Take for instance the above Cookies and Cream Cupcakes, one of her specialities. She actually bakes an entire Oreo Cookie into the cupcake itself. And if that weren't enough cookie goodness, she finishes them off with Oreo crumbles and mini Oreo cookies. Now that is one cupcake that I would devour - completely!
So, the above is where I've spent the majority of my 'free' time the past three weeks. In our sunroom which I've unofficially renamed my pinwheel studio. It was originally added on last year as a potential play room for when we have kids, but with the way the pinwheels are going, we may need to get going on another addition for the so far nonexistent children. After spending so much time here, I now don't want to give up this room. With all the windows, it practically feels like I'm outdoors. While working away like a queen bee, I've been imagining what I can do the space to officially turn it into my studio. Although I've also been envisioning turning our upstairs office into a studio as well as that is the perfect winter studio - only two windows and it stays pretty warm and cozy during the winter. Perhaps I need a summer and winter work space - leave it to me to make my life even more complicated. :)
For the past several orders I've really begun working on my packaging. The above is the calligraphy packet which is now sent with all of my seating card pinwheel orders. It includes the seating card attachments, instructions for the calligrapher and an extra pinwheel so he/she can get an idea of how to best calligrapher the cards.
I've also started shipping all of my items in re-closable zipper bags. In the past I shipped in fold-over or tie bags and I always had this fear that they would somehow get water damaged. (Yes, I'm a worry wart.) You just never know how long a box is going to sit on someones door step in a torrential downpour. So, hopefully I'll have one less thing to worry about now. :)
I've also started using my new pinwheel logo on labels which have been adhered to the bag. I looked and looked and looked at every office store for oval labels. Finally found them online. I love them!
I'd eventually like to have bags pre-printed with my business information but for now this works just fine and dandy.
I've also started enclosing little pinwheel FAQ sheets with all of my orders.
And above is one of my orders all set to be shipped out. A couple of months ago I purchased a scale and figured out the whole click-n-ship process. My is this process super easy plus I can give exact quotes for shipping. I'm loving it. :)
Custom Seating Card Pinwheels for a wedding in October.
I love the paper the bride chose. So fun and vibrant. A calligrapher is going to hand calligraphy each of the names of the guests on the seating card attachments. Very fun.
Above and below is a large order of pinwheel party favors for an event taking place in early September. I worked with the event planner on designing custom paper for this event. It's an eco-friendly event so the design was printed on recycled paper. Since the event is green friendly, of course the color green was utilized and so were butterflies (an idea pulled off the event invite).
One side of the pinwheels featured the sponsor's logo, repeated. The other side featured differing sizes of butterflies - some filled with varying shades of green and others once again filled with the repeated logo.
The above ended up too cool. I've recently purchased a printer that specializes in printing 12x12 scrapbook paper so hopefully I'll be able to easily print more custom papers in the future.
The above and below were for a smaller rush custom order for a 1st birthday party. I thought they turned out really fun, so why not feature them?
I adore the circle and dot patterns together.
While talking with the client we brainstormed on a fun idea for a party hat - see above. Considering the amount of pinwheels I've made lately Roger has joked with me that pretty soon everything I touch will have a pinwheel plastered on it. He even joked that I should stick one in the top of a party hat. I laughed it off then and said I would give it a try someday. This client gave me the perfect opportunity to try it out. The pinwheel on top actually spins and we even made it so the pinwheel could be removed from the hat after the party - it's still attached to a stick, it's just hidden away in the hat. I enjoy working with people who like thinking out of the box - it's fun to push creativity sometimes. Sometimes being too creative can flop and this was definitely borderline in the beginning but I still think it's too cute, especially for young age groups. :)
The pinwheels above were just mailed out today - all 175 of them. They are the mini cupcake topper sized pinwheels. The bride also wanted seating cards attached. (All of these seating cards slide on and off so they are super easy for the calligrapher and after the event they can be removed!) I can't wait to see photos of this bride's wedding - it's definitely going to be one fun and festive event. :)
Well, it's 4:00 and you know what that means????!!! Well, maybe others don't, but I certainly do. It means that Michelle's big Soiree is finally underway and more importantly for me this means that I can finally post photos of the pinwheel party favors that are being distributed. Those that I spent so much time creating. (I didn't want to ruin the surprise for all those who were lucky enough to attend.)
Yep - here they are. The inside of these pinwheel cupcake toppers feature the new lemiga event logo (which I love - it's such a clean and modern logo) and the outsides feature three different paper patterns - a polka dot, a striped, and a textured pattern.
