Happy Holidays!

Events in Ink would like to wish you all a very Happy Holiday! We appreciate your continued business and friendship and look forward to working with you again in 2009.

Here is my personal holiday card I sent out this year. It was a lot of fun to design and then one of my great companies, Madame T Productions printed it for me.

Happy Holidays!
Michelle Connell

Holiday Cards

It's that time of year again to start thinking about holiday cards. Seems early right? We offer BIG sales during the month of September. Call us today 317-844-8982 if in the Indianapolis/Carmel area to schedule your appointment. You can also check out our cards online. They DO NOT show sale prices though. You MUST contact us to see what we have to offer. We apologize that we don't have the capabilities to show all the sale prices online. So many new and exciting cards this year. We are working on getting them all up on our website...so check back daily.

Fondly,

Michelle

Fun, Personalized Clipboards

They are here! We are so excited to announce the arrival of this new product. This was a hit product in the stationery world this year. You won't want to be without this fun gift. Perfect for all ages. Great birthday present or to send off a child to camp! So many fun styles to choose from. Clipboards come in two differnt sizes and have matching paper. Matching stationery is available upon request. Check them out on our website.

http://www.eventsininkonline.com/vendorProducts.asp?company=Margot+Madison&Submit=Submit

Until next time,

Michelle

Isabelle's First Race

My daughter Isabelle, age 9, (shown in pink shirt)ran her first race this past weekend. I am one proud mommy. Proud because she was the one that asked us if she could run races like her daddy does. Proud because she took it seriously and was so determined out there. Proud because she wanted us all to come watch her and support her. Proud because she is small, but so mighty! Proud because she ran with a friend and completely enjoyed herself. Proud because she is a really good little runner...just like her daddy. Proud because my daughter has now ran her first race, something I haven't even done.

Isabelle you rock!

Until next time,

Michelle

http://www.eventsininkonline.com/

Off to New York

It's that time of year again and I am so excited I can't even sit still:) Each year, New Year hosts the National Stationery Show. Over 100,000 square feet of complete heaven for me. I leave in a few days and can't wait to see all the new items in the market this year. I am looking forward to sharing them all with you soon.

Michelle
www.eventsininkonline.com

Bar and Bat Mitzvahs

A Bar and Bat Mitzvah is a huge jewish celebration when a child is 12 or 13 years old. At this time, the child becomes an "adult" in the eyes of our religion. Children study hebrew (at least here in Indiana) for 4 years (twice a week, after school) to prepare for their big day. After much hard work, they gather their friends and family to watch them sing and chant their prayers. Most often, a huge party is then thrown to celebrate this entire event. I enjoy helping each new family with this big event. I help them with their save the date cards, Bar/Bat Mitzvah invitations, thank you notes, sign in books, napkins and more. I love meeting and getting to know each family I work with. Now that I have been in business for over 7 years, I have several families that I have helped with "all" their kids invitations. I have learned so much from each family I have worked with. I love what I do and hope that they are pleased with my service. Here are some tips if you have a Bar or Bat Mitzvah coming up in the near future.

1. Send save the date cards to out of towners approx. 6 months before the big day.


2. Assign a number to each "family" receiving an invitation. Write this number on the back of the response card. This helps if you can't read someone's handwriting or if they forget to sign the card.


3. Order your invites about 3 to 4 months before the event. This will allow for any errors or issues that might come up. This will also give you time to address and stuff your envelopes.


4. Send out your invitations 6-8 weeks before the event. DON"T send out a response card with a reply date that has already expired (TACKY!).

I hope these tips help you.

Mazel Tov!

Michelle

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Mother's Day will be here before you know it. I personally love Mother's Day. One of my daughter's and I share a birthday, so I let her have that day and I look forward to Mother's Day to feel special! I love hanging out with my kids and husband for the majority of the day. Sometimes we go to an art fair. We always join up with the entire extended family for dinner. It is a great way to celebrate together. Why not take this great day and make it even better for your mother, mother-in-law or wife by giving them something personalized to let them know you planned ahead! We hope you enjoy some of these ideas.

• Personalized Stationery


• Personalized Bookmarks


• Personalized Self Inking Stampers


• Personalized Coffee Mugs


• Personalized Notepads


• Personalized Totes


• Personalized Paperweights

The list goes on and on. Check out our website http://www.eventsininkonline.com/ to see our entire selection.

