Brides, Biking, and Beating the Heat

It's so hard to keep up. Each week seems more busy than the next and Sara Paper struggles to stay ahead of the game. On the home front the garden is growing like crazy and poor Adam has to take care of it all by himself since this is the height of wedding season and I have an excuse to not do any yard work. I'm excited that everything is growing tall and strong, including my eggplant.

It's just a little guy right now . . .But it inspired me to post purpley and greenish invites.

Let's not forget personal stationery! This one folds on the side instead of the top.

A flat card does the trick!

Don't forget the matching envelope!

How about lady bugs? Here's a cute one.Did I mention that we have bikes now? It's our new hobby.
Here's a note card resting on my bike pedal (makes sense right?)
And here is my hubby checking out his bike when we biked in Ashtabula county.
(I didn't bring note cards along with me then.)
Here we are enjoying The Ferrante Winery that evening.
Delish wine and food and nice music out on their patio.
http://www.ferrantewinery.com/
On the way home we stopped to visit the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield. http://www.mrps.org/ Creepy, fun, terribly romantic (okay it's not). But it is interesting.
The Reformatory doors were opened to its first 150 young offenders in September 1896. After housing over 155,000 men in its lifetime, the doors to the prison closed December 31, 1990. The Shawshank Redemption and several other movies was filmed here.

Here I am enjoying the comforts of home.
Notice my shiny face - it was super hot!
I had just told Adam to make it quick - it felt really,
really creepy standing behind those bars.

Adam didn't think so. He probably inhaled
a good amount of lead paint.
Not only could you tour the old cell blocks you got to see
where the warden and his family lived. It was very castle-like.
Now of course it's a peeling mess. Here is some cool wallpaper
left in one of the childrens room.
Seriously, it sounds goofy to urge people to go see an old prison
but it was really interesting. The grounds, the chapel, and the artifacts from over 125 years ago. Most interesting to me is that they fully restored
the main lobby of the building and they rent it out for weddings
and other social functions. Now THAT'S an invite I'd love to design.

I usually don't like to post invites until after the wedding so I will have
lots to post in the next couple weeks. hard to believe it's July and already I have to begin to focus on the
Fall and Winter brides. Not to mention dreaming up holiday items.

But while we're still fighting the dog days of summer
I'll end with this nice thought.

Busy Weekend!

What a great weekend! Hit the party scene on Saturday night for a bachlorette party. It's been awhile since I did the party drill but it was fun. I have to give two thumbs up to the driver of our Party Bus. For all you bridesmaids who are planning a Bachlorette Party be sure to check out Bandit Transportation. http://www.bandittransport.com/. The bus was clean (at the beginning of the night anyway) roomy and lots of fun. Our driver guy was really nice, blared awesome dance tunes and basically let us be as rowdy as we wanted. He got us to the bars and more importantly got us home safely. We were told at the beginning of the ride that he would happily drop us off at our homes to avoid anyone getting back into their cars at the end of the night. If you ride with Bandit Transportation you'll have a fun night!

Sunday was a different event all together. I wisely took it easy on Saturday night so I'd be able to enjoy a special Sunday Mass at my church, Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in New Bremen.

Fr. James Trick celebrated his 50 years of his Priestly Ordination. I was honored to design the invites for him and to attend his Mass and luncheon. It was a beautiful mass. As always he encouraged his congregation and challenged them to respond in a rousing "Amen!"

Later at the luncheon many people shared wonderful stories of how he touched their lives. My favorite story was when Fr. Jim once felt moved by the Holy Spirit to ask a total (and unlikely) stranger if he'd ever considered the Priesthood. The surprised man replied back, "Well, yes, I actually have". With youth, long hair and an earring, the surprised man would be considered unlikely to wear a priest collar but nonetheless, Fr. Jim helped him on his path. That man still sports long hair and an earring but is now a priest. A perfect example of how saying a few words can impact a life in ways you'd never imagine.

