Dot 2 Dot

Product of the Month | May | Market Tote 40% Off

2010-05-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

Our Market Totes were released just this year and they have quickly become one of our top sellers! With an affordable price point and plenty of color options, this darling tote pops up to provide preppy tote-ability for your beach wares, lawn lunch or boating beverages. And when it’s empty, it folds down for easy storage in the trunk or pantry.

Order your very own monogrammed and personalized to your taste and begin showing off your sample in your everyday life. Best stock it with a notepad and pen so you’re ready to take orders on the fly!

Check your email for the promotion code to use when placing your order!

Heather

Email Signatures

2010-05-03T17:52:00.000-07:00

Hey Party Girls!

Are you promoting your Polka Dots Party business in each and every one of your emails?

If not, why not? This is a zero-pressure way for you to easily build more sales and pump up those commission checks!

Modify the following text and be sure to include your blog, Facebook or twitter accounts.
Then create your own email signature using your email program:

Suzie Fabulous
Consultant
Polka Dots Parties
a division of Polka Dots, Inc.
www.polkadotsparties.com

Host a party or shop online using my rep code {your code} at www.polkadotsstationery.com
Monogrammed gifts… Personalized Stationery… It must be a Polka Dots Party!

Time is running out!

2010-04-28T19:19:00.001-07:00

Order your Personalized T-Shirt at 40% OFF before April 30th!
The code is in your email!
Heather

Follow You, Follow Me

2010-04-28T19:07:00.000-07:00

Hey Party Girls!

Do you have a twitter page or blog that you use to promote Polka Dots Parties???

If so – please send me the link to your twitter or blog page and we will send some traffic your way!

And if you’re not already a follower – and you really should be – follow us on twitter:
@polkadotsinc
@polkadotsparty

Happy Tweeting!

Happy Blogging!
Heather

Storefront ONLY For Sale

2010-04-22T17:55:00.000-07:00

Polka Dots Storefront For Sale!
ALL OFFERS WILL BE CONSIDERED!
If you have always dreamed of owning your own gift and stationery boutique, then now is your chance to capitalize on our investment. After 5 years in the local market, we have decided to sell our storefront located in Fort Mill, SC.
Included in the sale:
$30K in inventory
$8K in fixtures, hardware, software & equipment
Local customer base
2 weeks in-store training
Buyer assumes a very affordable 13-month lease in charming Baxter Village Market.
Not included in the sale – website, home party program and related domain names.
Serious inquiries please respond to buystore@polkadotsstationery.com

Attention Party Girls and Fans of PolkaDotsStationery.com - This is a good thing - we are cutting the storefront loose to meet the growing demands of Polka Dots Parties and our website sales!

Product of the Month | April

2010-04-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

Hi Girls!
We are very excited to roll out a new benefit to you!
Starting in April, we will begin designating a product of the month. Here is how it’s going to work:
We’ll send out an email to you and update the blog with information on the featured product.
You will have the opportunity to purchase this product at a 40% discount for the featured month. You will only be able to use the discount code on the specified product once on one item and no commissions will be earned on these sales.

The idea here is to give you the opportunity to build your samples and personalize them with your own monograms/names, etc.

The following month we will send you an advertisement featuring this product.
You can then email the advertisement to your contacts, post it on your facebook & twitter pages, and print it out for parties.

So without further adieu, here is April’s Product of the Month:

Product of the Month April Personalized T-Shirts

Please check you email for your coupon code!

There is a huge difference between a quality-made t-shirt and a cheap, thin, stiff t-shirt. Order your Personalized Tee sample today for 40% off and watch the response from your customers when they feel the softness and see the quality for themselves. We’ll be offering these tees for 10% off in May FOR PARTY CUSTOMERS ONLY, so be sure you have a sample on hand to show off!

Save the Drama for Your Mama!

