Happy 4th of July from Stacey M Design!

This year we are spending Independence Day quietly. We have no big plans, no big picnics or BBQs, no travel. We are going to stay at home and hang out in the backyard. We will grill. Mostly we will relax, chat, read, doze and play games. We will close our low-key celebration by watching the fireworks from our backyard. Enjoy your holiday!



Copyright 2010 Stacey Montgomery.

Stacey Montgomery
Stacey M Design

Pool Party Time

Stacey M Design Pool Girl Invitation. Flip Flops goody bags. Lemonade with Berry Ice Cubes. Fish shaped sandwiches. Pool Boy Note Card. Blow Fish Bubble Squirters.


Summer is officially here! It is finally time to open up the pool, pull out the Slip ‘n Slide, or go to the beach for a pool party! Starting with Stacey M Design’s adorable Pool Party Invitations, here are some ideas to help with your planning.

Food Ideas:
1. Grilled hamburgers and hotdogs
2. Chips and pretzels served in beach buckets
3. Submarine sandwiches

Game Ideas:
1. Sponge Race – This race can be done individually or as a relay with 3-4 kids on each team. Saturate big sponges in a big tub of water. Each team has a bucket that it must fill up by squeezing water from their sponges into the buckets. The team that fills its bucket to the designated line first wins.

2. Water Balloon Toss. Sets of 2 kids stand about 5 feet from each other. One kid tosses a balloon to the other. If the balloon is caught, then each kid takes one step back. The balloon is then tossed again. The last team with a balloon intact wins. It is OK if the balloon falls to the ground— as long as it does not break!

3. Water Balloon fight. Fill many, many balloons with water. Let the kids go at it!

Favor Ideas:
1. Mini bubbles.
2. Mini flip flop key chains for girls and mini surf board key chains for boys.
3. Beach buckets filled with beach toys.

I have listed just a few ideas for a pool birthday party. Please share your ideas. Thanks!


Stacey Montgomery
Stacey M Design

This print is called, "Daisies at the Beach." I created it for the silent auction that is part of The Hockaday School's 2010 Parents' Association Benefit called, "By the Sea." The limited edition print features 3 "Hockadaisies" relaxing on the beach. The edition is limited to 15 S/N prints.

This is the 2nd year that I was asked to create a special print for the annual fundraiser and I was proud to create, "Daisies at the Beach."

To go along with the print, I also created note cards and placemats with the same design.

Stacey Montgomery
Stacey M Design

Custom Valentine's Day Cards for Girl

A client's daughter was involved in the design of a set of Valentine's Day cards. She started with a Valentine's Day Card that I had already designed and requested changes to make a set that reflected her personal style. I made a total of 24 flat cards. The front illustrations featured girls with 4 different hair styles and 3 different t-shirts. The back featured a space for adding a recipient's name, "Happy Valentine's Day," and my client's daughter's signature.

What a fun project!

Stacey Montgomery
Stacey M Design

Getting Organized! And win free book!

One of my goals for 2010 is to be more organized. I have a very difficult time working in clutter and disorganization. Now I am not generally a messy, disorganized person. I may be, however, slightly OCD, always seeking to find the perfect place for each item in both my business and personal life and becoming a little less productive and slightly annoyed when things are out of place. Last month, while hanging out at Borders, I stumbled upon a little book called, “Organize Now!” by Jennifer Ford Berry.

This little book is packed full of information on how to organize many aspects of your life. It provides 52 weeks of marching orders to make sure by the end of the year, if you stick to it, your life will be much more manageable. Areas of life that this book helps you organize include yourself, your papers, your things, your high-traffic areas, your personal spaces, your storage areas, and your special events.

The first thing that I decided to tackle is email. I have multiple email accounts with a combined over 15,000 emails, including about 1000 “unread.” I started with my Gmail account. Beginning with December and going backwards, I am tackling a month’s worth of email each day. I am reading and deleting both email I received and emails I sent, only keeping email that I really, really need. Not only does Organize Now give tips on how to clear out email, it also gives tips on how to keep your email boxes clear of clutter. Now there are definitely tips that Berry provides that are obvious. I mean, really, it does not take a book for me to know that deleting old, unnecessary email is the key to having fewer emails in my box! But what Berry’s book does for me is give me a systematic set of reminders as to what I should do as well as some great ideas as to how to organize and to actually DO IT!

