This week on Live with Lisa we go over all of our shades of red! Perfect for making your photos pop. Lisa also shows you our gift bags and gift tag sets for purchase. 

Hello, Lisa here at Plymouth Cards today. Give me a minute while I set everything up and then we can talk about Plymouth Cards which is my favorite subject. So, hopefully everyone is having a good day and I want to make sure that you can hear and see me.  I have an iPad with me and I'm setting it up to check that everything looks good. Perfect, my name is Lisa DiVasta and I am the owner of Plymouth Cards. What did I want to talk about today? First, I hope everyone is doing well and surviving through quarantine. I'm excited, because I had my hair done yesterday, for the first time since early March. I know little things in life will make some people happy.   However, I was excited to get my hair done. Feel free to write anything you want in the comments. I figured out how to read your comments as it's going on. So, I'd be happy to answer questions. If I do miss your question or comment, when this is over, I will go back and make sure that I answer any questions that you do have. If I mentioned any products that you're interested in, write it down below, and I will put the links in the comments as well. Let's see, how should we start this? Let's start with Plymouth Cards. So, a lot of people do not know the history of Plymouth Cards and they're interested to know what the company is about. Plymouth Cards started in 2005, and the mission of the company was started by Jode Brunson, who wanted to provide high-quality recycled products that are made in the USA.

I worked for her as the bookkeeper and I had my own bookkeeping firm at the time. I worked for her, for many years, and in 2014, my family and I bought the company from her and we've been running it ever since. Till this day, everything is made from recycled paper and made in the USA. There are a few little exceptions on a few couple of products that we've been trying to find sourced here in the US that is better than anywhere else. However, we've been unsuccessful, but we will not give up.

Everything about the company is recycled, such as the cards and the paper that is made in the US. Actually, the cards are now made in Florida. Let's see, the gift bags that I will show you in a few minutes are made from 100% recycled paper in the US. Then we have our gift tags that we use. We have different shapes and designs for our gift tags. So, if you need anything, inform us and we will definitely make it for you. We have the ability to make every shape in this company. We're introducing 50 states right now, and we can create a product for you in any color you're interested in. So, the bags are 100% recycled and the tags are 100% recycled paper that are both made in the US. However, the twine is really cool because I found a company who creates wonderful baker's twine that is biodegradable and made in the US. It's either made from 100% cotton or bamboo. Our packaging is made from 100% recycled chipboard in the US. Furthermore, what I like to do is try to reduce and reuse things as much as possible. The cool thing about our packaging is when you open it, there are gift tags on the inside that you can cut out and use the twine that came on the wrapper by reusing it.

We're always trying to repurpose our products and reduce our waste as much as possible before we recycle, and we recycle everything that we use. So, any scraps of paper, excess boxes for newspapers, everything is recycled. So, promotional materials, like our catalog, for example, is made and printed on recycled paper. Our manufacturer also recycles all their post-consumer waste, which is cool. We researched top quality manufacturers who recycles and has the same values as this company.

A manufacturer who has the same values as this company is important to me. So, shipping, when we ship everything, we do our best to reuse and repurpose boxes that we've received. Obviously, we make sure that the boxes are clean and not damaged, because we don't want your cards to be damaged when they're shipped to you. For example, I will reuse this Amazon box, but better, because it helps us keep our prices down, which in turn keeps your prices down. So, that is one of the reasons why we like to repurpose the boxes and the bags that we receive in the mail. The bags will be trimmed down to the right size and it helps keep the cost down because they can be really expensive. Moreover, I don't want the cost of the cards to be expensive for everyone and we also need to purchase packaging as well. Let's see, I wanted to show all of you last week, the different colors in the rainbow that we have. It's sometimes overwhelming to look at all the cards at once and say, oh my goodness, there's so many colors, which ones do I like? So, I thought it would be fun to show you a different color from the rainbow every week, until we run out of colors in the rainbow to discuss, and then we'll move on from there. So, what I'm going to do, and hopefully you won't get seasick, is turning the camera down. I'm also going to demonstrate how to put a picture in the card as well. So, here we go. Let's hope for the best with this one.

