There’s something so magical about the winter’s first snowfall…a mystical elegance with a mind-easing essence left behind with a blanket of white beauty after the first winter storm.  With a love like yours so pure, there’s no more appropriate time to celebrate your love than with a winter wedding.   I know you’re probably still wearing your shorts and flip flops, and are probably thinking, why are we talking about cold weather?  But whether you’ve realized it or not, winter is only four months away, and in the wedding world, that’s just like saying winter is next week.  Your wedding invitations need to be mailed 2-3 months prior to your event, thus if you’re planning on hosting a December or January wedding, now is the time to start planning your winter wedding.

Not sure where to start?  It only takes one little spark of interest to inspire an entire wedding event…be it a snowflake, a rhinestone buckle you saw on a wedding gown last week or a gorgeous wedding invitation, like this winter wedding invitation to our left, the Dark Blue Wedding Invitation by William Arthur.  This seasonal flat wedding invitation is printed on crisp, clean navy card stock which features a white engraved masterpiece of wedding wording along with your personalized married monogram at the top.  The ensemble is wrapped with a light blue satin ribbon, which can be tied in the style of your choice.  Pair it with this light blue-grey envelope which we have lined with an actual white lace liner for the sample card, (my personal favorite).  It truly captures the essence of the winter season with a sleek, sophisticated and elegant contemporary twist.

Dark stock not your style?  Our winter wedding invitation collection features over five hundred invitations to set the scene for your cold weathered wedding.  Some of our most popular winter wedding invitations feature color combinations with ivory and black, black and white, brown and ivory, silver and white, powder blue and white or ivory with pearl accents…which is a great place to start when looking for wedding color inspiration.  As winter wedding themes are pretty simple regarding color, you may want to add in a little ‘pop’ of color with a blue, silver or gold motif or ink color to accentuate your invitation.  You can also carry these colors into your wedding reception and decor…just like we have done below.

Because I’m a big fan of photography and inspiration, I have created the above montage to show what a little ice and blue can do to transform a traditional wedding.  Taking the colors from the above William Arthur wedding invitation, navy, silver, white and powder blue you can create an absolutely breathtaking wedding ensemble.  Start with an old venue or cathedral style church for your wedding ceremony.  This bride transformed her church into hear wintery masterpiece by adding white branches to each pew, which lined her entire aisle.  Choose a bouquet that features flowers matching your dress color and a possible hint of color using blue or charcoal.  Accentuate your wedding invitation with your bridesmaids wearing navy dresses and a couture, flowing and detailed wedding gown that you’ve always dreamed of.  Add a hair piece made of weaved tree branches with tiny ice or white floral details with a whispy hair style for elegance.  Top your reception off with a simple white cake adorned with an icy tree branch and send guests home with cake and brownie lollipops, contemporary style, decorated with your wedding colors and snowflake patterns.

Thinking of having your wedding in the winter?  Now’s the perfect time to start planning.  This easy, inexpensive and honestly breathtaking wedding theme is all you need to set the scene for the first day of the rest of your magical life together…

Raise your paws and wag that tail…If you’re a pet lover, you know that your dog or cat’s birthday is just as important to you than any non-furry member of your family.  These warm-hearted animals have earned a place in your heart and when their birthday arrives each year, you’ll want to celebrate.

Invite your friends and family over to celebrate your dog or cat’s birthday in style.  InvitationBox.com offers a complete line of pet party invitations that celebrate our furriest of friends in a fun way with colorful patterns and designs for male and female pets along with dog bones, pet silhouettes, paw prints and dog houses that make your pet feel like home.  We also offer our pet birthday invitations with digital photographs, so that you can share a photograph of your favorite pet when inviting your guests to your pet’s party.  Simply use the photo upload tool online and switch out up to 10 photos at a time to find the best fit for your pet party invitation.

So what exactly do you do at a pet party?  Start by decorating your party area with colors that remind you of your furry pet, be it pink for a girl or blue for a boy.  Serve up some great snack foods like puppy chow (Chex Mix with a twist), edible dog biscuit cookies or sticks (pretzel rods).  Give each guest a ball, bone or dog toy to take home with them as a party favor for their own pet.  You can even ask guests to bring their pet along to the party, if they’re friendly.  Play pet-themed games like pin the tail on the puppy or “Who Am I” where you have a dog breed on your back and have to guess what breed yours is.  Be sure to take lots of pictures with the pet of honor on their special day.

