Friday, April 20, 2012

Feel The Love Friday!

We had another order for a Mickey Inspired Banner...one of our most popular! So we sent out the banner along with a nice thank you note and she loved it!

Personalized Birthday Banner (Mickey Mouse)Personalized Birthday Banner (Mickey Mouse)

Here's what Sarah had to say about her order:

"Worth every penny!!! The banner I ordered is, unbelievably, even cuter than the photo! Seller even sent along a personalized "Thank You" card!!! From the workmanhip on the banner to their dealings with me as a client, from start to finish everything was spectacularly professional."--- Sarah from California Pin It Now!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

How to Stay Organized!

Our business is quickly growing and we are always thinking of new ways to keep organized! We technically have two offices (Momma Reina's House & Momma Rachel's House). So naturally, this is one of our biggest sources of chaos: What stuff is at which house?!?!

I See Double
So far we have been just trying to double up most things such as Cricut Machines, Laptops, Paper, glues, and other accessories so most big things are at both "offices".  However it never fails that we forget or need something when an order comes in and its never at the right house!

Our "Cloud"
We created a shared email account: EtsyRandRCreations@gmail.com. So if I am working on a project that Reina has done already I can look into our  Google Docs where we have uploaded a spreadsheet of sizing, fonts, cartridges we use on each project. We also have our price list, and printables so our info is available anywhere we are! (We also use this email to speak with customers!)

Management
Another thing to do is to try and create a system for who does what and when. For example, Momma Reina stays up later than I do and I just recently got an iPhone so she is usually in charge of our timely and cheery responses when people message us on Etsy!  She is also in charge of supplying the yummy smoothies that recharge us in the middle of the day! I do most of the printing and invite wording as well as OCD-ishly trimming any paper than did not cut perfectly.

Open Items
Every time we break after a long day of creating we make a list of open items for each person to work on until we meet again (which is usually no long than 12 hours later!) This usually included deciding who works on a specific part of a project, running to Michaels, making Thank You notes for our orders, creating new ideas, doing paperwork etc....

The Mula
Lastly, we had to figure out a system for getting paid! At first we were just using our own money and spending much more than we were actually making. But eventually R&R Creations started getting busy  and we decided we needed to get serious! So Mamma Reina (a retired accountant) created a P&L spreadsheet for us and we began keeping track of what we spent and what we got paid from Etsy. This was helpful but using our own money was still confusing, so we went to the bank and opened a joint account! Now when we run to Michaels or the Dollar store or anywhere for our business we pay with our joint credit card. We also linked our PayPal account to it so money comes in and money goes our of one place!

Our work spaces are getting crowded and the more we get the less space we have. We would love to hear any suggestions you have for staying organized! Thanks!
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Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Ahoy Matey....Returns!

Our newest creation....a Pirate Centerpiece!!!!!!!

This goes beautifully with our Pirate Invitations! We added some custom pieces like his name (Gavin), a G for Gavin, and a 1 for his age! The colors for the boys hair and eyes can also be changed to match your child's hair and eye color! My son WILL be having a pirate birthday party at some point in his life (hopefully his 2nd birthday!)


But if you want something a little younger....how about an octopus pirate???

But maybe you are thinking: I love it but I wish it was a tad bit smaller....


A mini centerpiece for smaller tables or in addition to the larger centerpiece! We have thought of everything!

Well, as you can see, we are pretty excited about our newest addition to R&R Creations designs....but wait until you see the mermaid centerpiece! 

Stay tuned for the counterpart to this Pirate........Little Mermaid!!!
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Tuesday, April 17, 2012

A mermaid event!

So our upcoming pirate party had a little bit of a costume change and now it is a pirate/mermaid party! SUCH a cute idea! :)

We worked on creating the mermaid today and managed to finish her name banner as well! :) Little Lilyanna is turning one and has brown hair and blue eyes.......... So her mermaid version does too!