2010-03-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

Ugh – just when we were getting ahead of the game – our world was turned upside down by a little notice that arrived in early March.
Printswell and Sweet Pea Designs severed their business relationship after over two decades of marriage. Sweet Pea Designs was the artistic side while Printswell was the fulfillment (printing operations – billing – shipping – customer service, etc) side. What did this mean to us at Polka Dots? Well, collectively we lost about a weeks worth of sleep and gained about a dozen gray hairs. Sweet Pea Designs makes up the large majority of our stationery sales. While Printswell did a fantastic job for us – we were eager to continue relations with both companies and keep our Sweet Pea Designs products in our inventory – and in your product albums. Fortunately, after several days of internet-stalking and social media chatting, we found them. The good news is, they plan to continue producing their current product line with just a few minor changes to fonts, colors and the paper weight will be increasing. Pricing should not change. The bad news is that they will not be filling/shipping orders until May 1st – May 15th. So there is a little bit of down-time, but we will continue to take orders during this time. If a customer chooses a font that is no longer available, we will contact the customer and make recommendations to substitute a similar font. Once they are back up and running, we will be uploading an updated Everyday Catalog to account for the font changes and such.
You will notice all Sweet Pea Designs items listed on the website have a RED NOTICE informing customers of this delay in shipment. If you entered an order for a Sweet Pea Designs product after March 19th, we will be contacting your customers to ensure that they are okay with the delay. If they are not, we will assist in switching them to another product or issuing an online credit. You will still be paid for these orders.

The great news is that we are now part of a smaller pool of companies carrying this line of stationery! Once they have samples ready, we'll be mailing them out to you and we'll keep you informed of any new products coming from Sweet Pea Designs.

Thanks for your patience - lots more exciting things coming out this week so stay tuned!

Cheers!

Heather

Twice as Nice - Folded Note Cards

2010-03-09T13:38:00.000-08:00

Hi Ladies!

The Twice as Nice Sale has moved on from calling cards and luggage tags to... Folded Notecards!

Between now and MARCH 15th, any orders that our Party Girls place for Folded Notecards from our Sweet Pea Collection (Item numbers start with Spea_FNXXXX, where XXXX is the style number) will receive twice as many notecards for FREE!

You can find these items see the qualified Folded Notes:

WEBSITE: under Stationery / Folded Notes for Grown Ups / pages 1 - 5

WEBSITE: under Stationery / Folded Notes for Babies & Kids/ pages 1 - 4

ONLINE PARTY CATALOG: pages 6 & 7

This sale is only being offered to our party girls... excuse me... our FABULOUS party girls, so this is your chance to spread the word and tell everyone why they should tag their Polka Dots orders with YOUR REP CODE at check out! (As if your fabulousness wasn't reason enough...)

Right Click on the image here to save and attach it to your own email and let your contacts know not to miss this chance to stock up on folded notecards for the entire family!

Keep up the great work, ladies and let me know how we, at the Mother Ship, can help!

Cheers!

Heather

P.S. Yes - this means that you can no longer order calling cards and luggage tags at the 2 for 1 promo! It's officially expired as of today!

Twice as Nice - Calling Cards & Bag Tags

2010-02-25T18:53:00.000-08:00

Girls!
Guess what?!?!
We’ve got a great promotion for you to shout out to your friends, family and customers…
Order any of our enclosure cards from the Sweet Pea collection (page 7 in your album) or bag tags (page 8) and we will double your customer's order for FREE!
Instead of getting 25 cards for $22.00 – we’ll automatically double the order to 50 cards for the same price.
Order 1 luggage tag for $11.00 and we’ll send you two!
Not sure how long this one is going to last, so forward to your contacts TODAY and be sure to instruct them to use YOUR REP CODE at check-out and we’ll double their order.

This promotion is only be advertised through our party girls, so it's this is one for you to run with! Customer that order without a Party Girl code will not receive the promotion.
Promotion ONLY applies to calling cards and bag tags with the item code prefix: Spea
Good stuff.
Happy Selling!
Heather

View Everyday Album Online

2010-02-11T10:57:00.001-08:00

Hey ladies!

