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What I learned in 2017 and my plans for 2018
In business it can take awhile to find your niche, especially in a creative business. There are so many things you want to do and explore. What I learned over the past year was that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. I spent a lot of time in 2017 finding my niche and spent the last couple months really focusing what I wanted 2018 to look like.
In the past couple years I have taken a whirl with embroidery, vinyl decals, business branding, invitations, koozies, cups and more… and while I can do everything and liked most everything, I really had to sit down and pick what I was passionate about and wanted to focus on.
Last year I re-branded my business and took out embroidery, koozies, cups and vinyl decals and it was a big move. I did it because I realized it wasn’t for me. I have a full time job so for me this business is a creative outlet that I do in my personal time. So I had to ask myself, why would I be working late hours and stressing about things that I wasn’t passionate about and was stressing over every detail?
A couple months after my re-brand and eliminating those services I started to find my niche. I have been designing invitations for around 10 years but never made it my number one priority until last year. In the 10 months I have designed over 500 invitations for people all around the country! It has truly been so much fun and I love each and every invitation that I send out whether it is printed or a digital file.
As a jump start to 2018, I have added over 30 NEW invitation designs to the shop and am working on more to add in the next couple weeks.
My main focus this year will be invitation designs for any occasion because it is truly what I am most passionate about.
Side note: I will still be offering business branding services, which I am working on a separate dedicated post on some changes I will be making this year (set packages/faster turnaround times), so stay tuned for that!
Shop the new designs here!
Let’s get started on a custom invitation design here!
The most popular party themes lately!
Happy Wednesday! Instead of the normal party planning post this week I wanted to round up some of the most popular party themes that I have seen lately. These party invitations have been selling like crazy the past couple weeks:
Ready to start planning your next party?
Party Inspiration: Tractor Party
Y’all… this Tractor Party Invitation has been SO popular lately! I have been doing so many orders with them recently that I knew it had to be the next one in my party planning series! Tractor theme is the perfect party for the kids (I even changed the colors the other day to add some pink for a little girl who loves tractors) and would even be a cute baby shower theme.
Check out the invite here:
Now, I found some of the CUTEST party ideas on Pinterest. From how to set up the food table to cute thank you favors for your party guests these are some great inspiration when you throw your tractor theme party!
How cute are those ideas? My favroites are the vegetable garden, the party favors and the “grazing station.” Now for some fun things you can purchase for your party that I found:
Don’t these ideas make you want to throw a tractor party now?! If you do, leave me a comment below and let me know if these ideas I found helped you!
Party Planning: Kids Dump Truck Party (Construction Party)
Happy Wednesday Friends! Can you all believe it is already getting towards the end of August? Where has the time gone? I have been hard at work wrapping up design projects & orders while creating my holiday collection (make sure you subscribe to my newsletter so you can be the first to know when it’s live)!
For this Wednesday’s party planning post I wanted to highlight one of my top-selling invitation, the “Dump Everything” Construction Party invite. I created this invitation a couple months ago and it has been crazy popular ever since. Take a look here:
A construction theme party is so cute and is a great theme for a kid’s birthday party. I found so many cute ideas to help you when you are in the party planning process!
I, of course, found some great (and quick) options on Amazon for you to use at your construction themed party!
Ready to start planning your construction themed birthday party? Download your FREE party planning printable below and let’s get started!
How to order your Custom Holiday Cards
The holidays are just around the corner! I’ve been busy getting my holiday collection up in the shop (it’s ALMOST ready to launch!) but did you know that you can already order your custom holiday cards?
Custom holiday cards are such a fun way to showcase your family portraits in a unique way to send to family & friends. Plus since they are custom designed just for you there won’t be another one out there that looks like yours!
So how do you order them? Easy! Just fill out this form to get started. Please note that you do not have to have all the info just yet, this is just to secure your spot on my design calendar. Once you fill out the form you will be sent an invoice to pay the design fee. That fee must be paid prior to any design work being done. Once that is paid and I have received all the details I will get started on your design and send you digital proofs to choose from!
The best part is if you want just the design and want to print yourself that is no problem! The design fee you paid covers that and unless you want printed cards I will send you the print-ready files once the design is finalized and signed off on!
Bonus: The design fee includes a custom facebook cover photo that matches your holiday card so that you can wish all your facebook friends happy holidays in a fun & unique way!
So are you ready to get started? There is still space on my design calendar but it’s filling up quick!
