Bella Ink Blog

BELLA INK'S FOLDED NOTE CARD FRIDAY

(Photo: Inside Vintage: Get Well Card) 

This Friday we had to put up a get well card because it seems that EVERYBODY is coming down with the flu or a case of the sniffles.  

Remember to wash your hands, eat well and get lots of rest! That goes for everybody, not just those of us who are feeling a little under the weather.

We also love the 1956 date written in the upper right corner of the card, as well as the loving message to Grandma at the bottom.  Hopefully she got better quickly, and all of you will too!

Bella Ink has a Crush on a Pumpkin!

Sweet Paul is featuring pumpkins all this week on his blog.  If you haven't bought and carved a pumpkin, yet, we highly suggest this Louis Vuitton design.  No knives required.  To learn how he did it, visit Sweet Paul's Monday Pumpkin Week entry!

Bella Ink Presents: Cards in Real Life!

Looking for a last minute Halloween costume for you and/or your daughter?  Disney Family Fun has an entire list of suggestions, including this Spa Princess look.  She reminded us of Tootsie, featured in PT-67, our spa party invitation.  

This costume couldn't be easier!  A robe, some slippers, a towel for your hair, an eye mask and some green face paint.  (If you use a real face mask, it may be too harsh to keep on for an extended period of time)

If you're going to be the Spa Princess, go ahead and include the glass of bubbly, as long as you're not driving, but for your daughter, definitely substitute the mirror for the champagne flute!  

Happy Haunting!

FOLDED NOTE CARD FRIDAY

  

With Halloween fast approaching we thought it would be appropriate to show you some vintage Halloween postcards by the Stecher Litho Co. circa the 1900s.  We found these, amongst many others, at the Emotions Greetings' card museum.  Vivian Krug Hotchkiss, the photographer behind Emotions Greetings, has created an extensive online greeting card museum.  Her collection covers just about every holiday imaginable, from Christmas to the Fourth of July.   

While researching various vintage Halloween notes and postcards on collectors websites and Ebay, we ran across some prominent themes.  Many of the cards suggest that Halloween is the time of year to find out the name, or to look upon the face, of your true love by performing simple spells.  Some cards focused on wishing the recipient luck, while others warned of the dangers lurking in the dark.  Almost all of the designs incorporated black cats, owls, pumpkins and witches, much like the cards we find in stores today.  

Bella Ink Designs Helps Stationery Trends negotiate "The Social Networking Maze"

If you're reading this blog you know how important social networking has become for most businesses. Stationery Trends, one of the leading stationery industry magazines, decided to explore this phenomenon in their Fall 2009 issue.  Sarah Schwartz, the Stationery Trends editor, was specifically interested in finding out how vendors and retailers use on-line tools like Twitter, Facebook and blogging platforms to communicate with each other and their customers.

At Bella Ink Designs we were skeptical about the value Twitter would have for our business, but once we learned the "right" way to use the site, it became a good marketing tool.  We don't discuss what we're eating for lunch.  We try to keep our tweets to announcements, like a cute news ticker.  We direct our retailers to Bella Ink products or events, and answer any questions they may have regarding our releases. Oftentimes we send people on Twitter over to this blog where we can share our news with them in more detail.  

In an effort to get as many of our retailers in the loop as possible, we put our blog and twitter addresses on all of our invoices, as well as on the bottom of any emails.  We've seen this pay off as more and more customers are signing up and following us on-line everyday.  This allows us to keep in touch even when we're not in the studio.  

If you choose to join a social network, you obviously can't keep to yourself.  Upload your address book to Twitter and find out if anybody you know already has account, then follow them.  If you're a designer, follow your retailers, your vendors, important media outlets and other people that make up your industry.  

Remember to share relevant information about your company or industry, not only when you post, but when you respond to the posts of others.  This rule isn't restricted to Twitter, it goes for any blogs you may follow, too!   

If you're interested in reading about Sarah's social networking discoveries, and more about what Bella Ink had to say regarding blogging, check out the entire "Negotiating the Social Networking Maze" article now! 

{Pictured above, from left to right, Stationery Trends Fall 2009 cover and artwork from PH-3 by Bella Ink Designs}

FOLDED NOTE CARD FRIDAY

This Folded Note Card Friday we're going to keep up with the "Think Pink" theme since it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Pictured above is EF-59, a folded note card that comes with or without a rhinestone embellishment over the i in "Pink."  This card was the first in Bella Ink's series of Cards that Care.

Cards that Care was created to give back to the communities close to our hearts.  Being a female owned and operated business, and knowing more women in our lives than we'd like to who have battled different women's cancers, a card that would raise money for an established research and education organization was tops on our list.  

In 2008 we donated 10% of the wholesale proceeds from this card to Bright Pink, a Chicago-based organization whose goal is to educate at-risk women about their breast and ovarian health .  You can read our interview with Lindsay Avner of Bright Pink in our December 2009 archives.