Hope your week is going well.

I wanted to share with you our new Everyday Album!

Flip through it online here.

Purchase your hard copy, 3-ring bound album for use at trunk shows and open houses, here.

Currently, there are no plans to mass-produce paper catalogs for customers. That may change in the future as post-party sales increase, however right now the parties themselves are generating the majority of the orders from our Party Program while the website seems to be perfectly capable of delivering the pre and post party sales.

Albums are available for purchase for $25.00 plus shipping and handling. If you hosted a party in 2009, you will receive your Everyday Album at no charge. These complimentary albums are on their way!

Happy browsing!

Heather

Updates - Listen up!

2010-02-03T19:58:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, 2009 was the launch year for Polka Dots Parties and wow – did we learn a lot! You girls have been so helpful and kind and hard working and we are so thankful for your patience as we figured out the best practices to improve our program and keep it working for all of us moving forward.

We have made a lot of changes, so here goes…

New 2010 Albums have been Released! And that means 2009 Catalogs are Discontinued
Throughout the year we are committed to keeping the best selling products, styles and designs available for sale through our Polka Dots Parties program. Our vendors are constantly changing their product line-ups and we cannot always anticipate these changes. For this reason, our catalogs are likely to be outdated before they even come off the presses.

After learning this lesson the hard way in 2009, we have decided to move to an album-based sales program this year. This will allow us to keep our product line-up fresh while ensuring that our pricing, availability and style options up to date, minimizing the back and forth that often occurred after the sale.

As we roll through the year, we will email you with album updates which you can easily print and insert into your album.

If you hosted a party in 2009, your new album will ship out to you on February 8th.
If you did not host a party in 2009, you can order an album online for $15.00 plus shipping and handling. Or you can download, print and assemble the album at your own cost. We will post the link once the album product is live.

In addition to our Everyday Album, THIS YEAR we will also be introducing a Baby Album, a Stationery Album and a Holiday Album. We will let you know once these albums and their associated samples are available online. Top producers will always receive albums at no cost.

Commissions: Reports are generated on the 5th of each month and will be emailed to your polkadotsparties email address. Checks will be cut and mailed out from our bank on the 15th. And sorry, direct deposit is not available.

eParty Codes: We have standardized our codes. Effective immediately, eParty codes will always be your rep code followed by an underscore and then the first initial and last name (all caps) of the hostess. For example, if my rep code is HL123 and my hostess is Jane Smith, then my party code is: HL123_JSMITH

Obviously, if there is no hostess for a party, for example you decide to host your own open house, then the eParty code for this even is your rep code by itself. Knowing the system for generating an eParty code will allow you to begin using your code as soon as the party is registered. Previously you had to wait until an eParty code was emailed to you.

New Party Girls: This year we had great success in referring interested hostesses to you! We would like to carry over this same incentive by referring interested Party Girls to you as well. As we receive inquiries from interested Party Girls, we will be referring them to our top producers. If you answer their questions and they end up activating and staying on for 90 days, you will receive $100.00 in Polka Bucks!

Misc: Kits are no longer returnable from a smoking-household. Due to the nature of paper and fabric, we will not reimburse a kit or any sample that has been exposed to smoke.

Okay - that's all for now.
'Night girls!

Heather

RIP - DISCONTINUED ITEMS

2009-11-03T11:22:00.000-08:00

Hi Girls!

Unfortunately no matter how much we sell a product or love a product, we can’t guarantee that it won’t become discontinued at some point in the future.
The vendor from which all of these discontinued items come from has made a lot of production changes this year, and we are of the understanding that this is what caused them to remove a lot of their gift items.

Obviously, we will be changing the catalog in 2010 and the website immediately to account for the discontinuation of these items.

Please advise your customers accordingly. If you have any current orders that are affected by this, we will be contacting you individually.

Thanks for your understanding, and rest assured that we will find even better items to replace for next year!

So Rest in Peace, our charming yet apparently unprofitable gifts.

