.

New life is just so amazing! I know in a blogging world the word blessing can become quite cliche. However, sometimes there isn’t any other way to really describe it. For those of you that didn’t know or are relatively new to my blog, we’ve had quite a few life changing events in the last 9 months. The pregnancy was planned and that was about the only thing we expected from the get-go.

From the beginning I was severely ill and on bed-rest regularly (unexpected). After losing 18 lbs and turning into a waif by about 20 weeks, we had some “family catastrophies” as one may call it. My young and totally fit mother had a hemorrghic (sp?) stroke and 12 hours later our son David was rushed to the ER and diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes with Ketone Acidosis. I didn’t know if at the end of the week I’d be planning two funerals or moving on to the next phase of recovery. All happening right before Christmas, I felt my life was falling apart. I can honestly admit now that a pregnancy/new baby was the last thing I wanted to add to my plate. With a whole new set of things to deal with, my husband held my hand and we learned to give injections, check blood sugar, count carbs, live off of no sleep, comfort a 4 year old with new challenges and manage a growing belly and 2 year old sister too.

As I mentally tried to prepare myself for the remainder of my pregnancy I often felt overwhelmed that this child might not get the attention and love he deserves or needs with two other children around the house. Little did I know that Baby Charlie was one of the greatest blessings I could have asked for. His impending arrival gave something to look forward to, to help us move past Diabetes and the stroke. We started to live again knowing there would be a new little spirit in our home that needed nourishing. Since the minute Charlie has arrived we can’t stop loving him and the prospect that he’s the perfect addition to our family. I really can say he’s the perfect baby and we are so happy to have him here!

In honor of new life and overcoming new challenges I’m offering a set of 50 Imprintable Baby Announcements with unprinted envelopes! I’ll even customize the color for you ;) You can choose from sail boats, butterflies, sharks, rhinos, or elephants!

The GOODS:

Set of 50: Letterpress Imprintable Baby Announcements, A6 (4.5×6″)
Ink/Envelopes: Your Choice

To Win: Comment which announcements you want and who they are for! Giveaway Ends 6.9.09 at midnight!

Winner Announced! Congrats Marcee – it looks like I just made your decision harder! I’ll get printing the elephants in light green for you!

This invitation is another shipped recently from the Dingbat’s Link & Hitch signature wedding line. The design is the Lola, customized to a coral/teal color scheme drawn from an inspiration board from StyleMePretty.com. Unfortunately I can’t find the link to the board as the client emailed it to me so you’ll just have to use your imagination.

I have to say that if you are considering this design, it’s pertinent that the background is a very light color in value, I can’t stress it enough! Otherwise there will be legibility issues. I loves how these turned out and was pleasantly surprised that the coral/teal combo worked so well with this design.

This is what my tummy feels like all the time now. Catch them in the shop before they hop away!