Party Planning: Golf party for your kids
I know what you are thinking… it’s almost fall, why is she posting about a golf party?! Well, this particular golf invitation has been quite popular lately and if you live in an area where fall just means a little cooler weather (like I do) then you know that golf is an all-year-round sport! As I said my golf (hole-in-one) party invitation has been very popular lately and is such an adorable theme for your kids and for even the adult golfers in your life (when researching for this post I saw a lot of adult themed golf parties & retirement golf parties)!
Check out the invitation here:
Growing up in a family filled with golfers, this is such a special theme to me. I think there are so many fun ideas to make your golf party a success and after doing some research I found some of the cutest ideas on Pinterest! Check out some ideas here:
As always I found some really cute products on Amazon to make your golf party easy and fun! From photo props, goodies bags to golf club straws, these are a great starting point to getting your golf party going!
Do you want to throw a golf party yet? I love this theme because not only is it cute but it seems like it would be fairly easy to put together!
What is your favorite golf party idea?
If you follow me on social media then you have seen my posts on my Hurricane Harvey fundraiser. This is a new product that will be released soon in the holiday collection but launched it for this week to raise funds to donate to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund. All the net proceeds (which equals $5/mug) will be donated to the fund. Click here to purchase one and donate to a very much needed cause!
Printable Halloween Treat Tags are in the shop!
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! I love everything about it from the costumes, the home decor and watching Hocus Pocus with my pumpkin scented candles burning an embarrassing amount times… How many times have you seen it already this year?
Halloween is a time for family fun & lots of candy! I added these super easy printable treat tags to attach to your goodies to give to family & friends. Whether you are making little goodie bags for your kid’s classmates or sending some cookies & treats to your co-workers or neighbors these tags add the perfect final touch!
How do they work? Easy!
- Just purchase the listing for the one you want (or the bundle to get the variety pack) and you will immediately get the download upon purchase.
- Once you download it you just open up the PDF and…
- Click Print,
- Cut on the crop marks
- and write your name on it!
A couple different ideas/tips:
If you are wanting a tag option: print on a thick white card stock, cut on the crop mark lines then punch a hole in the top left corner to add your own ribbon and attach to your treat
If you are wanting a sticker: print on sticker paper, cut on the crop mark lines then peel & stick!
If you are using one of my Halloween treat tags make sure to tag me in instagram @ashlynnelliff I’d love to see how you use them!
Kid’s Birthday Party Planning Inspiration: Candy Shop Theme
Happy Wednesday friends! It’s time for another party planning inspiration post and today is a good one! I found SO many cute & creative ideas on pinterest for this theme and couldn’t wait to put this post together.
This week’s theme is Candy Shop! What kid wouldn’t want a candy themed birthday party?
To start this party off is, of course, the invitation! Not going to lie, this is one of my favorite invitation designs in my collection…
Like I said above I found some amazing party decor ideas on pinterest! I’m going to try my best to find all the original links for each photo for yall….so let’s get started! All the images I are fun & creative ideas that would fit different budgets. I love the idea of a “candy bar” theme and it would be pretty simple to do! I think the only thing that would get costly is how much you wanted to decorate it. It would be super easy to find clear glass jars at the dollar store and fill them up with different kinds of colorful candy! I also found some cute clear scoops from Amazon (keep scrolling for those!). Another fun idea
Another fun idea is that cupcake in a cup with candy at the bottom, that would be a perfect way to hand out caupcakes or as a take home treat!
- https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/oh-happy-day-2622736/7-tips-to-make-perfect-candy-kabobs-4862688882
- http://catchmyparty.com/photos/1458438
- http://www.enfemenino.com/organizacion/candy-bar-el-corner-mas-dulce-de-una-boda-s1436871.html
- http://en.paperblog.com/candy-land-inspired-themed-party-for-a-sweet-16th-by-klm-events-643556/
- http://www.candywarehouse.com/resources/how-should-i-display-my-buffet/
- http://es.paperblog.com/candy-bar-o-mesas-dulces-2603833/
- http://catchmyparty.com/photos/2168317
- http://hungryhappenings.com/mini-cupcakes-candy-filled-shot-glasses.html/
- http://karaspartyideas.com/2015/04/pastel-ice-cream-themed-birthday-party.html
- http://catchmyparty.com/photos/378775
- https://www.etsy.com/listing/156502941/gumball-rainbow-birthday-party
How fun and colorful are those party inspiration pictures?! It makes me want to plan a candy themed party right now just so I can decorate.
