1/23/13

red letter cards giveaway

One of the best things about the blog/handmade world is connecting with and learning from others. I love finding new-to-me shops and blogs that inspire me and the Red Letter Paper Company is one such shop. I first saw the Red Paper Company when I stumbled across the clever "not sent from my iPhone" card.

(see it here)

Being someone who is guilty of constantly texting from her iPhone (instead of just picking up the dang phone to call), I thought it was perfect.

I talked to Stephanie, the owner behind The Red Letter Paper Company, about her inspiration and dreams for her small biz.

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How did you get started?
It started because my husband and I could never find Christmas cards that didn't look like something my grandmother would pick out. We were young and urban, and we wanted clean, modern design that still held the true meaning of Christmas. And a lot less glitter. I have a background in publication design, which can sometimes be very templated, so I figured cards could be a creative outlet for me and a service to other people looking for the same thing.

How do you stay inspired?
I don't know if I stay inspired as much as I get inspired in spurts. I'll go through really prolific periods, and then some dry spells. But when I feel that way, I try to recreate the conditions when I feel most creative and inspired. I look for inspiration in my audience, what they're into, what I'm into, and then take on the challenge of making things like iPhones and coffee fit with a corresponding scripture verse on the back of the card.

(found here)

What's your dream for your company?
I made a phone call today and as soon as I said "Red Letter Paper Company," the person on the other end said, "Oh! The modern Christian cards!" That's what I want. For people to know my brand, love my products, and ultimately buy them because they fill a need or they just can't resist. I'd love to see them in Christian bookstores and church bookstores and even regular card shops.

What are you doing when you're not working?
When I'm not making cards, I'm usually still on the computer, catching up on Twitter or Facebook. If I'm not on the computer, I'm probably watching television. After eight years of the night shift in newspaperland, I still revel in the fact that I can watch shows when everyone else watches them. The only problem is I pretty much missed the first seasons of all the good stuff, so my current favorite show is Family Feud. Exciting, I know.

What's something few people know about you?
I'm allergic to bananas. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's the truth. I'm not a huge fan anyway so it's not a big deal, but it rules out a lot of smoothies, and, unfortunately, banana pudding.

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I love what Stephanie says about keeping inspired through (inevitable) creative dry spells.

Stephanie has a host of great cards for Valentines Day -- and you can win them both to give away!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

1/26/12

guest post with erin of living in yellow

If you're feeling the weight of this week and need a bit of a pick-me-up, have I got a treat for you.

The lovely Erin blogs over at Living in Yellow and her blog makes me giggle and my heart happy. And I am so pleased to have her answering a few questions over on my little corner of the internet today.

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Well hello there you lovely people.

I'm Erin from Living In Yellow and I am so excited to be here for Erika today.

You see, little miss Erika thought it would be fun to send me a list of questions to answer.

And well, I kinda love answering questions.

So I obliged.

I hope you learn a little bit about me and then decide to come over and visit for awhile :)

1. Three words that describe you.

Crazy. Happy. Funny

2. How did you get started blogging?

Great question.

I'm not really sure other than one random day I started a Blogger account.

I wrote my first post on February 1st, 2011 and the rest is history.

I was bored {heck, it was winter..} and had nothing better to do.

Now it is my favorite thing to do :)

3. How do you explain your blog to other people (like non-bloggy people?)

I try not to.

I just tell them they will have to read it to figure out what it is I write about ;)

It works every time.

And if they demand-I tell them I talk about my digestive system.

Then it really intrigues them.

4. What's the best--and hardest-- thing about blogging?

The best for me is that this whole blog of mine is a creative outlet.

It is something of my own--I create it--I write it--it's all mine.

The even better part though?

Creating the awesome relationships that I have.

I love people, so getting to know people from all over the place has been such a blessing.

The hardest?

TIME.

Blogging takes a lot more time than I ever imagined.

It is much more than writing a post here and then.

It is networking, emailing, editing pictures, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

5. Most embarrassing moment..

I don't have a "most" embarrassing moment.

I think it is because I have embarrassing moments happen weekly.

In fact, I don't even consider them embarrassing anymore.

One time I accidentally told a stranger I was nervous about what fiber would do to my digestive system.

You can use your precious time to read about there here.

I also fell down a huge flight of stairs once in Mexico and landed at the feet of a donkey & mariachi band.

That was interesting.

6. How did you develop your writing voice?

Did you just start writing and decide to be humorous and light-hearted or did it just happen?

Girlfriend, you have a lot of good questions here.

I developed my writing voice through sending entirely way too many emails at work

to co-workers, friends, and my husband.

I write my blog like I write those emails-humorous, honest, and like I'm talking directly to you.

I guess I just think funny is fun.

And I'm all about fun.

7. Quick-- you have this amazing opportunity from Donald Trump, or Oprah, or Bill Gates (someone rich) to get mega bank to blog--

but you have to convince them your blog is worthy of the cash.

What do you say?

I think this goes back to question number 3.

I would tell them that my blog is awesome because I talk about bowel movements.

That's sure to land me some cash money right?

8. Any advice for newbie (and not so newbie) bloggers?

Do it because you love it.

Only write about what you want to write about.

Don't try to imitate somebody else-people will see right through it.

Be yourself.

Have fun :)

9. And please share three of your favorite blog posts...

and three of your favorite must-read blogs!! :)

Three favorite blog posts? Hmm...

I like this one because it is Real. Honest. Raw.

I talk about my struggle with anxiety.

I also like this one and this one.

Both light hearted and fun :)

And three must-read blogs eh?

I just fell madly in love with Momastry.

