Ocean Terry Oversize Fouta Towel, Nine Space
Reversible Beach Chair, Julie Brown Designs
Lunch Pot, Black + Blum
Wooden Utensils, Sucre
Splish Splash Pool Party Invites, Paper Culture
Baby Float with Sun Canopy, Swimways
Lomography Camera, La Sardina
Summer Fun Paper Plates, Tag
Medium Tote Bag, J.Crew x Sea Bags

Start off your watery escapades with one of Paper Culture’s summer party invitations, find the one that best fits your pool party, and invite all your dear family and friends. Then pack a picnic lunch in Black + Blum’s ingenious lunch pot to eat with the crafty wooden utensils from Sucre. And, as always, a camera in fun colors to document the memories.

Needless to say, my daughter’s first pool adventure was a blast for the entire family filled with yummy food, refreshing water games, and laughs and relaxation. We practically had to drag her out of the water with promises of future pool parties!

So, in spirit of OMGPOP bringing back the fun of drawing and pictionary with Draw Something, we want to feature this cool product: the Paper Watch from Suck UK. According to the makers, it is a paper watch made from a blank canvas. Generally, a plain watch made from tear-resistant paper-style material with a built-in digital watch. We love it for a number of reasons. First, it’s a paper watch. I don’t know about any of you, but I used to make paper watches in elementary school, so it’s definitely a trip down memory lane. Secondly, you can take recycling to another level by giving paper a second life. You can also use it as a unique way to send party invitations or even give as a gift – even funnier, write a “Don’t Be Late” message on it! Lastly, we love the Paper Watch because it lets us draw something…on a watch.

You can find this watch on Amazon for a little under $11, but if you hurry now, they’re selling it on Busted Tees as the Deal of the Day for $9. At Paper Culture, we also have a few countdown to noon clock themed party invitations that feature artistic representations of the face of a clock. Can you imagine throwing a birthday party using one of these invites and handing out the Paper Watch as a goody bag? Priceless. Or rather… Timeless.

As you may know, I recently started writing the “Inspired” blog for Paper Culture. Before I started my job, I did some research — I looked at the site. I checked out the assortment of cards and designs that were available. But I hadn’t really experienced Paper Culture until now. My daughter is turning four next week and I am making, as my Aunt Aleen from NJ would say, a party for her. This year I am doing the tried and true “age of the child plus one extra guest.” I have gone to too many 4-year-old birthday parties recently, where the birthday child has been in meltdown mode for the last half hour of the party. Also my daughter just started a new school, so I wasn’t really sure, who to invite. Here is my experience:

1. Register: I went on paperculture.com and registered, which was a piece of cake.

2. Pick your card: I had a terrible idea and let my daughter pick her invitation. She was very opinionated and a difficult customer to boot. “Fairies don’t have green wings. The princess’ mouth is too big.” And she didn’t like the line that went through the letters – disliking fonts at her age???! We finally settled on a card that she liked. It had scoops of ice-cream on it. Needless to say, she likes sugar.

3. Input text: I filled out the pertinent information. And then the site quickly sends you a proof and asks if everything is ok, or if you have questions about the design. I wasn’t sure if the text should be in all caps or not. I sent my proof back with my question. 30 minutes later I got a new proof and the designer had fixed everything: the “headline” was in all caps, and the other text was capitalized as needed. I also asked if the card could be more pink. Voila! I got a new proof, which had a pink background. We were good to go.

4. Order: I ordered 10 cards as this is going to be a small fete.

5. Mail: I hadn’t realized that Paper Culture offers a “Mail & Message Service.” The cards can be sent directly to you for you to send out, or the “Mail & Message Service” addresses and sends out the cards for you! You only pay for the stamps. I figured I would try it, as my handwriting leans towards being illegible. You can either type in your addresses – there is a nice little intuitive form – or you can import your addresses by using the paperculture.com excel address template. The Paper Culture people will assist you if you are stuck, but really it was so logical that I didn’t need help. And it didn’t take very long to do.

6. Message: Then I came upon the most magical part of the process. You can type individual notes for each guest which will be printed on the back of the card. Or you can send everyone the same key information and either personalize it a bit, or not at all. You never want to fill the front of your card with important, but non-festive information like directions and/or parking instructions. And you don’t need to with the “Message” part of the “Mail & Message Service.”

7. Purchase: I bought ($32.54 including tax and the cost of stamps) them on Tuesday and my daughter received her invite in the mail the next Wednesday. Not bad at all. Actually, it was quite a wonderful experience. And the word on the street has been amazing. My daughter’s friend, Sasha, told her that she had taped it to her wall. And two Moms told me that they loved everything about it.

Now I just have to figure out how to keep six 4-year-olds busy for two hours. Any thoughts? Suggestions?

Paper Culture's Inspired Blog

Ever wonder how we here at Paper Culture find inspiration? Do we sit in a dimly lit room with our eyes tightly shut, holding hands, chanting “ommmm”?

Along those lines, we welcome your feedback and ideas. Find your “inner-designer” and tell us how Paper Culture has inspired you in 200 words or less. Maybe a bridal shower invitation determined the theme of your party or a holiday photo card motivated you to make your own wrapping paper. You tell us! If we select your story, we’ll give you a $50 gift certificate for your next Paper Culture order. How’s that for inspiration? Simply share your story by commenting on this blog or send an email to kirstena@paperculture.com.

Um, no — or at least, not that I’m aware of.

The joke around here is that our inspiration is erratic. As easy as it would be to look to one person, place or thing for incitement, that is simply not the case. Being paper lovers, we are mindful of the trends around us, but between you and me, we probably spend the least amount of time looking at other invitations, announcements and stationery. Besides, that would be imitating, and how uninspired is that?

It’s much more fun to look at fashion, architecture or environmental advances as sources of ideas.  We also find enormous inspiration in organizations that provide leadership in areas that touch our communities, including those that promote education, the health of our families and environmental innovation.

But really, we find our most important inspiration in talking to you.

Like most blogs, we will share fun company tidbits, special discounts, design previews and maybe even some of the more interesting corporate stuff.  But our real goal is to have this be a forum for us to exchange ideas, to share thoughts and ultimately, for us to find the source of our next inspiration.