May
8
Mardi Gras refers to the whole Carnival season. With roots in the Catholic tradition, it is celebrated during Lent, from Twelfth Night through the day before Ash Wednesday. It is a series of parades, parties, and balls, but is most famous for the events taking place on its last day, Fat Tuesday. It is a celebration, according to New Orleanians, of power, faith, and justice. Fat Tuesday is a day of excess, when the city of New Orleans doubles in population and most of its occupants revel in the party atmosphere. At exactly midnight, Lent begins, and many New Orleanians give up the vices that they have clung to over the Mardi Gras season. Around the world, the day is about various cultures coming together to celebrate the things that make them unique, and these differences unite under the common theme of a people who like to have fun, enjoy each other, and celebrate. Costumes, masks, and beads are common place, as well as the Mardi Gras favorite, the king cake. Mardi Gras parties are a great time to indulge in Cajun cuisine, take in the jazz band sounds, New Orleans flair and beautiful bright purple, green, and gold colors...Read More
May
5
Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of the Mexican army’s defeat of French forces in the state of Puebla in 1862. Napoleon had ambitions of invading Mexico City, since the US was in the midst of our Civil War. The Mexicans were outmatched two to one and had weapons that were far inferior to the French state of the art weaponry. The French were defeated by the Mexican cavalry and it prevented Napoleon from supplying the Confederate Army for over a year. It can be argued that this allowed for the North to gain advantage and win the Civil War. Though it is commonly mistaken for Mexican Independence Day, it is still significant and recognized around the world as a day to honor Mexican heritage and pride. It is more widely celebrated in the United States than in Mexico, with most paying tribute to Mexican-American ancestry and culture. Regardless of your background or ethnicity, anyone can have a party on May 5th! For most, Cinco de Mayo is the perfect opportunity to gather together with friends and have a fiesta. Margarita parties as well as Mexican dinner parties are probably the most common type of celebrations. Spice your party up...Read More
Feb
1
Question: For return address mailing labels, what is the correct etiquette for the order in the first name? Does the husband or the wife’s name come first?e.g. John and Jane Doe or Jane and John Doe? Martha The Everyday Etiquette Answer: Martha, This is a very popular question. I know that there are differing opinions out there among etiquette experts. Personally, I have always believed that it is "ladies first" and that the gentleman’s first and last name should not be separated unless children’s names are being included in a signature (i.e. a Christmas card). My recommendation would be:Jane and John Doe I hope this helps you out. Thank you for asking Everyday Etiquette. Ms. Carey Ask your own Everyday Etiquette questions
Jan
9
Pretty Prints Stationery designs have come a long way from their "plain" past. Notecards are no longer restricted to an understated monogram or simple stripe. Fashionable styles and daring designs will keep you in style throughout the coming year. Whether you are passionate about polka-dots, mad for metallics, or can’t get enough of the daring damask trend, there is a fashion-inspired stationery design for your unique tastes. And, the best part is that when you select a stationery style that is so striking, you can save money by making these cards multi-task as birthday cards, invitations, thank you notes, and everyday stationery. Multi-tasking stationery is the ultimate in stylish accessories! Elegant yet edgy Damask notes are as stylish as they are practical. Whimsical, eclectic notecards will make you (and your recipient) smile each and every time. Browse Stylish Bella J Stationery from American Stationery Affordable Luxury No matter how much you are looking to spend, your best bet is to look for high-quality stationery from a reputable source offering appealing prices. Buying the cheapest option ensures that you’ll "get what you pay for," and might not get the quality or customer support you deserve. While rock bottom prices might be...Read More
Jan
7
The New Neutrals Long gone are the days of boring, blank white stationery. You can now select from a rainbow of exciting styles to be used for everything from everyday notes to formal thank yous. New patterns, fresh graphics, and exciting hues are becoming the standard as people start to think outside the box for everyday communication. Consider bold pinks and greens, exciting yellows, and even metallic tones which, when paired with classic stationery styles, offer a new interpretation of traditional taste. Our Hot Pink hand bordered correspondence cards are perfect for everyday correspondence. Fine quality, heavyweight, tangerine hand bordered correspondence cards are the ultimate daily accessory. Add just the right dash of glamour by designing your own correspondence card and incorporating a signature gold motif for understated elegance. Mad for Monograms Monograms were everywhere in 2008, and the trend shows no signs of slowing down. Not only do you get to customize your cards with your initial(s), but you can create your own unique look with almost limitless combinations of colors, fonts, and printing styles. The appeal of a totally customized product makes monogrammed stationery a perfect base to your personal stationery collection, and also makes a welcome gift for almost any...Read More
Jan
5
