Movin' on Up

That’s it. I am running away. I don’t know where I am going or who I am going with, but I am going. All I need is a beach, a bed, a book (preferably one that doesn’t contain pictures), and a little drink with an umbrella in it. Children are not invited on this trip. Not to worry, I plan on returning. But after these 5 days (one more to go and COUNTING) of “bliss” with the mini monograms, I need some grown up time. It’s a good thing they happen to look so darn cute today in their khaki shorts with navy blue embroidered Labrador retrievers (must pay homage to our preppy puppy, of course) with matching ball-caps and white polo’s. Perhaps I’ll just hop on a plane and go camp out on Ashley’s newly purchased doorstep. I could even bring her a new welcome mat as a housewarming gift (no doubt, monogrammed) like Jennifer Anniston did for Ellen the first day of her new talk show. But Ashley doesn’t have a talk show and then again, she’d probably put me to work so forget that idea.
But speaking of Ashley, as she now has a new home, she will no doubt need some adorable moving announcements and boy do I have some sites and ideas! Let’s start with something basic. One idea I have is to take a photo of your new home, and upload it to Winkflash or Snapfish and turn it into either a note card w/ your new address on the inside or a postcard. This is a very affordable option ranging anywhere from 39 cents to $1.99 ea. per card. The great thing is that you can even tweak your photo and turn it into B&W or give the whole thing a pink tint (which of course you know monogram momma loves that pink!). I must point out, if you chose this option, PLEASE do us all a favor and make sure that your digital camera takes good quality pictures, or your card will come out fuzzy and unfocused looking. And that is a no-no for monogram momma! While I love receiving these personalized photo cards, it loses its impact when, upon opening, the photo is all grainy. Just a little something to keep in the back of your mind. Now, hopping off my soapbox, If you are looking for something a little more tongue and cheek or possibly a bit retro, but yet still classic, then by all means, you must check out the examples at Parcel. I love this little site, although I don’t really think it’s the easiest to navigate, they will do fantastic custom invitations, birth announcements, and moving cards. As a side note to anyone in the NJ area, they are located in Montclair, NJ, although I have no idea how close that is to you. I’m sure if you called them they would be able to email you more examples of their work as well.
Also remember, that it’s ALWAYS a “good thing” to think outside the box (no pun intended). You aren’t’ necessarily limited to moving announcements to inform your friends of your new address. For instance you can hop onto one of my all time favorite paper sites, Paper Source and pick up any array or must-have papers and note cards and announcements. My mouth is watering just thinking of all the yummy papers and cute designs! How can you EVER go wrong with a scalloped edged note card that you can customize yourself? Stick your monogram on there with your new address info and you’re good to go! And with all the colors in the rainbow (especially pink and green!), how on earth could you possibly go wrong? So here’s my suggestion. Go to the invitation components, use somet hing fun and different like the pocket folder enclosures or the diagonal folder enclosures. You can then put a B&W photo of your new home on the cover of the enclosure, and on the inside, slip one of the scalloped or ric rac border cards in inner pocket with your new address and your monogram at the top. If it were me, I wouldn’t even bother with an envelope, but rather, buy the Avery Inkjet labels that are the 1 ½” circle (#8293) and then put my last initial and my address there. Then I would use that to seal the pocketed enclose, and hand address them and mail them out. Voila! Paper Source will have your mind popping with loads of creative ideas and ways to spend that cash burning a hole in the pocket of your Seven jeans and with their monogram on their homepage accompanied by their motto “Do something creative every day,” you know it must have been designed with monogram momma in mind!
Now, I Must admit I’ve got a warm place in my heart for Naptime Productions since they did my birth announcements for both of the mini monograms, and I got loads of compliments on them. I really think the “Original vertical” is very classic and conservative, and after all, you know that is what I am all about! I’m not saying you’re necessarily going to feel like you’ve gotten a bargain when you order from Naptime, but their quality, original designs, and quick turn around more than makes up for it in my book. Now pipe down, I know what you’re thinking… “Monogram Momma, this is all fine and good, but I’ve just moved and I don’t have time to assemble my own address cards!” Well my monogramming friends, you MUST know I’ve got some super cute printable announcements to pass along as well. Polka Dot Design has some fantastic designs that you simply must check out. For instance, check out this Moving Box design by Sarah LeClere that I think is MOST chic! I have personalized it with my monogram to show you what you could do with it as well. After stopping by Polka Dot Design, head on over to the Stationary Studio. They’ve got some very traditional designs such as this navy border moving card with a simple pineapple on top, which incidentally, is the symbol for hospitality in the South. Or, their new design where they do an artist rendering of your house is also very handsome looking. The black card and silver etching is a little too dark and dramatic for me, but it may be just what some of you are looking for. But enough about that, I certainly wouldn’t be true to myself if I didn’t mention my absolutely FAVE stationary site (which I’ve mentioned before), Lemontree Paperie. Seriously people, you need to get on board with this site if you haven’t already. Personally, I probably need to be in a 12-step stationary program due to this site, but I will spare you the images of me salivating in front of my computer screen at their stock of stationary. The preppy pink and green Alligator card by Boatman Geller is so delicious I can’t even stand it. I might have to move JUST so I can order these cards! And also worthy of mention is the “All Mapped Out” card by Bernadette Elenteny Designs. This design is fun and quirky and more importantly, I haven’t seen it anywhere else which means that probably no one on your announcement address list has either! After you’ve tasted enough of the Lemontree, surf on over to My Gatsby to take a peek at their printable moving announcements. While I don’t find anything there to suit my own personal taste, I do HIGHLY recommend that you take some time to look through their custom printed mix ‘n match invitations. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fun shapes and designs of the envelops and this could make the greatest presentation to the lucky list of people (ahem, this better be me included) who will be receiving your new contact information. And I know this goes without saying, but presentation is EVERYTHING. Right, Martha? Seriously folks, take your time on this site because while it is primarily a wedding invitation site, you can get LOADS of ideas here. And if not, just email me and I’ll send you more of mine. Speaking of ideas, I just had another one! The Tiny Prints site is primarily a birth announcement and baby shower site, they’ve got the CUTEST pet announcement cards as well. So let’s say you have a lab (such as I) and you’re moving to a new home, wouldn’t it be adorable to do the “Louis Photo Dog Announcement” but instead of the dog’s picture, put a picture of your new home. Then you could print something really cheeky such as “Sunny has sniffed out a new home for us!” Or something to that effect… I’m sure you get the idea.
One final thing to keep in mind is to hop in the car and motor on over to your local Target. I must give props where props are due, and in this department, Target is really trying to step up their stationary game. They’ve got some really cute and super affordable moving announcement cards you should check out. They’ve even got a large assortment now of cute bordered note cards and flat correspondence cards that you can take home and personalize on your own computer with your monogram and print up yourself. When we moved, I found these adorable orange and white bordered note cards with our “M” monogram surrounded by a ring of small flowers on the front, and on the inside I printed, “Ring around the rosie, It was time for us to mosie.” I know. I’m so clever sometimes I can’t even stand myself!And with that, my job here is done and it’s time for me to escape to my next project ad start cutting Alyson’s madras shorts to make a headband. Yep, you read it right. Madras shorts= Madras Headbands.