The picture doesn't even do her justice! She has sparkly pink paper for her seashells and tail and then sparkly blue paper for ther sea shell. She then has blue embellshiments for her eyes and then a cute little gem embellishment in her hair as well! She is then hanging out off the seashell on some 3D pops. Oh my goodness, I can't take the cuteness!!!

We then used a pink polkdot paper which kind of reminded us of a girly underwater scene and used ocean blue/teal for the letters all on a white adorable scallop. Then tied it off with matching teal and sparkly irridescent ribbon!




This is a name only banner, but we could certainly add "Happy Birthday" as well! :)

Stay tuned for the mermaid centerpiece we are currently working on and the counterpart to this little mermaid........... the PIRATE! Pin It Now!

Monday, April 16, 2012

Monster Bash Update!

Hello All! 
We just wanted to update you on the cutest little Thank You Note Ever! (Ok....I know...I say that about everything we do!) But who wouldn't love this adorable little note???

As per usual we included a business card, and two coupons for future purchases!

All we did is use the same red polka dot paper glued onto the blank card. Then we added a strip of the matching lime green paper for a little more color! Then we added a monster. We "popped" him by adding think foam squares so it comes off the page a little. Then, just add a google eye and a smile! Tada!



Just to reminder about how well this card matching the invites.....here they are too!

So everyone knows who made these cute items we created brand labels and put them on the back of all our items! Then if someone gets one in the mail and they love it they can come to our blog and check us out!

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Sunday, April 15, 2012

Sunday Link of Support

Here is another great crafter! We actually did a birthday banner for her daughter Mary (Our entry "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary") and will hopefully be doing her son's banner for his birthday!

She does beautiful letters that are painted with different colored fabrics. Very creative and can be used for anything from the baby's name to a kitchen sign!


She has an Etsy store: 
http://www.etsy.com/people/JKLMDesigns

And also a new Website: http://jklmdesigns.webs.com/




"This fun process allows Kelli (an admitted Fabric-aholic) to express herself and use beautiful, and fun fabric to customize letters, while still being able to be home with her two (with a third almost here!) children!" Pin It Now!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

DIY Time

So I have a really good friend, Emily who recently had a birthday. She is  a classy chica who loves Lilly Pulitzer, the color pink, her scotty dog Oliver and of course spoiling my daughter Natalie rotten. :)

Here is a cute little moment of Natalie and her Aunty Emily when she was only 4 months old. (feeling the gut twisting reality of how fast time is going......)



Since it was her birthday, I wanted to make sure she got an extra special card from our family as she has been SO good to us. Babysitting Natalie so that the hubby and I can get a much needed date night and of course spoiling miss Natalie with lots of adorable clothes and accessories. (got to start 'em young, right??)





ANYWAY........ So here is the card I came up with for her:





The bright pink is a 4" X 12" piece of paper folded in at the 3 and 9 inch marks to create this adorable tri-fold look. (I feel like I'm kind of obsessed with this style right now!) Then I cut the "E" out at 2.5 inches tall and the little scotty out at 3 inches wide. I made all of this in the 'Making the Cut' Software, so no cricut cartidge to reference here. I shadowed the "E" with lime green at .02 inches and then popped the E and the scotty dog off the page with a bunch of 3D dots to give it an extra rich effect.
Then finished it off with a cute little "Happy Birthday" stamp in navy blue.

It is so easy to make something extra personalized for a friend or loved one, so why not do it instead of buying a premade card at the store? I promise it will be MUCH more fun and if you are like us and have babies/toddlers......... any excuse NOT to go to store is one I am happy to take! :)

Thanks for stopping by! :)
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Friday, April 13, 2012

Feel the love Friday!

Remember the adorable Mickey Inspired napkins rings and high chair banner we made last week? The rush order that we only had a few days turn around for? Here is reminder of what they looked like:

(Napkins Rings with Matching Thank You Note Included)

(Mickey Inspired High Chair Banner: I am 1)

Well  we shipped it Priority Mail and she got her package (on time!) and loved it! Here is what she had to say:

"Quick, Easy, Fast. I had a great customer experience and respondance of urgency. Your creations were fantastic, and extraordinary. You ladies worked fast and to my expectations. I will definitely go to you again for any of my occasions because you artistic filled my dream of my sons party. Thank You ladies at R & R Creations"


                                                           -Tuty from Florida


*Thanks Tuty for choosing R&R Creations to decorate your party!

