thanks for a great year!

As 2011 comes to a close, we want to thank all of our customers, associates and vendors for an amazing year! The Notes Nest has grown with each happy moment you’ve shared with us this year… new arrivals, birthday celebrations, engagements, weddings and more.

After a very busy holiday season, we want to again thank the photographers that have so generously provided images for us to use in our design samples.

AML Photography, Overland Park, Kansas

Sandi Santos Photography, Tampa, Florida

Sarah Aranda Photography, DeKalb, Illinois

Susan Gentile Photography, Tampa, Florida

The Notes Nest looks forward to sharing in your happy moments in 2012!

if you’re thankful, you can win this giveaway!

As much as we love putting together your holiday cards each year, we cringe when we see big box stores putting up holiday decorations before Halloween is even over. Let’s not forget about Thanksgiving… before you start making those wish lists, take a minute to be THANKFUL about what you already have!

This giveaway is centered around just that… let us know what YOU are thankful for this year, and you will be entered in a contest to win your very own custom designed holiday cards (yes, an original design completely from scratch, see our last post to learn more). The Notes Nest will provide the winner with a complimentary custom design, 50 flat holiday cards and 2 sheets of gift tag stickers. This package is valued at $115!

How do you enter? If you haven’t already, LIKE The Notes Nest on Facebook! Then, post on our wall at least one thing that you are thankful for this year. It is that easy! We will take entries through Noon on the day after Thanksgiving (11.25.2011) and randomly select our winner that afternoon! The winner can use their card for any holiday they choose up through “Happy New Year” (please redeem no later than 01.06.2012).

Any of our customers that have already placed their order can still win, and either gift their prize to another contest participant or convert the prize into a credit to be used in 2012.

The Notes Nest looks forward to hearing all that you are thankful for this year… GOOD LUCK and go post yours now!

{ click here to see our holiday design gallery }

{ fine print } one entry per person, must ‘like’ the notes nest facebook page to be eligible. prize is not redeemable for cash. winner may purchase additional cards, upgrade card stock or to folded/two-sided cards at their expense. cannot be combined with any other discounts.

{ photo credit for holiday card shown above: sarah aranda photography }

want your card or invite to be like no other?

While The Notes Nest offers a gallery of designs that you can make your own by changing colors, fonts, photo slots and more… what we really LOVE putting together for you is from scratch custom design! With the holidays just around the corner, and a lot of you trying to pick that perfect photo for your holiday card, here are a couple of examples of how custom design can work for you!

This cute family of six needed a holiday card as fun as they are… though the photo could have been dropped into any template, The Notes Nest custom designed the argyle pattern based on the sweaters worn by the kiddos (Gymboree Winter Collection, 2010)! If you want a card design that has good flow, it is much easier to design a card around a photo than the other way around.




An all time favorite, this creative customer (who loves all things pink!) wanted our help in putting something together really unique for the holidays! This perfect photo of her sweet dog and favorite pair of pumps was our inspiration. Bright pink and green was a fitting replacement for a traditional ‘holiday’ red and green, the damask pattern was a natural element! The family and friends that received this card all agreed, it was the perfect holiday greeting!

Onto invitations, the mama-to-be for this baby shower had registered for nursery bedding from one of our favorite lines, Serena & Lily. By using the pattern from the sheets as our inspiration, The Notes Nest created a custom invitation that became the theme of the shower (and matching thank you notes, too!): As a hostess, pulling a party or invitation theme from the registry is an easy way to guarantee your honored guest will love it!

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The Notes Nest would love to put together a custom design for you… to tell us about your ideas and get a quote, fill out our custom project form! Cost varies by project, but we’ll always keep this option affordable for our customers – everyone deserves to have their very own custom design, whether for a holiday card, invitation, announcement or stationery! Cheers!

spread some holiday cheer with the notes nest… our holiday collection revealed!