Guitar Hero

Anyone out there addicted like we are? We purchased Guitar Hero for the Wii only about 2 weeks ago and the entire family is loving it. If you aren't familiar with it...it is a game that comes with a guitar and you rock out to so many of my personal favorite songs from the past. What fun! My 9 year old daughter is so competitive (she is above on the right...her cousin Emma on the left). You can even have other people who own the game bring their guitars to jam together. We did that with two groups of people this weekend. What laughs we all had. Anyone else as addicted as we are? Would love to hear from you.

Until next time,

Michelle

Sippy Cups Showcased

Events in Ink was showcased on www.babyluxe.blogspot.com on March 27, 2008

Check it out!

Sippin' in style!
So we're heading to a birthday party this weekend!These days, rather than good old adults-only birthday fun, a party means lots and lots of tiny tots running around. And lots of sippy cups. I know that I personally favor one particular brand, and as it turns out, that is also the favorite amongst the other moms in my group as well. So logic tells me that can only mean one thing. At the birthday party, there will be whole lot of matching cups going around. And I don't know about your neck of the woods, but there's a nasty germ going around here, and I certainly don't want my kids to get it {again}.

So thankfully, this great new monogrammed sippy cup has come along to save the day & with a whole lot of style too, I might add! Available at Events In Ink, a fabulous online shop for all things preppy & personalized, the monogrammed sippy cups come with a whole slew of options! Choose your fabric, font & thread color & then choose to have monogrammed or personalized with a name. What you'll end up with is an adorable insulated sippy cup {actually made with my "favorite" brand, as a plus} that won't get mistaken for someone else's!

Grab a few for your own kids or as a gift! Events In Ink also offers some great monogrammed water bottles & travel cups {for your morning coffee run}! Also, check out their stationery, announcements, invitations & more!Spend $75 & take $5 off! Just mention "5off75perbabyluxe" in the comments section!

Hawthorne's Show & My Husband

My show at The Hawthorne's was a lot of fun. I met so many great people and it was fun chatting with the other vendors all day as well. I am so bummed because I wanted to take a picture of my booth, but forgot my camera. My booth setup was my favorite setup of all the shows I have ever done. I guess you live and learn. For this show, I decided to bring many things that customers could actually purchase and take home that day with them. This was received very well. I had fun napkins saying things like " Just say no to the sign up sheet" and styrofoam cups saying "Team Vodka" and vibrant, cool coasters. I also had fun notepads on hand as well. I hope to do this show again next year and see all the great people I came in contact with.

On a more personal note, we had kind of a crazy week last week. My son scratched my husband's face about 4 weeks ago and it was a small scratch, but deep. It got infected and the next thing we knew, it had spread all down his face, neck and to his shoulder. He went to the doctor who sent him to an infectious disease doctor and he ended up having to be hooked up to an IV treatment everyday for a week. His face is healing nicely now. It was hard on him looking so bad and he was in a lot of pain. I have included a picture of his face for you all to check out...aren't I nice. I guess, I should include a picture of how cute he really is too....

Until next time,

Michelle

Tea Party

My kids invited my husband and myself, with a handwritten invitation, to their tea party. My oldest daughter purchased a girly cookbook at her school bookfair and was so excited to put it to use. The three of them sat down together and made the invitation (wow, are they following in my footsteps:). Then they looked through the cookbook and picked out their menu. They handed me a list of what they needed at the grocery and we all made the recipes together on a Sunday followed by the family tea party. What fun times! We had chocolate cupcakes topped with strawberry frosting, followed by a topping of cotton candy...yes, you read that correctly. Wow, were they delicious. We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut out in the shape of a heart. We washed everything down with a yummy pink punch. Pictured above are the kids at the party, tea cups and all. These are family memories that will never be forgotten. Take the time today to plan something as a family....you won't regret it!

Until next time,
Michelle

Coffee with friends

I always hated the taste of coffee, the smell of coffee, the concept of coffee. About a year ago, my husband and I were getting ready to meet some friends for dinner and I felt very tired. He said "let's stop for some coffee"...this is when my entire life changed:) I am now addicted to coffee, picky about my coffee and so into discussing it! Wow, what a difference. I look forward to waking up every morning and using my new coffee maker to grind my beans. It is such a treat. I really enjoy drinking my coffee in these new peronalized coffee mugs. You can check out all the fabric options by clicking on the following link.

http://eventsininkonline.com/ click on personalized gifts. The coffee mugs can be found under misc. in the adult category.

Enjoy your coffee in style!

Until next time,

Michelle

The most popular stampers!

