North to Alaska

We're heading North to Alaska for a cruise along the inside passage. Enjoy the last days of summer.

See you in September!

The Messenger Bag for Back-to-School

Have you gotten the message that it's Back To School time in just two weeks...if not, where have you been hiding? It's the end of summer ritual from the newspaper circulars to giant in-store displays -- school supplies, new shoes, first day outfits -- summer is almost over! First off, I recommend getting the school supplies before the first day of school. Last year I went to Staples on day one and waited nearly 40 minutes in line to pay (no exaggeration!!). Enough about that...but i do recommend early school supply shopping if you can make it happen.

On a trend note though, messenger bags are hot for the back-to-school scene. I came across these adorable messenger bags during my trip to the New York Stationery show this year (more about that another time) and discovered this great company called Room It Up that makes these really fun messenger bags for girls. They are featured on my website in a couple of different patterns so feel free to check them out. Functional and fashionable...what more could a girl ask for? Perhaps coordinating lunch boxes and pencil cases to match...

www.socialbutterflydesigns.com (favorite finds/school days)

Flutter Talk is Born

Believe it or not I have owned my business, Social Butterfly Designs, for what will be 8 years this November...it officially launched in the year 2000. Believe it or not, I just launched my website two months ago. I know, it's crazy in this Internet age to be so behind the times but it was wait until my youngest daughter got into kindergarten or bust. I chose to wait until kindergarten year was over in fact and here is the fruit of my labor (see home page image)...check it out if you have not already.

On the subject of this blog I didn't even really know what a blog was until earlier this year. Being new to the blogging world, and this being my first ever entry, please be patient with me while I try to get it right.

I thought the recent launch of my new website, www.socialbutterflydesigns.com, in June would be the perfect time to start my blog "Flutter Talk." Get it? Social Butterfly / Flutter Talk...do you see the connection? Believe it or not, I thought long and hard about the name -- I hope you like it. Here I will do my best to keep this blog interesting (translation, somewhere that you will want to visit more than once) and yet not too over the top with information that you just don't care or want to know about. I will attempt to share a little about myself and my experiences but will focus mostly on what's new in my line of stationery and gift items, what's hot, tips and tricks for getting the most out of your invitations and personal correspondence and a little bit of just whatever.

I will also share with you trends and ideas in stationery and invitations that I find along the way in my quest for new designs and products for my business. Please feel free to chime in with any ideas or comments of your own as they will be most appreciated. Check back often as I will strive to provide you some interesting tidbits along the way.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you will like what you see.