things to show you…so many blog posts write…so many new products

to talk about…for now…just check it out for yourself!

We’ve got a big sale going over at PrintMyRibbon! Get $30 OFF your order of $200 or more! Fantastic, you can get so much extra ribbon with those savings! Enjoy…Offer ends May 7

Good morning all!  It’s a gloriously beautiful spring day this morning, and to celebrate, we’d like to announce the start of the PrintMyThing.com 15% Off Custom Printed Product Spring Sale!  Here’s the lowdown:

• This is a 4 day sale.  It starts today, April 27th, and ends this Friday, April 30th, 2010.
• 15% off custom printed products.
• It’s for web & retail orders, so stop by PrintMyThing.com, or call us toll free at 1.888.281.0042.
• The promo doesn’t apply to orders where “Buy One Get One Free” type products have been included in the order.  (Magnets, posters, and flyers/brochures & sell sheets.)

Take advantage of this soon!  Oh, and as a teaser…we have a 25% off Reorders sale coming in a few days.  More on that later.  Be sure to check back with the blog, or follow us on Twitter and Facebook!

Travelers Afar
This greeting card is designed to spread joy to all who receive it. Simple text locations and styles allow you to customize this card without feeling as if you had to spend the time to design it yourself.

Design this template right now, here.

Holly Jolly
With a large, rotund, gift toting Santa Claus wishing you a “Holly Jolly Christmas!” and a spot for a photo of your family, this greeting card has got what it takes to share the Christmas spirit with all those who receive it. Additionally, customizable text areas give you full control of the message.

This and other templates can be found here.

Step 1

Create a separate Twitter account (so updates could be kept private, as I don’t need to be broadcasting how good or bad my host is). Make sure you have another email address to use because Twitter won’t let you use the same email as your regular account. I called my account, fittingly, @pmtalerts.

Step 2

Create account with a website monitoring service that allows for email alerts. I use Pingdom. Follow their instructions to setup a Check using a Contact to send the email to. I have the alerts come to a gmail account because they make it really easy to setup an auto-forward.

Step 3

Connect @pmtalerts to Twitter Mail. You simply use your Twitter login and it automatically connects to Twitter (you get a chance to confirm through Twitter).  TwitterMail gives you a “secret” email to use to update twitter status through email.

Step 4

Setup your email to auto-forward all uptime alerts. Pingdom sends all alerts from alert@pingdom.com. See screenshot of how I setup my gmail to do the auto-forwarding.

Step 5

Login to your regular Twitter account and follow your Alert account (you’ll have to logout and login to the alert account to approve the follow if you previously made updates private)

DONE! – you’ll now receive your website monitoring alerts as status updates through twitter…and it’ll be only for you unless you decide to share with the world.

My next goal is to simplify this process so that there are less 3rd party tools in play (less that can go wrong), so if anyone has some thoughts or experience with the Twitter API and wants to share…let me know.

Earlier in my career, I had the opportunity to work for a non-profit radio station that depended on business underwriting and individual listener donations for it’s financial viability.  Admittedly, it was a tough road to walk at times, as generous giving is not something that comes easily to most of us.  However, we always had just enough to fulfill the mission we had been called to at that radio station.  It was incredible how on the limited finances we had available, how we were still able to reach out into our local community to be an encouragement and to provide hands-on assistance to others.

PrintMyThing and PrintMyRibbon are in a group of companies that participate in a charitable foundation called Giving at Heart.  The Giving at Heart Foundation extends an opportunity for employees to donate a portion of their paychecks to the Foundation.  The Foundation in turn helps employees through an employee assistance fund, and also donates to both local and global charitable purposes.  One employee that donates to the fund shared that even though the times are challenging economically, they are excited to be able to continue to donate to help those that are in a tougher financial situation. 

We here at PrintMyThing and PrintMyRibbon encourage you to continue, or even increase your charitable giving during these challenging times.  It’s times like these that generosity is most needed.  If you feel led to focus your efforts on local needs look for local food banks, homeless shelters, and organizations like the local Salvation Army or Goodwill.  Local places of worship are another great idea to contact to discover local needs.