Take a look at some of our favorite pet party invitations below and make a great excuse for an end of summer party.  Also be sure to view our entire Pet Collection of pet announcements, pet birthday party invitations, personalized pet placemats, pet return address labels, pet self-inking stamps and pet stationery!

“There are two types of people in this world…those who are Greek, and those who wish they were Greek.” A well-known quote from one of my favorite movies, to which we applied to our t-shirts during Greek week on campus as we raced around having mixers and various sporting competitions.  School is just starting back up, which can only mean one thing for us Greeks – time to put on your recruitment pants and build numbers.  Rush season will be starting, if it hasn’t already, which means it’s important to get your sorority or fraternity name, letters and spirit out there so that you can have a full pledge class of potential members this fall.

At InvitationBox.com we offer a plethora of Greek stationery items that will help you celebrate your Greek pride, while supporting and promoting your organization.  Our Greek stationery collection features sorority tear pads, note pads, menu pads, luggage tags, clip boards and large jotter pads which are great for taking meeting notes, notes in class or writing a grocery list before you head out the door.  The luggage tags are great for formal trips or flights back home on school break.  They also make great gifts for your little as they are initiated.  Each stationery item features your sorority’s unique letters, along with a fun preppy pattern in your sorority colors.  Patterns feature plaid designs, polka dots, paisley patterns, circle dots or gingham borders.

For those wanting to leave their Greek mark on everything they touch, (because what good Greek doesn’t), we also offer a complete line of Greek custom stampers and Greek self-inking stamps.  These stamps create over 10,000 impressions which means you have a world of opportunities to make your Greek mark.  Our Greek self-inking stamps are available in a variety of styles featuring circle stamps and square stamps which showcase your fraternity or sorority letters, mascot or logo.  Change things up by purchasing a colored ink pad in one of your organization’s colors and really make your letters pop.  These self-inking stamps are great for rush posters, Greek correspondence with alumnae, flyers, rush sign-in sheets, school books and personal belongings.  Add your own personalized text to the stamper, be it a fun Greek phrase, your name and address, your Greek title, pledge name or “Rush Phi Beta Chi”.  These Greek stampers are available in a variety of Greek letters from Alpha Chi Omega to Zeta Beta Tau.

Take a look at some of the great Greek stationery products we offer and spread the word about your favorite Greek organization…

Rosh Hashanah, or as some of us better know it, the Jewish New Year, is a wonderful time for reflection, refreshing and rejuvenation as the new year begins and the previous year comes to a close.  It’s a time to gather with family and friends to begin a fresh start together.

Rosh Hashanah falls on September 28, 2011 this year at sundown, on the first two days of Tishrei.  In the Torah, the Jewish New Year is described as Zikhron Trua, the remembrance of the blowing of the horn.  The Jewish believe that Rosh Hashanah marks the creation of the world or universe or the creation of man.

Celebrate the Jewish New Year with our brand new collection of Rosh Hashanah greeting cards and wish your friends and family members a greeting of L’shanah Tovah – A good year!  Our brand new Jewish New Year Cards, Jewish New Year Invitations and Rosh Hashanah Cards feature a plethora of designs that mark this important yearly Jewish holiday.  Inside the collection you’ll find apple and honey themed cards, Jewish sentiments with the Star of David, scenes of Jerusalem, watercolor Shofar designs, naturalistic prints, pomegranates and musical scenes.

Some of my favorite Rosh Hashanah greeting cards are featured below.  The first being Apple Imagery, which is a light green colored stock with a sweet tree of life growing and swirling about with red foil apples.  The second, Apples and Honey, is my absolute favorite which is a die-cut red apple with gold accents and an actual honey stick that sticks out of the top for an apple stem.  The stick is completely edible and gives a sweet treat to your recipients – what could be better?  It comes in a protective envelope for shipping, too.  The third card shown below, Starfilled Shofar,  features a purple, yellow and red faded Shofar instrument with gold foil stars throughout.  The last greeting card below, called the Happy City, features a watercolor and gold foil design of the city of Jerusalem in a variety of vibrant hues.  A traditional Jewish greeting adorns the top center of the card and is pre-printed.