Below is a copy of the email we sent out to our customer list yesterday, this gives an overview to all of new product offerings this year! If you would like to be added to our email list, you can sign up here. We don’t send a ton of emails, but when we do they are certainly worthwhile… (The Notes Nest won’t ever ever share your email address with anyone, that is a promise!)

SPREAD SOME HOLIDAY CHEER WITH THE NOTES NEST!

It’s time to reveal our 2011 Holiday Collection, check out our gallery! All of our holiday designs can be formatted to a flat card, traditional folded card, or NEW this year we will be offering TWO-SIDED cards. For pricing, please visit our website. This pricing is for our standard quality 100# card stock; if you're interested in premium card stock, contact us for pricing on 14pt, 18pt, 130# & 24pt (seriously thick)!

In addition to new formats & card stock, you'll also have the opportunity to upgrade to colored envelopes, order matching address labels & gift tag stickers (don't miss the gift tag stickers for bottles of cheer)! Don’t have time to address all of those envelopes? We're here to help, just provide The Notes Nest with your address list & we'll address your envelopes with a font that matches your holiday card. 

Check out our design gallery for single, multiple & no photo cards. Remember, we can customize most any design to fit the number of photos you want (or don't want!) to use.

We look forward to putting together your holiday card this year! Ready to get started? Contact us today!

we’re in love…. with premium card stock!

The Notes Nest is so excited to announce the new premium card stock we now carry! While we will continue to use your beloved 100# card stock as our standard, we now offer a number of fabulous premium card stock options for you to choose from: 14 pt, 18 pt, 130# and 24 pt. This stuff is seriously thick, some of these card stocks are thicker than a pizza box! The Notes Nest will continue to carry special occasion card stock such as stardream (shimmer) and linen (textured). Those who prefer a lighter weight card stock will still have the 80# available as well.
You will not only FEEL the difference of these new card stock options, but SEE it as well with amazing state-of-the-art LED printing technology. Our new and improved print quality is going to knock your socks off! Be sure to ask us about these new card stock options on your next order and we will provide you with pricing!

unique birthday party themes for kids

Coming up with a unique birthday party theme can be quite a task! While anyone can pick their child's favorite character and make that the theme, using a less 'commercialized' concept can make party planning so much more fun! We've compiled a list of our favorite party themes that allow for a little more creativity in planning… (Starred items have quick details below about our own customers' parties!)

Airplane Birthday Party	Ice Cream Party (or, I Scream!)
Art in the Park Party*	Lego Birthday Party
Bakery Shoppe Birthday	Lemonade Stand Birthday
Ballerina Birthday	Mermaid Party
Barnyard Birthday Party	Movie Night Party
Birthday Parade	Neverland Party
Bubbles Birthday	Outer Space Party
Circus Birthday Party	Pirate Treasure Hunt Party
Construction Party	Robot Birthday Party
Cowboy Rodeo Birthday	Safari Birthday
Cute as a Button Birthday	Sock Monkey Birthday*
Dinosaur Party-Saurus*	Surfer Birthday Party
Fire Truck Party	Sweet Shoppe Party
Football Tailgate Birthday Party	Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Gator Party*	Tea Party Birthday
Golf or Mini-Golf PAR-TEE*	Train Ticket to Bday Party Express*
Hawaiian Luau Birthday	Under The Sea Party
Hula Hoopy Birthday Party	Zoo Animal Birthday

Host an “Art in the Park” party by setting up art projects for the kids to do at a local park. Lots of creative fun!

All aboard! This vintage train ticket invitation sets the tone for your train themed party. The party date is punched out on the invite, just like a train ticket!



Host a golf “PAR-TEE” complete with buckets filled with powdered sugar donut holes as golf balls. This party was held in the morning, and invited guests to “join us FORE breakfast, play & cake!”

Who doesn’t love a preppy gator? These gator themed invites are perfect for boys or girls! Hosting a sock monkey party is another theme that works for boys and girls.


A good stand-by will always be a dinosaur party… such as this one, for Tyler-Saurus, you can turn pretty much any name into a dinosaur name! This party was dino-riffic!

