Pink + Coffee Coasters ♥

I was recently the winner of a new set of coasters! Linda of Abigail Jayne Art recently hosted a giveaway on her blog. She asked her readers to answer a question in her comments and I won! Linda knows how much I love coffee and the color pink, so the coasters she sent me are perfect!

One side has a different coffee-related design and the other has a cute pink heart design.

They've already found the perfect place in my new studio. Thanks Linda!

 

And if you're looking for a set of your own, Linda is having a closeout sale in her Pruitt Creations shop. Checkout all the great deals!

Sports Team Coasters

I had one of those "Why didn't I think of this sooner" moments this past week! I've been making sports team coasters for my local shows and they've sold rather well every time I've taken them. And I've gotten a few custom orders at shows for different teams I don't have on hand. Why haven't I thought to add these to my Etsy Shop?!?

So yesterday afternoon, I did just that. My sports team beer mugs have done well on Etsy and I'm hoping these coasters will do well too :) They'd make great guy gifts!

One of my recent custom requests included two different teams with "Divided We Stand" on the coaster holder. I thought this was a fun option to add, so I put a note in my listing that I can customize the coasters even further with a special request like this.

 

Have you made/listed something before and wondered why you hadn't done it sooner! I hope I'm getting these listed at the perfect time with football in full swing :)

BBArtisans GIVEAWAY

This month at the Blogging Business Artisans Blog we have one awesome giveaway!!!

Not only can you win this cute little Bug Crayon Roll!

But the winner also gets their choice of a set of coasters as well!

And...they're reversible!

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This month's giveaway is brought to us by Linda of PruittCreations. I love that Linda is offering something for the kiddos as well as the adults...how perfect!

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So stop on by the BBA Blog for your chance to win!

Wordless Wednesday - Dramatic Design

Custom Coaster Order

A couple of weeks ago I told you about all the custom orders that I had in the works. I'm happy to report that I have my three BIG orders done and they're on their way to their new homes!!!

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So, what does 150 coasters look like anyway? Well...here they are!

And here they are all bagged up.

These coasters are going to a business in Colorado and will be given out at a conference in New York! Each member at the conference will get a coaster with the company's logo on it. And I made sure to include my Etsy Address on the back of each one as well :)

Look for two more posts this week about my Girl Scout Albums and my large Sorority Album order!!!

In the Works

I have another busy week planned :) I have lots of big custom orders in the works right now that I'm excited to get completed! I love crossing BIG things off my to do list :)

I have 12 Daisies Albums to complete for a girl scout troop in New York. These are all cut and bound...they just need decorated.

I also have an order for 8 set of coasters for a local order. Her brother ordered the wine glasses I showed you a couple of weeks ago!

I also have another large Album Order for a sorority. The Zeta Tau Alpha chapter in Indiana has 20 albums on order! My largest order to date!!!

And I have another large coaster order as well! 150 single coasters are headed to a business in Colorado where they will take a trip to New York to be handed out as gifts at a conference! And the company may want another large order after the first of the year...fingers crossed!

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I'll have more details about some of these orders once I get them done! Wish me luck on a productive week!

What do you have planned for this week?

Making Connections

I recently had the pleasure of working with Joyce and Gary of JGWoodSigns. They contacted me about a consignment deal which turned into a wonderful transaction. JGWoodSigns does a lot of custom work and for their recent show, they wanted more "cash and carry" items. They loved my engraved coasters and thought they would do well with their items.

Here's how we worked the deal...

They told me which coasters they wanted and how many of each. I also sent along custom samples and order forms. I shipped the coasters to them, they had their show and shipped back what didn't sell. We worked a consignment deal, so they paid me for the coasters, minus the consignment fee. Everything went great!

This isn't the type of deal I would do with just anyone. You have to be cautious of such transactions and do your homework. I had never met Joyce or Gary before they contacted me. They live in a different state and I had never done anything like this before without knowing the people first. I did a little research and saw that JGWoodSigns had been on Etsy since 2008, had sold over 400 items and had 100% feedback. This made me feel good about the transaction. And there was a lot of communication between Joyce and I which also helped me get to know her and feel comfortable about everything.