Although Berry's book has been very helpful to me, I am not suggesting that everyone needs it to get orgazined. I think the key is to have some sort of game plan to get organized and another plan to stay organized. If having someone write the script for you helps, then I do recommend “Organize Now!”

Do you have any tips on getting or staying organized and getting rid of clutter? Post your tips and I will enter your name into a drawing for a FREE copy of Organze Now!! You must leave your comment by January 31, 2010. You also must leave your email address so that I can contact you.

Stacey Montgomery
Stacey M Design

Small Acts of Kindness with Big Impact

With reports of celebrities like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie donating $1 million to aid Haiti it may seem as if small businesses and individuals with limited resources can do little to impact Haiti or others in dire need of help. However, there are many ways that almost anyone can help. There are many nonprofit organizations that depend on volunteers to give as little as 1 hour of time. Other organizations accept donations of canned food and clothes. In response to the earthquake in Haiti, we are seeing how organizations like Yele Haiti is working with cell phone providers to accept donations of just $5 through texting that will go to helping Haiti.

On December 29, 2009, a group of volunteers led by Stacey M Design volunteered at the Aurora, IL office of Feed My Starving Children. We helped pack food that would be sent to various countries in critical need of resources. The group of volunteers who worked the shift that we worked packed 68 boxes of food that will make 14,688 meals. This food will feed 40 children 1 meal a day for a year. Haiti is one of the countries that receives food from Feed My Starving Children.

I found this experience both educational and rewarding in many different ways. I was reminded of the suffering many children experience both in this country and around the world. I got to see so many people of different ages, races and backgrounds work together toward a common goal. I was reminded that while all of us do not have the power associated with celebrity, big business, politics and money, we all do have the power to make a difference.

I look forward to working with Feed My Starving Children again. I also look forward to mobilizing my small ground of friends and family members to volunteer for other causes as much as we can.

Please post small ways to help that have big impact! Thanks!


Stacey Montgomery
Stacey M Design

2009 Holiday Card

With the first major snow of December Isaiah spent a lot of time outside throwing snowballs, making snow angels, sledding and kicking the snow. If he had it his way, he would spend all day outside in the snow. Along with my husband, Isaiah built a great snowman. It made the perfect photo for our holiday cards.



Stacey Montgomery
Stacey M Design

Stacey M Design is in Stationery Trends Magazine!

Yippee! One of Stacey M Design's bridal shower invitations was featured in the Fall 2009 issue of Stationery Trends Magazine. This design was characterized as appropriate for the bride-to-be who has a "whimsical" personality: "When done well, the personality is fun and freewheeling, with a certain grace that keeps it modern."

This design is available in 5 different color palettes: green, pink, blue, mango and lavendar. I can also match your wedding colors. Matching thank you note cards are also available.


Stacey Montgomery
Stacey M Design

Holiday Card Sending Tips: Things To Remember that are Kinda Obvious

What I have learned (actually I already knew) from holiday cards I have received over the years.

1. Do Not Send Anonymous Greetings. I have received cards with no return address, no photo and no signature. Silver lining: the cards were very nice.

2. Send Each Card to the Intended Recipient. When putting a "personal message" in a holiday card, make sure you address the envelope to the correct person. Failure to do so can be quite embarrasing.

3. Do Not Live in the Past. What year is this? What year is next year? Make sure you put the correct year on the card. This year, please do not wish your family and friends a "healthy and happy 2008."

4. Nothing says Happy Holidays Like... Put the correct postage on the envelope. Nothing says "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" like "Postage Due."


Have you received any "unusual" holiday greetings? Post your story!

For more holiday card sending tips, check out this article.



Check out Stacey M Design's line of holiday cards, holiday photo cards and business holiday cards.