Check out the entire Jewish New Year Greeting Card collection at InvitationBox.com!

Bikes don’t leak oil – they mark their territory…There’s something to be said for the feeling wind in your hair, watching the sunset in your near distance and the point of thought when the thrill of speed overcomes your fear of death.  We’re talking about motorcycles here – the increasingly popular favorite pastime for so many men in their 20′s – 50′s, (and maybe women too).

One of my favorite shows, Sons of Anarchy, is set to debut their 3rd season on September 6th and I have to say it inspired my blog today as I’m counting down the days until the season premier.  There’s something so dangerous and fun about riding a motorcycle, and if you have a motorcycle fanatic as part of your family or friends, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Watching current trends, be it social, fashion or media, is a part of our everyday life here at InvitationBox.com, in an effort to provide our customers with exactly what they’re looking for as they celebrate life’s many milestones.  We’ve noticed a large trend in personal confidence and the excitement of expressing yourself in every part of your life, be it your clothing, your expressions or your daily activities.  You were born this way…celebrate it.

One of our newest lines of invitations is our grunge themed invitations, which feature one-of-a-kind unique graphics and color combinations that will truly help express your inner wild child, be it with a motorcycle invitation, tire tracks invitation, grunge floral invitation or skateboarding invitation.  From stationery to return address labels and stickers to invitations or self-inking stamps, the grunge theme is carried out in true rockstar fashion.  Our grunge themed invitations work perfectly for 16th birthday party invitations, adult birthday party invitations for men, 21st birthday party invitations and tween party invitations and will truly capture the attention of your guests.

Take a look at some of our brand new grunge themed invitations below and set the scene for your upcoming birthday or milestone event…

As we approach the fall season after a hectic, (and very hot), summer, things are starting to get back to normal with the kids going to school, cooler weather and holiday season up ahead.  With the holidays being so close by, you’ll want to have your stationery basics together, in case you need to send a thank you note or correspondence during this great time of year.  InvitationBox.com is well-known for our invitation selection, however we also have a great collection of stationery essentials to help you keep in touch with those who mean the most to you throughout the year.

Adult Thank You Notes & Stationery – The art of letter or hand writing can seem to be a thing of the past with all of the technology we have at our hands now via email, text, twitter or Facebook.  All it takes is two minutes to compose a few thoughts on a notecard that will touch the recipients heart knowing that you took time out of your busy schedule to hand write them a note, be it for fun or to thank them for a kind gift or gesture.  Men traditionally should use a flat notecard in white or ivory.  The flat card should be pretty decent in size, as men tend to have larger penmanship than women.  Women traditional should use a flat notecard in white, ivory or pink.  A small detail like a motif or border may be added.

Everyday, Collegiate and Holiday Self-Inking Snap Stamps – Stamping your personal items, be it your stationery letterhead, the back of an envelope, the inside cover of a book or a child’s school papers can be really fun, and helps you express your personality in everything you do.  Our Noteworthy Collections self-inking Snap Stamps are an amazing new item which allows you to purchase just one stamp base that has magnetic faces that you can switch out – so you can stamp your holiday card envelopes one day and add your return address to an envelope the next.  We also offer stamper gift boxes for you to send your friends now which feature a snap stamp base and a coupon code for your recipient to choose their own stamp face from our 1,000 image design library.  Make stamping even more fun with colored ink pads and stickers to really jazz up your personal belongings.

Return Address Labels – They’re perfect for return address labels, envelope seals and stickers for your party favors…Round stickers are a very hot item over at InvitationBox.com…honestly, who doesn’t love stickers?  We offer them with a variety of colors, styles and themes from animal print to kids toys, flowers, tropical scenes, monograms, damask patterns, polka dot patters and special interest scenes.  Add your name and address around the outer border or substitute a fun phrase or event date.  We also offer a plethora of square stickers for those making party favors or needing a larger envelope seal or sticker.  These fun stickers are affordable and include at least 60 stickers in a set.  Perfect for adding a little pop of color to your everyday items.