Adam and I spent some time that evening discussing how little things, words, minor events are so important - even when they seem unimportant. We believe that Fr. Trick is God's perfect example of Love. This painting is one Fr. Trick painted with pastels. It is entitled "Gentle Love". There is a beautiful story behind it which I will share another day. I have prayer cards which feature the painting. If anyone wishes to have one please email me and I'll drop one in the mail to you. Large prints, (suitable for framing) are available for purchase at The Cornerstone Shop in New Bremen, Ohio. http://www.newbremen.com/edc/businesses/cornerstone_shop.

A busy week in store before we enjoy the Memorial Weekend! "AMEN!"

Wild, Wonderful Wednesday - and the reasons why

Why is Wednesday so great? Well, normally it's not. Middle of the week, nothing special sort of day. Today, however, even with the blah weather it seems more special because I got good mail. Some people sent me money (always fun) but I also received two note cards. With actual handwritten words inside of them. Nice words which brightened my day. So I decided to highlight some of my favorite note cards and a few things which made this Wild, Wonderful Wednesday.

First - Wild flowers. Not really all that wonderful though. I won't show you the sad looking flowerbed in which they currently reside. But they are pretty on their own.

Second - Wild Invitation! Can't wait to show this one off. It's still in the proofing stages but I love it. And in the process I got to learn the difference between cheetah spots and leopard spots - interesting.One good thing about the rain is that it's great for our newly planted garden. Adam worked hard last week to get the plants in, construct his clever irrigation system for the second year in a row. This year he topped himself and built a special fence to keep out the dogs and other wild animals that make it into the yard. We hate nothing more, than a beautiful pepper plant, squashed by a clumsy dog.Speaking of rain - we now have a rain gauge. We can now participate in conversations that revolve around how many 1/8s of an inch we have in our rain gauge. Riveting stuff! What is wild about this is that Adam ("King of the Leveler") clearly installed it without the use of a level. I'm in shock.

Since we're in the garden I can show off my favorite note cards. These have a vintage fruit print on them. Reminds me of old tablecloths.

While we're looking at note cards - here's a new one that I really like. It's simple but I love the hydrangea printed in a deep charcoal and my name with a pop of color.

Here's a recent invite for Ohio Northern University. For a Wind Turbine Celebration. The recycled paper fits the bill perfectly. I'll probably use more of this unique paper.

Moving on to why today is so Wonderful - in one word, Sonic. Got a coupon for a free Rt.44 drink. I selected a Cherry Limeade - the best drink ever! Ever order a 44 oz. drink from anywhere?

It's pretty big.

Another picture of Wonderful - our dog Jr. She's probably begging for a sip of that Cherry Limeade.
And Finally . . . something else I received with the mail - the book I ordered from Amazon. Only cost me $0.01 (plus $3.99 shipping). A book with Wednesday in the title - received on a Wednesday!!!! I'll bet the guy that shipped it to me planned it that way.

Blah Day?

I'm having one of those days where it's hard to get in the groove of working. The weather is yucky, and I'm just feeling "blah" - whatever.

I decided to post a "Harry and Helen" letter, have some lunch and then hunker down and get some work done.

Looks like my case of the "blahs" is nothing compared to what Harry had going on this day in 1945

Sat. May 12, 1945 - Germany

Helen Darling:
Had quite a long dusty ride today. Sure was a mess. This time we are living in one of Adolfs pine forests. The situation isn't bad now as one doesn't have to worry about some wise German throwing some H.E. shells in here.

I went to a stream not far from here to wash off a portion of the crush which has been in my chassis for quite some time. It seems while we were very much in the nude some German female, accompanied by her husband made of tour of the bank, wondering if anyone was from Cincinnati, Ohio. I was submerged in freezing water for about three minutes. I am just about beginning to thaw out. Such is live in Germany.

Yesterday we took six Belgians who had been political prisoners of the Germans for about four or five years. They had the usual tale of starvation and hunger to relate. They looked half starved. One hadn't has a fresh egg in four and a half years. We took them to an American field hospital where they will be fed, treated, then sent home. The missplaced persons are being rapidly sent back to their homes.

In the "Stars and Stripes" tonight, they talked as if practically all combat troops going to the Pacific would receive a furlough to the states. If that is to be my lot I sure hope we are included in the ones to get furloughs. I understand that Service troops and Engineeers won't be so fortunate.