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Thursday, April 12, 2012

It's a Monster Bash!

Hello Readers!

Our latest project...... MONSTERS!!!! :) We were asked by Jack's mama to create a custom monster invitation for his 6th birthday. She wanted us to use the colors lime green, engine red, black and teal.  So we came up with this adorable trifold style with a google eye monster that pops up off the page!! SO CUTE! (please excuse my messy blurring of the event details! :-p)




She loved it so much that she asked us to make up two more custom monsters to use on her favor boxes. So a little creative time together this afternoon and..... TADA! Here is what we came up with! :)


Next we also made this SUPER CUTE Monster bash banner using this adorable paper I saw at the store the other day and just couldn't resist! The party is going to be somewhere where there are black lights so the white letters are going to REALLY pop at this party!



She loved it and asked us to add "Jack's" to the beginning so of course we will be doing that! We love customizing. :)

So that is a quick glimpse into our adventures in monster making! Keep checking back for more photos of our completed work! :)
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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

New and Improved!

As you know we love sending a personal note to all our customers thanking them for shopping with us and giving them little incentives to keep coming back! Our latest Mickey Inspired Thank You Note looks a little like this:

These could be turned into adorable Mickey Inspired Invitations or Favor Bag Toppers too! 



We used the same theme as what she ordered:  Mickey Inspired Napkin Rings! 
She wanted yellow rings with a red circle and a black Mickey. So Cute!!

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Tuesday, April 10, 2012

DIY time!

As you have seen in a recent post, we did a dinosaur party for little Mr. Connor's 1st birthday! The party was this weekend and I took a little DIY time to make our gifts for him extra special. :)

First was a gift bag:

So cute, right?! Here is how I made it:

1. buy a plain colored bag (I bought mine at Target)
2. Cut out letters at 5 inches (I used the Plantin Schoolbook Cricut cartridge)
3. Cut out shadow letters at 5 inches (I used the Plantin Schoolbook Cricut cartridge)
4. Glue together
5. Cut out little character at 4 inches (I used Create a critter cricut cartridge)
6. Glue all parts together.

I then attached them to the bag using 3D pop dots for an awesome 3D effect! 


Next was a personalized birthday card:


 I used a 5X7 white note card and attached a piece of blue and white polka dot paper left over from doing the decorations for this party.  I then attached another dino (again, from the create a critter cricut cartridge) at 2 inches. The 1 was also from Plantin School book using the "roly poly" setting at 7 inches. Finally I attached another "C" which is the same as the bag above with another 5 inch C. Then of course we popped the little dinosaur with the 3D pops!



 I then stamped the inside of the card with a "happy birthday" stamp in royal blue.

SO simple and it doesn't take a whole lot of time to be able to show up at a party super excited and proud of what is in your hand! :)

So take a little DIY time for yourself! :) Pin It Now!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Rings o' Napkin

Our Latest Order: Mickey Inspired Napkin Rings! 

She needed these perfect little napkin rings quickly so we had to do a rush order! Even with the holiday this weekend we still got them out today even though she just ordered them on Saturday! 

 They can be personalized with the first initial of the child having the birthday (or age)!

 They close with a little double sided tape we added to the backs of one side. 
Another option is to make the slits so the paper just folds into itself and no tape is needed!



And of course a matching Thank You note for ordering with R&R Creations!
 (Details about the Thank You Note later, so check back tomorrow!)

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Sunday, April 8, 2012

sunday link of support!

So I think it should be mentioned that our very own Rachel has her own scrapbooking business as well! She does such awesome work!!



Want a scrapbook of something special...
but just don't have the time to do it yourself???