We will miss you.

DISCONTINUED ITEMS:
WEEKLY CALENDARS - All
PHOTO CALENDARS - All
PHOTO NOTEPADS - All
BOTTLE TAGS - All

You Go Girls!!!

2009-10-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

I want to recognize Darcy P., Laurel O. and Heather C. for posting some big parties last week! Way to go girls! We are definitely seeing a big swing in activity lately and it's all due to your hard work throughout the year! Great job!

Just say No to Discover:
Remember - We do not take Discover Cards. Accepted forms of payment are Visa, MC, American Express and checks. For some reason the website has accepted several Discover cards lately. This has caused some confusion as the website does appear to accept the card as payment, however the card payment is not processed. We are looking into the issue and I will follow up with each of you individually if one of your customers was effected by this issue.

Lead Referrals:
The website is generating lots of email requests from women interested in hosting parties and we are distributing these leads based on (1st) location and (2nd) round-robin. Even if you are not within the local area for a lead, please follow up to set up an e-Party. This could be some quick and easy money for you this holiday! I ask that you please respond at your earliest convenience to these leads!

November 20th:
Is the holiday order deadline. After this date, we cannot guarantee that any of our vendors will produce and ship orders in time for holiday delivery. Please refer to the website for individual product ordering deadlines. If you see a product that is listed with a deadline that is later than Nov 20th, then you can place that order with confidence that your customer will receive the product in time for holiday gift-giving.

Thanks again to everyone for your patience and hard work! You are doing a great job!
Cheers!
Heather

Update on Add-On Kits Availability

2009-10-22T04:06:00.001-07:00

Okay, so lots of you are anxiously awaiting an update on the Holiday Add-On kit. Unfortunately one of the companies that we had identified as the primary vendor for our holiday line up fell through. They were not able to meet our requirements in terms of lead time and product image availability. For this reason, we are not ready with a holiday add-on brochure or kit. We are hugely disappointed by this, but ask you to understand that the decision was made due to our commitment to quality of service and it became clear in recent discussions that this potential partner was not equipped to work on our scale. As we are always seeking the most unique products, it is often the case the the vendors we discover just aren't ready on the supply side.

However, do not be discouraged!

Remember, Polka Dots Parties is brand new on the home party scene and you are likely showcasing your samples to fresh audience. Holiday gifts doesn't mean items have to don red and green stripes or be topped with holly berries. You've already got a great arsenal of holiday gifts in your Everyday Sample Kit! Position your samples as great holiday gifts for each person on their shopping list.

Badge Reels and Koozies make great Teacher’s Gifts!
PSA Stampers are fantastic for the in-laws!
Plates & Placemats for Nieces and Nephews!
Monogrammed Cosmetics Bags and Mousepads for Mom, Sisters and Girlfriends!

You are selling year-round gifts for the holidays. Work it, girls!

Remember - deadline for holiday orders is NOVEMBER 20th!
All orders after this date will not be guaranteed to be delivered before Christmas (even with upgraded shipping).

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to push through the holiday selling season!

Nothing Says Thoughtful Like A Gift From The Same Place One Can Purchase Feminine Hygiene Products

2009-08-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

In an effort to help rescue friendships across the country, I am putting forth the Polka Dots Guide to Fabulous Gift Gifting.

You may not recognize yourself as a Lame Gift Giver, so here are a couple of exercises to go through and determine if you have perhaps strayed from your lady-like upbringing and given in to the temptation, convenience or forgetfullness that breeds the condition known as: Lame Gift-Giving Syndrome.

If you bought a gift from a store that had shopping carts, it is probably a Lame Gift.

If you picked up your gift along with any of the following: your prescription/your dry cleaning/a frozen pizza/a package of tube socks/a tank of gas, it is almost definitely a Lame Gift.

If you placed your gift on a rubber conveyor belt prior to paying for it, it is very likely a Lame Gift.

Don't stress. It happens to the best of us. Here's how to avoid letting it happen again.