I am a real woodsman tonight using a bunch of pine boughs as a mattress for my sack. The old man (me) played baseball again yesterday and so far I haven't suffered too much. Guess I still have some spring left in my bones.

The country here is very beautiful at the present time. Trees in bloom and all. These Germans had everything and now all is kaput.

Sure seems ages since I've seen you. Maybe won't be long. Just time for me to tell you that you are the sweetest and most lovable gal in the world. I'll love you always darling. You have made me very happy and I am very grateful for everything you have done to keep things going at home while I've been away. You have done a magnificent job honey and I appreciate it more than I can tell you. So until tomorrow, good night sweetheart - I love you.

Devotedly, Harry

---

Well, letters like this sure makes a person stop and think of the luxuries we sometimes take for granted. Who spends their morning grateful for the egg they had for breakfast? I know I don't really give it a second thought. Sixty five years ago Harry longed for his wife while sleeping in a German forest after bathing in a freezing stream - I can certainly get out of my funk and get down to business!!

Pieces of Me

This time of year is pretty crazy - I get to design, print, assemble, package and often delight in the fun world of wedding invites. It consumes me and fills up my life. Since I can't show you these finished invites yet (well, they aren't finished) I'll give you a sneak peak of what is going on in the studio.

Below are some pieces of me . . . (please note: I hate my camera and not all these photos look as nice as I want).

This is going to be a super cute western style invite.
Rich plum paper with a slight texture,
(the invite will be printed on a rugged recycled cardstock).
All tied with a hemp string.

Pretty in pink looks pretty chic with this picot edged ribbon.

How about layering some elegant champagne
shimmer paper with a subtle swirl pattern?

Black and pink again - love this combination of the luxe ribbon,
crisp black graphics and the softness of the linen papers.

This is what I'd design all day long if I could. Fun colors,
retro font and that awesome recycled paper.

I've been seeing a lot of this green.

This invite is elegant and earthy at the same time.

"Pumpkin" and "Plum" - yummy!
And this bride is going to use these graphics on her cake.


There is a whole lot more going on!
Give me a call to see if I can help you
with your dream invites!

Brides and Cake, Oh my!

Had a great time this weekend at the Greenville Bridal Gala! Lots of brides and lots of fun. A good amount of cake too. Then a stop at the Maid Rite for a special sandwich. Mom (my side kick at these sort of things) got a kick out of seeing all the gum on the building and remembered going through the drive thru (back in the day ofcourse). http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/10128

Then a stop on the way home for ice cream - yup, a great day!

Looking ahead I'm really excited about all the new things coming up. Lots of fun new brides with fun new ideas. Someday I'm going to be caught up and ahead of the game. I've got lots of ideas in store for labels, fun printed envelopes and great color combos.

Until then I'll enjoy designing, printing and producing YOUR ideas!

Quotes on Marriage

Quote #1
"An ideal wife is any woman who has an ideal husband."

This is that time of year - Bridal Season. This is the time of year I'm so busy I can barely remember my own wedding date - let alone the 50 or so brides I have on the docket. This year in particular I'm exceptionally busy so back in March I warned my husband that in April he should not expect much out of me in the way of housework, cooking or general fun. I apologized in advance and explained how I not only needed to concentrate on the beloved brides, I also wanted to revamp some things in the office to make our (mostly my) life easier. He agreed and has been pretty great about not having my undivided attention.

Quote #2
"Marriage is not a noun; it's a verb. It isn't something you get. It's something you do. It's the way you love your partner every day."

So last night I needed to run to Celina to make some errands. I waited until Adam got home to see if he wanted to go with me. He arrived home tired, dirty (bridal season goes hand in hand with swimming pool building season) with plans to mow the yard. I could tell he really wanted to just do the yard work and then probably zone out on Facebook for a couple years but instead he hustled through the mowing and got cleaned up so we could go together.

Quote #3
"It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages."

We had a fun night. It was one of those night where all you do is run boring errands and then share dinner at some random, not exciting, restaurant while you discuss if you should purchase both the grill and the weed trimmer or just the grill and wait another month for the weed trimmer. One of those "old married couple" nights that are fun because they just ARE.