Consignment isn't for everyone, but it is something to consider and can open doors for more opportunities and sales. This transaction was great and I hope to work with Joyce and Gary again soon :)

Personalized Wedding Gifts

Last weekend we attended the wedding of a friend and coworker. It was such a happen event and I wanted to give them a gift that they would cherish for years to come. Of course I wanted it to be personalized and I wanted to engrave it :)

I first thought of these Wine Bottle Stoppers:

These are great gifts even if the recipients don't drink wine. They can be added to a decorative bottle as well :)

(I just added these to my shop yesterday!!!)

I also wanted to give them something bigger that they could display on their wall. This Engraved Name Frame was perfect!

I hope to add these to my shop soon, but I want to get a frame that I like and can reorder when needed. This frame was from my personal stash :)

Personalized gifts are so personal and special! These will definitely be my go-to wedding gifts from now on...along with my Custom Coasters too!

Custom Is Key

As I mentioned in my Winery Review post, when people found out I could customize my coasters any way they wanted, they were the hit of the show! People love anything they can personalize. Especially for gift-giving! It adds that extra touch to make a gift even more thoughtful and special. My Custom Name Albums have long been my best-selling item. And now that I have my laser engraver, I can customize so much more! Here are two different styles of custom coasters I've added to my shop this week: There can be personalized with any names, words, initials, photos, graphics, etc. you want! And what a great gift they make! Do you offer custom or personalized items in your shop? Give them a try!

Open House at the Winery

Thursday night a friend and I did an open house at the local winery we began selling at. The show went really well and we had a great turn out! It was nice that people could browse, eat, drink and then browse again. It was a very laid-back setting and people enjoyed that :)

My lasered items were by far the hit of the night! And coasters to be exact. I sold 14 set of coasters and had already sold another set the day before the show! People loved that they could customize the coasters and the ideas started flowing! I had several people tell me they would be ordering more for up-coming weddings as well!

Here is a set of coasters I made special for this winery. They have this painted on their patio wall and people just love it! This is the set of coasters that sold right away, so I've made more to take down! I also made a lasered wood plaque with this image on it as well. She just so fun :)

We're hoping to do another open house/craft show this fall or winter at the winery. I love their set-up and the location is perfect! The owners are great people and I'm happy to be working with them :)

Just Go For It

What a great weekend this is turning out to be! Not only have I gotten a ton of work done, but I spoke to two local wineries about adding my items to their gift shops!!!

The one winery I already have my scrapbooks in, but I wanted to talk to them about my new lasered items. They are very excited about my coasters and want some special picture frames made for a WineStock event they have going on next weekend! What a great opportunity for my items to be seen!

And the second winery I've wanted to talk to for quite some time, but never got up the nerve to just go in. I hated to just show up and solicit my items! But I finally got over it and Just Went For It! It went wonderfully!!! They are also excited about my coasters and would like their logo lasered on some items as well. I might even make a custom scrapbook with their name on it!

My challenge to you...Just Go For It!

What have you been putting off lately? Trying a new technique, using new materials, talking to a gift shop? What ever it is...Just Go For It :)

Lasered Weekend Update

I love doing these weekend updates! I get to show off all my week's creations in one spot :) It makes me realize how much I got done and how many new things I tried too! Eventually I need to quit playing around and start actually getting down to business! But for now, I'm just having too much fun!!!

Bamboo Coaster Set

White Ceramic Tile...Painted Pink then etched

Two Picture Frames (which can easily be customized)

Agate Slice

(I think these would be awesome! But I need to find ones that don't have such difference in the layers so they laser better. I think I found a supplier for these!)

Wood Sign on untreated wood

Bare Name Albums

(These are selling like crazy right now! I think I have 18 on order!!!)

Question: What should I play with next week?