My FREE* Portfolio Promo

When OvernightPrints.com had their latest FREE postcard promotion, I decided it was time to take full advantage of it. *And since there really is no such thing as a free lunch, I was willing to pay the $6.30 per set of 50 “free” cards. It’s past time I had some actual collateral material to promote my logo work. I have a very basic web portfolio, nothing fancy, slow loading (for now), but figured I could really use some handouts for those times when I’m networking.

I set up 6 different one-sided 5″ x 7″ files, each with samples of my designs and then 2 more files designed as front and back covers. Once ordered, these took about one week to receive, arriving in 8 different packages. One of the risks you take with printing like this with so many files and through online services such as this is lack of color control from one piece to the next. I was pleasantly surprised that all my pieces came out very consistent. The only exception was that the trim was a bit off from one piece to the other so they don’t stack perfectly smooth together in sets.Once I collated the pieces I tied each set with twine. Other options would be to hole punch and add book rings, spiral bind at FedEx/Kinkos, etc. This promo could also have been set up with two images per sheet as a smaller sized set and double the quantity. There’s lots of ways to show your work, crafts, or art with these postcard promotions. My 8 piece promo ended up costing me only about a buck a set. My business cards, shown in the last photo, were also purchased during a FREE OvernightPrints.com promo. I paid extra for 2-sided printing.I’ll keep several promos and business cards in my car should I ever need to whip’em out. Because I’ve ordered through ONP before, I receive emails with the free printing promotions. Follow me on Twitter and I’ll be sure to let you know the next time they come around.If you need a little inspiration, here are several other posts I’ve done about printing with OvernightPrints.com, just click on any of the following links:

BUSINESS CARDS AND TAGS THRU OVERNIGHT PRINTS

GETTING CLEVER WITH BUSINESS CARDS

AGAIN, MORE FUN WITH BUSINESS CARDS

MINI BLOG CARDS

OVERNIGHT PRINTS DOES IT AGAIN

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Tortellini Salad To Go

20 years ago, a friend of mine was an editor working on a cookbook. One day she invited me to a picnic lunch on the Sonoma plaza. She was trying out one of the recipes, a summer tortellini salad. I was immediately hooked. And still today, it’s my dish of choice to most any potluck we go to.

I’m all about simplicity and minimal ingredients. I always make too much of this recipe and then get to enjoy it for lunch the rest of the week. For the large bowl as shown in the last photo I used 3 times the tortellini, beans and tomatoes. This is what I took to a 4th of July barbeque on Saturday. For a lunch serving for 3-4:

  1. One large bag of frozen cheese tortellini
  2. One can (yeah, can) of cut green beans, drained
  3. One basket of cherry tomatoes
  4. One bottle or less of Italian dressing (I prefer to make mine using balsamic vinegar)

You can adjust the ingredient quantities, you can’t really mess this up. You should resist the urge to add other ingredients, such as olives, etc. Trust me, this combination is time tested.

The night before serving, cook and drain the tortellini. Coat with about 1/3 dressing and chill overnight. The next day, add tomatoes (I prefer to halve mine), drained beans and the remaining dressing, stir and chill until ready to serve. You should make extra for yourself, seriously.

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19 years and counting!

May you always share with each other the gifts of love – be one in heart and in mind – may you always create a home together that puts in your hearts – love – generosity and kindness.

Today we celebrate our 19th anniversary! Well, actually, we celebrated last night with a great dinner in town, then dessert and drinks at quiet wine bar. To know more about the wonderful man I married, you can read THIS, my entry into a fun online contest where Jeff was a top 10 finalist.

(HERE was my morning gift to Jeff.)

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