I had so much fun making these for the event and I hope that everyone who gets to walk away with one enjoys them as much as I do. I can't wait to see photos of how Michelle utilizes them at her event. (There was early talks of wheat grass and fans so we'll see here soon enough!)
So, I decided it was time for a change - a logo change. At least a change of the logo I use for all of my pinwheel products. You like? I would take the credit for this, but it's about 90% Roger - at least the idea of featuring the pinwheel on the 'd'. Now that I think about it he actually did all of the photoshop work as well as I work at a snails pace when it comes to that program - just haven't had time to teach myself yet. The rest of the design work we brainstormed on together. I'm liking it - a lot. It's kind of clean and fun at the same time which was what I was looking for. Can't wait to print it onto my product labels, etc. Still debating on how I'm going to integrate it into my current website without some major re-design effort that I really don't have the time for now. But we shall see - stay tuned in the future - the very far future. :-)
One of my favorite event planners, Michelle from lemiga events, is hosting her 2nd annual Open House Soiree this Sunday. If you are in the Atlanta area (sadly, I'm not) it's not too late to register, just click here. It promises to be an unforgettable event including food, fravolity, and even some of my very own pinwheel party favors.
If you're unable to attend, like myself, feel free to visit Michelle's blog for a taste of everything you'll be missing out on. (She's even done a little highlight on each of the participating vendors.) Even though I cannnot attend, I personally cannot wait for the photos and will anxisously be awaiting 'attending' her event via blogland.
To celebrate her 6 month anniversary of blogging, one of my favorite blogs, On the Dot Creations, is hosting a marathon of give-aways. And when I say marathon, I don't mean a mini marathon, it's truly a full-blown marathon. Julie is hosting 6 days of give-aways and not just one, but 6 give-aways a day! This means you have 36 chances of winning over $750 worth of fun and unique, and handmade gifts - all by etsy shop owners. What fun! I suggest you run, not walk, to her site as it's nearing midway point!
By the way - yours truly is giveaway #7. To register to win some of my very own pinwheel prizes, just click here!
I've been up to my eyeballs in pinwheels lately. Custom pinwheel orders have literally taken over every facet of my life and my home (well, except for the bathrooms - that would just be gross!). By months end I estimate I'll have made over 800 (both cupcake toppers and handheld pinwheels) for various birthday parties, weddings, and event planners. I'm really excited about this explosion in business. Although I must admit a bit stressed some times as well, but now that I have the process down I think I can almost construct them in my sleep - kind of like that cell phone commercial where the guy is texting in his sleep. (Love that one!) Although the cutting process for me might be a bit dangerous to perform with my eyes shut.
At the end of the month I plan on posting photos of some of the larger custom orders - some are very cool and for some very exciting events. :-)
In the midst of the above, I also spent most of last weekend helping Roger get ready for his new job. Starting anew he wanted to totally deck out his new office. Of course I liked the idea (since I like to decorate - and spend $ on decorating) so I helped him out with the process. Above and below are some of the photos. It's pretty basic as the walls had to remain white and you can't really do much as far as hanging goes since the walls are cinderblock. We added cork boards and calendars to the walls, bought lamps so he wouldn't have to use the super bright fluorescent lights (with no windows and zero natural lighting the fluorescent were just too much!), and even added some plants to bring some outdoors in. I really hate the color black (I'd paint all furniture white if I could) but all of the existing fixtures were either black or gray so we had to work around that and decided to add little splashes of red to the room.
Above is a photo of the piano keyboard in his office. Truth be told I was sort of upset that they had a keyboard for him. At his former job they did not which meant that he kept his personal keyboard at work 99% of the time. Now this means that his own keyboard is at home taking up some of our valuable home office space. Although I guess it's a wash as he did bring all of his sheet music and other various music books to work so we now have a ton of open files and bookshelves in our office. Yippee!!!
In other news, our gardens are really blooming - especially the hydrangeas. I'm trying my hand at drying hydrangeas this summer. If I'm successful I plan on using them in my August tablescape - which may not be posted until September - especially the way things are going around here. :)
We also have abundant amounts of tomatoes and cucumbers. We can't eat them fast enough. Although our co-workers are loving us for bringing it what we can't consume. The above is a tomato mozzarella salad we made last week. So yummy and easy. Just slice tomatoes and fresh mozzarella cheese ball. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, chopped basil, olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette and tada your done. :-)