If you’re thinking on a more national or global scale look at organizations that help feed the poor, or help those in Third World countries start their own businesses.  Organizations like YMCA and YWCA, World Vision, and Partners Worldwide are solid, trusted charitable groups that are making an impact in people’s lives and financial situations.  Another unique way to “give” is to consider adopting.  Giving the gift of a family to a child that has no family is a blessing beyond description.  Check with your local Children’s Services departments, Global Adoption Agencies like America World Adoption Association or check the Adoption.com website for more information.   The opportunities and ways to give are endless.

Think about the mission you want to complete in your giving, and then take the time to research who you might want to give to.  Make sure that the majority of the resources you are donating are being put towards the physical needs of people, instead of just covering administrative or fundraising costs of the organization.  A great resource for finding tips on safe charitable giving can be found at the Federal Trade Commission website.

Give during all seasons of your life, and watch how much you get back in return.

What products could I sell?

Good question! We have been in the label/tag printing business for a very long time and have a wide array of products suited to any need or market niche. We’ve got digitally printed 4 color labels, foil stamped and ink labels, tags of all sizes and shapes, and personalized ribbon in many styles! We keep adding new styles, materials, colors every day to these products and all you’ll have to do is find the customers and make the sales…we’ll take care of the rest!

What’s more, we’ve recently added some entirely new lines to our lineup that is very exciting for us…Invitations, greeting cards, posters, brochures, flyers, envelopes, business cards and much more. We have been very busy creating 100s of templates that will appeal to both end-user consumers as well as the more traditional commercial businesses. Just think, you’ll be able to sell everything from baby announcement cards and direct mail pieces to jewelry hang tags and personalized ribbon!

How do I start?

Make your way over to mywebprinting.com and give the 800 number a call or shoot us an email inquiry. We have dedicated staff in place to help you get setup as well as be there for any questions you may have as you start selling these fantastic products.

What is a Dome Label?

The best way to describe it is to say that it is a regular sticker with a thick, sort of dome shaped thick, clear coating. They sorta look like a button. You may have seen these things on your computer, possibly an “Intel Inside” label. These things are perfectly suited in applications where a more extreme wear is possible as the coating can take a pretty good beating without really showing distress to the underlying sticker.

If you ever find yourself in need of a label/sticker for the case of your computers or in a place that may take a little extra wear or you just want to make your stickers that much cooler, think Dome Labels.

I want to start by thanking ed-it.com for providing the research on this topic.  According to the crack team of researchers there, the use of invitations probably began with the wealthy aristocracy of England and France.  The “High Society” there would invite their peers to social events, with handwritten invitations.  They were usually written by the wife, butler, or secretary for the family.  The handwriting on these invitations were written in calligraphy, since the writing instrument of the day was the quill.  The quill, combined with the excellent penmanship of the day made for a true work of art.  (As opposed to the chicken scratch that most of us have in today’s rushed society.)

The invitation would be placed in an envelope that had the recipients name on it.  That envelope was then placed in another “outer” envelope for protection from the elements.  Directions to the recipients homes were written on the outer envelope.  Servants would deliver the invitations personally since there was no postal system, and the outer envelope would be removed before being handed to the person being invited.

So where did the use of tissue paper come in?  That didn’t appear on the scene until the advancements in the industrialization of the printing field.  Since paper was able to be printed faster than it had been in the past, ink didn’t have time to dry.  Tissue paper was placed on the freshly printed invitation so that the ink would not transfer to the next invitation stacked on top of it.  For some “odd” reason, the tradition continues today despite the fact that the ink drying problem is no longer an actual…problem.  And despite having a (for the most part) reliable postal service, we still continue the tradition of the outer envelope in formal invitations.

For more information on the history of the invititation, be sure to visit ed-it.com.  Also, be sure to stop by PrintMyThing for our new Personalized Invitation cards!  There are some great design templates for you to choose from and customize to your own liking!

In December of 2005, I officially became an adoptive Dad.  My wife and I had fostered a little boy that once we adopted, we named “Eban.”  My son is biracial…part African-American, part Caucasion.  I love him with all that I have, as does my wife.  My wife and I are both white.  We’ve committed to making sure that our son understands and appreciates all of his heritage, not just the specific white heritage we ourselves are familiar with.  As a result, I’ve taken a much deeper level of interest in African-American heritage, successes, and accomplishments.  Should I have before?  Yes, I will readily admit that.  But now it hits a bit closer to home, if you know what I mean.  In light of that, I’d like to share the successes of 10 African-American inventors/trailblazers.