Thanks!

Stacey Montgomery
Stacey M Design
http://www.staceymdesign.com

Marketing Ideas: What has Worked for Me

Over the past several months I have been racking my brain trying to think of ways to increase both my retail and wholesale sales. I thought about some of the more obvious methods: reps, trade shows and cold calling. Since I have no reps, trade shows only occur a few times a year and are expensive and I dislike cold calling, I had to find new ways. Here are some ideas that have worked for me.

1. Join networking groups or attend networking events. This has been the number one reason for my significant increase in sales. There are many groups out there, both national groups and local groups. I joined eWomenNetwork and attend meetings and seminars offered by other groups. The reason I find these groups to be effective is that everyone who attends understands that everyone is there is get business. So for me the angst associated with “cold calling” disappears. In fact, in many cases, I am asked about my business even before I have to mention it.

2. Open Houses. From the time that I first started this business I have found the Open House to be a great way to jump start sales, especially during the holiday season (September – December). This year I am partnering with 4-5 other businesses to host 3 Open Houses this fall. By partnering, each Open House will have more guests than would attend if I were to just use my mailing list. This is a great way to put my products in front of a group of new potential clients.

3. Unlikely retailers. More by accident than by design, I have found myself talking to retailers that I would not typically approach. For example, my cards are now in a few beauty salons, a baby clothing store, a florist, a photo studio and a day care center. And in the course of my travels I have seen cards in wineries, restaurants and yoga studios. So now I am trying to remain open-minded about businesses that are potential customers.

4. Working Vacations. As a small business owner, I am learning to take advantage of every opportunity. This summer my family traveled out of town 3 times. Each time I tried to make appointments in advance to see retailers. It only took a couple hours out of our vacation schedule, but was well worth it, as I got a few sales.

5. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. I tweet and have a FB Fan Page for Stacey M Design. I have received business from both. I recently participated in a webinar that focused on LinkedIn. I do not yet have a LinkedIn account that focuses on my design capabilities, but it is definitely on my “to do” list. You will be surprised as to who else uses these resources: retailers, buyers, editors, art directors, etc. If you are not sure how to use the various social networking sites, or fear that you do not have the time, or you just do not know which one is best for you, there are many resources online that will help.

6. Good 'ol Snail Mail. It is funny that we are purveyors of paper, cards, invitations and other products that are snail mailed. But many of us do not use mail as a means of marketing. I still strongly believe that paper is a powerful way to send a message. So, in my business, I decided that I need to show it! For the past few years I have used Constant Contact to keep in touch with my clients. I used to send out an enewsletter once a month or so. It was relatively effective in that each time I sent out a newsletter I got a small spike in sales. However, I also looked at my stats and found that the percentage of people clicking on the links was not that high. And I regularly got bounces because of bad email addresses. So this summer I started to send out monthly postcard mailings. They were small mailings, targeted mailings—no more than about 25-150 a month, depending on my target audience. For one 25 postcard mailing that cost me about $20, one person placed 2 orders totaling over $200. I am not totally eliminating email as a means to stay in touch, but I am definitely going to continue to use postcards. Think about it. Look in your email box. How many “unopened” emails are there? I currently have 700 unopened emails in one account. I know people that have thousands of unopened email. But I always at least glance at each piece of snail mail that comes in my box. And if it is a postcard—a quick read—I read it.

7. Cold calling. I know, I know…this method has been used by most of us. But, is it working for you? Are you going about it in the best way for you? I am terrible at cold calling. I am not exaggerating. I am not talking about showing up at a store without an appointment. I am talking about picking up the phone to make an appointment, even after sending samples or a catalog in the mail. No matter how much I know I need to do it, meditate, and do whatever I can do to get in the frame of mind to pick up the phone, I just cannot do it. So I now pay someone to do it, plus enlist the services of my sister and a good friend who is very, very familiar with my business. The result: several new retail accounts over the summer. One thing that many business gurus urge small business owners to do is to focus on what we do best and outsource what we do not do well.

