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Hello! My name is Vee Lewandowski; I’m a senior Illustration major at Lesley University College of Art and Design, and Smudge Ink’s spring intern! When I’m not creating art I love learning about sharks, playing dungeons and dragons, and using excessive exclamation points! Excitement!

Chinese New Year is on February 8th this year, and we’re entering the year of the Monkey. It’s a celebration of the Lunar New Year that is centuries old and full of traditions and importance. I had to do plenty of research for this since I’m not from a household that celebrates Chinese New Year and I learned a lot! The celebrations include lion and dragon dances, fireworks, a lot of time with family, and much more.

While fortune cookies are an American invention, we weren’t able to whip up the more traditional mooncakes that are found in China. So instead we found this tutorial by Sugar and Charm on how to fold your own paper fortune cookies that’s easy and quick.

We have three designs for you to slip inside them, and all three relate to the celebrations! Lotus flowers are a favorite in China, and represent long life, honor, humility, and tranquility (good things to focus on and start fresh with for the lunar new year). The red paper lanterns are hung in windows and doorways and along the street to add to the atmosphere. And dragon dances are performed during the festivities, and believed to bring good luck. Dragons are seen as possessing dignity, wisdom fertility, prosperity, and great power. I definitely want a slice of that!

Click the link below to download and print the free printables:

Lunar New Year Fortune Cookie Printables

Fold these paper fortune cookies (again, you can see the tutorial here) and give them to friends and family who you care about, send them into the lunar new year with well wishes and hopes for good luck, tranquility, dignity and so much more!

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As we wait to find out whether Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow tomorrow, I asked the crew what their favorite Bill Murray movie is. Read on to find out whether Groundhog Day made the list ...

CLAYTON. 1970's starlets hold a special place in the directorial heart of Quentin Tarantino. For Wes Anderson, the casting soft spot leans towards Angelica Huston, and none other than Mr. Bill Murray. Anderson's plots may leave me feeling disillusioned and sometimes apathetic, but visually, his movies remain ceaselessly stunning. Ergo, my favorite Bill Murray is a toss up between The Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Darjeeling Limited. I vote the former—stop motion animation based on a Roll Dahl classic. What's not to love really?

EMILY. I think mine is actually Groundhog Day! I sincerely love almost every movie that Bill Murray is in, but something about Groundhog Day makes me want to watch it over and over and over ... Seriously though, I've probably watched that movie at least 10 times and I never get sick of the humor, the story, or the cozy little town.

KATE. Ghostbusters. It's a fun movie with a silly story line that made me laugh—Bill Murray tends to do that. Plus, the soundtrack is unforgettable.

MARGARET. IT'S GROUNDHOG DAY! My sister and I used to watch this movie all the time when we were kids. It impacted our lives to the point of our dad playing Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe" every morning to get us out of bed for about a year.

DEB. There are a lot of movies I like but that doesn't mean I'll watch them over and over again. Groundhog Day is an exception. I'll stop channel surfing immediately if it happens to be on and it never gets old. A close second is What About Bob? In high school, my brother and his good friend caddied together at the nearby golf club, so they would naturally spend a good amount of their time watching and quoting Caddyshack (not on my list). One time, that same friend drove to New Hampshire to visit my family on vacation. I have a very distinct memory of his utter excitement upon driving by a sign for Lake Winnipesaukee (the setting for What About Bob?) on Interstate 93N and discovering that it’s a real place. I have no idea if the movie was actually filmed there, but whenever I watch it, I can’t help but thinking of this family friend.

SABRINA. I'll have to go with What About Bob? "I'm sailing! I'm sailing! I sail! I'm sailiiiing!” While I love Murray's characters in Wes Anderson movies, his earlier comedies are such classics. 

VEE. My favorite Bill Murray film is probably The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. I’ve always loved the ocean and marine life, my whole family scuba dives and spends plenty of time by the ocean. I always found the movie fun and corny and it’s got that classic Wes Anderson vibe. I’ve always wanted to have a Team Zissou outfit.

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As business owners, we constantly find ourselves experiencing both the good and not-so-good aspects of running a small business. Some days we are glowing in the aftermath of a completed custom project and other days we feel frustrated because of a logistical snafu involving an outgoing order. Each day, each month, each year presents us with highs and lows, and we thought it would be fun to talk about these experiences here on the blog. We're calling the series “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” We hope you enjoy it!