The woman is a genius and hilarious.

I'm a huge Daybook fan.

But then again, who isn't?

And for the third--heck, there are SO many good ones out there.

Click here for some more of my daily reads. Thanks for having me Erika... I hope to see all you Rouge & Whimsy fans over at Living In Yellow soon :)

Peace out lovelies.
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Now before you get distracted by twitter or pinterest or something shiny-- go on over and check out Living in Yellow. I promise you will giggle... and your heart will get a little happy too.

xo, erika

1/19/12

chatting (and giveaway) with Megan of Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson

Happy Thursday everyone! Today I have a little treat for you-- an interview with the impossibly sweet Megan of the wonderful blog Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson. (and if you're interested-- she interviewed me over on her blog!)

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How would your friends describe you?

My husband said cute, outgoing, friendly, and talkative. But he was just trying to answer the question quickly so.... I don't know how accurate those descriptions are, haha :)

How long have you been married? How long have you been a mom? Is it as hard as I think it is to be a mom? (haha)

I have been married for a little over 2 1/2 years. We were married in May 2010 and found I was pregnant in August 2010. Needless to say, it was a huge shock and we did not exactly plan to have children that soon. We were both still in school (I recently graduated and my husband is continuing on with graduate school) and it was hard to 1. be pregnant {and sick} and be going to school full-time and working, and 2. to have a newborn and be going to school and working on an internship with StrongerMarriage.org. Because my first year of motherhood was so busy with outside stuff and my second year is filled with the challenging toddler stage, I think my opinion about motherhood being hard might be slightly skewed from my own personal experiences. My first gut, honest reaction is "Yes, motherhood is very hard. Harder than you might expect it to be," just because of the circumstances that we were faced with. However, if I really reflect on my deeper, personal feelings about motherhood, it is also completely and utterly worth it!! I never knew I could love a tiny human being as much as I love my son. And although the timing may have been more difficult than I would have liked, I wouldn't have had it any other way!

How did you start blogging?

I actually set up my blog back in 2007 when I was a sophomore in college to have a place to write down all the crazy, funny stories of my roommate and I and keep in touch with friends and family who were spread out across the country. It's actually pretty funny to go back and read some of my first entries {I was rather hilarious if I do say so myself}. But after getting married and having my son, I realized that I had learned some important life lessons that I felt like I needed to share with others. So in June of 2011 I started reaching out to others more and I found a wonderful community of friendship and support that I never knew existed. And I've been sharing my heart ever since! :)

Some of your favorite blog posts & topics?

I think I have too many.... But here's a list of some of my most favorite!
What is a Mother?

So, This is Love

Woman & Motherhood

Acceptance

Go Forward with Faith

What are your secret skills? (like my skill is that I'm a super fast reader...)

I don't if they are secret really.... But if I put my mind to it {and stay motivated} I can be pretty crafty at times. I also play the piano, violin, harp, and sing {or I did... I am since out of practice}. And I can do a pretty mean impression of the Target Lady from SNL.

If you could live anywhere... where would you live?

I really want to be some kind of writer and write to inspire women, couples, and families. It's kind of a big dream but I feel like I can slowly but surely accomplish it. But my more realistic dream is to be able to continue to hold on to and understand true happiness and be able to look back on my life and feel love and satisfaction in my works.

Please share your most embarrassing moment.

Oh goodness.... This story still makes my face hot with embarrassment! In junior high {the most awkward of ages} I was doing a simple weight lifting demonstration for the school's open house. I had to perform in the choir later so I didn't want to change out of my jeans cause I was basically lazy. I didn't think it would be that big of deal though anyways. Well, it turned out it was a very big deal and I ended up ripping my jeans allllll the way up the rear in front of a BIG group of parents and students with a group of boys right behind me AND the school's little news camera was filming me at the time!! Some lady said very loud, "OH MY GOSH, SHE RIPPED HER PANTS!!" Then my friends looked over, dropped each of their weights and started laughing hysterically. I, on the other hand, started crying and couldn't face the rest of school again for my choir performance and just left in tears. I couldn't talk about it for years. Literally. It has scarred me for life. (totally understand-- junior high is the WORST for embarrassments!)

What's better-- cake or pie?

Can I say cupcakes?? I LOVE cupcakes!

Do you believe in New Years resolutions? Do you have any?

Yes! I definitely believe in using the New Year as a great way to get pumped and try hard to become a better version of yourself in the following year. But, I also think that means setting meaningful, simple, realistic goals for resolutions that will bring a positive change in your life. My goals for this year is based off of this article to have an abundant life. They are: accepting myself and my circumstances to make the most of the situation, believing in myself and that I can accomplish the goals I set, and having courage and strength to push forward through trials.

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Isn't she great? I love the honesty and candor she writes with on her blog and I have felt encouraged by her in the short time that we've "known" each other.

AND... the interview is NOT all. Megan is graciously giving away a LARGE blog ad and $15 to her and her sister's etsy shop Rhi's Designs!

So... how do you win?

1. follow Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson here

additional entries:2. follow Megan on Twitter here
3. follow Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson on Facebook here
4. favorite {heart} Rhi's Designs on Etsy here
5. follow Here's to You Mrs. Robinson on Bloglovin’ here
6. follow my blog (via Bloglovin', GFC or another feeder)

the giveaway will be announced January 25th!

xo, erika

7/24/11

i love you blogs roundup #1

I am a blog addict.

I Love You Blogs and Coffee Print (Kraft) by jenniferramos

Honestly I am. (I love coffee too)

And I love it when other people share their favorite posts from around the web and so, I thought I should do the same :)

What I've loved reading this week: