Writings on the Wall – the Blog

Archive for January, 2010

Part of running a company is presenting yourself in an attractive way. I’m not talking about my hair and makeup – although my hair is ALWAYS perfectly coifed and in place. If you consider a ponytail and a scrunchy to be perfect, that is.

I’m talking about packaging, my friends. Attractive labels and boxes and packing materials. Packaging so wonderful that people dance in ecstasy and frighten the UPS man when they receive one of our boxes.  So creatively labeled that you can’t quite bring yourself to cut the tape and ruin the pretty sticker there on top of the box.  That’s the kind of presentation I’m talking about.

It’s a great idea, and people love that sort of thing. I love that sort of thing.

But…

I am frugal. I am earth conscious. I can’t bear to toss away the boxes that arrive here almost daily – perfectly lovely and reusable boxes.  And cardboard tubes. Do I have a ba-zillion of those babies? Yes I do.

So…

Your package will sometimes have a spiffy label on the outside that announces that you have excellent taste and have chosen to purchase fabulous vinyl lettering from Writings on the Wall, but most of the time there’s just a shipping label.
It’s what’s on the inside that matters the most, isn’t it?  Of course it is.

And just what exactly is inside?
Well, of course, there’s the neet stuff that you wanted and chose to order.
Along with that, holding it in place so that it doesn’t get bruised in it’s journey, is recycled packing material, or backing paper, or even the local shopping ads that come every Wednesday whether we want them or not.
I must admit that I like to receive packages stuffed with someone else’s local paper. Fun to read and see what they’re paying for a pound of grapes.

Yes, it saves us a bit on packing materials – which means we don’t have to add that cost to our prices – and it gets just a little more use out of something before it gets bundled off to the recycling dumpster.

To those of you who end up with packing peanuts in your box: I am terribly sorry.  They are messy and will most likely be scattered all over your house. I use them on occasion because they are the best choice for what we are packing. I get them from one of my suppliers with every single bit of vinyl that I purchase from them, so I know they are messy. It’s not my fault if an evil little hee-hee-hee escapes my lips when I send them on to someone else.

If you look closely there, you’ll see that broccoli is on sale at Kent’s.
So now’s your chance to do your part.
If your box is still usable after you’re through with your happy dance, put something in it and send it off to someone else.
Be sure to include the society page from your paper in there, cuz that stuff is fascinating. Or the classifieds. That’s good reading too.

You! yes, you. You’re fabulous.

How can you not be?

Flaunt it. Bask in your wonderfulness.

I’m celebrating my awesomeness right now. There’s sunshine,  coffee and spicy chocolate involved in the festivities.

What will you be doing to celebrate the endless possibilities that are right there before you?

People always ask me where all the quotes we have come from.
Actually, a few people have asked me if I make up all of the quotes.

Um…. no. I’d like to take credit, but the bible verses kind of blow that idea for me.

Many of the wonderful quotes and phrases we collect come from endless online searching. Some come from seeing or hearing something and writing it down for future use (you wouldn’t believe my giant pile of sticky notes) and many come from my customers.
It makes my day when someone brings me a catchy phrase or an inspirational quote that I haven’t already seen or produced many times.

This tile was ordered for a Christmas gift.  I’d like to take credit because I think it’s hilarious, but I can’t.
It’s the hands down winner for funniest tile of the year.