So where do you buy fun candy themed party decorations? Of course local party shops are a great place to start and if you are looking for some fun extras my go-to place is Amazon (even better if you have amazon prime).
Local party shops would be great fo get colorful solid colored plates, napkins, cups & silverware. All you would need to do for those to fit this theme is to get different colors for each item to make them stand out and match with all the colorful candy and decor!
Check out these fun Amazon finds for a candy themed party:
- http://amzn.to/2uyGK1m
- http://amzn.to/2uv5v0a
- http://amzn.to/2tWL60C
- http://amzn.to/2uUVKta
- http://amzn.to/2uUFxE8
- http://amzn.to/2eLObhZ
- http://amzn.to/2eLqVAC
- http://amzn.to/2uUS8ax
- http://amzn.to/2uUxjvS
- http://amzn.to/2h080D1
- http://amzn.to/2vGEeXc
My favorite is that little cardboard candy shop booth! That would not only be perfect for the party but also in the kid’s playroom afterward.
I hope you enjoyed this party planning post and found some inspiration! I would love to hear your candy shop party ideas & if you end up doing this theme!
What party inspiration posts do you want to see next?
What are the most important marketing materials I need to invest in when starting a business
In the early stages of starting a business one of the most important things to think about is your branding & marketing materials. Today I am going to share what I feel to be the five most important marketing materials you need to start your business.
Number 1: Logo Design
I’m sure you knew I was going to say that one! It seems pretty obvious that if you are starting a business you need a logo… but you’d be surprised on how many people put it off or create a very low-quality one since it is not their priority. Your logo is going to be the face of your business. It is what people are going to remember first. When you think of some of the larger brands out there like Nike, Starbucks, Apple, you can just see the emblem and automatically you know what company it is. That’s the power behind a great logo design.
I’m sure you knew I was going to say that one! It seems pretty obvious that if you are starting a business you need a logo… but you’d be surprised on how many people put it off or create a very low-quality one since it is not their priority. Your logo is going to be the face of your business. It is what people are going to remember first. When you think of some of the larger brands out there like Nike, Starbucks, Apple, you can just see the emblem and automatically you know what company it is. That’s the power behind a great logo design.
Now don’t get me wrong I know that logo designs can be expensive (especially when you are just starting out). Finding a designer that is easy to work with and that is also building their portfolio is a great way to get a fair deal on a logo design. If you are really on a budget there are also a lot of pre-made logo templates on etsy that are good for a temporary design. As your business grows you will want to find a designer that can really create a unique & custom logo just for you (one that you will not want to change in a year!) Trust me when I say a logo design will be one of your best investments for your brand.
Number 2: Business Cards
Another obvious option but extremely important. If you didn’t have a business card how would you leave your information with people? How would they know how to contact you? A business card that displays your brand (see how I tied those two together there!) and your contact info is essential when searching for clients. No matter what business you are in you NEED business cards.
Another obvious option but extremely important. If you didn’t have a business card how would you leave your information with people? How would they know how to contact you? A business card that displays your brand (see how I tied those two together there!) and your contact info is essential when searching for clients. No matter what business you are in you NEED business cards.
Number 3: Personalized Stationery
While a lot of people might not see this as a necessity, I think it is an important marketing material to help grow your business. If someone is paying you for something whether it’s a custom invitation design, purchasing a necklace from you or signing up for your new fitness program, trust me when I say a personalized, handwritten thank you note goes a long way! It will be much appreciated by the consumer to get a thoughtful thank you card in the mail and it will show that you truly care & value their business. Which in turn will lead to repeat sales and they will tell their friends what great customer service you have!
While a lot of people might not see this as a necessity, I think it is an important marketing material to help grow your business. If someone is paying you for something whether it’s a custom invitation design, purchasing a necklace from you or signing up for your new fitness program, trust me when I say a personalized, handwritten thank you note goes a long way! It will be much appreciated by the consumer to get a thoughtful thank you card in the mail and it will show that you truly care & value their business. Which in turn will lead to repeat sales and they will tell their friends what great customer service you have!