Quote #4
"The real act of marriage takes place in the heart, not in the ballroom or church or synagogue. It's a choice you make - not just on your wedding day, but over and over again -- and that choice is reflected in the way you treat your husband or wife."

I should mention that one of Adams greatest joys is to make waiters and waitresses laugh. He's probably worried they are going to spit in his food. I usually worry they will spit in our food after they deal with him. Believe me, I've heard my share of stupid jokes.

Patient waitress: "Sir, would you like a box for your leftovers",
Him: "yeah but I gotta warn you, I have a mean left hook".

Get it? Box, left hook. If you box with someone you might get a mean left hook? Funny, right? Last night was no exception. It was a slow night in the restaurant we picked but the waitress looked tired nonetheless.

Me: I ordered a Pepsi or a Coke. (I'm easy like that).
Tired Waitress replied: "Pepsi?
Me: I said sure.
Adam: I'll have a Coke. (wait for it . . . confused look on waitress face and . . . a smile)
Adam said Pepsi would be just fine.

I ordered my food - I got the meatloaf special.
Adam ordered the buffet - and asked the waitress to bring ketchup for me since I forgot to ask.
I cooed at him because it was sweet that he remembered (hey, we've been married for almost 8 years - remembering that I like ketchup on meatloaf is sweet).
Adam smiled because that's what Adam does when I coo at him.

Yeah, we were pretty happy sappy in front of the waitress.

Quote #5
"Love at first sight is easy to understand; it's when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle."

So Adam leaves the table to visit the buffet and when the waitress brings our drinks she, almost awkwardly, asks how long we'd been married. I told her almost 8 years and she opened her mouth to say something, pointed at me, pointed at Adams empty seat but then abruptly walked away.

When Adam came back I told him about the waitresses odd behavior. As we were wondering about it she came back to the table and apologized. She explained that she'd just gotten married a couple weeks ago and she didn't think it was going to work out. She babbled for a little bit before she left admonishing herself, "I must be crazy for telling you all this."

The third time she visited our table I said, "hey, just so you know - we haven't always gotten along. Believe me, we've had our rough patches. BELIEVE ME. I mean . . ." But she interrupted me and gave us a laundry list of reason she didn't think the marriage was good. And the list was pretty long. And pretty ugly. Then she abruptly left again almost in tears telling herself, "I'm crazy, I really think I'm crazy for talking about this."

Quote 6
"All you need in the world is love and laughter. That's all anybody needs. To have love in one hand and laughter in the other."

I look at Adam with almost tears in my eyes for this poor girl.

Adam looks at me long and hard and says, "I think shes working us for a tip."

But he looked sad too.


Quote 7
"All weddings are similar, but every marriage is different."

The rest of the meal she acted like she'd never divulged her inner most thoughts. So we did too. Then on the way home I said a prayer for her and for her husband. But even today I can't stop thinking about it. Certainly I've had my share of relationships that didn't work out. And let's face it - marriage is hard. But with faith and love everything can work out. There was just something so hopeless about the way she looked. I really hope she's going to be okay.

I told Adam to go ahead and get the grill and the weed trimmer.

He deserves it.

Quotes found on these great websites
http://www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_marriage.html
http://www.quotegarden.com/marriage.html

Good things are coming for Sara Paper in May and June!! Check back often!

What a Great Day!

First of all, THE SUN! This whole day has been beautiful and sun soaked. My dogs are loving the rays and all day long they have been stretched out in the sun being lazy.

Second of all, MY TAXES ARE PAID! It was a beautiful day four years ago when I first visited Mark Cisco of Cisco and Company. He is always very patient with me and his staff is excellent. I can go forth now and know that I'm paid up and have fulfilled my financial legal obligations.

Third of all, THE LIBRARY was open! With all the cuts in the library it's rare for them to be open when I'm passing through. So I stopped in and grabbed a couple books and then purchased a few from the donation pile.

Fourth of all, THE OFFICE is on tonight AND it's a one hour special!

Fifth of all, I have a NETWORKING EVENT to attend tonight. My friend Marissa from Locust Street Consulting has spearheaded a young professionals networking group. It's called GLYP (Grand Lake Young Professionals). This should be a fun evening.