Do you.......
*Have a box full of photos and no idea what to do with them?
*Like to collect things from your travels (ticket stubs, pamphlets, business cards...)?
*Want more than a photo album from your wedding?
* Have a baby and can't stop taking pictures of every "first"?
*Want to give a gift of memories to someone special?
"But I don't have time!"
That's where she comes into play! She will make your scrapbook for you! Just send her all the pictures and mementos you would like in the book, with any direction you want to give, and she will create a beautiful scrapbook that you can cherish for yourself or give as a gift!

Seem too good to be true? It's as easy as 1, 2,3!
1) First, you give her your "vision" (theme, colors, do's and don'ts...).
2) Second, you either mail photos or print photos to our local pharmacy.
3) Third, she gets started and you will have your masterpiece in a few weeks!

Check her out here!
https://sites.google.com/site/organizemymemories/home

She also has her own etsy shop of course!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/rachelgsutton?ref=seller_info Pin It Now!

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Thanks Again!

So we have this amazing customer with an adorable son who ordered Elmo decorations from us and kept coming back for more! So we wanted to thank her for being such a loyal customer that we made her some custom monogrammed notes! We asked her what her color choice was and she said she would love pink and brown, so here is what we came up with!

We made them all a little different but with a simliar feel.


We used a simliar letter on monogrammed invations that we will post soon!
Check back with us in a few weeks!




And of course we tied them in a bow (pink & brown!) and sent them her right away!


Want free personalized notecards?
Just spend $200.00 or more with us and we will make them for you!
Feel free to tell us the letter and colors you want.

Like this loyal customer, you don't have to spend it all at one time!
Once you've reached $200 in purchases with
 
we will give you the coupon code for your free gift!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Friday, April 6, 2012

Friday Feel the Love!

As of late, it seems that our Elmo centerpiece is our most popular item!! :) Here is a special order Elmo centerpiece we did for a customer in Texas!

Her son Everett is turning two and she asked that we also incorporate some blue and green into our usually predominately red and yellow centerpiece. Pretty stinking cute how it turned out! :)






Here is what she had to say about her experience with us:

"Very, very pleased with my Elmo centerpiece!!! Reasonable price and was extremely cute- customized just they way I had asked and I received it in less than 2 weeks! Would highly recommend using them to give your party that special touch !! They even sent coupons for me and a friend for the next time we order from them! I will definitely be using R and R creation for my sons party next year as well!!!"--Melissa in Texas

Thanks so much for your feedback, Melissa!
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Thursday, April 5, 2012

Dino Party

Hello! Thanks for stopping by! Tonight I wanted to share our Dino Party Decorations! We did it all, from the invitation to the goodie bags! We went with a green, blue, orange color scheme! But of course we could do any color combo you like! Here is everything!

First and formost the invite! A dino wearing a party hat??? Couldn't be cuter!



Then the banner!
Blue and green circles with bold white letters, a 1 with a little green leaf with the the letters "st" inside, and dinos on the ends! All strung with bright orange ribbon!

Confetti! We made confetti in the matching colors that had both dinos.



We made a Hanging Door sign with the child's name on it. The best part about the sign is that when the party is over you can hang this on his door! How cute!!!



 She also wanted some hanging deocrations so we did double sides leaves with his name on some and his age on others!
The other hanging decorations we did were both dinos on two layers of circles, double sided!

And our special dinosaur hanging 1s

Goodie bags/ Favors: These goodie bag toppers will be stapled to the tops of the bags to seal them shut!We embossed a blue stamped thank you and then attached a dino to it!




12 Month Photo Montage: Here is the dino themed montage. All 12 4x6 photos from birth to age one are backed on orange cardstock.


Attached to each is a small green leaf with the age in blue! Here is a close up of one photo:


 The center of the montage has an adorable sign reading "Watch Connor Grow!" and his 12 month photo done in the same way as all the others!The three dinos at the top are growing just like Connor!


So thats the dino party! These items come as a package or individual so you can choose what you want! Custom packages are also available so you can pick and choose!

Love it? Want it? Visit our Etsy shop and message us! Cant wait to hear from you!


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