THE GOOD (as told by Kate). We’re excited to announce a new licensing partnership with Papier, an online stationery company based in the UK. Papier was launched less than a year ago in London by an art historian who saw an opportunity to provide good design and convenience in the UK stationery market. Since launch, they've been growing rapidly, and you can see why as their website is beautiful and easy to use—not to mention they have an impressive selection of cards and invitations of which we are thrilled to be a part! You can view our selection of stationery offered through Papier here.

Licensing is not a new endeavor for us as we’ve been working with other online stationers, like Tiny Prints and Fine Stationery, for several years. These partnerships provide us with an additional source of revenue but more importantly they allow Smudge Ink to reach a larger audience looking to personalize holiday cards, invitations, and social stationery with the click of a button. To top it off, we don’t have to hold any inventory (hallelujah!). We’ve also been learning what designs do better or worse than others in a broader marketplace. Certainly, it has taken time to build these relationships and gain traction with each partner, but the investment has been worthwhile, and we feel like we’re in a good place with all of our licensing partners.

THE BAD (as told by Deb). The bane of our existence at the end of every calendar year is the inventory count. In order to have an accurate inventory asset number for our taxes it literally requires that we hand-count everything in the studio, from the envelopes and greeting cards to every sheet of paper and acetate sleeve. The bulk of this work falls on Sarah, our office manager, sometime between Christmas and New Year's. It’s not glamorous but there is satisfaction in knowing exactly what we have and purging old stuff that has no business being counted as inventory—sort of like starting with a clean slate.

As a small business and given that we produce many of our products in-house, our system of tracking inventory has never been very technical. Years ago, we looked into a custom system (too pricey at the time), and at one point we tried to use the manufacturing version of Quickbooks to track inventory, but found there were too many parts and too many opportunities to make mistakes in order for it to work.

Instead, we've found ways to make it easier on ourselves. It comes down to an organized inventory room (which is a no-brainer) and one very handy tool: a paper scale. We picked up a paper scale a few years back when B. Designs closed up shop to explore new pastures and have found it to be indispensable even if we use it only once a year. It's accurate to the card and saves literally hours of time.

THE NOT-SO-UGLY (as told by Sabrina). I’d like to take a moment and recognize the fact that no one in the studio is currently suffering from a cold. Thank you.

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Kids love a good craft project but let's be honest we don't always have the time to hand make 20 or so Martha-approved Valentine's Day cards. As a less daunting alternative, we took some our sweetest Valentine designs and turned them into adorable miniature cards that you can print right at home!

Just cut out and then have your kids write in their messages and fold along the dotted line—you're all set! For an extra touch, hole punch and tie with ribbon, seal with some washi tape, or attach them to candy. 

Click the links below to download and print the free printables (either by design or all four designs):

U R Super Fly Mini Valentines Cards
Like You A Lot Mini Valentines Cards
Arrow Mini Valentines Cards
Hearts Mini Valentines Cards
All Four Designs

Have a happy and no-fuss Valentine's Day!

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Mailing cards to my friends and family in a TIMELY manner has never been my forte. The belated birthday card was created for folks like me. A part of me knows it’s the thought that counts, but another part is shaking its finger at me for letting this habit of mine get worse and worse. Rather than resign myself, I have just the trick to motivate me to stay on track—our new perpetual calendar!

Just having all of the birthdays, anniversaries, and milestones I don’t want to forget listed in a separate calendar will be a huge help. Oftentimes, they get lost in the shuffle of daily appointments and deadlines that make up my Google calendar. Plus, I would much much rather look at a beautiful letterpress print over my phone any day!

I’m already feeling more organized and prepared by writing down the dates month by month. Another benefit of using the perpetual calendar is that I’ll be better about having cards and gifts ready ahead of time. I really dislike sending something just because I waited until the day of and it was all I could find at the grocery store. Not that there is anything wrong with the grocery store, but I really do enjoy searching for the right card or gift. Now I can stockpile by month so that I have everything I need when I need it.

And the best part, come next year, all I have to do is turn another page!

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