Shop early - as in one full calendar month early. You know who's birthdays, anniversaries, and weddings are coming up, right? (If not, get an Agenda Book already!) So at the beginning of each new month, see what gifts you need to order for next month and get it done BEFORE this month ends.

Congratulations. Kiss your nightmares of being tagged a Lame Gift-Giver good-bye.

Sadly, this doesn't always mean that you won't be a Lame Gift Receiver.

A Party Girl's work is never done... (sigh).

Cheers,

Heather

Is That A Challenge?

2009-08-17T11:22:00.000-07:00

We love a challenge. What other explanation could there be to the insane amount of work we so eagerly heap onto our proverbial plates here at Polka Dots.

Assuming (and in many cases knowing for sure) that our Party Girls are cut from the same cloth, we figured you'd be up for a little healthy competition.

Here's the deal:

Be the FIRST to Register 6 Holiday Headstart Parties

Open Houses & Trunk Shows (no e-parties)

Party date must fall between September 1st and November 14th

and receive $200.00 in Polka Bucks

Oh, and by the way, we're pretty quick on our feet so if your party was registered and "fell through" they won't count toward your total. The prize will be awarded on November 15th

Holiday catalogs will be emailed out to you on September 1st so you will have everything you need to host a Holiday Headstart party for your neighbors, PTO, co-workers, girlfriends, family, etc.

Start thinking and make a list. Who loves you? Who owes you? Who knows a lot of people and loves to shop? Get yourself motivated and give them a call!

I'll be counting...

;) Cheers!

Heather

It's Pay Day!

2009-08-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

Hey Party Girls!

Time to take those manolos off lay-away 'cuz it's PAY DAY! Be sure to check your @polkadotsparties email for your July comm reports.

Polka Bucks were also rewarded if you surpassed an imcrement of $500 in cumulative sales and/or hosted your 6th party! Cheers to all of you!

If you didn't receive a report for July, just remember... it takes a while to get yourself going. Don't get disgruntled! The holidays are right around the corner and everyone is going to be grateful to you for reminding them to get a jump start on their shopping. And by ordering their gifts now, they have plenty of time for personalization.

Keep up the great work and stay tuned for new items!

Cheers!

Heather

Excuses, Excuses

2009-08-12T06:39:00.000-07:00

Well I'm back. It's been almost 2 months since my last post and I was trying to come up with a compelling yet plausible excuse and after much thought, here it is: I've been busy.

So it's not as colorful as my original thoughts (gummy lifesavers induced sugar coma... bad manicure that caused me to temporarily lose the use of my fingers, kidnapped by angry toddlers... tied to a plastic chair with bubble tape and forced to watch Yo Gabba Gabba for 36 days straight...).

Turns out, the truth seemed like the best excuse of all. In the past few weeks I've negotiated the addition of several new product lines including Personalized Tees, a funky back to school assortment of products which includes Retro Lunchboxes, Water Bottles, Mousepads (all personalized, of course) and (drumroll please...) the Boatman Geller line (coming very soon). In addition, I took a vacation, hosted and attended several fabulous parties, and oh yes... re-designed the website.

Check out the new site. We're still working out some kinks and populating some new categories and as always, please report any hiccups via email.

Still to come: Jingle Dots - yes I know... it's overdue but I'm STILL in negotiations with our choice vendor. Just need to make sure they can handle our sales volume... if so, stay tuned for some charming holiday aprons, monogrammed stockings, initial wine bags, personalized ornaments and much more! We may not be able to distribute the samples in time for your fall parties, but we can send you a printable mini-catalog!

REMINDER! If you have been waiting for the summer vacation season to come to an end before hosting your first party, wait no more! Get on it, girl! Now is the time to book your fall open-house! Host it in your home ASAP. Your Open House parties will help you line up more party hostesses. After they've seen what you have to offer, they'll be thinking of their own holiday shopping list and will easily see the advantages of hosting a Polka Dots Party for their friends this holiday season. Even if you've already hosted an Open House this year, host another one to take advantage of holiday shopping.

