From Baby Shower Invitations to Graduation Announcements | Basic Invite*

Basic Invite is the one place shop for any type of invitation or notecard you could ever need. They have cards for everything from Baby Showers to Graduation Parties to Weddings and more. They also offer business cards and business stationery.

I was super intrigued by Basic Invite because not only do they offer designs you can customize, but they also let you upload your own logos or complete designs so that everything you order matches your brand completely.

A great thing about Basic Invite is their color options. The company offers over 180 colors to choose from and they offer instant previews. This allows you to make sure your card is perfect to the tiniest detail. I spent a decent amount of time picking out the perfect shades of pink to go on my different designs.

Another cool thing about this website is that you can purchase custom samples. Not many companies allow you to order one singular custom product, but Basic Invite does. No matter how great a product looks online, there is always a chance the physical product won't look exactly how you want it.  Ordering a sample allows you to hold the product in your hand and make any necessary adjustments before buying a larger amount to hand out to friends, families, and possible employers. I found that some of my uploaded images printed a little blurry, so I was happy I got to see one before purchases in a whole bunch.

Since I'm in my final semester of college (eek!), I chose to design a graduation announcement card. I was able to import my own photo and write whatever I wanted. It was a little bittersweet designing this card because it reminded me that my college days are quickly coming to an end.

However, I know not all of you are graduating in May. Some of you may be planning a wedding (Congratulations!) and want to design a Save the Date card. Or you or someone you know may be pregnant (Congratulations!) and want to design a card for that. Basic Design has an adorable teddy bear baby shower invitations and twin baby shower invitations, all of which you can customize to your party's theme.

Even if you don't have a party coming up, you can customize the given card templates to say whatever you want. I decided to design some cards for a few friends of mine, so I wrote out an inside joke of ours and added a picture of the three of us at a Kenny Chesney concert from 2017. It was super easy and I know they will be super excited to get these cards in the mail.

The attention to detail even goes into the envelopes at Basic Invite, allowing you to order envelopes in over 40 different colors. Honestly, though, I was just happy with the peel and seal feature because licking envelopes that were mailed to you from an unfamiliar location can be a little scary. Also, by sharing a link through social media, you can have your friends import their addresses to be printed on the envelopes. That way you know for certain your cards are going to the correct location. I chose not to use this option because I only ordered a few samples and I wanted to write out the information myself, but that would have been super handy if I was hosting a huge baby shower or something with a ton of invites.

I've been interested in ordering business cards for a little while now and you guys also know I am such a sucker for rose gold foil, which is an option at Basic Invite. They offer foil detailing that can come in gold, silver, or rose gold, and it can be flat or raised. So obviously, I ordered a sample of a business card with some rose gold foil, but I also ordered one of their new clear business cards, and a business card I designed completely on my own.

Right now Basic Invite is offering 15% off with the coupon code 15FF51. If you have any type of party coming up or you're like me and felt like sending a card to some friends, check them out! And if you order anything make sure to share with me your designs with #BasicJuliann

If you would like to see more from Basic Invite, you can find them all over the internet
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*This post is graciously sponsored by Basic Invite, but the opinions are my own

Plans for 2019

Now that we're well into February and I have finished discussing everything that happened in 2018, it's time to look ahead into 2019!

Books
Every year I create a Goodreads reading challenge.  Last year I set out to read 50 books, and I didn't make it, ending on 47 or some annoying number like that.  This year I have once again chosen to make my goal 50 books.

I definitely enjoy certain books more than others, but I want to try and branch out a little bit in my choices.  There are so many great books out there.  My brother got me a subscription to Book of the Month for Christmas, so hopefully this will force me to read new things.

Travel 
So far this year I have been to Orlando, Florida which you can read about here if you want and I have a few more trips scheduled.

In March, my sister and I are going to California for a few days to visit some of her friends.  We're going to be in the Los Angeles area, so if you have any recommendations for us to see or do, please let me know!

In June, my best friend will be moving to Colorado and asked me to join her on the road trip out there.  I said yes, and we're going to take the long way.  Our plan is to go from Massachusetts to Nashville, Tennessee to Dallas, Texas to Santa Fe, New Mexico and then make our way into Colorado.  We're super excited!  Again, I'm always looking for recommendations.

My sister is also in the process of planning a long weekend summer trip to Toronto, Canada.  We haven't booked anything yet, but it's being discussed and planned.  Whenever we do big, family trips my sister is the one who plans everything.

So far those trips are the only definites I have, and they will certainly help me scratch off a few more locations on my scratch off map and help me towards my goal of visiting all 50 states.

Life
In 2019 I will be graduating from college which is crazy, and later in the year, I will turn 23, which seems very adult.

Originally I was hoping to have a job that I enjoy by the time the year ends, but preferably July.  However, some things have changed and now I'm playing around with the idea of going to Graduate School...I might do a longer post on this, but basically, I haven't been sleeping much as I try to figure out my life.

Other than that, I'm just going to see where the year takes me.

etc.
Something I hope to continue to grow is my content.  This is something I have said so many times, but I think I have a plan to stay on track for this year.  I've had this blog for years as a hobby, but I'm starting to want to try to make it more of a business and I've taken some steps to make myself seem more professional.

I recently bought my domain, which is really exciting for me, so welcome to www.juliannguerra.com, previously known as www.blogspot.juliannguerra.com

I have deactivated the @writerjewels twitter account because I never used it, but I still have the @juliann_guerra account if you want to follow me there.  On Instagram, I did a little bit of rebranding, and you can now find me as @books_travel_life_etc, and I try to post a photo every single day on that account.  Here on the blog, my goal is to have at least two posts a month.

I am also toying with the idea of a podcast...I host one at school and really enjoy it, but I don't know what I would talk about on a personal one.  It's an idea I'll continue to think about, and I will keep you all posted on what I decide to do.