Summer is here… officially.

That’s right. Yesterday was the first bona fide day of my favorite time of year – known for swimming, sunshine and smiles for all! And you know what that means… parties. Barbecues. Grad soirées. July 4^th bashes. Parties. Did I say that already?

What better way to get everyone in a festive mood than with brand new, brilliantly designed invites and announcements?

We just launched WellWishes and couldn’t be more thrilled!

Each and every one of our 5×7 Flat and Folded WellWishes Cards was designed and written by the Photo by Walgreens creative team.

You can find cards for every occasion – not just summer shindigs.

Perfect for the next birthday or team party bash!

Introducing vibrant cards for every birthday theme – from sports parties to Quinceañeras, pool parties to Bar & Bat Mitzvahs, and much more.

Honor the grad with a dapper design that shows off his or her unique personality.

Baby cards to go ga-ga over!

Beautiful wedding sets to suit any bride’s taste.

Have fun perusing all of our original WellWishes Cards.

Talk to you soon and happy summer!

-Marina, designer at Walgreens

You can check it out in OK! Magazine and Us Weekly – we even made it onto E! News. Let me share with you some fun facts and

photos from our PR event at Third Street Promenade.

In honor of Father’s Day, Photo by Walgreens created a Canvas studio to engage consumers in our Father’s Day Shop by Personality experience, while showing off our gorgeous canvas prints.

And look who stopped by to say hi! Kourtney Kardashian and her son Mason, and Kourtney’s mom, Kris Jenner! I heard they had a great time and little Mason loved the props!

We set up four different backgrounds based on our four kinds of Father’s Day personalities: The Outdoors Dad, The Family Man, The Coach and The Working Dad. Shoppers came by and got free photos taken in front of our fun Father’s Day props and backgrounds.

Did you miss it? Well, I did too. But at least we have pictures!

‘Til next time!

- Marina, designer at Walgreens

Hey Marina, why make a photo book?

Creating a food album with a Photo by Walgreens Photo Book is the perfect way to store a collection of recipes or document your exotic travels. Wouldn’t it be nice to have YiaYia’s macadamia-nut cookies recipe beneath a mouth-watering photograph of the addicting treats? And Uncle Bill’s

famous beer-battered cod definitely deserves a spot…

And, remember when you went to Antigua last winter with the fam and inhaled a delectable assortment of fish delicacies? How wonderful would it be if you could remember them forever? Now you can!

I actually made an entire food photo book after returning home from my last family vacay, (not only pics of the food, but photos of us happily eating it) and sent one to my mom and one to my aunt. When they received it in the mail, they were beyond thrilled. My ears are still ringing just thinking about their jubilant squeals of happiness.

Have you ever made a photo book with prints solely of food?

YES, YES and YES! Of course I did! I’m so glad that you asked. Last week I finished a photo book project I’ve been working on for quite some time. My friends and I were on a kick where we went to restaurants that started with a different letter each week. For example, week 1 was “A,” week 2 was “B,” and so on. I took a photo from each delectable dish each week and put them all in a book that I called “Feasting from A to Z.” I ordered four of them and gave one to each of my friends! Now we all have matching photo books and will always remember our exciting edible adventures.

Say what?!

Hay hay hay, I know!

What’s another food photo book you put together?

I actually made one totally based around the color yellow. That doesn’t mean that every dish had to be like a banana…sometimes it could be just a yellow flair. Or a dish that reminded me of bright, beaming sunshine. Basically, I wanted a big, bold color that pulled lots of different foods and flavors together.

This one was just for me. I like to prove to myself just how creative I can be. Is that so bad?

NO!

Great, I didn’t think so.

Thanks, Marina!

No, thank you!

Readers, what other themes have you made photo books around? Feel free to share below.

- Marina, designer at Walgreens