HOLIDAY PARTY CUT-OFF: Parties hosted AFTER November 20th will NOT be guaranteed to receive their items before the Christmas! Use this as a selling point to go back to your interested hostesses and get them signed up!

Time to get back to work... Thanks again Party Girls for being a constant source of inspiration and motivation for us here at Polka Dots, Inc. As always, please let us know how we can help!

All my best!

Heather

My New Niece!

2009-06-15T17:10:00.000-07:00

Emerson Avery arrived this afternoon! She was a healthy 7 pounds, 1 once and 20 inches. A peanut compared to my boulder-babies who each weighed in at just over 9 pounds. (Yes - my heavyweight championship belt is still safe.) I am so proud of my little sister... she was a champ! Incredible through the whole delivery which was not an easy one.

Seeing my OBGYN again made me wish for one short-sighted moment that I could have another baby just so I could see more of him. There's no McDreamy-thing going on here... just my complete and unapologetic adoration that I have for the wise, soft-spoken man who made me calm and talked me through the combined 6 hours of pushing during my two deliveries. Wait... 6 hours... is that right? Oh... yeah. Okay - moment over. 2 kids is plenty and (sigh) we'll always have papsmears...

So what wisdom for my Party Girls can I take away from todays events? Got it! I think that we're doing the right thing with making our program adaptable and standing by our decision to keep it quota-free. (We took a lot of heat from lawyers, husbands and other advisors on this point when we created our program - but it's something we've always felt strongly about.)

If my sister were a Party Girl, I'm not sure how I could expect her to organize a party in the next 3 months to keep her status with us active? Stressing out a new Mom, an old Mom, a soon-to-be Mom, a single Mom, etc with our program demands is a big NO NO where we come from. So I'm patting us on the back for bucking this trend of the direct sales model.

Live your life, Party Girls.
And love your job, too!

Ahh.... we truly can have it all! ;)

Talk soon,

Heather

The Practice Party

2009-06-10T12:37:00.001-07:00

Okay, so you just received your Polka Dots Start Up Kit (or you just ordered it) and you're head is full of ideas on how to get started, right? If so, great! If not, don't worry. We have a fail-proof idea that will let you work out the jitters and start your sales flowing!

Who loves you, girl?
Make a list of your girlfriends, neighbors, family, co-workers... all those ladies in your life that would be thrilled to support you as you start this new adventure. Now schedule yourself to host a Polka Dots Open House! This is a non-threatening way for you to get your feet wet and gain some experience talking about the products. Remember, we don't want you to be "salesy" anyway. Just be yourself. Talk about the products, why you like them and who you would give them to as a gift. Be sure to mention the Hostess Incentive and let them know to contact you if they are interested in hosting a party. Plug the website AND YOUR REP CODE so they will earn you credit ANYTIME they shop on our site.

Hostess Anyone?
So the whole idea here is to build your business by lining up your hostesses. As you must have figured out by now, we don't like to put people on the spot or harass them until they give in and host a party to make you go away.

When I wrap up a party, I like to put it this way:
"If you found that you liked a few things tonight, go ahead and order them.

"If you found you liked a lot of things tonight, consider hosting a party. As a hostess, you will earn 10% of your party's sales in free product. You'll also get a number of products at 50% off, depending on your party's total sales.

"If you absolutely loved everything I showed you tonight then consider becoming a Polka Dots Party Girl. (Go on to briefly talk about why you became a Party Girl and what you love about it. Remember you'll earn $100 Polka Bucks for every activated recruit.)"

The End. Writeup your orders. Collect $. Easy as pie, as we say down South. ;)

Cheers!

Welcome aboard!

2009-06-08T07:53:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a great weekend!
Last week a new group of Party Girls received their kits...
Welcome to Bethany, Meghan, Kimberly, Mary and Vickie! We hope you enjoyed unpacking!

Couple of things to review with everyone this morning...

