Cherish Paperie » Miscellaneous

Custom Programs is now Cherish Paperie {Custom Paperie | Huntington Beach, CA}

Danielle — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 11:00:00 +0000

We are so happy you have come to our new blog! We are still working on a few changes but couldn't wait to share with you! As you've noticed, we've made a few changes...

This is such an exciting time for our business and we are so thrilled to share this new update with you! Formerly known as Custom Programs, we have thoughtfully decided to change our DBA company name to Cherish Paperie. However, Cherish Paperie will remain a division of Custom Programs, LLC.

As designers we have evolved and our business has grown to include so much more than just programs, we wanted our business name to reflect the feeling that we want our custom stationery pieces to invoke, something that would be lovely, simple and to be cherished as a keepsake for generations. We wanted to keep the color burgundy and the look of the logo very similar to the former look, because it has become our signature. The overall style is whimsy mixed with touches of modern elegance.

We are so very grateful for the success we've had and humbled at the trust that so many of our clients have put into our hands. It is our hope you will be as excited as we are about the new and improved changes that are coming. Thank you for your support over the past sixteen years; the best is yet to come!

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The Art of the Handwritten Word

Danielle — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Photo Source

How much emphasis was placed on handwriting in your school curriculum growing up? For me, that emphasis was very strong in my younger years in elementary school but it slowly died as the years progressed. Sure, I had a class here and there where the teacher still strongly believed in carrying a notebook and writing in it each day (thanks Mr. B!) but for the most part everything was typed.

I remember being so proud of myself in the third grade when I finally mastered the alphabet in cursive (both upper and lower case). I would write my name over and over again just amazed at how pretty it looked on the paper. I felt so powerful being able to write out the words and sentences that came to my head. I also tried to perfect my penmanship. I tried to be very neat and precise in my writing and doing so earned me better grades on my papers.

And than we started learning how to type on computers. By the 8th grade I had already taken a computer and typing class for four years in a row and all of our school papers had to by typed, not handwritten. Handwritten papers were for rough drafts only, before we typed them up. And than slowly even the handwritten rough drafts disappeared and everything was typed on the computer. There were no rough drafts anymore. And now I find myself only writing down simple notes or thank you's. Nothing as elaborate as a poem, story or even a letter. All of these things are written on the computer.

And while I love the speed in which the computer lets me get all of my thoughts out, I am sometimes handicapped by that speed. I don't have the time to stop and think about what I'm writing. The beauty of writing something by hand is not only the beautiful penmanship (which, by the way, is definitely lacking these days!) but the beautiful words and sentences that came to me as I really, truly thought about what I was writing.

The delay in getting thoughts from the brain to the hand to the pen has been cut and now our brains send words and sentences to our hands directly and our hands type everything out as quickly as the thoughts come to our heads. We don't think before we type. And I think if we still put emphasis on how important it is to hand write a letter or a note instead of type it up we would be doing a lot more thinking about what we're writing.

So I believe it is really important that we start putting more emphasis and preference towards handwriting instead of using our computers to type up all of our ideas. With this new habit I hope to delve more into the art of the handwritten word. Why is grammar so important? Are the rules we learned in English class really going to help us in the long run? And how will these things make us better writers? What do you think?

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Saving Money and Getting the Quality? {Big Box Retailer Weddings}

Danielle — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:00:00 +0000

I received an email from Costco in my inbox at the end of last week. Guess what they are now carrying? A wedding line. Yup. You read that right. You can now purchase wedding invitations, flowers, food, dresses and honeymoon packages from Costco for your big day. They even have a bridal event they're putting on in select cities so brides can come check out what they have available. I wonder if there are going to be samples...

I wonder just how much the big box retailer will save you in wedding cost and just how personalized you can be by using their products. I've often wondered how one could use the cheaper prices of using Michaels, Target and now Costco to purchase wedding items at their advantage. Since I was a DIY bride myself I always want to get the most value for the money I spend. Especially in today's economy.

But the one thing I couldn't bring myself to do was buy invitations and stationery from a big box retailer with my 40% off coupon. There was just something missing from the picture. The personalization and customization was limited to what was in stock and what lines they carried. Sure I'd save a lot but I also wouldn't be able to use that exact shade of blue and the colors wouldn't quite match everything else perfectly.

I also kind of feel the same way about my flowers. I went to a local florist for my wedding flowers. It just made sense. They not only did weddings and events but were your every day florist as well who carried a large variety of flowers in stock.

That way if they over purchased flowers for my event they could sell the left overs the next day or two to their walk in customers. I wouldn't have to worry about being limited to a set number of stems. If you purchase from an online retailer you not only don't know the quality you're getting, you also don't have the option of adding more to a bouquet or arrangement. You're stuck with what they deliver to you.

However when it comes to wedding dresses I am all for purchasing from a big box retailer like Costco. Their return policy is fantastic and they usually have good quality items to sell. And I love their photo center. I made a photo book for my mother in law for Christmas and the quality was fabulous! I'm considering re-doing my wedding album through them. Super reasonable pricing and a great product!