The Notes Nest is continually updating our invitation design gallery, so check out some birthday party invites that we've done for other customers. If you have a theme in mind you'd like us to design an invitation for, drop us a note and tell us about it!

*Matching thank you notes are available with all of the invitations featured on this page!

address label sale... only while supplies last!

In order to make room for new label stock, The Notes Nest is having a clearance sale exclusively for those who 'like' our Facebook Page... visit The Notes Nest on Facebook and like us to be eligible for these savings!

Each sheet contains 24 full color matte labels, sizes available are:
   CIRCLE  1.66"
   SQUARE  1.25" (rounded edges)

Please note, most all of these designs have coordinating stationery designs available! Now through 08.12.11, purchase a sheet of clearance labels and get a coordinating set of custom stationery (qty 24) for $34 (regularly $40). 

Check out the available designs and see pricing and ordering instructions below!

Regularly $5/sheet, our clearance pricing is as follows. Please note, this is per design!

      $4 - 1 sheet             $19 - 6 sheets

      $8 - 2 sheets            $21 - 7 sheets

    $11 - 3 sheets            $23 - 8 sheets

    $14 - 4 sheets            $25 - 9 sheets  

    $17 - 5 sheets            $27 - 10 sheets (savings of $23!)

    Shipping is a flat $3 per order for labels only. 

    FL residents will be subject to sales tax (7%).

TO PLACE AN ORDER (or ask questions!), email: Orders (at) TheNotesNest (dot) com or fill out the contact us form on our website. 

Please include with your order:
    1. Design Choice
    2. Color Preference
    3. Name/Address as you'd prefer it to be written

The Notes Nest will provide a proof prior to printing! If interested in ordering discounted matching stationery, please supply name to be written on stationery and we will provide a proof of that also.

Remember, this sale will run only while supplies last!

gift certificates for stationery, announcements, invitations and more...

Since our post about giving stationery as the perfect gift, a number of you have inquired... Yes, The Notes Nest offers gift certificates! Perfect for any occasion… choose any denomination or put together a custom package! A great opportunity to use a gift certificate from The Notes Nest would be…


Bridal Shower Gift or Wedding Gift:  If the bride is changing her name, she will need stationery with her new name on it. How about the hundreds of thank you notes to be written? We also offer address labels or custom stamps for the newlyweds!


Baby Shower Gift or New Arrival Gift:  Every new arrival needs their own first set of stationery. Teach the little one good manners and encourage them to start writing thank you notes early! A new parent could always use a gift certificate for birth announcements and perhaps baptism invitations, too.

The Notes Nest will even send it directly to the recipient with a personal note. Contact us today!

make giving the perfect gift easy with custom stationery

Finding the perfect gift can be a daunting task… next time you are wondering just what to buy, consider custom stationery!

The Notes Nest would love to be your personal shopper. Tell us a little about whom you are buying for and we will send you a few designs to choose from. From there, we will customize your favorite design with whichever colors, fonts, etc. that you choose. Once the order has been finalized, we will wrap it and include a personal message at no extra charge! The Notes Nest will ship it directly to the gift recipient for you, making your life easy!

Whether it is for a new arrival that needs their own baby stationery, or the person that has everything – custom stationery is a unique gift that will never go unused.

boarding pass wedding invitations

Remember the boarding pass wedding invitations we mentioned in our weddings galore post but couldn’t let you see yet?? Now that the wedding is over, we can share the finished product with you! The Notes Nest custom made these invitations for Lindsay and Greg, who got married in Mallorca, Spain at the end of May. They wanted to do something unique for their wedding invitations, so when they decided to do a destination wedding, they knew sending their guests each their own boarding pass was the way to go!

