Showing posts with label calendar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label calendar. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

We Pause for a Brief Commercial Message

Today I am in Promotion Mode.  That’s what happens when I have a lot of events and they aren’t filling up as fast as I want them to, or I just haven’t had time to take care of promoting them like I should.  Usually, I try to spread it out.  I don’t want my customers or my readers to be bombarded by emails and ads for things I’m trying to sell.  Some companies do that.  They’ll send out one or two emails every single day to remind you that it’s their annual “stock up on bath soap” sale, or “get extra points when you buy breakfast”.  It’s annoying.  I don't want to do that. 

Instead, I prefer word of mouth.  I want my customers and event participants to have so much fun at my events that they are eager to share with others and ready to come back and play again.  Don’t get me wrong, I do have to occasionally drop subtle hints, or post an occasional reminder on Facebook, and I send out roughly one newsletter email a month to let everyone know what’s going on, but lately, I have been so busy that I haven’t done any of that (or at least not much).  So I thought today I would do something I almost never do, and that is put it all in a blog post.  After all, I really don’t share all this stuff on the blog very often because the blog is more about crafting and projects, so you might not even know what’s going on.

Of course, a blog post with nothing but me hawking my wares would not be any fun at all, so today I’m going to kill two birds with one stone; I’m going to share some projects with you, and tell you how they relate to some of my events!

First, lets start with 

Cards (and other things, too!):






These cards were some that we made recently at our 3rd Wednesday Stamp Club meetings.  If you aren’t familiar with it, the stamp club is a gathering we have here at my house (aka Crafty Neighbor Studios) once per month.  We are led by Barbara King, a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator who prepares 2-3 projects for us to do each month.  It’s a lot of fun, and we’re definitely learning a lot of great techniques!  So if you’re in the DFW area on a 3rd Wednesday, please feel free to join us!  The first visit is free, after that, there is a $30 minimum order.  You can find all the details on Meetup.com.

Classes:


An example of our Perpetual Calendar

Recently, I’ve had a lot of requests for classes, including repeats of several classes I taught in years past.  My trusty side-kick and helper extraordinaire, Marion, and I worked up a schedule we thought would work for anyone, but I guess we were scheduling things too close to the end of school or something because we are still getting emails asking for different dates and times.  So here’s the deal…if you are in the DFW area and you want to take any of our classes, go to our Facebook page and find the post I made today about classes.  Give us your input about dates, times, etc.  We’ll use that info to come up with some more class dates – I promise!

Crops and Retreats:


I don’t have any public crops or retreats coming up any time soon.  I usually like to have one or two fundraiser crops per year, but I am not walking in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day this year, so no crop for that.  If you have an organization that needs to raise money, and you would like to host a Scrapbooking Fundraiser Crop, give me a shout!  I will be more than happy to organize one for you!  This is especially true in the DFW/North Texas area, but I will also help with crops in other locations as well.  It’s a great way to raise funds for your organization, and it works particularly well for schools, churches, and non-profits like breast cancer charities or social services organizations.  If you are interested, please send me an email.

Cruises:


I haven’t promoted them much here, but one of my favorite projects every year is our annual scrapbooking cruise!  The exciting thing about this year’s cruise is that we have two!  The full scoop is on our website, but here’s the skinny:

Crafty Neighbor Scrapbook LITE
Departing from Galveston, Texas
Carnival Liberty
October 3-8, 2016
Porting in Progreso and Cozumel, Mexico sailing 5 nights with “LITE” amenities, flexible crop times, and a more relaxed/fun environment.  Make your own schedule and work on your own projects.  Optional classes are extra.  Crafters and non-crafters of all skill levels are equally welcome.

Crafty Neighbor Scrapbooking Cruise
Departing from Galveston, Texas
Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas
January 8-15. 2017
Porting in Roatan (Honduras), Belize City (Belize) and Cozumel (Mexico) sailing 7-nights with FULL amenities, 24-hour open crop room, and lots of crafts, projects and demonstrations.  Participate in scheduled classes or work on your own projects.  All classes are included in the cost.  Crafters and non-crafters of all skill levels are equally welcome.

Here is one of the projects from our last cruise:

This simple layout was a make-n-take on our 2015 Scrap Cruise.
In all we had 4 make-n-takes, 1 interactive demo, 10+ hours of dedicated
class time plus games, contests, prizes, goodies and giveaways.

Garage Sales:


Last but not least, I’m sad to say I am still waiting for open dates at our Girl Scout facility for the semi-annual scrapbook garage sale.  They assure me that they will know the open dates by the end of May.  Keep your fingers crossed for a fall date.  If not, we may have to look at another facility, which would mean an increase in vendor rates, which I don’t want to do.

That’s it for now, thanks for your patience, and I hope you enjoyed the projects I shared as part of this giant advertisement! 

