Tools & Supplies

Dubs Dubs Dubs!!! We can’t stop gushing over Dubsado as a CMS, and all that they do for us. Dubsado is basically my VP of Operations. I love their untimed free trial and their quick-to-respond customer service. If you use our link you can get 20% off your first month OR your first year! 

I’ve been in a love affair with Dubsado for many years, but recently have been testing Honeybook as well. The look is a lot more personalized, and if you use G Suite for your business, HoneyBook is definitely the best way to go as they integrate seamlessly. Our link actually gets you 50% off a month or year plan! 

I recently switched to ConvertKit from MailChimp, and have already seen amazing results. The main difference is just in the reporting capabilities - you can see where your email subscribers are coming from, create custom templates for your emails, and even gauge how effective your emails are. I love that you can segment subscribers into different tags as well based on their interests. 

The Ink card is amazing for stationery designers especially - you get 5% back on “Office Supplies” which includes several of my print and paper vendors! You will also earn $500 cash back after you spend $3,000 in the first three months. Choose the one that says "5% back on select categories".

Tailwind has been a godsend for me on the Pinterest front. It helps you schedule your pins, and track which pins are doing well. Definitely grab the free Chrome extension - it’ll save you boatloads of time! I scheduled 1,000+ pins in only 4 hours once! 

Skillshare is an amazing community for artists of ALL sorts to learn new trades. We have immensely enjoyed our time on Skillshare, and love all the classes that we’ve taken from Surface Design, Pattern-Making, Watercolor, Graphic Design, and Running a Stationery Business. Anything that you want to learn in the Creative world can be found on Skillshare, and the link above will also get you 2 free months - just make sure you take advantage of that time! We have several classes you can access for free! 

Did you see our Blog Post on using stock images? We are VERY passionate about it! I paint elements when I want to, feel it’s best for the client, have time to, there are a lot of reasons….but sometimes this doesn’t all fall into place, and the best design instead comes from stock images - many of which come from Creative Market. They have a myriad of fonts, mockup kits, design elements, etc. and offer 6 Free Goods every week. 

We often get asked about Wax Seal products, and almost always use WaxSeals.com. We love all of their colors, and you can also get the signature Design by Laney Paper Crane design here! Read more about the meaning behind our Paper Crane design here, and check out wax seal videos and how-tos on our Instagram Stories! We typically order the self-adhesive pre-made seals if the seal is going directly on paper. If it’s going over a ribbon, string, or multiple layers, then we like to create them on our own for the best texture. The glue gun we use is linked in the Amazon Supply List!

QuickBooks is the industry standard for bookkeeping and financial management. They offer invoicing capabilities, keep track of all our expenses and income, and can tell us how much money we have made over any given time. My favorite part of using QuickBooks is that my tax prep is super easy - simply add your accountant and you’re done! This link gives you 50% off a subscription (we personally use the Online version).