I'd love to see what they have in store for their future in the wedding industry. Should be interesting...

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The new website is here!!

Danielle — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 16:40:00 +0000

After a long time spent on designing and testing, our new website is finally live! Whahoo! We hope you like it as much as we do.

We would love to hear your feedback! Please let us know how you like the new website and if there are any changes you would have made that you don't see in place.

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Tornados….in California?!?

Danielle — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:57:00 +0000

Yes you heard me right - here in beautiful sunny Southern California we had a tornado warning here yesterday, and apparently that wasn't even the big storm! The best is yet to come...we don't' get "snow days" around here, but we just got word that my kids school will most likely be closed tomorrow (Thursday 1/21) due to the severe weather and yes even more tornado's!

Check out this twister that came ashore yesterday in Sunset/Seal Beach (about 6 miles from us) it took some trees, tore up some boats and flipped a car...CRAZY California weather!

So if you try to contact us tomorrow and we don't answer right away....we are hiding out in our bathtub since CA houses have no basements...and we will get back to you on Friday! ;-)

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Fabulous Vacation!

Danielle — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:45:00 +0000

Well our week away in Mexico was fabulous! Just the relaxing getaway we all needed - and the kids had a blast their first time in another country. They were thrilled to have their own passports, and LOVED the pool and got the hang of the swim up bar the first day.... to order virgin "Mexican Monkeys" chocolate, bananas and milk...so a shake...mine of course had some Kaluha!

I did manage to answer a few emails and do a few proofs...so it wasn't a total "getaway" but my Wi-Fi only worked at the pool, (I know, a hard problem) and business office so I didn't get as much done as I hoped...since I had to trek up a hill and back plus 2 flights of stairs to get the internet to work in the evenings (when I did most of my work) Here are some pics from the top of the hill (where the business center is located) and me working at the pool (on the other side of the hill from our "casa". ;-)

Please bare with me this week as I am still catching up and have a quite a few emails waiting to be answered!

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Happy Halloween!

Danielle — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:30:00 +0000

I hope everyone has a great Halloween! I am always thankful to live in CA where there is no weather to speak of.... We got a surprise shower early this morning, and now some lingering clouds, but looks like it will be a clear night of fun!

Our pumpkins fresh from the pumpkin patch are ready for carving the minute school gets out today!

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Apologies!

Danielle — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 07:27:00 +0000

My apologies to anyone who has tried to contact us and got a slow response - we have had multiple systems fail this month, and *just* when we think everything is OK again something else breaks...well I guess we were due...I preempted a computer fail in January by getting a new system and copying everything over BEFORE the old one died (I could see the warning signs this time! ;-) and as system replacements go - it was pretty smooth and easy.

July has been a different story....

First it was our Quickbooks system - it decided out of nowhere to just stop working in the middle of doing an estimate (turns out it is something to do with Vista...surprise surprise), and then of course wouldn't even open to let me look up jobs, customers and contact, payment processing, and invoices...not to mention shipping! YIKES! so after 4 days on and off with tech support it finally gets fixed. only to give us another error in the shipping system...**sigh** at least I can work around this error.

So, another week before that shipping error is fixed, and it is fixed not even a whole day before...yes...the SAME problems we had the week before return....back to another 3 days on tech support and support callback waiting...and LOTS of restarting...deep breath and bigger sigh. of course the same fix from last time doesn't work wouldn't you know...

So now another week later - and *almost* an entire week without computer problems when...wait for it...our print server fails...yes our entire printing system goes down...Aggghhhh!!! So another day and a half of trouble shooting that and yes we are finally in the clear......I hope. Keep your fingers crossed!

I am SO ready to leave July behind - and of course it is one of our busiest months of the year - so yes I am working evenings...late (note the time of this post for instance). And weekends trying to catch up on all the stuff we couldn't do while the computers were down.

So I apologize to everyone of our customers who are still waiting for proofs - they are on the way! and to all those with orders in-house already - they will be done in time, I know I am a bit slow with the proof changes! and all those new inquiries still waiting sometimes up to a week to get a email or phone call back - I am so sorry - there are just not enough hours in the day, and current in house jobs have to take precedence right now, but I do guarantee I will get back to you!

I am slowly making headway on the backlog of work and hope to be caught up by August 1, so please be patient and bear with me! I appreciate your understanding!

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Broken Finger! {Hazards of the Job}

Danielle — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 03:51:00 +0000

Hi all! Please bear with me these next few weeks if you experience delays in getting answers to your emails...I broke my finger - taping up a box of invitations of all things....who knew the invitations business was so dangerous! That industrial tape gun just got away from me, my poor finger just wasn't fast enough to get out of the way.

Anyway, I have to keep its "buddy" taped to the finger next to it, so everything is a bit more slow going these days, especially typing...so please be patient if you don't get an answer to your email back right away, it it taking about 24 hours at least to get back to all of them! ;-)

Thanks for your patience!

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