custom photo cowboy birthday invitation

yipee ki yea - it is a little cowboys birthday.

this cowboy invite was made for one of my favorite [repeat] clients for her little guys cowboy theme birthday. this card features a beige background with a bandana strip and a silhouette of a classic cowboy with a favorite photo of your little cowboy!

autumns creek: my new look

the new look for autumns creek custom cards:

i had been wanting a new logo for a while and once i ran out of business cards, i knew it was the time. talk about difficult logo clients, i am the worst, lol. it took a a while for me to commit to a design, but here it is. as a girl, i have always been a doodeler and i always catch myself doddeling hearts and flowers. so, of course, here is my new logo with a flower (of sorts) made out of hearts. five hearts, one for each member of my family. a big blue one for the mister, a pink one for me, a muted brown for my oldest son, green for my middle son and another shade of pink for my little girl. 5 hearts coming together :)

another monkey birthday invitation!

lets go bananas -

this design can feature up to five pictures from the past year or pics from each year to current. as always, wording and colors customizable. up within the next day or so in my store:



*design quality shown is converted to web size, not reflective of actual clarity on printed card :)

custom photo holiday cards: christmas in july!

another sneek peak at another new design for the 2009 holiday season.

the adorable card features one of your favorite photos on a bright red background and a bright green border with fun polka dots. I could even add a second (smaller) photo on the bottoom right edge if you wanted. sample shows what the back would look like for cardstock orders of this design.



photo holiday cards * photo cristmas cards * photo holiday greetings

photo birthday party invitations: so sweet ladybug invitations

is your little ladybug having a birthday party? invite your guests with these so sweet little ladybug custom photo invitations. with the option of using up to 6 of your favorite photos, show your friends and family how she has grown!!


© autumns-creek: sweet ladybug banner invitation


© autumns-creek: sweet ladybug frames invitation

custom photo holiday cards: christmas in july?

custom photo holiday cards:
i will debuting a few new custom holiday cards from my new 2009 line this month. i thought i would just share a few at the end of the month. but to make things more fun, i will share a single one at a time.

design name: poinsettia
this little card can feature up to 4 of your favorite photos. if you are using verical photos, then 2 would be the most. it has a soft taupe background with polka dots and a deep red strip with your greeting. as always, all colors and wording are completely customizable.

red wagon birthday invitations

07.06.2009
what says childhood more than a little red wagon? every child deserves one of these nostalgic toys and what a better theme for your little one's party? these new designs are just for you and your little red wagon birthday party!! you can add more pictures and all wording and colors, as always, are completely customizable!! these red wagon invitations will be up and in my store (with a few more new one (with multiple pics) this week!!!

custom photo party invitation - little red wagon blocks ©


custom photo party invitation - little red wagon parade©


custom photo party invitation - lred wagon filled with fun ©


red wagon birthday invitations * red wagon party

custom invitations: weddings anyone? help me.

so excited to get started on this line. i have been planning for almost two years and now is the time. i need your help though. can you all share (in the comments section) your favorite wedding color(s), theme, pattern (flourish, damask, etc).

please?

(p.s. that little gorgeous dress up there is drawn by me.... :)

custom photo cards - quantity discount pricing is done!!

quantity discount pricing is done!!
a huge thanks to my hubby for completing quantity discount pricing. with the pricing schedule, your price per piece starts to go down starting at 35 pieces, then goes down even more at 50, and even more at 100. buy more and save more!!

• birth announcements
• baptism invitations
• birthday invitations
• holiday cards

great photo cards start with great pictures - photography 101

and, great pictures usually start with great eye contact!!

i get many moms (ok, a couple dads too), that email me, frustrated that they do not have any good pictures. first, let me say that when all is said and done, every picture you have documenting your children's lives are ALL good pictures. while, i will agree that every picture may not be technically correct, or what some people may call "frame-worthy," as a photographer and a mom, there is something magical, about every picture.

so, blah blah blah, you get the sappy stuff, but you want a technically better photos of your kids? okay, glad you asked :) great photos usually start with these main things; good light (which to me is natural light, never flash), good composition and eye contact. notice i didn't say a good camera? that is because it isn't the camera, it isn't. when non-photography people see my pictures, many say, "wow, you have a great camera." well, that is like calling a chef to your table and saying, "wow, what great pans you have." :)

i will admit that a great camera can take higher resolution pictures, handle low light better and even capture better compositions with full frames, but if you don't have the basics down, the best camera in theworld can't take a great photo on it's own.

today, i am going to share a secret about one of the main things behind a great photo, eye contact. some of you tell me your child wont look at you runs, away, etc. there are some great ways to fix this. for little babies (at least 6 weeks) eye contact can be acheived. use a bell, whistle or some other form of noise and they will look at you, then click.

for the older ones, there are many things to try;

1. try singing them a new song - itsy bitsy spider, while doing the spider with one hand works wonders
2. tell them jokes.
3. whisper, like you are telling a secret and most kids will stare.
4. ask if you have something on your camera (hey lizzie, is there a butterfly on my camera?)
5. and finally, there is always bribery. sometimes a great shot may cost you a bag of m&m's, but it will be worth it :)
   
   below are some of my favorite shots that i have taken for friends with great eye contact!
   