Arriving in a tropical green envelope with a salmon colored liner, the guests to this wedding knew this wasn’t an ordinary invitation. Inside, the wedding invitation boarding pass included the bride and groom’s names wedding date and destination on the first page, along with a seat assignment. The second page of the boarding pass invitation listed their wedding website to find accommodation information, and then included a perforated tear away postcard to be used as the response card. The mailing address was pre-printed on the back, so the guest just had to tear along the perforated edge and drop the postcard in the mail! 

Here are some digital images of the invitation; we will share the professional images from the wedding photographer as soon as we receive them.

These boarding pass invitations aren’t just for weddings, if you have any event that has a travel theme, these would be the perfect touch!

custom stationery giveaway winners announced!

Thanks to everyone that participated in our giveaway and clicked ‘like’ on The Notes Nest Facebook Page  during the month of May. As announced on our Facebook page yesterday, the randomly selected winner in our custom stationery giveaway is Ali Lomshek – which means her referrer, Jessica Peltzer, is also a winner! They will both receive their own set of custom designed stationery and matching return address labels (set of 24).

In the spirit of wanting everyone to be a winner, any participant that ‘liked’ The Notes Nest Facebook Page during our contest will receive complimentary sheet of 24 custom return address labels with any order placed through August 1, 2011.

custom coupon books will liven up your party!

When we were contacted by a customer to do this project, we were embarrassed we didn’t think of it first! Though assembled like a coupon book, this is more of a party game to liven your next birthday party, bachelor or bachelorette party, wedding or baby shower…

This coupon book was made for Suzie’s 40^th Birthday Bash getaway weekend. Her friends provided us with a list of tasks that Suzie could command her friends to do on the spot over the course of their weekend (such as, sing a song, go for a swim in the gulf, drink a martini… you get the idea)! We made perforations on each page so that the coupons be torn out of the book and given to someone to complete the task. What makes The Notes Nest coupon book different from a generic one you might pick up at a store is that, in addition to having a customized cover page (check it out below!), we leave tab on each page that remains in the coupon book, where you can fill in who did what task, when, and space to fill in any other details! With a record of who did what, this fun coupon book turns into a keepsake to look back on for years to come!

These custom coupon books will surely add a new element of fun to your next party. Whether it is for a party, another special occasion or for a gift (think Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Christmas or 

Hanukkah…), the possibilities are endless!

The Notes Nest will customize the cover page for your event!

Record who did what with the leave behind tab as shown above.

  

      

giveaway! win custom stationery & labels...

If you haven't made that magic click yourself to LIKE us on Facebook, now is the time to do it! Now through May 31, anyone who LIKES The Notes Nest is eligible to participate in this contest.

Our Facebook Page is at www.Facebook.com/TheNotesNest.

TWO WINNERS WILL EACH RECEIVE:

A complimentary design consultation that will result in a set of 24 flat notes, printed on high-quality 100# card stock (white or natural white) with envelopes and 24 coordinating full color address labels (choice of square, circle or rectangle). Giveaway also includes free shipping (where applicable) and has no cash value. Prize may be gifted, but must be redeemed by August 15, 2011.

GOOD LUCK!!

weddings galore...

The Notes Nest is currently working on four different weddings & just loves the fact that each bride is doing something totally different.

One of our brides is having a destination wedding, so we are putting together a boarding pass wedding invitation. Who knew you could make a boarding pass look so beautiful!? The second page of the invitation, which contains the travel information, even has a tear away response postcard that can be dropped in the mail as is. We look forward to posting this board pass invitation once the wedding has passed!

Another one of our brides was looking for a custom monogram that she could carry throughout her save the date, invitation, stamps, favors, etc. We were able to come up with a very distinctive monogram that we are dying to share. The Notes Nest is confident that not a single person who receives these invitations will think for a second that they were ordered through a big box invitation site.

We love doing custom design work for our brides, making their weddings truly unique.