8. What about traditional methods: reps? Reps are part of my plan. (Yes, I have a detailed, typed marketing plan.) I have had reps in the past and I have attended trade shows in the past. My first rep group covered a huge part of the south. It was a large, well- respected group and I was happy and shocked that they approached me about carrying my line. But it did not work out well, basically because back then, I was not ready. My current plan is to start approaching reps early next year. We will see how that goes.

9. What about traditional methods: trade shows? Trade shows are part of my plan. I have exhibited at the National Stationery Show multiple times and have done fairly well each time. My problem is that I did not do a great job with following up with new clients. For example, I rarely called about reorders. I also did not do great follow up with those that stopped at my booth, but did not buy. I am now doing a lot better at that. Now that I have more and more retailer clients, I am doing a better job at maintaining these relationships. So, in 2010, if all goes as planned, I will exhibit at 2 trade shows- the National Stationery Show and the Chicago Gift Show.

I decided that since I live in the suburbs of Chicago and have walked the Chicago Gift Show 2-3 times, I am going to try to exhibit in 2010. I will not have to pay airfare or hotel and the booth fee is relatively low. The primary reason that I decided to do this is because this summer when I visited retailers, I always asked if they go to the National Stationery Show or the Chicago Gift Show. All said that they go to the Chicago Gift Show; about half said that they go to the National Stationery Show. I think it is worth a try so that I can get my products in front of local and regional buyers.

This is what has worked for me, or where my experiences will take me in the future. I know that these ideas will not work for all. While I did have an increase in sales, I still have a long way to go. So I am still very open to new ideas and learning what has worked for others. Please share your ideas for marketing.

Thanks!

Stacey Montgomery
Stacey M Design

Summer Fave: Ice Cream!

“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!” OK, these lyrics have become a little overused and cliché, but they do accurately reflect how many people feel about ice cream. Many of us still have memories of the frenzy that ensued when we heard the bell of the ice cream truck rolling down the street. And it’s not just kids who are ice cream obsessed. My always amusing husband sometimes gets late night ice cream cravings and just has to jump into the car and go to Oberweis Dairy—his current ice cream crush. And whenever we visit a town that has a Ghirardelli’s, no matter how cold it is outside, no matter how tired we are, we must go there so hubby can get a sundae.

Since ice cream has been on the brain, I thought I would share some cute ice cream themed works of art.


1. Painted With Heart's Ice Cream Bowl Party Favors. I think this makes a special party favor. Kids and parents will love them because they will be able to use them over and over again.

2. One Elf's Ice Cream Sandwich Earrings. The ice cream sandwich is my favorite ice cream treat. One Elf also offers Neapolitan Ice Cream Sandwich earrings!

3. Cheeky Banana's 6 Scoop Ice Cream Applique Dress. What little girl wouldn't love this?

4. Mpatrizio's Ice Cream Journal. There are note cards to match this adorable journal!

5. Crafty Anna's Ice Cream Parlor Crochet Pattern. I love this because they are just so clever and realistic. Crafty Anna also offers a pattern for a banana split!

Interview with Artist Michelle Masters, Creator of Topiary-Themed Art

It is really interesting to learn where artists find inspiration and how they develop their unique styles. Artist Michelle Masters of Michelle Masters Studio paints the most delightful little masterpieces in the shapes of topiaries. Yes, topiaries! Michelle recently shared a few details about her idyllic life.

What inspired you to start using topiaries as the theme for your artwork?
I have always been an avid gardener. I love garden structure and English cottage gardens. One summer as I was painting to prepare for an upcoming art festival I found myself reading more about gardens and topiaries. One charming book I remember was called “In and Out of the Garden", by Sara Midda. Just for fun, probably to distract me from the painting I “should” have been doing, I started doodling little topiary designs of things that interested me that were not traditional, the first one being the hat design called "Lady Lavender". I still use this design as my company logo.

