Showing posts with label magnetic calendar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label magnetic 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, 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….


Saturday, December 29, 2012

Three Cute Calendars to Start Your New Year!


Calendars are a popular purchase this time of year, but why not make your own?  Here are three examples of handmade calendar projects that we think are pretty darn cute!

Simple:  This simple calendar is made from a coaster! 




Cover the coaster with patterned paper.  The background was cut with a die cutting machine (check out the Cricut Story Book font for lots of suitable backgrounds).  Adhere a mini calendar (I got no less than 5 in the mail from insurance agents and real estate brokers!) and a cute embellishment.  This one is magnetic.  We used our Stampin’ Up Itty Bitty Shapes punches to cut cute little florets out of a self-adhesive magnetic sheet.




Middle of the Road:  For a cute and creative project that won’t take forever to complete, try this desk calendar made from a CD case. 


Disassemble the CD case and put it back together backwards to create a free-standing easel.  Each month is displayed one at a time on it’s own page using pages from a mini calendar, or one that you print yourself.


Each month has a mat for one photo

A piece of 4 5/16” x 7” piece of cardboard makes a sturdy backing.   



Not shown:  a binder clip attached to one side will hold the calendar in place.


Over the top:  If you want a calendar that speaks volumes about your creative style, then this is the calendar for you. 



Made from a cookie sheet and found objects, this magnetic perpetual calendar can be customized to fit any color-scheme or theme.  Your imagination is your only limitation.



A NASCAR themed calendar



Coaster calendar designed by Sharon Armstrong
CD calendar designed by Stephanie Gannon and Sue Norris
Cookie sheet calendar demonstrated by Sue Norris.
All projects were created and assembled by Cindy Murray