Sixth of all, I have sooo many FUN DESIGNS I'm working on. I can't share them until after the event but I'm excited about them all.

And now a quote of the day selected randomly from my new (to me) book.

"No, I'm breaking it in for a friend." said by Groucho Marx when asked if Groucho was his real name.

Let me introduce you to my friend, Roy G Biv

Roy G. Biv is a mnemonic for the sequence of hues in the visible spectrum in rainbows, and in order from longest to shortest wavelength:
Red Orange Yellow
Green
Blue Indigo Violet

How exciting for me to have special shelves to keep my colored papers organized! I used to keep them all in one giant stack, which wasn't fun when I needed one sheet of red shimmer paper to work on a proof. "Red" of course being on the bottom. These little shelves (above) were made of the scrap wood from the "real" shelves (below). They worked out perfectly!

Pegboard before . . .

Pegboard after!

The pegboard seemed to be the easiest thing in the world for Adam and Mikey to build. Especially since it was made from a scrap piece that was sitting in Mikes shed just begging for a new life. But I love it the most out of the whole room/closet.

And now a picture of the man that made it all happen. Looks like he now gets to pick where to sleep when he gets in trouble - the doghouse and the paper shelf.

One last thing - we finally saw the sun today!
Hope your day is sunny too!

Yeah - My office is a mess.

My office is a mess. Not your average run of the mill "I need to dust and do a little filing" mess. This is epic, "in your face, hard to work until it's cleaned up" mess.

Once upon a time Sara Paper was housed in a small room (a glorified closet really) off the front foyer. It was nice and cozy. I met with clients in my living room/dining area of our home. Once a groom-to-be happily watched a Cleveland Browns game from the nearby sofa while us gals pored through the books.

Shortly before we bought our very large printer we decided we needed to rearrange things. The master bedroom became our living room, the living room became the office and the the little cozy office off the foyer became a paper closet. Everything fit and I became an expert at stacking. And I could still close the door so it wasn't a big deal how anything looked in there.

But then I found that I was spending a lot of time moving stuff. And calling out for my husband to come in and move the heavy pieces so I could get to certain parts of the closet. Clearly this wasn't going to be a decent way to live or do business.

So last night I yanked everything out of the closet. My biggest thrill of Sunday was when my sister-in-law asked if I knew of anyone wanting to get rid of a chest of drawers. I NEEDED to get rid of a chest of drawers that was taking up valuable real estate in the closet! They came and picked it up and that was one less thing I had to move.

Here is the picture of my cozy paper closet after it puked all over my office.

Here are my happy little workers. My husband and his dad. They are doing a fabulous job!

I can't wait to share the "after" photos. In the meantime I'll enjoy the nice smell of wood and sawdust which always makes me think of home.

I'm also going to see what Harry and Helen were up to this time 66 years ago.
____

Monday Eve, February 21, 1944

Hello Honey,
Well, how's the most wonderful husband in the world today? It's just 10:20 and I'm laying in bed writing this. I got home around 9:15. Then I had to put up my hair, wash and glance at the paper. Now my letter. I wasn't as tired as usual tonight, somehow.

I sent you a box of cookies today. I hope you like them. They aren't homemade but I thought you fellows would like to munch on them while you study. Hope they're not all broken.

On my lunch hour I got the license plates. It seemed to go through okay. Howards have the license plate service too, but you have to wait a week before you can get them and I didn't want to take a chance. I'll also have to take my drivers test Wednesday morning at 8:00. I'll probably be pretty nervous, but I hope to get along okay. Our license number is pretty easy one to remember 487861, isn't it?

Honey, do you ever get any gum? If you can get any and send it or bring it if you get home. I'd appreciate it. Beechnut preferred, or Beechils in the red or blue package. I'd take almost any kind.

The snow has just about disappeared here no and walks and streets are at the messy stages.

Darling, did you know that I'm crazy about Harry Teague? I love him more and more each day. In fact, I can't hardly wait to see him. Honey, I'm praying for that furlough. I love you and am so proud of you. I can't tell you how much.

I'm yours, as always ~ Devotedly, Helen