Let's see, it looks like I tested this earlier. I apologize if you're getting sick. I did test this earlier and sometimes the best plans don't work when you think they're going to. All right, now you can see the card. Okay, so this is soft pink. It's a pretty color that is great for babies, special announcements, and other events. The next color is strawberry, and it has a hint of pink, so it's red with a hint of pink in it.

So, what you need to do in order to insert the picture is by opening one side of the card. Therefore, I have rubber fingertips that I use, because it helps me grip the photos by sliding it in easily as well as preventing fingerprints from getting on the pictures. No one wants to see fingerprints on their pictures. After you insert the picture through the first side, you will grasp it like this, slide it through and when you get to the other side, you need to lift it up just a little bit and put it through. If you have to adjust the picture, you will need to wiggle it down ever so slightly. For the strawberry color, you can see on the inside that the card is blank, and our logo is on the back of the card. Our next color is our standard red card. There is a lot to say about our standard red card because it's not red, it's grenadine. So, grenadine is a lighter red and I will show you all of the colors at the end so you can see the differences. Then we have candy red which is a brand-new color and it has a more of a felt like finish then the muslin finish like some of the other cards. Now here is our standard red and it has the muslin finish on it again. I will show you the back of the card and the logo as well. They're all blank. Inside we do offer custom printing. Furthermore, this color is Marsala, which is in the burgundy family. So, the cards work with photos of both orientations, horizontal and vertical. We designed the cards that way because it's easier and you do not need to decide in advance as to which way your picture will be. So, that's why on the back, the logo you see is on an angle, so either way you hold the card will not distract you.

See all the card colors here

I'm going to sort everything out for you to see the shades. Okay, so we have Marsala, red, candy red, grenadine, strawberry, and soft pink. So those are all the colors. Oops, I think I just brought it out of them a little bit closer so you can see better, but those are all the colors that we have in the red family. So next week, we will speak about the color orange and continue to go through the rainbow, which would be fun. I'm excited about all these new bags I found because they're 100% recycled kraft bags, and they're made in the US as well. I have two different sizes that I was able to get, and I thought it would work great with the cards. I will quickly show you the color and sizes of the bags. So, we have green gingham in small and medium sizes. However, each bag you will receive, will have a piece of tissue paper and a custom tag and twine that is attached, and you can choose something in particular that you need. For example, if you need a green tree instead of a white tree, please inform us because we are flexible to create what you need from us. Moreover, I want to show you the cool thing about the small bags because the collections that we have fits perfectly. So, that one is the small size and then the medium size is also great. The medium size can hold and fit three collections inside. You will add the tissue papers on top and add the tags because we have different options of tags to choose from in our company.

See all the gift bags here

Alright, so we have burgundy check gingham, which is really cute. This next one, I think everyone will love because it's pawprints. We have the small and medium sizes as well. Again, look at that dog bone tag, I love it. So, we have the sunflower bag, in the small and medium sizes. This is the small and this is the medium. Moreover, we have kraft brown, and it is plain. However, you can jazz it up and decorate the bag however you like, or your little ones can decorate the bag at home. I used to let my kids make wrapping paper when they were small, and they enjoyed doing that because it's a nice activity. Another example is that you could use rubber stamps on the bag to decorate it as you desire. There is no limit as to what you could do with a plain kraft bag.

Again, we have the daisy bag in size medium right now because we ran out of the small size. However, I wanted to show you that we do have this one. It's fun and summery as well. Furthermore, I showed you how to move the cards, and now I want to talk about our photo contest with our customers. We posted it on social media and also through our email list. If you're not part of our email, then you can sign up because we're going to announce who the winner is next week. We had 25 entries or 30 entries, however, I lost track. I thought it would be fun to show and announce the photo contest live. I wanted everyone to see the pictures we chose for the contest. The winners will receive a $40 gift card to Plymouth Cards. It is a fun incentive and exciting way to earn and purchase on the Plymouth Cards website. So, I guess that is it for this week. If you have questions after you watch this, please feel free to write them in the comments and I will periodically check our Facebook page and respond to your messages and questions. Next week, we will speak about the winners for the photo contest and we will show you all the colors of orange that we have, which is really nice. Orange is great for fall and summer as well. So, I will see you next weekend. Thank you for watching, Bye.