The Good Stuff...

3 hours

I am sure there are people out there who think I get to scrapbook all the time.  I wish I could say those people were right...I would LOVE to scrapbook all the time! However, life tends to get in the way...there are always orders to ship, emails to answer,and phone calls to make and return.  Plus, that's just work stuff!  The other day, I looked at the clock and realized I had about 3 hours before Brent and the boys came home.  I made the fabulous decision to spend 3 hours scrapbooking. 

These are the layouts I finished.

 I used Dear Lizzy products from American Crafts in this layout, along with some green Chick'n Feed.  I loved the flower paper, so I cut the flowers out to use as a raised embellishment.  This layout is based on the Chick'n Scratch sketch for this week...I love sketches because they make it lots easier for me to scrapbook!

This page also uses the Dear Lizzy line.  I have to use all the pastel colors and pink I can for Easter, because with two little boys, I don't get to use much pink in my scrapbooks!

These last two layouts were super quick!  I only spent about 10 minutes on each one.  They are both using the new Treehouse line from Pebbles.

I was fairly pleased with my 3 hour crop, but next time i am going to do more planning ahead.  I am determined to get a layout done every 15 minutes.  Lots of you think that sounds crazy, but I think if I plan I can do it.  Plus, then after I do a 15 minute layout, I can show you how to do one! 

The Graphics Guys and a March Madness Sale!

I know I have been neglectful of the blog...I am going to make a conscious effort to give it some attention!  I sat down today and couldn't decide what to post, and then I remembered some photos I had taken around the office.

Now, before you look at these photos, you have to think about the shirts we offer on our website.  Most of them are pretty girly swirly.  There are a few designs that are pretty basic, but the majority of the basic designs were created by Brent, my husband!  He is an honorary graphics guy...but these two are the card carrying graphics guys!

This is Dustin.  He is the original Graphics guy.  He is a true artist, and has local art exhibits and everything.  Whenever I have a new idea, Dustin can get it done for me!  As you can tell, he's not fond of having his photograph taken...but I snuck into the Graphics cave (not to be confused with the Bat Cave) and launched a photo assault. 

Steve is the other graphics guy.  He tends to give me a hard time.  Actually, lots of people around the office like to give me a hard time.  I can't blame them...they have been doing screen printing and embroidery for years, and then I start coming in with all the scrapbook stuff, and girly ideas, and for a while I am pretty sure no one knew what hit them! 

Ok, back to Steve...this is Steve!  Steve likes to think of himself as the Jim Halpert of our office.  However, to the best of my knowledge, he hasn't ever hidden a cell phone in the ceiling or put anyones stapler in Jello.  He may have put someone's stuff from their desk in the vending machine, but I am not positive about that! 

One day I was trying to communicate what I wanted on a shirt to Steve.  We use the term "Swirly Stuff" frequently, and it is a technical term for me.  I took something to him and asked him to make it into a shirt design.  When he asked what I wanted the design to be like, I said, "You know, put some swirly stuff on it and the scrapbook ladies will love it."

Steve responded, "Ok.  I'll just go to swirlystuff.com and see what is available."  I, being completely and totally gullible, thought he was serious.  He is still laughing about that.  :)

There you have it...our graphics guys.  Just about all of the new designs you see on our site come from them.  (But they may have a little help from swirlystuff.com)

While I am here, I thought I would also tell you about the March Madness sale.  It's going on now!  We have 10 different shirts on sale for only $9.99, including my personal favorite, HOLY SCRAP.  Head on over to Two Chicks Designs and check it out!

Check out the Chick'N Coop!

I wanted to be sure you all knew about the Two Chicks Design Teams' new blog, the Chick'N Coop. We have christened our design team "The Chick-a-dees" and they are now happily residing at the Coop! :) Hopefully you all like Chicks as much as we do! 

The Chick'N Coop will be your source for inspiration and ideas, along with some fun and games too, so be sure to head on over and check it out!  We are giving away prizes for people who leave a comment, so be sure to say hello!