These stampers have been on the Today Show, in most of "the" magazines and more...they truly are as great as everyone says. The stampers can be used for approx. 10000 stamps. After that, all you have to do is replace the ink. It is a great investment and so easy to use. They work well as return address stamps, "This book belongs to", "A gift from", "Baked by" and the list goes on. The first companies to start where PSA Essentials and Three Designing Women. The turnaround time for these companies are approx. 2-3 weeks. Now, Noteworthy Stampers has come out with the stampers with a 5 business day turnaround. These stampers make great gifts! Feel free to check out all these stampers on my website http://www.eventsininkonline.com/ You can click on Stampers and check all three companies out.

Stamp away!

Michelle

Snow day?

Picture of the girls on a snow day earlier this year


The weather outside is frightful...

Here at our house it is snowing hard. Will we have school tomorrow?

As a child, I always LOVED the possibility of snow day. Staying home in my pj's and doing whatever I wanted. As a parent of 3 small children, snow days became LONG days of the kids being home. Now that the kids are getting older, I find myself praying for a snow day right along with them:) The thought of not having to rush off to our separate things in the morning, sounds great! Relaxing together in our pj's, having a fun breakfast, watching a movie, making some popcorn...the list goes on. As the snow falls tonight...I will be praying for a snow day.

Dress like Suri Cruise...

Shouldn't all children be treated equally? I think so! I saw Suri Cruise in US Weekly a few months back and she was in this adorable dress. It is made by a company I carry on my website http://www.eventsininkonline.com/ and I just had to order one to show to my local customers. My new little cousin Jayden would look adorable in it. I thought to myself....why should Suri Cruise have anything more than little Jayden! Pictured in the dress is Jayden..isn't she so cute! Now the children are equal:)

Until next time!

Michelle

Will you be my Valentine?

Aren't they such little cuties! One is my son and the other is my nephew. I love Valentine's Day. My kids loved their gifts I gave them this morning. They went off to school with huge smiles on their faces. They have fun parties at school and then will come home for a "special" dinner tonight. I hope you all have someone to share this day with. Grab the people you love and let them know how much they mean to you.

Until next time,

Michelle

Happy Valentine's Day (almost)...

I hope you all have a great Valentine's Day and are able to spend it with those you love. I think holidays are such great family events. As a parent, you need to decide what is important to you and how you want your family to be. My mom always made Valentine's Day special for our family. I loved waking up and "knowing" today was going to be a little different than the other days. I have started the same tradition with my family. Every Valentine's Day, my husband gets each one of our kids something special, I do the same and so do both sets of grandparents. Nothing big, but something to make their day fun! My husband usually gets chocolates, I got cute stuffed animals from Hallmark that talk (have you seen that commercial?), my parents got them clothes from Build a Bear for their bears and my husband's parents sent them $$. We will wake up in the morning and go our separate ways, but then we will all come home for dinner and give the kids their gifts. While not everyone may agree with what our family does...I love that our family has our traditions and something that our children will always remember:)

Gifts for New Babies

Everyone seems to give the same gifts when a new baby is born. Why do we do this? Can't we be more creative. Today, I am going to help out and give you several fun and "different" ideas.

1. Stickers personalized with "This book belongs to...." fill in baby's name on any gift sticker and purchase a few books to start the collection
2. Personalized Placemat (baby won't be able to use at first, but more fun to give a gift they can grow into)
3. Personalized Plate
4. Personalized Sippy Cup
5. Personalized Burp Cloth
6. Personalized Baby Blanket
7. Personalized Gift Stickers
8. Personalized Family Stationery (fun for mom & dad to see the entire families names together for the first time)
9. Personalized Bags (for mommy to carry)
10. Personalized Bibs

All of these and more ideas can be found on our site http://www.eventininkonline.com

Have a great week!

Michelle

Letters to your children

Right before I had my first child, I read a great article that I will never forget. The article said to write a letter to your child the day they are born and then continue to write them a letter on each birthday. You put the letter in the mail, so it is postmarked, and keep all the letters to present to your child when they are about 25 years old. We have been doing this for the past 9 years for all 3 of our kids. I write a letter each year as well as my husband, my mom, my dad and my husband's parents. I keep them in a fireproof box and treasure them more than any other item in our home. What a truly amazing treasure to one day give each of our kids:) I am so proud of us that we have actually kept up with this "project". Start this great "project" today...whether you are just having your first child OR if your child is already grown...it is never too late to begin.