1. SEND IN YOUR EMAIL LISTS

If you haven't already, please send in your list of email contacts (to hlux@polkadotsparties.com) so that we can announce your having joined Polka Dots Parties. We'll also customize emails to your contact list to direct them to you for more information or to place an order. This month we have 4 emails going out highlighting product specials and hostess specials, so be sure to get your lists in ASAP. We just need the email address - no names. Let us get to work marketing YOU!

If you've already submitted your email list, then make sure you send us updates regularly. Don't forget about your recent party guests, customers and any other new contacts that you've added since your last submission. This is an easy way to increase your sales without lifting a finger!

2. LAPTOPS @ PARTIES
We've had some party girls ask about brining their laptops to their parties to allow party guests to enter their orders directly. This is ideal for someone who cannot stay for the whole party or presentation. We have no rules against this and we think it's a great idea - just be available for any questions as these guests enter their orders. One tip - print up a cute little sign to attach to you laptop or place next to the laptop reminding the customer to use the Party Code assigned to the event.

3. START FALL BOOKINGS NOW
Now is the time to start lining up your fall parties. I know it seems early, but the fall selling season is busy and short! The latest party dates for holiday-guaranteed delivery is November 20th this year, that's a Friday. So start talking up your holiday gifting ideas now and get your hostesses lined up and your open house booked! We highly recommend you host an open-house early in the season so you can book parties following. Early September is a good time as school is back in session and people are starting to think about the holidays.

That's it for now, Party Girls! I hope you're enjoying your summer and look forward to hearing more from each of you!

Take care,
Heather

Hostess Gifts

2009-06-01T06:39:00.000-07:00

Hostess Gifts are gesture that exemplifies your kindness and appreciation of being invited into someone's home. Whether you're gifting the gal that organized her friends for a Polka Dots Party or your heading over to a neighbor's dinner party, a hostess gift is always in order.

Something small - cocktail napkins in a stylish holder or tied with a bit of ribbon. Or a bottle of wine wrapped in a lovely new kitchen towel. And since we rarely have time to pick up a hostess gift before you're on your way... Stock up your gift closet with an assortment of little things that you find lovely.

Hostess gifts ensure you're invited back!

Earth Day Giveaway

2009-04-22T12:58:00.000-07:00

Free Monogrammed Coffee Travel Mug!

In honor of Earth Day, enter our contest to win an earth-friendly travel mug!
http://www.polkadotsstationery.com/giveaway.html

Winner will be notified via email on April 30th.
Good luck!

Party Girls Speak Up

2009-04-21T14:11:00.001-07:00

Not much time today so I'm just going to publish a quote from an application we just received because it makes me feel excited and happy and re-energized. My thanks to Leah-Kate for making the corners of my mouth turn up at the end of an otherwise grueling day!

"I've been considering a direct sales job for months now in hopes of supplementing my school teacher salary. I've considered at least a dozen options, but just found the usual make-up, skin care, candle, jewelry, etc parties to be so boring and overdone. I was so excited to find polka dots because it's so fresh, and something I'm genuinely crazy about. My husband honestly gets me new stationery for every occasion we celebrate! I also feel like I have a large network of family friends and co workers who will be so excited by your line, and who will be thrilled to have some extraordinarily unique gift giving options!"

Happy Easter Monday

2009-04-13T07:07:00.001-07:00

Good Morning Party Girls! I hope y'all had a great holiday weekend filled with colored eggs, chocolate bunnies and cute-as-a-button little ones running around in their Sunday finest! Of course, our sweet peas were sporting the latest from Polka Dots monogrammed clothing line... Check it out! http://www.polkadotsstationery.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Monogrammed_Baby

We are working on putting together an add-on kit full of monogrammed kids clothing. If you think your customer base would be a good fit for this line-up, then stay tuned!

Until then... cheers!
The Party Divas

Polka Dots Inc FLOODED!

2009-04-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this week CANNOT be any worse than last week... the bar is set low: as long as our offices do not flood, it's a winner!

