The Sewing Mom

I think with all the warmer weather we’ve been having here in North Texas, I’m having a hard time believing that the holidays are right around the corner. And yet, Christmas is a mere 54 days away! I have purchased 2 gifts so far, but, today, after I put away the Halloween decorations, I will be getting out the items of Thanksgiving decor I have and start organizing the Christmas decorations that will go up the day after Thanksgiving.

The one thing I like to have before Thanksgiving is my Holiday Cards. You see, after eating my big Thanksgiving meal, I like to sit down, relax, and work on addressing and writing personal notes inside the cards I’m mailing out. With all the hectic activities that occur around the holidays, I always feel a sense of accomplishment at having my cards ready to be mailed.

I’ve made my own cards for a few years, but last year I sent out personalized photo cards using a picture of my daughter and her new puppy. They were both decked out in red and white and it was so cute. Now VistaPrint has the cutest Holiday Caricature Cards that I’m considering for this year. This style is one of my favorites.

It’s super easy to order from their website, plus, if I order now, I’ll save 50% and have them in time to write notes and address them on Thanksgiving day. VistaPrint has great prices too, some of the holiday cards start as low as $4.99. Anyone who has shopped for holiday cards over the past several years knows that this is a true bargain!

How about you? Do you send them out?

Do you ever find yourself reading the magnetic signs people have on their vehicles? I do, it sorts of provides my entertainment as I’m driving down the road, especially on longer trips. When we drove out to Tennessee last month I was wishing I had placed Magnetic signs on my van for everyone to see and maybe drum up some traffic to my site and some purchases.

Have you ever called a business after reading their magnetic sign? I’ve done it a few times, most recently to order pizza while we were in the car. My daughter just picked up my cell phone and plugged in the number so that I could order the pizza on our way and then we didn’t have to wait to long. I’ve also contacted carpet cleaners and landscape services after seeing them in the neighborhood and reading their magnetic signs. What about visiting the website that you’ve read from a magnetic sign, I’ve done that a lot.

I know that many of us crafting bloggers are trying hard to make a niche for not only our blogs, but our businesses as well. What better way to let people around where you live know about your business then with a car magnet? Right now you can even receive 25% off Car Door Magnets by using coupon code CarDoor25 at vistaprint.com and there are 2 sizes to choose from and over 100 designs to choose from.  If you like, you can even create your own design.  Personally, I’m looking for any way to increase my sales and make my craft work for me.

It is so hard for me to believe that a year has passed, it passed so very quickly. Our granddaughter has turned one!

I remember early last summer, receiving our Baby shower invitations to both the shower in California, where they live, and the one in Kansas City, where my step-daughter grew up and her mom still lives. It was so hard for us to believe she was even pregnant, but we were sure excited for her. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make it to either shower, but we did send out gifts. Then, not too long after the baby was born, my husband and our daughter flew out to California to meet the newest member of our family.

This past June, we flew mom, dad and little one out to visit with us. It was my first time to get to see her and I was thrilled. She is absolutely adorable and so smart! She is definitely going to be keeping them on their toes. I had so much fun doting on her and I took her shopping for clothes and shoes, what fun! Of course, that’s what grandmothers are supposed to do, right?!

Last week, our little one turned one. We got her party invitation in the mail, but again, we weren’t able to attend. That’s okay, her daddy was good and emailed us a ton of photos and it looked like everyone, including our little one, had a fabulous time. I was out of town and still need to mail her gift, which I will do in the next few days.

While I’m talking about it, I have to tell you, they’ve always used the cutest invitations. I’m not exactly sure where they’ve gotten them, but I know that vistaprint.com offers a wide selection. I’ve purchased a number of printed items from them and have been very happy with their work. If you need to order invitations, you can type in the coupon code FREEINVITE at checkout and receive 10 free invites.

I spent most of last week with my sister in Kentucky. We’ve both been sewing like mad, along with our other sister, to prepare for our coming out sale scheduled for July. As the dates get closer, we find ourselves thinking of things we need to do to be prepared besides the actual sewing and creating our goods.

We have to bring our attention around to marketing ourselves, both at the sale and afterwards. I’m hoping we do well at the sale itself and then have follow up sales. I’ve had business cards made that I will pass out and have inserted into every item I do sell so buyers will know how to get in touch with me. My sister and I also have fabric labels that we sew into our crafted items to identify where they come from.

As for our booth itself, we’ve been talking about signage for it. We’d like to have a banner to hang as well as maybe some table placards. Since I’m going to be driving out in our big van, I’ve even been considering magnetic signs to place on the outside of the van. Everything we do can be customized and so can our advertising campaigns, especially if we use VistaPrint.  I ordered my business cards from them and also my return address labels.  I’m looking at what other printing needs they can do for me.

I’m getting excited and nervous at the same time. I want everything to go well and I want it to be a great start to our sales.

Now that Destination Imagination is over for us for this season, I can finally get back to my sewing! I have several projects that sort of got left in the middle of being worked on and am anxious to get back to them.

While I haven’t been sewing over the past few weeks (except for embroidering the team shirts), I haven’t stopped thinking of ideas to promote my sewing business. A few weeks ago I ordered business cards and return address labels from Vistaprint.com. I am very pleased with what I got. I was able to design the business cards myself and I found a template on their website that was spools of thread, perfect for sewing! The cards and labels were delivered in less than a week, very quick service.

While I was ordering the business cards, I saw that they also offer refrigerator magnets which I could have made with the same design as my business cards. If I wanted something larger, the magnets come in different sizes and, no matter what the size, they make an excellent marketing tool. Right now I can get 25 small magnets free simply by using coupon code “Blog25FreeMag”.

I think what I like the most about VistaPrint.com is that I’m able to customize my own design and the speedy service. Feel free to use the coupon code to order your own magnets!