Your New Friend Sam Giveaway, Celebrating My 2,000th Sale!
Feels like just yesterday I was freaking out over my 1,000th sale. And today, just 4 months later, the shop has had its 2,000th sale. I count each sale as a step in a new direction for my life, and daily, I am blown away that the whirlwind of the holidays never slowed down but only continues to gain momentum. So to celebrate and thank everyone for their support these past few months, I wanted to do a little give-away! After asking on Facebook about what I should give away from my shop, I decided to give a store credit of $30 to one lucky winner that shares my promo graphic. So whether you want an address stamp or a thank you stamp
Your New Friend Sam, Etsy Shop: Will You Be In My Bridal Party Cards, Bridesmaid Invitations
This past fall, after some experimenting with embossing, I added some "will you be in my bridal party?" cards. They were an unexpected success
Happy Two Years to My Little Shop, Your New Friend Sam
Wow, just wow. Each and every day, I still can't believe what's blossomed over these last two years. Starting out, I didn't think I'd have time to ship product, so I only listed printable, downloadable invitations. Then, while helping my best friend with her wedding, I added some various new items—like an address stamp that I hand lettered. From there my shop exploded from just printables to a rubber stamp and lettering shop. Nothing that I even started with. I can go weeks without even selling a printable invite, but daily, I'm selling things I've handlettered. Where? What? How? Starting out, I didn't even know I could letter. That I could write in a way that people would want to buy it. Buy it for their weddings, for their businesses, for tattoos on their arms! It's such a a simple concept and it blows my mind daily. And I thank God for giving me that skill. Yes, I've studied and practiced like crazy, but truly, if I can call this a gift, it all came from God. There is no other way to explain it. And that's the only way I can even try to fathom how I got to where I
Your New Friend Sam, Etsy Shop: It’s a Frozen Celebration
Now that it's December and really starting to feel like winter here in Southern California, I thought it was a perfect time to post about my new Frozen inspired invitations! Several months ago, I dreamed up a list of all the items I'd like to add to my shop, a Frozen themed invitation being one of them. Not long after that, an old friend inquired about having a Frozen themed invite custom designed for her daughter's third birthday party. Divine, right? I started dreaming up how I'd want the invite to look, but as I am not much of an illustrator, I called upon my wonderful friend Rachel, a student at University of California Irvine. And a very familiar face around this blog. After giving Rachel a sketch and some images to inspire the look and feel of the invite, she went to town painting up the background of the invite on several pages for me to digitally piece together. I just love the look of these in person, the depth and texture to each layer of paint
5 Ways to Prepare and Shop for Christmas with Your New Friend Sam
Guys, it's November?! What? How did that even happen
Your New Friend Sam, Etsy Shop: Rubber Stamps for Shops
What I love most about shopping on Etsy are the personal relationships you develop with your customers and other shop owners. Each shop has a face to the name and although the shops create a market that span continents, it feels like a small little community! Since Christmas is coming ever so quickly, I thought I'd share about a few of my clients that bought stamps from me for their own Etsy shops, and real life shops! If you have a moment, or two, settle in with a nice cup of coffee and check them out! Maybe get some early holiday shopping done! Lacey Osojo of Hum Right Along www.etsy.com/shop/humrightalong I loved working with Lacey on her stamp! Plus I was so honored and smitten to read her blog post on her stamp! Like over the moon, can not believe my eyes in shock, happy! Since then we have been blogging and Instagram friends! So fun! Anyway, take a looksie around her shop
Friday Footnotes
Ever have those weeks that are just slow enough that for half a heartbeat or so, you start to question whether you've headed down the wrong path? That was me last week. That was me just this past Sunday. My Etsy shopped slowed from the frenzy of commuter hour to a nicely paced drive in the middle of the country. i.e. it didn't even stop. But it slowed to the point where I had the mini-est of panic attacks, questioning whether or not this could really be for real. That the craziness of these past few months were over and that it was all a big joke that God was pulling. Well, all those doubts flew right out the window on Monday and we're back to the juggling always multi-tasking day-to-day frenzy that my life has become. I must admit, I kinda missed this frenzy. Soooo
Your New Friend Sam, Etsy Shop: Wedding Vows Typography Art Printables and Prints
Earlier this year, just over 6 months ago actually, I posted about a new product I had added to my shop. You see, I thought I invented these things
The Thankful Workaholic
I may work by myself all day morning, day, and night long but last night I started thinking about the amazing and supporting "colleagues" I've developed. I work on my Etsy shop orders from dawn until the real job starts, and then usually late into the night, so these people are my rocks, truly
Splish Splash, Amelia’s Under the Sea First Birthday Bash
Amelia's first birthday party was a few weeks ago now, and I have been so anxious to post photos from the event. Under the Sea Birthday Party Invitations Of course, we must start with the invitations. I have to say these are pretty much my most favorite invitations I've ever designed. From the hand drawn illustrations to the layers of color and texture