Are you looking for wedding invitations? ... Whether you’d like to look at the designs we’ve already done or need a custom design, we’d love to talk to you! We have a number of beautiful card stocks available, which can be printed on a regular press or with THERMOGRAPHY. The Notes Nest is happy to piece together your invitation with other components such as belly belts, backing, seals, enclosures, etc. Please contact us today to learn more!

the notes nest gives back

Did you know… Each month, we back to the community through The Notes Nest Gives Back initiative? Since February was American Heart Month, we found it appropriate to share our love (and a portion of our proceeds!), with the American Heart Association (national organization). For the month of March, your purchases will benefit The Humane Society of Tampa Bay (Tampa, FL). We’ll be rolling out some new pet-related products in honor of our furry-friends, so stay tuned!

The Notes Nest is also always happy to consider donation requests for fundraising events… This month, attendees of DeKalb Education Foundation (DeKalb, IL) Annual Comedy Night fundraiser will have the opportunity to bid on a great custom package from The Notes Nest in during their silent auction.

If you have an organization you'd like us to consider for The Notes Nest Gives Back, please use our contact us form to tell us about it!

VALENTINE FREEBIES!

The Notes Nest isn’t accepting any more Valentine orders… but we won’t leave you hanging! Download these FREEBIES for your Valentine/s! Download high-res versions to PRINT or select the EMAIL-friendly version. Spread the love!


Follow this link to download and ENJOY! (You will see all four of the files below available for individual download... pick your favorite or download them all!)

spread the love with a valentine...

Valentine's Day is just two weeks away... how will you show the love? The Notes Nest is spreading the love by offering low cost (but high cute!) VALENTINE CARDS.

Check out our designs on Facebook, and then come back to order!

The following costs are for “Do it Yourself Printing / Digital File to Email

Would you like a CUSTOM Valentine made for you? Please fill out this form to inquire!

Would you us to print your order?

The Notes Nest would be happy to print your order, we can provide costs depending number of designs & card stock. Our basic print packages can be found here, however, prices will vary depending on size of card and number of designs (multiple designs merit discounts)! Exact cost will be provided prior to finalizing order.

VALENTINE ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS

1. Scan the designs we posted on Facebook, pick your favorites and submit your order to Orders@TheNotesNest.com (form to copy and paste is below!), be sure to attach any photos, if applicable.
2. The Notes Nest will reply back with a link for payment, or if applicable, provide you printing cost options to choose from.
3. You’ll get your proof within 48 hours, probably sooner!

Please copy & paste the following into the email, and answer away!

* * * FORM STARTS HERE! * * *

Type of Order:

Do-It-Yourself Printing / Digital File to Email

Print Order (please supply approximate number)

Number of Designs:

Size of Design:

4x6 (default)

5x7

Wallet

Email Friendly

For EACH design, please include:

Design file name 1:

Wording, if different than shown:

Signature preference:

Supply name here

Leave blank to sign (print orders only)

Other requests:

* * * * *

Design file name 2:

Wording, if different than shown:

Signature preference:

Supply name here

Leave blank to sign (print orders only)

Other requests:

* * * * *

Design file name 3:

Wording, if different than shown:

Signature preference:

Supply name here

Leave blank to sign (print orders only)

Other requests:

* * * * *

Design file name 4:

Wording, if different than shown:

Signature preference:

Supply name here

Leave blank to sign (print orders only)

Other requests:

* * * * *

Design file name 5:

Wording, if different than shown:

Signature preference:

Supply name here

Leave blank to sign (print orders only)

Other requests:

* * * FORM ENDS HERE, THANK YOU! * * *

blogging to keep you informed!

For whatever reason, we've been resisting the blog... However, The Notes Nest realizes this is a quick and easy way to keep our customers informed about our new designs, promotions and more! We have plenty in store for you in that always-evolving category of "more" - just you wait!

If you are on a blog, chances are that you are on Facebook, too. If you haven't visited The Notes Nest on Facebook, please do so now and be sure to 'like' us! While this blog may feature promotions from time to time, Facebook is the only place you'll hear about FREE shipping and other discounts.

Check back soon, we'll post VALENTINE DESIGNS soon, including some FREEBIES!