There are so many great pieces of stationery you could write these great letters on. Check them out by clicking on our link to stationery items http://www.eventsininkonline.com/categories.asp?category=Stationery

Until next time!
Michelle

Tips For Writing Thank You Notes

So many people these days forget how much a thank you note means. It is such a personal way to communicate with someone who took the time to do something for you, purchase something for you etc... Too often, people don't even think to say thank you, say it in person or send an email. Althought we live in a high tech society, there are just times when an handwritten note is the polite and "correct" thing to do. My kids all write their own thank you notes. At first they sign their names, then they sign their full names, write the note and eventually write and address their notes...depending on their age. It is great to teach them young! Here are some tips when you sit down to write your notes. If anyone has anything they would like to add, that would be great!

• The key to a good note is to let the person feel you are really thinking of them
• Write like you talk. For example, don't just put "Congrats on your new baby" instead put something like "There is nothing like a new baby to bring a smile to your face. We are so excited for you"
• Mention the gift. Make sure you mention what you are actually thanking them for. If they give you a gift certificate, you may want to mention what you are going to use it towards or what you did use it on. It makes the person feel more involved with the purchase.
• Basic Layout for a thank you note:

1. Greet the Giver
2. Express your Gratitude
3. Discuss Use
4. Mention the past and discuss the future. (something about your relationship with the giver etc..)
5. Thank the giver again
6. Regards (sign it with Sincerely, Fondly, Love, From etc...)

We hope these tips will help you the next time you need to write a note. Be sure and check out all of our great thank you note designs. http://www.eventsininkonline.com

On a personal note. My 9 year old daughter recently received a birthday card from her Grandma and the note was written in cursive handwriting. Her Grandma wrote "welcome to grandma's cursive handwriting" as, in the past she wrote in print so it would be easier to read. My daughter wrote all her thank you notes on her own and then I read them over before we sent them out. I thought it was so funny that my daughter's thank you note to Grandma was signed in cursive (her name) and it said "P.S. welcome to my cursive signature" I thought it was so funny to see her own humor come out at 9 years old. Kids, they say and do the funniest things:)

Horror Bridesmaid Dress

This Dress was sent to us by a reader of our blog. She didn't really wear it, but found it online. Pretty funny...it is made out of condoms:)

27 Dresses

What a cute movie...in my opinion. I saw this movie this past weekend with some girlfriends. My husband was out of town and I was excited for a good "chick flick". I got everything I was looking for out of this movie and more. There were so many funny lines...I found myself laughing out loud! I could not believe ALL the bridesmaid dresses. Have any of you been in a wedding where the bridesmaid dresses were horrible? I would love to see some pictures. We can vote on the WORST one. Post your comments soon so we can see these GREAT dresses.

Until next time,
Michelle

Bar and Bat Mitzvah Tips

Bar and Bat Mitzvahs are such a wonderful time for families to celebrate their child's wonderful accomplishment. Be sure to follow some of our tips to allow the event to run smoothly. Make sure to start picking out your invitations about 6-9 months before the big date. This will allow you to make sure you find the "perfect" invite for your son or daughter and/or customize a completely new invite for this special occasion. Events in Ink is there to help every step of the way: picking out invitations, coming up with the wording for the invites, proofing, hebrew, thank you notes and more. A great tip we would love to share with you is to assign each invitation a number in a spreadsheet. Put this number in pencil, on the back of the response card. If someone sends it back without filling out the name (by accident) or you can't read their handwriting...this will ensure no problems! We hope these tips will help you. Come back and visit us soon for more tips to come.

Fondly,
Michelle

Win Free Birth Announcements or Christmas Cards

One of our favorite companies, Sweet Pea Designs, is having a contest to find some super photographs . If you have a great photograph for a birth announcement or holiday photo card, you can win free holiday photo cards or birth announcements! If your photograph is chosen, you will win 150 photo cards or birth announcements with imprinted envelopes to use at any time during 2008.
Submissions will be accepted until January 31, 2008 and participants may submit multiple photographs. Please email your pictures to michelle@eventsininkonline.com. They need to be jpeg files. Make sure to send them to us in time for the deadline shown above.

Good luck!

Michelle

Holiday Card 2007

The holiday season has passed and I hope it was truly a good one for all of you. We had a fun filled holiday season with lots of business(thank you) followed by a trip to Florida to visit my parents. It was so nice to get away and relax with my husband and kids. We all reconnected and returned to the bitter cold. I wanted to share our holiday card from this year. Feel free to share yours with us as well. Always fun to see my customers and their families.

Until next time,

Michelle

Welcome to our blog!

Welcome to Events in Ink's blog. We are excited to have you here. In the coming days we will be showcasing some great things such as; trends in stationery and personalized gifts, new items, tips for parties and events, grammatical questions, sale items and more. We hope you all are having a Happy New Year and we look forward to speaking with you again soon.

Fondly,
Michelle