   

custom photo cards - quantity discount pricing is done!!

a huge thanks to my hubby for completing quantity discount pricing. with the pricing schedule, your price per piece starts to go down starting at 35 pieces, then goes down even more at 50, and even more at 100. buy more and save more!!

• birth announcements
• baptism invitations
• birthday invitations
• holiday cards

quantity discounts now available.

yippee we have our birthday invitations, holiday cards and our baptism invites and thank yous on quantity discount pricing*. YEAH!!! buy more & save more!!


*quantity discount pricing is only applicable for purches made on autumns-creek.com

don't forget the labels!!!

for just $2 add matching return labels to your order. Order 75 or more and the matching return labels on me! Please note that I only include as many as your cards, so if you want extras, please add those to your order





also, we are now offering guest address labels too for $5. All you need to do is send us a spreadsheet (Excel file) of the name and addresses of your guests and we will print out the labels. Please note that although guest address labels will have matching fonts, they will be black in color with no elements (graphics). Example shown above.

custom photo invitations: jungle monkey birthday invitations

introducing a few new monkey themed cards for your little monkey. always remember that if you don't see exactly what you are looking for, i can alter colors and wording for free. in addition, i can usually customize a card for a theme you don't see on my site just for you :)


photo monkey invitations * monkey birthday invitations * monkey party invitations
hula monkey photo cards * mmonkey birthday party invitations

good news!!

quantity pricing: yippee - we finally have quantity pricing available to us. we will need to alter hundreds of items within our store, so it will take a while to have it active. until then, i will still be offering my quantity specials. it will (as it must) be up and running in time for the big holiday rush though. i am so excited. thanks to the mister for working hard for me.

envelopes: we will also be offering, for an additional cost, the option of colored envelopes soon too. i will start with the basics, pink, blue and some red & green for the holidays, but soon hope to add in some bright pinks, aquas and greens for the invites too. oh and brown, i would LOVE to find some nice brown ones to offer you too!!

specially priced 8x10 keepsakes!!

now, you can add an 8x10 print of your announcement or invite for just 6.99 in my store (http://www.autumns-creek.com/)!!! these are the perfect size for framing and they also make great gifts for grandparents or godparents when ordering a baptism invite!!

*minimum purchase price must be met. please note shown as example only, frame is NOT included. offer valid ONLY on autumns-creek.com

photo birth announcements: introducing my new single photo designs

many new parents have a hard time getting one great photo of a sleepy newborn baby, let alone 3-5. or, many of you just have one great photo that you want to showcase. These new designs are for you!!

2 parties, same event?

i get many requests from moms who are having two celebration for a birthday. maybe one for the child's friends and one for family. i will gladly split the order with a portion with one date and time and a portion for the other date and time. as long as all the other info is the same, just changing the party info, there is not extra cost :)

Red Egg & Ginger Party.

Through a customer, I just recently heard about an Chinese tradition called a "Red Egg and Ginger Party" which is held for a newborn baby. What a fun way to introduce your little one to friends and relatives.

Through the net, i found that this celbration is an ancient Chinese tradition and in histroically, it also was the time when the baby was given his/her name and formally accepted into the family. The event is usually accompanied with a meal and held at the parents or grandparents home.

The significance of the red is that it represents happiness & good luck. Eggs symbolize fertility & the renewal of life. Usually guests are given a red dyed egg at the event. Ginger adds a touch of spice to food and therefore balances the yin and yang.

If you are planning one oof these fun parties, i now have the invites just for you!!

if you are happy and you know it . . . email me!

new testimonial page is up. i am not done, still have some more and more pictures to add, but it is UP, finally. thank you to all my customers who take time out of their busy lives to tell me they are happy and make my day a little brighter!!

thank you's are here!!

finally, after trying to finish a line for ever, i am done. a new set of 6 thank you's to match my baptism cards are done. here is a sneak peak of a couple, the rest will be in the store this week!!

it is the little things that matter.

to be thanks for a card is one thing, but to be thanked for saying something that made a difference in someone's life is something else. something so much better. i am a talker, i love to talk and sometimes find myself talking about family or personal things with my customers. some may say this isn't professional, but it is me and i think it is what sets me apart from the do it yourself photocard websites, the personal part of me and my business.

