DAY 6 – PROJEKT 14.400.14 – FIGHT

comment >>
by jenn in Entrepreneurism, Product | Leave a comment

So yesterday afternoon I almost gave up on this poster Projekt and my Kickstarter campaign. In 48 hours I had probably heard from 5 different people “you seem to be doing so much – but I don’t really understand what you are doing” Talk about deflated balloon, I wanted to give up because its an ALL or nothing campaign – you don’t reach your goal you get nothing and I felt like I was just wasting my time – time I don’t have. I had been working so hard to be creative, tweet, facebook and get the word out about Kickstarter (without hopefully being annoying), explain what it is and how anyone can help, so hearing I basically wasn’t doing a good job communicating was SOOOOO disheartening. BUT then, in true God fashion, He provided $650 dollars to my campaign just last night. It was way of saying, “hang in there with Me, that even in this, I will fight for you. Do the best you can, I will take care of the rest.” This whole thing goes against everything in my core – asking for help!!!

Update: Day 21 of 30 – Kickstarter – we are at $2465 of $3000.

I did resurrect this design from our collection so technically its not new, but it IS relevant.

To purchase this 11×14 poster before April 12th – which will help us reach our KS goal, simply go to our Kickstarter campaign here, and pledge for the $25 poster. We will email you after April 12th to confirm which poster design you chose! By prebuying a poster you are not only helping a dreamer here but also in another part of the world, who dreams a better life for their family! $2 from every poster purchase goes towards a Kiva microloan to aid an entrepreneur in another country. Our goal is 400 posters in 14 days to help 14 global dreamers. click to learn more about PROJEKT 14.400.14 poster-a-day.

Get updates of each design daily: Subscribe here or join our virtual facebook event here. Visit our PROJEKT 14.400.14 “poster -a day” pinterest board to repin!

Don’t know what Kickstarter is? click here to find out.

If you have requests for poster ideas, let us know! If your poster idea is designed and you pledge for a poster, we will give you an additional one!!!

DAY 5 – PROJEKT 14.400.14 – SAVE THE DREAMERS

comment >>
by jenn in Entrepreneurism, Product, Shows | Leave a comment

UPDATE: Its day 20 of 30 in the Kickstarter campaign. We have reached $1815 of our $5000 goal with 32 backers. THANK YOU!

We have until April 12th to reach our goal or we get nothing. Scary but an opportunity to BELIEVE!!! If you still don’t know what Kickstarter is watch below.

So here is another poster you can prebuy from our Kickstarter site. While launching our KS campaign, Jon and I came up with the phrase “Save the Dreamers” because we saw Kickstarter as a way to bring people together to prebuy and support great ideas and keep them from “dying”. Our world is full of dreamers that desire something greater. This simple little phrase has quickly become our mantra as we think of ways to inspire others to pursue their dreams. A friend of mine posted the Save the Dreamers design on pinterest with a link to my Kickstarter campaign a few days ago and its has already been repinned over 100 times. This is RESONATING with people and I want to do something about it. It also resonates with those dreamers and entrepreneurs in other countries who have a desire for something better for their families, which is why $2 from every poster goes to help them through Kiva. So here is today’s poster.

   

To purchase this 11×14 poster before April 12th, simply go to our Kickstarter campaign here, and pledge for the $25 poster. We will email you after April 12th to confirm which poster design you chose! By prebuying a poster you are not only helping a dreamer here but also in another part of the world, who dreams a better life for their family! $2 from every poster purchase goes towards a Kiva microloan to aid an entrepreneur in another country. Our goal is 400 posters in 14 days to help 14 global dreamers. click to learn more about PROJEKT 14.400.14 poster-a-day.

Get updates of each design daily: Subscribe here or join our virtual facebook event here. Visit our PROJEKT 14.400.14 “poster -a day” pinterest board to repin!

Don’t know what Kickstarter is? click here to find out.

If you have requests for poster ideas, let us know! If your poster idea is designed and you pledge for a poster, we will give you an additional one!!!