While it is evident that nature inspires your art, where do you find inspiration for determining the shapes of the topiaries you paint?
I literally find it all around me. The first series of designs that I created were hats as mentioned above. The other two designs in the series were named after my grandmothers to honor them- Shirley's Tulip Chapeau and Virge's Pansy Bonnet. Animals are often featured in my work- we live on a farm and have quite a few of them. I get excited about creating an image that people have not seen before that requires a second look. I want them to be sweet, beautiful and clever. A number of years ago I was asked to do a children's series for a retail chain. The project resulted in the Dancing Elephant, Jumping Rabbit and Juggling Bear Topiaries.

Because topiaries are really just sculptural shapes...anything can be a topiary on paper. The charm of the design comes in the details- the angle of the design, how the pot is embellished and the fun stuff like flowers, bugs, butterflies and ribbons to dress it up.



I describe your style as uncluttered and traditional, with a bit of whimsy. How do you describe your style?
Simple and artful with a contemporary twist of humor and style.

What media do you use to create your original artwork?
Primarily Winsor & Newton artist watercolors and graphite on Fabriano 140lb. watercolor paper.

Describe a typical work day.
An interesting question... first, get my 7-year-old on the bus, then feed the horses at the barn. Since my studio is based in my home I then try to find something to keep my 4-year-old entertained while I do necessary paperwork, research designs, and send out requested catalogs. Before lunch I try to work on orders... with the occasional interruption of various Play-Doh technics and Polly Pocket dramas. Since it is finally summer in upstate New York I may venture out to see the delivery man and get distracted by a few weeds that need to be pulled or seeds that need to be watered.

While my daughter is at afternoon preschool I make all of my calls and try to focus on my creative work as much as possible. I'm in an endless state of wonderful frustration...trying to balance home-life and work. It is very challenging. A very organic process and I try to be flexible and open. I don't want to miss any of life's blessings... at work or home.



What is the most difficult part of your business?
See above!... and the paperwork and administrative aspects, I prefer not to manage people but if I don't have help then the growth of my business will be limited. I wish I could just focus more on the art/design instead of the billing/ordering. I will say though that part of the staying power of my business is that I have been content staying relatively small and not overcommitting myself.

What is the best part of your business?
Besides the creative process and being able to be with my children when they were tiny...it would have to be meeting people and seeing/hearing their reaction to my work. I have recently begun a collection called "Hedges & Hares" featuring these cute pear shaped bunnies with topiary and/or hedges. I tested out the images at the Philadelphia Flower Show in March and I was so touched by people's responses. One woman in my booth said "You must have had a wonderful childhood!". Another customer was a gentleman from the DC area who purchased 4 large prints of the series just because they made him feel happy. I was so appreciative and humbled.

Another aspect that I love is that I’ve been able to provide work to several stay-at-home Moms and retirees in my community. I don’t usually need full-time help, but being able to help other people achieve their goals in even a little way is very rewarding.

Does your love for plants extend beyond painting? Do you garden?
Oh yes! I would rather have a new plant than a new pair of shoes! Its an obsession that I inherited from my mother. I have slowly been installing gardens around our home. I've expanded my vegetable garden into a french potager this year. (A french potager is a kitchen garden that intermingles flowers, herbs and vegetables. Often it is designed using geometric shaped beds that create interesting patterns when planted.) It’s what happens when I'm left alone with gigantic pile of soil and a Bobcat Skid-Steer. It was like painting/sculpting with soil.

I hope to one day create in live topiary all of the farm animals that I would like around my studio. I picture a grouping of 3 sheep grazing in side field. So far we have Henrietta the Hen, Rooco the Rooster and Maurice and Geraldine the Ducks in boxwood topiary.


What is next for Michelle Masters Studio?
I have recently partnered with another woman-owned business to create beautiful handmade soaps for all occasions. My artwork is a great fit for the product and I sold out of them at the Philadelphia Flower Show... a good sign.

Also, we have a major website redesign coming up this summer that I am very excited about that will include a blog featuring articles on gardening, topiary, recipes, entertaining, design and lots more!

Name 3 blogs that you just love.
Velveteen Mind
The Noble Pig
Bumblebee Blog

Check out Michelle's full line at Michelle Masters Studio .