1)  Elijah McCoy:  He invented the oil-dripping cup for trains.  Others tried to mimic his invention, but were often disappointed.  They then demanded “the real McCoy.”

2)  Lewis Latimer:  Lewis created a critical part of the light bulb called the “carbon filament.”  He also worked in the labs of both Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell.

3)  Jan Ernst Matzeliger designed a shoemaking machine that increased shoemaking speed by 900%!

4)  Granville T. Woods invented a train-to-station communication system…and had left school at age 10 to help support his family.

5)  One of my personal heroes:  George Washing Carver.  Carver is the one that invented that wonderful food known as Peanut Butter!  He also created around 400 other plant products.

6) Madam C. J. Walker  invented a hair-growing lotion.  She also happened to become the first female African- American millionaire.

7)  Garrett Morgan (1877-1963) invented the gas mask.  Morgan also invented the first traffic signal.

8)  Otis Boykin who lived between 1920 and 1982, invented the electronic control devices for guided missles, IBM computers, and the pacemaker.

9)  Dr. Patricia E. Bath, born in 1949, invented a method of eye surgery that has allowed many formerly blind people…to see.  She has been nominated to the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

10)  And finally…Barak Hussein Obama.  Mr. Obama is the first African American (biracial like my son) to be elected President of the United States of America!

Thank you to http://www.teacher.scholastic.com for providing these fascinating facts about African-American inventors and trailblazers!

So who exactly was Valentine?  It seems that there are three different stories of who he was, and why he became famous.  One story contends that he was a priest that served during the 3rd century in Rome.  The emperor of the time decided bachelors made better soldiers than married men, and outlawed marriage for young men.  Valentine saw the injustice in this, and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret.  When he was discovered, he was put to death.

Another legend claims that Valentine was imprisoned.  While in prison he fell in love with a young lady (possibly the jailer’s daughter), who visited him during his prison time. Before his death, he supposedly wrote her a letter, which he signed ‘From your Valentine,’ an expression that is still in use today.

Finally, it’s said that Valentine may have been killed for trying to help Christians escape brutal Roman prisons where they were beaten and tortured.

Some of the odd traditions of Valentine’s day include the mass Underwater Wedding Ceremony held in Trang province on Kradan Island of Thailand. Every year on February 14th couples come to Kradan Island for a mass underwater wedding ceremony.  In Japan, it’s pretty much just the women giving men things like chocolate and flowers.  No worries though, the men have to turn around and give gifts back to the women they got gifts from on “White Day” which is in March.

To be honest, in my research, this was about as odd as I could find.  Across the world wherever Valentine’s day is celebrated, notes are exchanged, flowers given, and chocolate is given as well.  It seems the language of love is pretty universal, and doesn’t get extremely…well….odd.

From all of us here at PrintMyThing and PrintMyRibbon…Happy Valentine’s Day!

That all changed Christmas Eve when I was given a Canon 40D dSLR camera and lens!

I’m finally able to put into practice all I’ve been reading about regarding photography, and it’s been such a joy!  I quickly realized however, that the ability to edit my photos was going to be just as important as taking those photos in the first place.  My first thought was:  “Photoshop.”  My second thought upon looking at the price was “That’s pretty expensive to buy right now.”  Then a thought occurred to me:

A friend had told me awhile back about a program called “Gimp“.  Supposedly, “Gimp” was a “Poor man’s Photoshop”; an open source program that boasted many of the same features and editing abilities as Adobe Photoshop.  I decided to download it, and I’ve been overwhelmed with all of the bells and whistles that this open source (i.e., free) program has!  There are a myriad of Gimp “how to’s” that can be found on the web, so there are no worries on trying to learn the program.  You can download Gimp by going here.

Gimp is available for both PC and Mac.  You can find the Gimp User Manual (English) right at the Gimp site. 

If you’ve been considering getting into Photo Editing, before you run out and buy Photoshop, I’d highly recommend checking out Gimp for your photo editing needs.  Economic times are a bit tough right now, and we recognize that here at PrintMyThing and PrintMyRibbon.  All the best to you in 2009!