DAY 4 – PROJEKT 14.400.14 – STOP DROP & PRAY

comment >>
by jenn in Entrepreneurism, Product | Leave a comment

Today is DAY 4 of our poster-a-day for 14 days to raise funding for both our Kickstarter campaign and at the same time support an entrepreneur in another country. Between now and April 12th, $2 from every poster we sell on Kickstarter will go to a Kiva microloan. Our goal is to sell 400 posters by April 12th! We need $5000 to reach our Kickstarter goal and today we are at $1790 with 11 days left.

Designed with one of my favorite new fonts, I wrote this poster with inspiration from my favorite bible verse, Philipians 4:6-7 and a nod to being married to a former firefighter – (with a little 1 Thessalonians 5:17 thrown in). I was such a worrier as a child, so as an adult this verse became my rock through many a sleepless night.

     

If you are interested in this 11×14 poster, simply go to our Kickstarter campaign here, and pledge for the $25 poster. We will email you after April 12th to confirm which poster design you chose! With your pledge you are not only helping a dreamer here but also in another part of the world, who dreams a better life for their family! $2 from every poster purchase goes towards a Kiva microloan to aid an entrepreneur in another country. Our goal is 400 posters in 14 days to help 14 global dreamers. click to learn more about PROJEKT 14.400.14

Get updates of each design daily: Subscribe here or join our virtual facebook event here. Visit our PROJEKT 14.400.14 pinterest board to repin!

Don’t know what Kickstarter is? click here to find out.

If you have requests for poster ideas, let us know! If your poster idea is designed and you pledge for a poster, we will give you an additional one!!!

DAY 3 – PROJEKT 14.400.14 – SCOTT STRATTEN QUOTE

comment >>
by jenn in Entrepreneurism, Product | 1 Comment

No matter what your career, no matter if you are an entrepreneur or not, we all have dealt with the “HATERS” at some point in our lives. I heard this quote at a creative conference last year and it has stuck with me. I have always wanted to design a poster with this quote, but before I did I wanted to track down the originator of the quote. I found it was Scott Stratten of Unmarketing.com. I emailed him and asked permission to design this poster with credit to him and within 5 minutes he emailed back YES!!! I was so excited – I think more so that Scott Stratten was now in my inbox.

Like I said, we have all had haters in our life at some point. At times WE can be our worst haters. Its amazing what impact haters can have on the dreamer. I try to encourage my clients not to waste their time trying to convince the ones who don’t get it. Invest in and focus on the ones that DO. They deserve your attention, not the haters. So thank you Scott Stratten for saying it perfectly:

   

If you are interested in this 11×14 poster, simply go to our Kickstarter campaign here, and pledge for the $25 poster. We will email you after April 12th to confirm which poster design you chose! With your pledge you are not only helping a dreamer here but also in another part of the world, who dreams a better life for their family! $2 from every poster purchase goes towards a Kiva microloan to aid an entrepreneur in another country. Our goal is 400 posters in 14 days to help 14 global dreamers. click to learn more about PROJEKT 14.400.14

Get updates of each design daily: Subscribe here or join our virtual facebook event here. Visit our PROJEKT 14.400.14 pinterest board to repin!

Don’t know what Kickstarter is? click here to find out.

If you have requests for poster ideas, let us know! If your poster idea is designed and you pledge for a poster, we will give you an additional one!!!



DAY 2 – PROJEKT 14.400.14 – Poster-a-Day

comment >>
by jenn in Entrepreneurism, Product | Leave a comment

This quote was inspired by a personal experience a few years ago. We all have those moments when someone tells you “you can’t do it”. I had one of those moments when I was trying to take that next step in my professional design career. I was quickly shot down with the words, “Well its not like you are Martha Stewart” when trying to negotiate a licensing deal. Even though I was never trying to be her, those words stuck with me. Honestly, they didnt hurt me as much as make me realize, EVERYONE starts at the bottom before they get to the top. You just have to believe you can GET to the top. So I came up with this quote “Everybody that is a Somebody at one time was a Nobody” – even Martha Stewart was a nobody at one time. click to learn more about PROJEKT 14.400.14.

So if you are intersted in this 11×14 poster, simply go to our Kickstarter campaign here, and pledge for the $25 poster. We will email you after the 12th to confirm which poster design you chose! With your pledge you are not only helping a dreamer here but also in another part of the world, who dreams a better life for their family! $2 from every poster purchase goes towards a Kiva microloan to aid an entrepreneur in another country. Our goal is 400 posters in 14 days to help 14 global dreamers.