Number 4: Social Media Accounts
Today, social media is everywhere. If you didn’t already know this you have been living under a rock! Not only is it important to have social media accounts for your business but it is important that they all match together (meaning make sure your branding clearly comes across on all your platforms). You want people to be able to find you easily. Don’t create a complicated instagram handle or use your personal name (unless it’s your business name like mine!) because then how would people find you? In this day, people want information fast and social media is one of the fastest ways to get it!
Today, social media is everywhere. If you didn’t already know this you have been living under a rock! Not only is it important to have social media accounts for your business but it is important that they all match together (meaning make sure your branding clearly comes across on all your platforms). You want people to be able to find you easily. Don’t create a complicated instagram handle or use your personal name (unless it’s your business name like mine!) because then how would people find you? In this day, people want information fast and social media is one of the fastest ways to get it!
Number 5: Website
Last, but not least, is a website! While I personally recommend launching everything around the same time some people like to wait a little while for a website since it can be an investment and if I am being honest (depending on your business) you might not need one right off the bat. However, you will definitely need one eventually because it is an essential part of your business. It is a place that you can share all of your work, services you offer, prices and even a place where people can buy your items with a couple clicks! This is a great platform to show potential customers
Last, but not least, is a website! While I personally recommend launching everything around the same time some people like to wait a little while for a website since it can be an investment and if I am being honest (depending on your business) you might not need one right off the bat. However, you will definitely need one eventually because it is an essential part of your business. It is a place that you can share all of your work, services you offer, prices and even a place where people can buy your items with a couple clicks! This is a great platform to show potential customers
1. that you are legit,
2. the face behind the business (people relate better if they know who is taking their money!),
3. gives them all the information that they need without sending you millions of questions and
4. is easy for you and others to share with friends & family to let them know about your new venture.
2. the face behind the business (people relate better if they know who is taking their money!),
3. gives them all the information that they need without sending you millions of questions and
4. is easy for you and others to share with friends & family to let them know about your new venture.
These are my personal opinions on the items that I think are the most important for anyone looking to open their own business (or if you already opened one and are lacking some marketing materials!)
I hope they helped you and encourage you to take the next step in your branding. Whether I am able to help you with your designs or another talented designer is you will not be sorry in investing in your company with great branding & marketing materials.
Are you starting a business? If so, what kind?
Party Planning for a Baby Shower or Kid’s Birthday Party: Boots & Bows Party
One of my favorite party themes is Boots & Bows! It is not only perfect for a gender reveal party, a baby shower but it can also be used for a girls birthday party.
My Boots & Bows invitation has been super popular lately for baby showers (so many twins right now!) but the wording can easily be changed to say “Boots or Bows” for a gender reveal party or the colors can be changed to have it be a birthday theme for the cowgirls!
Here are some fun party inspiration pictures I found on Pinterest to help you get some ideas if you are planning on hosting a party with this theme.
Gender Reveal/Baby Shower Party Ideas:
Birthday Party Ideas:
Ready to plan your Boots & Bows party? Let’s get you started with the invitation!
Understanding File Formats (the ones you need to know)
File formats can be tricky if you are not used to working with them often. As a designer, I use all of these files on a daily basis and sometimes forget that my customer might have no clue what I am talking about when I ask for a vector file or I am sending them a ".PNG file". I thought I would take a couple minutes and break down some of the most common file formats, what they are used for and some other tips & tricks that might be helpful for you!
Some other tips & tricks that are good to know:
Hopefully, this little description helped you to understand some of the most common file formats! So when you are working with a designer (whether for business or personal) you know what we are talking about! These tips are also great to know when printed images, creating little graphics for social media, etc.
What file formats do you use the most?
Party Planning: Ideas for your football themed parties!
Y’all…football season is almost here! Who else is planning football parties? We always do a big annual Texas A&M Aggie football kick-off party at our house every year, so the planning is in full force! There are so many fun football themed party ideas on pinterest right now. Whether you are doing a kick-off party, birthday party or just a fun game day party I have rounded up some fun ideas to help you plan!
First…naturally an invitation! My football invitation has been super popular in the last couple months and the colors can be changed to match your favorite team!
Second…ideas & decorations. All of these ideas I found on Pinterest and are so much fun! I have been collecting ideas for our kick-off party which is coming up quick!
Now where do you get some of these cute decorations? Well you know my favorite place is Amazon and they had some great deals on prime (free two-day shipping…no brainer!)
Now that you have some fun decorating ideas and a cute invitation to work with….download my FREE party planning sheet and get to work on planning the best football party yet!