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Belated Happy New Year!

I’m a bit late, but I just wanted to send out a “Happy New Year” and a thank all you crafty folk for your continued support of the crafting industry, and especially for your support of Crafty Neighbor by attending our events, following us on Facebook, reading my blog, and by sharing your love of crafting with your friends and family.  I hope you had a fabulous 2015!  It was a good year for Crafty Neighbor, and I'm looking forward to many more fun events in 2016!
A sneak peak at my new "SmashPlanner", which I'll share in an upcoming post.
Every year, around this time, I choose a Word of the Year to live by.  It helps me stay focused on my intentions.  More than a resolution, it is a philosophy that I try to apply to every aspect of my life.  You can read more about my Word of the Year here on my blog, but I wanted to share a bit about this year's word, and how it applies to you, too.  This year, the word I chose was DECLUTTER.
My intention in choosing this word was to spend my year getting rid of all the stuff I don’t need, cleaning up, sorting, and organizing what I do need, and maybe, finally getting to all those unfinished projects.  After further thought, I decided that the word I really needed was SIMPLIFY, because that really encompasses both decluttering, organization, time management, and so much more. So my challenge to myself is to finish the craft room, complete all of the unfinished projects, and get rid of all the things that are cluttering up my life.  That means if I don’t love it, I need to get rid of it!  I’m going to try not to start any new projects until I’ve finished some of these old ones, and I am not going to buy anything new except to resupply stock of basics as they run out.  This year is going to be a year of getting organized and of eliminating some of the excess stuff that is cluttering up my workspace, my computer, and my life.
One of the most obvious ways I'll be getting rid of clutter is by hosting the Crafty Neighbor semi-annual scrapbook garage sale.  I'll also be holding more classes this year, more crops, and I'll even be offering up some kits and supplies for sale online.  As I declutter the craft room, I will be adding more tables and space for more croppers so we can expand our classes and have a little more room at our Thursday Mother's Day Out and weekend crops.  And best of all, I’ll be offering a simpler, less expensive version of our annual scrapbooking cruise – our brand new Crafty Neighbor Scrap Cruise LITE!
So thanks again for reading my blog, and I hope you’ll stick around for another year!  Finishing all these unfinished projects means I’ll have lots of stuff to share with you here on the blog, and even if you’re not local to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I hope you’ll be able to make it to some of our events, which I’ve listed below.
Happy New Year and Happy Crafting!
Cindy
Crafty Neighbor

Semi-Annual Scrapbook Garage Sale
Sellers have a wide variety of scrapbooking supplies to sell at our semi-annual Scrapbook Garage Sale.  There are always good bargains to be found!
Saturday, February 13
9:00 AM – 2:00 PM
6001 Summerside Drive
Dallas, Texas 75252
3rd Wednesday Stamp Club
Join us on the 3rd Wednesday of each month for a fun evening of stamping and exploring new techniques here at Crafty Neighbor Studios in Carrollton.  Each month, Stampin’ Up! demonstrator Barbara King will share 1-4 fun cards and projects highlighting new techniques and Stampin’ Up! products.  A minimum purchase is required to participate.
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Crafty Neighbor Studios
Carrollton 75007

Crafty Neighbor Scrapbooking Cruises
Register for one of our exciting scrapbooking and crafting cruises!  Our cruises feature fabulous food, friends, family, and tons of fun! Don't scrapbook? No problem. We still offer fabulous all-inclusive cruise pricing for your personal or family vacation getaway.
Crafty Neighbor Scrap Cruise LITE
October 5 – 8, 2016
Carnival Liberty - Galveston, TX
Progreso, Cozumel
Starting at $478* per person
10th Annual Scrapbooking Cruise
January 8 – 15, 2017
Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas - Galveston, TX
Honduras, Belize, Cozumel
Starting at $758* per person
For more information on these and other events
Website: http://www.craftyneighbor.com
Meetup.com:  http://www.meetup.com/craftyneighbor/

You can also find us on
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/craftyneighbor
Or email:  info@craftyneighbor.com

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Ring in the New!


The end of our wonderful cruise is the end of our fun cruise through the year.  Our final pillow gift was a little goodie designed by Susie to help our guests keep track of the new year – a calendar.  Susie is a wiz at digital scrapbooking, and she used her skills to decorate the coaster backing of this fun little calendar.  I love how she incorporated the Crafty Neighbor color scheme into the design!  Everything on this coaster is digital with the exception of the calendar itself, which is a peel-off.



That’s it for our Cruising Through the Year pillow gifts, but have no fear!  Susie, Valerie and I have several more projects from this super-fun cruise to share with you over the next few weeks.  I can’t wait to share them with you and also to tell you all about our cruise!

Until next time….