Our Story, part 2

I got my degree in education and began teaching middle school.  I taught gifted students math and language arts, and I LOVED my job!  To this day, I stay in contact with lots of my former students.  I am so proud of them!  I never imagined that I would start a business.  That was Brent's department.  After graduating from college, Brent opened a store called GameDay Sports.  It sold fan items for college and professional teams.  Brent and I both owned the store, but it was his job to run it.  

A year after Brent opened his store, my mom purchased a quilt shop called Hen Feathers and moved the store next door to GameDay Sports.  Brent and my mom get along well, so they had a door connecting their offices. They would chat during the day and help each other out.  Around this time, I began making jewelry.  I am not sure if I mentioned it yet, but I am a serial crafter.  The jewelry making was both fun and profitable, and I started selling sewing charm bracelets in mom's store.  They sold well, so I spent a lot of my free time making charm bracelets. 

Fast forward a year or two.  I also convinced my mom to work with me on developing a line of quilt patterns.  To do so, we had to have a business name.  That was easy...we were making patterns for Hen Feathers, and we were the two chicks from Hen Feathers.  Two Chicks Designs was born.  Did I think it would be a fun business?  Yes.  Did I love working with my mom?  Definitely.  Was I still teaching full time and making jewelry?  Yep.  I tend to always have a full plate, no matter how hard I try to convince myself that it's already overflowing! 

At the same time, Brent started screen printing for the store.  One day he was sitting in his office listening to all the quilt ladies shopping at Hen Feathers, and he got the idea to start making t-shirts for quilters.  Our first saying was "A Fat Quarter is Not a Body Part".  For those of you unfamiliar with quilting, I will explain.  A regular quarter yard of fabric is 9" by 42".  A fat quarter is 18" by 21".  It is still a quarter yard, so it is known as a fat quarter. 

Quilters loved the shirts, and they were sold all over the country.  At the same time, a distributor picked up the shirts, patterns, and charm bracelets.  I quickly learned that making jewelry wasn't as fun if you had to make 100 of each piece without changing it.  I even had Brent helping at night.  He would attach rings to the charms before I put them on the bracelets.  Even back then, we operated as a team!

Designing Chicks!

We have finally concluded our design team contest, and I am pleased to announce the following ladies have been added to our design team!

• Amber Winward
• Amy Vanderkooi
• Jessica Lester
• Kammi Cole
• Kelly Cranfill
• Kelly Hansen
• Mandie Dillard
• Mandie Wade
• Roxann Walker
• Savanna Carson
• Tessa Buys

You will be amazed by all of the beautiful projects this group will show you...they are incredibly talented and we are honored to have them helping us!

Stay tuned...we will be introducing our entire design team to you in the coming weeks! 

In other news (actually it's not news but that's all I could think of to say), this is what is covering my desk right now.

I also wanted to show you how our display looked at CHA...yes, I know CHA was, like, forever ago! ;) I am slow...I took Friday and the weekend to be a mom and a wife!  I hope you are all ok with that.  I do need to issue a disclaimer here regarding my photography: it is not good! :)

This is my favorite display of the Chick'N Stuff! I love the rainbow of color...I have been a sucker for rainbows since I had a rainbow bedroom when I was 6 years old!

 

 And speaking of rainbows, check out this fun layout that Jennifer Allred did using all the Chick'N Stuff. 

Here is another side of the gondola we used. It's loaded up with shirts, hats, and coolers.

We took a box of Chick'N Feed and made a display showing how much is actually in each box of feed...it's a lot!

Then we did the same thing with a box of Chick'N Feathers.

I'll be back this week with more posts...promise!

Happy scrapping~

Christie

Cute little tote bags!

I am really hoping that none of you are feeling neglected!  I did really well last week blogging.  I think I posted 3 times...wow.  That is a lot for me! It was a combination of having a lot to say, insomnia, and excitement!  All of those things are still here...but I am trying to get everything done for CHA!  I have been a little low key about this show.  It has been nice.  Today we will get the catalogs printed (no worries--we have a copy machine that is the bomb-diggity and it does everything for you) after Brent finishes them.  Sarah and I have to finish the Chick'N Feed and Chick'N Noodles for the show, and I need to pack.  Guess what will take the longest?  Packing. 

