How the She is . . . Collection Launched

Even though I had already published over 40 cards, creating the She is . . . Collection was a learning curve. I didn't know about CMYK or bleed or how to package digital files to send to the printer. My printer in Virginia adjusted the files for me. My new printer in California gave me unexpected, but appreciated, lessons on how to do all of that.

The She is . . . cards were designed in a landscape orientation. A year later, as we started approaching stores to carry the line, we learned that stores like portrait orientations because of their display racks. Who knew. So, I redid the whole collection, and that's what we sell individually. 

When I first started writing the stories, I wasn't thinking in terms of a collection. I was just writing about She, the typical direct sales emerging leader. But, I quickly saw how the stories were naturally falling into a collection format which made writing easier. Now I do almost all the cards in a collection format. 

The collection was designed to cover all the direct seller's note-writing reasons without being reason-specific so that anyone can use them for all of life's note-writing moments. Thank yous to customers, guests and hostesses. Welcomes, congratulations, encouragement and celebrations to team members. A leader could buy a pack a month and be able to cover her team for the month, or she could buy a pack for each team member and have cards for a whole year (which is why there are 12 cards in a pack).

So once I had a full collection, I needed something to put them in. A lot of direct sellers work their businesses in the nooks and crannies of their lives, so the container had to be something that is portable and sturdy and protective of the cards. I got out my scrapbooking card stock and started cutting and scoring, and eventually the Handy Dandy Folder was created. 

The new cards still have many of the same elements as the original designs. They have a backstory, a bottom line and a heartbeat. And with the exception of The Happy Mail Collection, I'm still using the formula. Each collection has it's own look in terms of design whether it is the medium (chalk art, watercolor) or the palette. 

We went to Hawaii for a business trip the day after I launched the She is . . . Collection. I wanted to celebrate the launch, but didn't have time to plan anything. For some reason we switched hotel rooms. When the bellman moved us into the new room, the first thing we noticed was a bottle of champagne on ice. I told him we didn't order that, and his response was, "well, it's yours if you want it." I like to think that God sent it to help us celebrate. It was delicious.

Celebrate every day,
Kelly