To get updates of each design daily either subscribe to this blog here or join our virtual facebook event here. Don’t know what Kickstarter is? click here to find out. Follow our PROJEKT pin board on pinterest and start repinning!

 

Also if you have requests for poster ideas, let us know! If your poster idea is designed and you pledge for a poster, we will give you an additional poster of your choice!!!!

DREAMERS AROUND THE WORLD – PROJEKT 14.400.14

comment >>
by jenn in Entrepreneurism, Living the dream, Product | 1 Comment

A few years ago I attended the Chick-Fi-La leadership telesummit here in town. (honestly, I would attend anything Chick-Fi-La sponsored:) I heard a girl share her story about starting KIVA. I was hooked. It embodied everything I was passionate about and on a global level. What is Kiva you ask? They are a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. They utilize the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, letting individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world. So with just $25 you can help a florist in Africa start her business to be able to put food on the table for her family. The great thing about Kiva is that you are not just giving them the money, you are lending it to them and they have a strategy to pay it back. Kiva also provides these communities with financial education and business training to make sure they are successful and can pay back the loans quickly. They have a 98.94% repayment rate because of this accountability.

I have been wanting to find a way to help entrepreneurs around the world through Kiva on a bigger scale, and last night I had an idea using my Kickstarter campaign! So today I am starting PROJEKT 14|400|14 – 14 designs-a-day selling 400 posters to help 14 entrepreneurs through Kiva & Kickstarter!!!! The way it will work is I will design a new poster each day for the next 14 days. If you pledge to purchase a poster through our Kickstarter campaign, $2 dollars from each sale will go to help an individual start their business in another country. We are pledging to loan to 14 different individuals when our projekt is over. When you pledge through Kickstarter there wont be a place to say which poster you want at that moment, but don’t worry, on April 13th we will email you (if our campaign is successful) to find out which design you want! Since this idea came last night when designing a poster for my sister’s nursery, I figure we will start with this one! If you do pledge for this one we can even do it  in custom colors.

             


So if you are intersted in this poster, simply go to our Kickstarter campaign here, and pledge for the $25 poster. We will email you after the 12th to confirm which poster design you chose! With your pledge you are not only helping a dreamer here but also in another part of the world, who dreams a better life for their family!

Get updates of each design daily: Subscribe here or join our virtual facebook event here. Visit our PROJEKT 14.400.14 pinterest board to repin!

Don’t know what Kickstarter is? click here to find out.

If you have requests for poster ideas, let us know! If your poster idea is designed and you pledge for a poster, we will give you an additional one!!!


LIFE INTERRUPTED

comment >>
by jenn in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

I thought today’s post would have been different. My plan today was to post a weekly update of my Kickstarter campaign, but LIFE interrupted a week ago today.

The day after I pressed launch on my Kickstarter campaign, I was driving home from lunch and I received a call from my husband. I immediately new something was wrong. He could barely speak. He shared with me that his cousin Craig had been killed a few hours earlier in a skiing accident in Colorado. My legs went numb and I had to pull over. LIFE had interrupted my day. I could barely move when I got home. My heart was breaking for his wife Kim and their two kids…for the whole family. He was 36, loved life, loved his family and loved the Lord.

This is one of those few times its tough working for yourself, life doesn’t stop for an entrepreneur, clients still need you to meet their deadlines. But LIFE interrupted so I did the best I could and then spent time with my family.

LIFE teaches and changes you so much during these times when tragedy comes into your world. You ask yourself, how much love are you showing to the world around you? Craig’s visitation was 3 hours long, over 1000 people, some waited an hour in a half in line to pay their respects. The funeral was an outpouring of love with over 2,000 people, every overflow room and lobby was full. The high school where he was an assistant principal held a vigil where courageous teenagers stood to speak with bibles in hand sharing how Craig, in the midst of discipline, had given them a second chance and changed the course of their lives. He was only 36 and had left a powerful wake behind. See, LIFE had interrupted and I needed HIM to, we needed HIM to. I think about Craig’s wife Kim and the pain she is experiencing. I know that LIFE has given her a great responsibility now, HE chose her to carry this cross. HE saw something in her that was great and mighty and HE knew she was one HE could entrust with this journey and testimony.