Moving on to the title...we have a sale right now on the site.  If you spend $20, you get a really cute new tote bag, a $15 value.  It's cute and hot pink.  You will like it.  And it is big enough to hold lots and lots of scrapbook paper!  Head on over to Two Chicks Designs and place your orders now!

I will do my best to keep you posted from CHA. I hope it goes well! 

Our Story, part 1

As a business owner, I answer lots of questions.  The one question I answer most often is "Who is the other Chick?"  To answer that question, I have to travel back in time...if you want to know who she is, you'll have to join me on a journey through the evolution of our business, and also our lives.  You may think that some of these details aren't significant, but they are, so here goes..

Brent and I met our senior year of high school.  Actually, that's not true.  I know that we saw each other daily our freshman year of high school in Homeroom.  Remember those days?  It was way back...in 1991.  I know that I looked for Brent Welch every day of school during my freshman year, but I never had any conversations with him.  I know this because I was the overachiever in my homeroom class, so Mr. Miller, the tennis coach/computer teacher, decided that I would be in charge of taking attendance for the year.  I checked to see if he was in class every day, but I have no memory of him.  I mentioned that I was an overachiever...you know the type: honors classes, high GPA, involved in lots of activities.  I should also mention that I am completely unathletic, so I was not involved in sports.  Brent, on the other hand, was an overachiever in sports and took all "regular" classes.  After freshman homeroom, we didn't encounter each other again until our senior year.  I did not go to athletic events, so I didn't pay any attention to the tall boy!

We actually met at a football game.  My best friend Kelly knew Brent and introduced us.  Then the next week she told him he should ask me to Homecoming.  I still remember her telling me that she had given him my number, but that she knew he wouldn't call. She was wrong...we went to homecoming and started dating shortly after.  I gradually became interested in sports...attending every basketball game to watch your boyfriend requires a certain level of commitment to athletics.  I became an avid watcher of ESPN so I would know something about sports.  Back then, I would tell Brent that he couldn't wear "shirts with words" if we were going out on a date.  I was a stickler for shirts with words...they were fine for hanging out, but sit down restaurants required nicer attire!  Kelly always told me that when we got married, she was going to be the maid of honor.  I thought she was crazy--we were seniors in high school--but she was right, and she was the maid of honor in our wedding.  We were married in 1998, at the young age of 21.  There weren't any babies on the way...we just knew we wanted to be together!

Check back tomorrow for part 2...I know, you just want to know who the other chick is, but it's a good story.  Hang in there! :)  And forgive me for not digging out pictures to scan...it's late!

Chick'N Stuff

Remember yesterday when I promised that I would give you more specific information about Chick'N Stuff today?  I bet you thought I would forget all about that...but I didn't!  Keep reading for all the details...and then check out the CHA Sneak Preview on our website! We have Limited Edition Rainbow Chick'N Feed, Chick'N Feathers, and Chick'N Noodles, in addition to new shirts that are on sale! The Sneak Previews will only be available for purchase until Tuesday, January 19, so place your orders soon!

 In the interest of eye candy, I am going to insert close ups of the new stuff throughout this post! We hope you agree that the cute factor here is just HUGE...really HUGE!

However, the package also meets another important criteria.  This one comes straight from my dad.  Are you ready?  Ok.  It's cute little.  I am sure that probably doesn't make sense to you yet, but stay with me for a minute!  Think about some of your favorite things...like the bags of buttons at the scrapbook store.  Or those flowers you just had to buy at Hobby Lobby the other day because they are perfect for your page. How would you describe them?  Yep. That's what I thought you'd say.  "Look at those cute little bags full of buttons!" and "I had to buy those...they are the cutest little flowers I have ever seen!"  Hopefully you are with me...cute little is the best!  My dad coined the term many years ago, probably when I was in high school.  My mom and I would get excited about something, and he would tease us.  "Cute little! Cute Little.  You guys love anything that is cute and little."  There you have it...the "Cute Little" concept.