Yes - We arrived bright and early at the Polka Dots, Inc. world headquarters last Tuesday (April Fools Day, no less!) to the sound of pouring rain INSIDE our offices! The water foundtains upstairs decided to burst and poured water all night long.

Computers, printers, electronics, inventory, furniture - all was a total loss! Thanks goodness for a great landlord who is completely letting us replace everything ASAP! As of Thursday, we were back to printing, shipping and monogramming, but whoa - the loss of two days of production meant overtime this weekend! And the clean up... you just don't realize how much you have until it's all soaked in water. What a mess! I'm happy to say that thanks to a great staff, helpful husbands and a blank check from the big L - we're partying it up once again!

Cheers fellow Party Girls! Here's to a much better week!

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2009-03-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

Valentine's Giveaway (from Make Mine A Mojito Blog)

2009-02-02T10:25:00.000-08:00

Uh-oh. It's gonna be a lot of time at the gym if this Party Girl wins this giveaway... Check it out!
http://makemineamojito.blogspot.com/2009/02/valentines-day-giveaway.html

BTW... This is one of the Polka Dots Party Girls favorite blogs to follow... Considering one of our most successful Polka Dots Parties was the "Monograms & Mojitos" event, we figured we'd tune in to see what this fellow "Mojito Maven" thinks about the world... Enjoy!

Top Trends of the 2009 Atlanta Gift Market

2009-01-14T14:00:00.000-08:00

The Polka Dots Party Girls just got back from our annual trip to the Atlanta Gift Show and here's the scoop on the trends we saw:

1. Eco Style - from monogrammed coffee tumblers and stainless steel water bottles in preppy colors, to hot patterns on recycled materials, grocery and wine totes... going green has never been so stylish!

2. Initials & Monograms - Not surprisingly, personalized gifts are still hotter than ever! We saw initials and monograms on everything from mouse pads to bag tags. If it wasn't moving, it was monogrammed.

3. Giraffe Print - Move over cheetah. Step aside zebra. There's a new animal print on the scene and she's sleek and lean and sporting her signature markings in every color, from preppy brights to earth tones. On paper and fabric, we could not escape from the Market Jungle without taking notice! We've already added it to our line-up of monogrammed gifts!

So get shopping and stay tuned for more new product news...
This Party Girl is signing off to pick up her Mini-Dots!

The Gift of Retail

2009-01-06T11:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, so we've all grown tired of hearing all the doom and gloom about the sad state of the economy and even the most Diva of Divas has cut back on her pedis and lattes. But here is one little ray of sunshine on this foggy topic... Gifting is recession-proof.
Yes. It is.

While we're not treating ourselves to much these days, are we not still attending baby showers, bridal showers, weddings and birthday parties? Of course we are!

And do those little darlings born during the ill-timed economic slump deserve less than their budget-surplus-born siblings? Of course they don't.

One savvy practice to excel in gifting during these times is to go with something a little more meaningful... Keywords: Monogrammed and Personalized.

I give you the example of our our dear cousin who is getting married later in life and has attended oodles of weddings prior to her own and now that her trip down the aisle is aligned with the worst-economic-crisis-since-blah-blah-blah, should we skip her big day or send an IOU?
No, I should think not.

A set of monogrammed notecards costs half as much as the obligatory blender on a registry, but it's more personal and likely to be far more useful and memorable than those cluttering and bulky appliances.

Remember to shop ahead as personalized gifts often require a little more time for monogramming and/or printing, but it's time and money well spent!

Let's Stay Connected!

2009-01-02T10:33:00.001-08:00

Welcome to the official blog of Polka Dots Parties...
The aptly titled Dot 2 Dot!
This is where we will let our Party Girls know about new product lines, gifting trends, sales contests, and other tips and tricks to make your parties the most successful they can be!
You will also be able to share your own success stories or party tips here as well.
Be sure subscribe to Dot 2 Dot!
We look forward to connecting with you!

The Polka Dots Divas