today i received an email, totally out of the blue from a customer. not a recent customer, but someone who purchased cards a couple years ago. Seems when she sent me the pics for her card, we must have started talking about dogs and i told her about mine. We talked about my english mastiff timber and i told her that he was great with kids. she remembered this later when she lost her dog and was blessed with a sweet little boy. that sweet little boy needed a dog (and we all know dogs need a little boy). it make me happy that by talking about one of my loves helped bring these two guys together!

little jake was born with down syndrome and his buddy arthur was conditioned just for him. a special dog for a special boy. with permission, here is a pic of them together and below a picture of my oldest son with our mastiff, timber.

there is a page on arthur's breeders site dedicate to them here





thank you kim, for taking time out of your busy day to email me and make my day special!!!

need to say thank you?

i can help. i get many requests for thank you's. and yes, i can do that. i can create a custom thank you to either match your birth announcement or your baptism invites. make your baptism thank you even more special by using photos from the special day - as shown below in actual thank yous from recent customers.

it is good to be back.

i closed shop on 12/11 and by the 18th, all my orders were done, printed and shipped. i only take one break a year from this and it is very much looked forward too. this year was no different. however, the first few days felt awkward, i felt like a visitor in my own home. when i am usually at the computer, i can hear the family upsatirs and 50% of the time, they are in here with me, keeping mom company. however, this time i was up there. turning on the tv before it is usually on, wanting to cook dinner when my husband usually does. basically, i was messing up their routine and it felt weird. however, a couple days into it and we got in a new groove, which was nice, i felt like i belonged again. not having to work at night felt good. more family time felt right. however, the last few days i have been missing it. designing is like a an addiction and i *needed* to do it. so i opened up a couple days early and sat down to come up with new designs and it felt so good. being a mom is the best job in the world, it is all i ever wanted to do. being a mom can be tough and being a working mom is even tougher. being pulled in so many directions. finding a balance is hard and i have been working on a better way to balance work and family. when you work from home, it is tough as you never "leave the work at work." however, as i start back into another year, balance will be my goal. i am lucky as i love what i do, i love being able to have found a way to earn money doing something i love, something that not only fulfill a need within me, but also can bring a smile to a mom's face. for that, i am grateful. happy new year!

antique dreams

so many things inspire me; my daughter, my boys, my view out my back deck, elle decor magazine . i went back to my roots and designed a few new birthday invitations. here is my antique dreams line. with, of course, my little autumn as the design model.

introducing my new line . . .

finally... quality 2-sided cardstock cards at an affordable price! I am finished with my first set of my new line. i am so excited to be able to offer these to my customers. i first introduced cardstock for my holiday cards and the feedback was incredible. my store opens tomorrow and within the week, i will have the first of my new line of 2 sided cards up. please know it will take a while to create an entire line so if you find a single sided announcement you love, we can make it into a double sided just for you!!!

and now my holiday begins . . .

i know many of you are wondering why i closed shop. well, the business reason is from receipt of info to shipment of cards is about 7 working days . . . this is average, and this holiday season was nothing but average. by the time i turn around all the orders received in the past couple weeks, we will be into next week, just a week or week and a half away from the holidays, that is cutting it close for customers to then turn around and ship. so, store closed. now, onto my more important reason, what you see here. my kids. all of them, 2 boys, a girl and 3 4-legged ones. it is time for the Jay holiday season to begin too. so thank you, thank you thank you for your patronage, your business has helped me cut my hours at my "real job" to spend more time with them. so thank you. now, off to complete orders and hopefully get my own card done and out in time!

What are you waiting for?

This is autumn, my spunky, sassy, lovable & totally gorgeous daughter (i am her mom, i can say that right?). i am sure you have seen her face on my designs, but usually with a smile. this is her little "come on" mom face. she knows our holiday season doesn't start until mom closes shop for the season. so, date set. Last day to order your cards is sunday, december 7th. Information must be received by the 8th and final approvals by the 11th.

I thank you all for your business, this has so far been a fantastic season and it is because of you that i get to spend more time with my family, including miss attitude up there :)

Final bonus sale : purchase before 12/4 and orders over 50 will receive 5 free additional cards*.

*all free cards are printed on standard photo paper, excludes cardstock orders which must be purchased in quantities of 25.

breaks are pure [joy]

break is over, we had a blast (as shown above of my two youngest running full speed towards the ocean). thank you so much for your patience while i spent a few days away with my family. my customers are the best. I am back and taking orders. i will be taking holiday card orders until december 7th and information must be received by december 8th. please email me if you have any questions!

to my customers - quick break for family 11/23 & 11/24

in the midst of my busiest holiday season EVER. i must take a break. me and my husband are renewing our vows on monday. any orders via my website between Sunday and Monday will be handled upon my return on Tuesday. i thank you, in advance, for your understanding.