So, Chick'N Stuff is a new line of embellishments that we are introducing.  I actually came up with it early this fall when I attempted to organize my scrapbook cabinet.  Attempted is the key word (and this photo is evidence of my attempt!).  Anyway, I was going through all my supplies trying to figure out the best way to store everything.  I quickly realized that it didn't make much sense to keep everything in the original packaging, so I decided to sort it all by color.  Prior to my most recent organization attempt, I was a brand girl.  I sorted all of my supplies, down to the brads, rhinestones, and ribbons, by paper.  I did throw all of my buttons together in one big jar, but that was only after I had finished using the paper they coordinated with. 

As I sifted through all of my goodies, separating them by color, I started to get that wonderful feeling we get around cool stuff.  You know, the feeling that, for me, used to require brand new collection packs of Basic Grey paper (2 of course), along with every available coordinating embellishment?  That feeling.  The good, excited, creative feeling.  I loved sifting through all of the goodies I had accumulated through the years.  When I examined them more closely, I discovered that most of my favorite goodies were random things that didn't come from any of the big brands I normally bought.  They were bits of kits, sequins from my dance costume when I was 9, big rhinestones Zach and I had left over from one of our projects, and pieces of fabric and ribbon from my mom's quilt store.  They were all things that I had gathered from lots of different places, but when I saw them all together, grouped by color, they made my heart sing. Humor me here...I realize that for most of you, pink is the color that makes you happiest.  But me?  I am a red girl.  So check out the red!

Chick'N Feed was the first product I came up with.  First, the name was just fun, and I wanted a product that used buttons.  I LOVE buttons.  As a little girl, I would sit on the floor of my mom's sewing room and sort through her button jar for hours on end.  I actually still sit on the floor of mom's sewing room and sort through buttons on occasion.  I know.  Weird, but I thought you deserved the truth.  I knew what ever I came up with had to involve buttons.  I decided to find some different rhinestones, including flowers, sequins (some over 1" in diameter!), glass pebbles, acrylic accents, brads, clips, and of course, buttons!  

The next product I decided on was Chick'N Noodles.  I am usually "that girl" at crops.  The girl who does not drag every embellishment I own to the crop.  I usually try to beg, borrow, and buy whatever I need from the other girls there.  The thing I am most frequently needing is ribbon.  Well, Chick'N Noodles will ensure that I have the ribbon I need now, and you can too!  Chick'N Noodles has over 12 yards of trims, cords, ribbons, laces, fibers, and all kinds of other things to line your pages with.  It's perfect, and the best thing is that it's lots more affordable than other ribbon options.  For $7.95, you get over 12 yards of trims.  Twelve different things for your pages.  That's a good deal!

Finally, Chick'N Feathers has all kinds of soft embellishments for your page.  Padded appliques, crochet flowers, real feathers, and more!  You will love trying some of the new and different things we have for you to adorn your pages and projects with.  Chick'N Feathers promises to step up your embellishing several notches...but before it does that, you will be squealing with delight about all the cool stuff! 

There you have it...a run down of the new products we are introducing.  I hope you like what we've come up with, and I can't wait for you to get your hands on some of them!  The Chick'N Stuff line will be available exclusively in local scrapbook stores for a while, but we will be offering limited editions on our website.  In addition, after CHA, we hope to begin offering sets of Chick'N Stuff on our site. 

 

On the Road Again?

You may not remember this, because you probably aren't a regular reader of this blog.  I don't update it regularly enough to have any regular readers!  I'm going to work on that...really, I am.  Anyway, I told you a few months ago that I was done going to shows, and that I was looking forward to staying at home with my family and focusing on the online business.  Do you remember that now?  Ok, good.  Because now that I have refreshed your memory, I have some things to tell you!

