Seven Business Myths and Ten Fonts

I feel inspired this week to share a blog that I came across because of one of my BFFs. I just think it's too good not to share. I thought that there might be someone else out there that's trying to get a business started or struggling in their existing business that might benefit from an encouraging read.

What I am realizing about having my own business is that one day will be really good and then the next day will be...a little less good. When this happens I typically try to just keep moving forward, which I've always thought was a decent way to do things (in life in general), but I've also found that it helps to read something that really motivates and inspires me. I found that something this week and I would like to share it.

In addition, I am dealing with a major font addiction and I'll share some great fonts that I've found lately (most of them free) and where you can find them. That's how excited I am about fonts this week. Yay!

So my friend Heidi and I are both aspiring entrepreneurs and we let each other know if we come across something particularly interesting that is related to business. She recently texted to see if I had heard of Biz Ladies, which is a part of another website, DesignSponge. Biz Ladies is a series of blog posts for woman entrepreneurs where you can find topics on anything from time management to accounting and finance to ethics and etiquette. In other words, this is a blog that I will now become obsessed with (in addition to fonts, of course).

The article that I came across first is called 'Seven Myths That Make Earning Ugly', and it's the article I wanted to bring to your attention today. The author, Tara Gentile, is a business coach and blogger and sets out to bust seven myths that business owners face. Being someone who is only seven months into her business, this article helped remind me of some important things. Here's an excerpt that falls under Myth 3: I do not need to make more money because I love what I do.

Your time, energy and circumstances (hello, work-from-home moms!) do not reduce the value of what you do or produce. Value is value. It’s your job to better understand the value of your work to your customers and clients and then constantly improve on how that value is perceived so that you can truly make (lots of) money beautifully.

Am I the only one out there that thinks that pricing has been one of the most difficult parts of doing this whole business thing? It's definitely been something I've struggled with, which might be why this excerpt impacted me.  But as I've kept moving forward - realizing that I should constantly be checking to make sure I'm giving my brides a valuable experience - I've become a little more confident each time I've quoted a price.  Articles like these have helped give me that little push I needed to do this.

So, go...read the Biz Ladies articles. Add it to your google reader. Put it with the rest of your bookmarks. Or just memorize the address and check back multiple times daily like I do. I'm pretty sure you won't be upset you did.

OK...now on to part two of this blog post: fonts. (Fonts!) I've found some great fonts lately and just wanted to share. I'm always looking for new fonts, especially script fonts that will look great on a wedding invitation.

(By the way, all of them are free with the exception of Hiatus. Hiatus is from Veer.com, which has the most beautiful fonts I've ever seen, but is a little pricey.)

You can click on the name of the font to find where it's found.

1. Before the Rain

2. Better Heather

3. Channel

4. Halo Handletter

5. Hiatus 

6. Respective

7. Freebooter Script

8. Doris Day

9. Honey Script

And for all of you Christmas font lovers, here's a fun one. Right in time for all of the Christmas hoopla. :)

10. Christmas Card

OK, that's enough for now. I know there are other font lovers out there, so I'll make sure to share if I get any fun, new fonts with you. :) 

I hope everyone has a fantastic Halloween. For some reason I've been all about it this year even though I never have been before. Luke even said the other day, "so...you're really into Halloween this year, huh?" I don't know what it is, but it's even surprised me. 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Birthday, Vivian Elle

I must take a break in my invitation posting to tell you that today is Vivian Elle's 2nd birthday. Not the invitation business Vivian Elle, but the little thing that I named it after:

Because this blog can only handle so much cuteness, I'll stop there.

Vivian Elle turns 2 today and I just wanted to take some time out to celebrate her. She's an inspiring little thing and a joy to be around. And just to keep consistent with posting some fun paper products, here's a little card I made up for her today.

Since her birthday was a rainy one, I thought the umbrellas were a nice fit.

And here's a blogged Happy Birthday from her uncle and me, since we weren't able to be with her today. Ginny, are you holding her up to the computer so she can see? :)

Happy birthday, Viv!

Kenny and Meghan's Programs

Have you had enough of looking at programs yet? No? Excellent, because here’s one more (last one, I promise).

I had worked on Meghan and Kenny’s invitations a few months ago and shortly after, Meghan contacted me to do their programs. She wanted to keep it simple so we used the same classic ecru paper from their invitations and decided on a simple 4x12 piece of card stock. In addition, she wanted to loop purple ribbon through the top so she could attach them to the chairs (what a great idea, by the way...not only does it look great, it’s practical). 

The first thing that Meghan said was that we needed enough room to put a lot of information on the program...and she did have a LOT of information. My greatest accomplishment was that I actually fit everything in (it would be sad if this was actually the greatest accomplishment out of my entire life thus far...not as sad since it was just the greatest accomplishment of this single project). 

I am so excited about my fall decor that I had to take a picture with it in the background. Fall!

I love these programs...the 4x12 cardstock is such an elegant look, but really simple. Meghan and Kenny were married this past weekend at the Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth. Sigh. I must start crashing some of these weddings soon. 

In other news, my fall to do list has one more thing crossed off. Slowly but surely is my motto with this list. 

I visited Tennessee this past weekend and hit up my second apple orchard of the season with the BFFs on Saturday. We split apple dumplings. Oh my goodness...I’m still salivating. I remember telling my friend Kauri that I’d just have a couple of bites of hers. Biggest understatement of the weekend. 

Speaking of food, I have incorporated so many new recipes into our meal plan, which was much needed after a summer of "oh...we're having BBQ chicken quesadillas again?". I just wanted to share my three favorites, all found on Pinterest. 

1. Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches

www.favfamilyrecipes.com

Be still my beating heart. These are SO good. I put a little less cream cheese, just so I could pretend it was kind of healthy.

2. Ham and Cheese Sliders

www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com

To die for.

3. Crispy Chicken with Creamy Italian Sauce and Bowtie Pasta

www.jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com

This recipe is no joke.  There's nothing else to say.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for another wedding and new and improved picture galleries on my website!

Erin and Austin's Wedding Programs

A few months ago, Erin and Austin enlisted me to help with their wedding invitations. Here's a picture to refresh your memory:

When it came time to make programs, Erin wanted to use the same tree graphic and create a booklet for the program.

We pulled the tree and the layout of their names from the original invitation to create a cover for the the booklet.

This type of program gave them plenty of room to have their ceremony order, their wedding party and family, and a thank you note to their guests.

We took the cover and incorporated it into each page. I absolutely love them...they tied their invitation in perfectly with their wedding day. Congratulations, Austin and Erin!