Be sure to check out our entire stationery collection at InvitationBox.com and truly make your paper and correspondence yours.  Browse through thank you notes, personalized calling cards, stamps, embossers, stickers, notepads and more!

In just a few short weeks college students will be gearing up to head back to school for the 2011 fall semester. With the new school season upon us, we are very excited to introduce Notre Dame Collegiate Stationery, by Noteworthy Collections, to our website! This complete stationery collection celebrates the blue & gold as one of Americas top 25 universities.

Our brand new collection of Notre Dame stationery features a variety of items and essentials for back to school, whether you’re purchasing stationery sets for yourself or as a gift for you student’s send-off. Choose from Notre Dame notecards, Notre Dame return address labels, Notre Dame luggage tags, Notre Dame menu pads, Notre Dame jot pads, Notre Dame memo pads and more. They’re perfect for last minute notes, thank you notes, networking, notes to roommates, grocery lists and doodle pads. We also have a line of enclosure cards which work great for collegiate networking as a current student or a recent alumnae. Personalize the stationery sets with your name, email address, phone number or current title, all while showcasing your Irish pride.

These brand new Notre Dame stationery designs feature three different available logos, from the blue & gold or blue & green university letter logo to the Irish fighting leprechaun mascot logo. Each logo coordinates with a preppy, stately or school spirited design with circle burst, damask, plaid, paisley or striped patterns using Notre Dame’s famous school colors…blue, gold, yellow and green.

Checkout some of the brand new designs you’ll see from the Notre Dame Collegiate Stationery Collection…

Too old for princesses, dolls, ballet and toys, but too young for animal print, car keys, limos and boys.  You’re hosting a birthday party for your tween, so it needs to be just as chic, stylish and cool as she already is!

For kids ages 10 – 13, birthday party themes can seem a bit tough to come up with, as your baby girl is too old for the silly kid stuff, but too young to be shopping for her first car.  What on earth can you do for hours on end with ten of your daughter’s best friends?  Believe it or not, the possibilities are there, you just have to look for them!  Find out what your child and her friends like to do best, whether it’s shopping at the mall, going to the movies, swimming at the pool, getting their hair done or maybe even skateboarding.  Take a favorite pastime and turn it into a birthday party that nobody will ever forget!

Below are some great party ideas, (and invitations, of course), to help you begin planning your tween’s upcoming special birthday…

Candy Party Invitations – Let’s not sugar coat it, Candy is sweet – just like your daughter – and everyone loves it!  Candy themed birthday parties give you a wonderful color palette to work with for decorations, and make wonderfully sweet treats for your child’s guests to take home with them or eat at the party.  Set up a candy buffet for a striking table setting, and make bouquets of lollipops as your table centerpieces.  You can even have the kids make their own candy as an activity at the party.

Peace Themed Kids Party Invitations – Peace out!  The 70′s are becoming popular again!  Okay, so maybe you won’t see the kids showing up in bell bottom jeans or headbands, but the peace sign has become a staple with many tweens nowadays.  Decorate her party with peace signs and vibrant tie-dye colors, like the ones shown in the invitation on our left, by Paper so Pretty.  Ask each guest to bring a white t-shirt and then have each child make their own tie-dye shirt to take home with them for a fun activity for all to enjoy.  Create her birthday cake in the shape of a peace sign, with lots of candy glitter and bright colors.

Sleepover Party Invitations – Gossip, PJ’s, pillow fights, popcorn, pizza, nail polish, music, dance competitions, makeovers and a Ouiji board – all the essentials to create the perfect slumber party!  Every girl loves a good sleepover with her girlfriends, whether she’s turning 9 or 29!  Talking about boys, what happened in school last week or that horrible outfit that your teacher wore that day…it’s all part of being a girl.  Set the scene for her slumber party with some popular tunes, great munchies, a movie and plenty of sleeping bags and pillows.  You can even plan a big breakfast for the morning after the sleepover as everyone waits for their parents to pick them up.  Be sure to wear ear plugs that night as the giggles, screams and stories last late into the night.

Got any great ideas about how you made your tween’s birthday a success?  Feel free to share with us so that our tween’s party can be the talk of the school!