Lots of great things have been happening at the coop (that's the office if you don't speak chick!).  One of those great things is that Lorraine, from O'Brien Solutions, is carrying our product line at the consumer shows this year.  She is doing 32 shows this year.  That's twice as many as we did last year.  I am going to keep you updated on where the shows are, and let you know when you need to stop by and see Lorraine and her team.  It's always more fun for you guys, our customers, to come and buy at a show, than it is to order online.  I know that.  But I love being home with my little guys!

Lorraine will be at the Scrapbook Expo in Costa Mesa this weekend.  She has several brand new shirts in great colors and styles, and she will also have our new line of embellishments.  It is a big rainbow of color, and I cannot wait for all of our fans to get their hands on some Chick'N Stuff.  I'll give you more specifics about the Chick'N Stuff tomorrow, but if you need details now, you can look at our facebook photo gallery (you don't have to be on facebook to see them).  Then, next weekend, Lorraine will be at the CHA Super Show in Anaheim. 

This is the point in my post where I remind you about the whole idea of me not traveling this year.  I was talking to Lorraine last week about the Super Show and CHA Winter, discussing how she would display and sell our products, and what we would send her for a Make and Take.  Lorraine is a really amazing person, and she has been in the scrapbooking industry for a long time--pretty much as long as there has been an  industry, Lorraine has been in it.  She started talking to me about different ideas that she had for the new Two Chicks products, and different people she wanted to show the products to.  People who are pretty important people if you are in the business of manufacturing scrapbook stuff.  Definitely people you probably need to actually meet face to face.  Finally, after Lorraine and I had been on the phone for over an hour, with me getting more excited by the minute about the possibilities we were discussing, I caved in. 

"I have to come, don't I?" I reluctantly asked. 

Lorraine laughed, and then said,  "Well, I think it would be a really great idea for you to come. Will Brent let you?"  

Ahhh.  Of course Brent will let me come.  It's more about me letting me come, and me not feeling like a bad mama when I have to explain to Zach, the 4 year old, that mommy is going on an airplane (again) even though I said I wasn't going to go on airplanes for a long time.  And that I know he still hasn't had his first airplane ride, and I know he will miss me while I'm gone, because I will miss him, his brother, and their daddy just as much! I took a few moments to consider what I was saying, and decided that I was going to dig out my frequent flier card before it had time to gather any dust.  I am going to be at both the CHA Super Show and CHA Winter.  I am excited about it.  Really, I am, but I am also running around like a chick with my head chopped off trying to get everything ready!  Since I am going to be actively selling my product in the O'Brien Solutions booth, I need catalogs, and displays, and all the other stuff that goes along with selling at CHA.

I've been there before, and it's a great show.  It's fun and exciting, and you get to see everything new.  I am happiest to be able to see some of my good friends from the "circut" of shows.  I am also excited to get some of the latest and greatest products for our kit club, and to find even more exciting things to use in the Chick'N Stuff.  

I know that there are lots of you reading this who would give anything to go to CHA, and I am a very lucky girl.  I know that.   I will tell myself that again and again.  I am a very lucky girl.  Still, I can't help wishing that I was a lucky girl who didn't have to leave my boys at home while I go to California for 5 days! 

I thought I'd throw in a photo.  Now you can see the "Crazy Welch Boys", which is how Zach refers to Brent, himself, and Andrew.  Love them all to pieces!

Let's Talk Mini Book

We are very fortunate to have some fabulous designers working with our December kit.  Jennifer Allred made this adorable book to document different conversations her family has this holiday season. Here's what Jennifer has to say:

Our family likes to have fun conversation starters to chat about while we are eating supper together.  When I saw this book and the journaling tags included in the add on kit, I realized it would be perfect for creating a little book of Christmas-themed conversation starters. 

I mixed in a few photos from past Christmas celebrations to break up all the writing.  All I have to do is keep it next to our dining room table with a pen so I can write in their answers right away.  It will be fun to be able to look back and see our thoughts and feelings about Christmas in 2009.

 On pages with the journaling lines, I included a small punched photo to highlight that family member's thoughts for that question.