At the end of 2009 Bella Ink will be donating 10% of the wholesale proceeds from this, and any of the "Hope" stationery products, to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  

Think Pink with Bella Ink Designs

(Pictured above: SF-15 "think pink" by Bella Ink Designs)

Bella Ink Designs would like to give "Hope" to the fight against breast cancer with a little help from our friends... YOU! Available at boutique card and gift shops throughout the United States are the latest in our series of Cards that Care, the "Hope" stationery set (WP-15/WP-15A), folded note card (SF-15/SF-15A) and invitation (PH-35).  With 10% of the wholesale proceeds from each sale going to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, we can all give a little hope this year!

Our "Hope" collection made its debut at the 2009 National Stationery Show in New York City, May 17-20.  Donation dollars have been adding up through sales of "Hope" merchandise nationwide since then, but we would love to contribute much more to the cause.  A donation will be made to Susan G. Komen for the Cure in one lump sum at the end of 2009.  To see where you may purchase Bella Ink, and help keep "Hope" alive, please visit our "Find a Store" page.

The folded note cards and writing paper in the "Hope" stationery sets, printed on cream paper, are adorned with a design of pink bubbles and the iconic pink ribbon associated with the Breast Cancer Awareness movement.  The folded note card, which may be ordered as part of the set or on its own, comes blank for personalization or pre-printed with "think pink."  All stationery sets are packaged in sleek, chocolate brown boxes that won't leave a desk or countertop looking cluttered.  

A coordinating invitation, printed on white card stock, is also available.  And, as always, we believe that invitations should lead double lives.  Print fundraiser menus on extra invites and place one at each table setting or food station for an informative and cohesive design element.  

To see more of the "Hope" stationery products that are available, as well as the other products in our Cards that Care series, please visit our gallery, at the left.

If you would like more information on breast cancer, or how to help, please visit the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month home page.  But remember, we can, and should, contribute to the cause year-round!

5 Ways to Help with "Hope" Products:

 

FOLDED NOTE CARD FRIDAY

Today we're reaching into the way back when bin with this new feature, Folded Note Card Friday.  On December 26, 2004, Bella Ink Designs shipped their first cards to Handle with Care in Chicago, Illinois.  

Yes, that means Bella Ink will be 5 years old on December 26, 2009!

One of the note cards that Handle with Care purchased was EF-5, "Hot Mama," pictured above.  This hot mama-to-be, with her bejeweled belly, was the #1 selling card for Bella Ink in 2005.  This version of EF-5 has since been retired, but similar versions are available in limited quantities.  Visit Bella Ink's "Find a Store" page to find a retailer near you!

Shop Girl Focus: Sandy of AliKat Boutique

Shop Girl Focus is back!  This month we're featuring Sandy of AliKat Boutique in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. We love stopping by AliKat whenever we're in need of a fabulous and affordable gift for the fashionable women in our lives.  Don't tell anybody, but we often end up gifting ourselves as well.  It's hard to resist because Sandy stocks some of the best products in town, from clothing and accessories to gift items and more, including Bella Ink of course!  We also love that, like Bella Ink, AliKat's name is a tribute to her daughters.

So Sandy...

Q. Why did you start your business?

A. I wanted to bring a fresh new store to Glen Ellyn that caters to young women and busy moms, where you can grab a gift for a friend and a pair of earrings for yourself.

Q: How are you making your business recession-proof?

A: By continuing to search out new and unique items that fit most budgets.

Q: What has been your best moment as a businesswoman this year?

A: Celebrating our third anniversary and hearing our customers tell us how much they love having us here.

Q: If you could move your business anywhere in the world, where would you go?

A: Glen Ellyn... What's the expression?  There's no place like home.

Q: How will you get ready for Black Friday this coming November?

A: A couple of glasses of wine with my family the night before!

Q: What are you celebrating this year?

A: We are celebrating our 3rd anniversary.  We keep getting better and like the changes we have made each year.

Q: What is your favorite method of communication?

A: Email.  I'm still trying to figure out Facebook and Twitter!

Q: What is your favorite era in fashion?

A: Everything with jeans!

Q: Did you attend any of the year's Fashion Weeks?

A: No.  But we did a Fashion Week kickoff at AliKat!

Q: Do you have a necessary extravagance?

A: Jeans, jewelry and bags!

Q: What advice do you have for men when buying a present for the women in their lives?

A: Get advice from her friends and go to her favorite store to shop.  At AliKat, we love helping men buy gifts for the women in their life... and we gift wrap!

Q: What will you be for Halloween this year?

A: A soccer mom!  I'll be at a tournament.

Q: Do you have any superstitions?

A: Nope!

Q: Heels or flats in the shop?

A: Yes... a pair of each!

Q: What is your favorite at work soundtrack?

A: I love the music that my daughter and the high school/college girls that work at AliKat make for the store.

You can find AliKat at: 

499 West Pennsylvania Avenue

Glen Ellyn, IL 

Web: http://www.alikatinc.net

P: 630-469-5760