In 2009, we’ll all be looking for creative ways to express our individuality and to communicate in style while sticking to budgets that are tighter than ever before. In these times of economic uncertainty, we will all be relying on and encouraging our own family and friends to help get us through. We at American Stationery believe there’s no better way to pull together than with heart-felt, sentimental letters of love, support, and friendship. As 2008 comes to a close, we are looking ahead at the trends, styles, and designs that will be big in the next twelve months and beyond. And, in order to help you stay in touch and stay in style in the coming year, over the next week, we’ll show you the top stationery trends for 2009. Luxe Details Small, unexpected, and even understated elements all add up to create a polished feel and an interesting effect that’s all your own. In order to make a big statement, you don’t necessarily need an overpowering color, message, or print. Look for small, meaningful motifs, interesting personalization options, and even accessories like lined envelopes for major impact without a lot of effort or expense. Hand bordered correspondence cards...Read More
Jan
1
The following is a brief outline of the tools within our Live Edit preview system. You will see the tools available within this tool bar: This users guide will go into depth on each of these tools and explain how to use them later. For now, let us get familiar with each of the tools and what they can do. Features: Photo Upload — Upload personal photos to our designs and make them your own. Font Selection — Over 100 fonts to choose from! Font Size — Manipulate font size on a character by character, line by line basis. Font Stylizing — Stylize your personalization by using the bold, italic or underline tools. Font Justification —Justify your personalization on the left, right or center of your card. Font Color — Change the color of your personalization on a character by character, line by line basis. Line Spacing — Adjust the amount of space between lines to make room for more lines of personalization or to fill some empty space. Our Live Edit preview allows you to do many things that make customizing your holiday cards, invitations or announcements easy to do. If you are familiar with any word processing software...Read More
Jan
1
Our Live Edit personalization and preview engine allows you to make any of our designs your own. The Live Edit engine provides you with tools similar to those included in contemporary word processing programs, empowering you to create something truly unique. You can select from a list of several fonts, make your text bold or italicized, and align your text to the left, right or center. For advanced word processing users, Live Edit also features the ability to change these font characteristics on a line by line or character by character basis. You can even adjust the spacing between lines. You can do as much or as little to our placeholder text as you wish. You end up with a card that matches your tastes and sense of style. Aside from all that you can do to create a personal message on our Live Edit products, many of our designs also allow you to upload your favorite photo(s) for many occasions. Family photos are great for your annual holiday cards. Photos of the children are great for birthday invitations or birth announcements as well. Live Edit eliminates all the guessing! And the process is simple to follow: Find a design...Read More
Jan
1
Live Edit Users Guide (continued) In the previous post we covered the tools available through our Live Edit preview system. In this post we will explain each available tool in depth, as well as explain how to use each tool in a step by step fashion. Our Live Edit preview system was designed to empower our customers to customize our products and make them their own with as little confusion as possible. That being said, we realize things can get complicated when allowing this much flexibility and we want to help if confusion should occur. So here it is, a how to walk through. Photo Upload — Photo products are extremely popular with our customers. Live Edit makes it easy to upload your favorite photos to our products. Simply double click the sample image in the preview, then click the browse button. Once you locate the image you wish to upload, select the file, click the open button and then click the ok button within the Live Edit dialog box. For products with multiple photos on the design just repeat the steps above for each sample photo shown. Uploading the file will take a few moments depending on the size...Read More
Jan
1
Live Edit Users Guide (continued) Font Selection — As mentioned previously, if you have any experience with word processing software font selection should be a routine task. If you are not experienced in word processing don’t worry; it is a relatively easy thing to do and we are going to walk through it together right now. First, double click the portion of the design’s sample personalization you wish to change. The sample wording should appear in a box with a cancel and ok buttons at the bottom. Use your cursor to highlight the sample personalization or your own personalization. Simply click and hold the button down near the beginning of the personalization and drag the cursor to where the personalization ends. If you wish to only change the font for only a portion of the personalization simply click where you wish the change to start and drag to where you wish for the change to stop. The sample wording or your own personalization if you have already keyed it in should have a black background behind it. This black background is letting you know that the personalization has been selected. Now, in the top left corner of the Live Edit...Read More