One of my favorite things one of the pastors said about Craig’s competitive nature, was that he is now looking down on us saying “I beat you to heaven!”

Are you available for LIFE to interrupt your life?  Jesus answered: “I am the way, the truth and the LIFE”

WHY WE HAVE A GREEN SCREEN IN OUR GARAGE

comment >>
by jenn in Entrepreneurism, Product, Shows | 1 Comment

If you know us, you aren’t surprised that we have a green screen set up in our garage, if fact you would expect nothing less.

The green screen addition actually started when Jon and his friend Ryan began making marketing and training videos for their new venture. So it came in quite handy when it was time for me to make MY video.

One of the challenges of being an entrepreneur and running your own business is identifying that moment when its time to adjust your business model to become more efficient and somewhat residual, you know, work-less-make-more. Its time for that adjustment in the invitation division of my business. So for the last 10 months my sidekick Ashley and I have been converting our most popular invitation design into a wholesale line to be sold in retail stores. This would, in theory, lessen our work load and increase our volume. Initially we were just going to market “door-to-door” sending our press & sample kits in the mail. But of course, I got a wild hair and decided, “no, we are going to GO BIG” and launch this thing at the National Stationery Show in New York (my dream for the last 5 years) and to do it, we are going to launch a Kickstarter campaign.

Enter GREEN SCREEN. So thankfully, we had a green screen set up in our garage complete with lights.

You can see the fruits of our labor here. Wish us luck – support us – spread the word – however you feel lead – we have 30 days to reach our Kickstarter goal!!! SAVE THE DREAMERS!

Home Sweet Home

comment >>
by jenn in Entrepreneurism, Living the dream, marriage | 3 Comments

Last Wednesday we took our weekly trip to Firehouse Subs – we LOVE that place. As Jon was driving we were chatting about the future, our dreams and our plans for the upcoming months. He reached over and grabbed my hand and said “I am so thankful to be on this journey with you”. I know, I know – so sweet. It WAS sweet, but unless you knew that since we were married ten years ago we have stood at the doorstep of divorce twice, you wouldn’t know that this was not just another sweet guesture, it was one of those moments in time you just don’t forget.

See, our plans and dreams are about to include sacrifices and steps of faith that most would call CRAZY. Maybe we are CRAZY but we feel called. Called to sell our home that we dearly love, sell most of our stuff that is just weighing us down, simplify and downsize. I never thought I would say “i LOVE my home”, but I do, its honestly my dream house – a modest modern ranch style home. But we feel called to make room for our “other” dreams, make room for other people and make room for the Lord to use the testimony He has entrusted us with over the last 10 years. We are taking steps and risks in our careers that are scary but necessary to grow. Its all part of something that we feel God has been preparing us for.

This all has not been easy, but its not suppose to and we know it. Cause where is faith in the easy?

Letters from Spray Tan Camp

comment >>
by Sprinkle in Entrepreneurism | 1 Comment

A few weeks ago I was asked to speak at Spray Tan Camp in Dallas. I know what you are thinking…what the heck is Spray Tan Camp? Well, it is not a bunch of half naked girls spraying each other. The spray tan industry is actually a very profitable and growing industry. Kelly Richardson of Be Bronz created the Spray Tan Network this year bringing professionals from all over the world together to learn how to grow their business. The first event was in Arizona and the next one will be in Sonoma. We covered topics applicable to ANY small business which is why I loved it. I specifically covered networking and brand consistency in your business. The CRAVE Dallas community was represented well with a panel on marketing to brides with Faryn Clark of Facelogic, Kimberly Rhodes of Hitched Events, Robin Yeager of Society Bride and Mo Bowers of Fairy Godmother Bridal. Laurie Grace talked about the Art of Relationshiping, Penny Crosson talked about the importance of Image in your biz our faithful CRAVE supporter Mark Neace covered using video to grow your business. And Kelly Rucker was on hand providing headshot photoshoots for the attendees! Thanks Kelly Richardson for the opportunity to come along side business owners and make their businesses FABLUOUS!