Here they lie…Have you shivered from looking at the card in the top left corner of the blog yet?  Our very own InvitationBox designers came out with over 150 brand new Halloween invitation designs for this fall season, and looking through them yesterday, this card stood out to me more than the rest.  It literally gave me chills, and still does today!  I thought, I must share this with our readers and shoppers…what a cool way to entice your guests into attending your deadly Halloween party this year!

Sometimes it feels like Halloween is one of those holidays where you receive six invitations in the mail, and every party is always on the same night!  How on earth do you decide on which one to attend?  Well, when choosing your spooky party invitations, don’t give your guests a choice!  Choose an utterly terrifying invitation like this one, and your guests won’t dare decline!  Another great tip: Send your invitations out in September so that your invitation is the first they receive for this spooky holiday season.  With grabbing your guests attention with a great invitation, as well as giving your guests plenty of time to plan for your event, you’re bound to have a great turnout!

So what kinds of things will you see in IB Designs brand new Halloween invitation collection?  This new release was primarily focused on adult Halloween party events, formal Halloween events and corporate Halloween events.  No jokes, tricks, giggling pumpkins or friendly witches in this batch…it’s an all-out fright-fest over here at InvitationBox!  Our brand new designs feature gothic skeletons, vintage chandeliers, tattoo emblems, gothic grunge frames, pumpkin paisley designs, enticing dinner plates and eight legged creepy-crawly spiders.

Need something a bit more formal?  We also have introduced 53 brand new pocket designs, which will add a little ambiance to your goth-themed formal Halloween event.  Think dark damask patterns, Halloween colored lace patterned edges, damask skulls and spider webs printed on inserts which sit inside crisp black pockets which are wrapped with delicate black, orange, white or sublime green satin ribbons.  We also offer printed Halloween pockets which feature your favorite insert patterns carried onto the pocket design – a truly unique pocket idea for InvitationBox.

Check out some of our creepiest brand new Halloween party invitations below and get planning!  Halloween is just about two months away and it’s never too early to start browsing for the perfect fright-filled Halloween party invitation!

Why hello, cupcake!  In case you haven’t caught onto the buzz…cupcakes are all the rage for a sweet treat at a party these days.  Forget the 2 foot cartoon sheet cakes that we all grew up on, or the cakes where Mom transferred our photograph onto the frosting, (how comforting, you’re eating my face).  Now the IT thing is a mini cake masterpiece fit for one.  Cupcakes have even evolved over the past few years, from the typical Duncan Hines cake batter and swash-over of frosting…now people are getting creative with flourished frosting in vibrant colors with gourmet cake flavors and toppings.

On of our customer service managers had a birthday this week and I decided to make her some of my famous-around-the-office cupcakes.  I went with a traditional devil’s food chocolate cake with a crisp white frosting, (I use decorator’s icing rather than store-bought because it’s thicker and easier to create large frosting swirls).  When I went shopping for the cupcake liners, I had no idea just how much cupcakes really did evolve over the past year.  Anything from zebra stripes to leopard print, damask, argyle, polka dots or plaid patterns were available…which is perfect when coordinating your cupcake style with your party and party invitation theme.  Craft stores sell a bulk of these cupcake wrappers, along with the frosting nozzles you’ll need to create piled-up frosting designs, like the cupcakes above.

Need to snazz your cupcake up a little?  The sprinkle or jimmy has also evolved in the past few years.  Gone are the days of rainbow or chocolate ‘shots’!  Now you can have edible pearls, glitter and beads on your cupcake.  I put mini semi-sweet chocolate chips over my co-worker’s cupcakes.

Serve up some gourmet or couture cupcakes at your next party and really make it a hit.  You can use them as a great party treat and decoration or completely wrap your party theme around this yummy little sweet!  Cupcake party themes are growing extremely popular as well, and we have the perfect cupcake party invitations to set the scene for your cupcake themed party.  Whether you’re hosting your child’s for 1st birthday party, sweet 16 or celebrating your own adult birthday party, cupcakes are a great party theme.

Check out some of our favorite cupcake themed party invitations below.  They’re perfect for 1st birthday party invitations, kids birthday party invitations, corporate party invitations, holiday party invitations, bridal shower invitations and baby shower invitations…