Batter Up!

NOW it's officially spring. Today is Opening Day of the Baseball Season!
Yes, I know it was snowing yesterday. But today, the sun is shining, the grass is green, and the boys of Summer take the field for a six-month long celebration of Americana. Flag-waving, hot-dog-eating, popcorn-popping, cold-beer (or Coca Cola)-guzzling crowds will worship at the Church of Baseball. (And if you don't get that reference, you're not a fan. Period.) From March through October, America's national anthem becomes 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame'.
Today's creative thought: Whatever your business is, make today less about business and a little bit about life. Turn the radio dial (yes, a radio....thrift stores have them....) to an AM station that is broadcasting a game. (Any game - any team, anywhere. Majors or Minors. It's the sound of the announcer, the crack of the bat, and the goofiness of the organ reverbing through a stadium that matter, not who is playing.) Pop some popcorn. Open a bag of pretzels. Get some ice-cold bottles of Coke. Have your staff wear baseball hats - how about ones with your business logo?
Make today a Funday Monday and celebrate America!
Go DodgersAngelsMarinersRockiesRedSoxDiamondbacksPadresYankees. (Neil, that last one was for you) ;0)
(UPDATE: Rangers 2, Mariners 7. Holy Toledo, they won!
And as of right now, this moment, the Mariners are in first place in the American League West! LOL Because no one else has played yet.....)

Brocade Home has a Blog!

Another new resource for ideas has hit the web. The very chic design house of Brocade Home launched a new design blog this week. Included so far are fabulous fashion photos, links to event decor they've created, awesome products (like the lace light, above), and the same off-the-wall displays that they include in their catalog shots. Very inspiring!

There are also some shots of a store interior that caught me completely off guard. It's the Viktor & Rolf Boutique in Milan, Italy. Totally amazing! A store built completely upside-down! You have to see it for yourself... go to http://brocadedesignetc.blogspot.com/

Photo from Brocade Design Blog

Growing Ideas...

Over the weekend, I visited Christiansons Nursery in the Skagit Valley. They have the most beautiful buildings there - greenhouses, boutique shop, garden store - most of which were designed by local garden visual legend Michael French. He's big into using recycled materials for these projects. Take a peek at the glorious setting they have created...


One of the workers told me that these spaces above the old windows used in the new greenhouse weren't planned. The idea to place rows of stacked terra cotta pots there came as a flash of brilliance during the painting process. (Kind of a 'What they heck are we gonna' do here?' moment...) It made use of hundreds of pots that they have on hand. What a perfectly appropriate solution! Here are more, neatly displayed under the greenhouse potting benches:

I love the boutique shop and it's antique garden furniture & lovely accessories. Very Shabby Chic. I wandered the greenhouses, sniffed the orange blossoms, and photographed the bloming tulips & daffodils out front. It's a great place to renew your spirit, and great inspiration for display ideas.

This is the setting of the nursery in spring...surrounded by acres and acres of daffodils. Breathtaking! In a few weeks, it will all be tulips and the valley will be teeming with tourists snapping photos. (I prefer the daffies!)

And this guy was hanging out in the parking lot, barking his head off - appropriately!

It's a dogs' life, I tell ya......

The Art of Marketing

Yesterday, a package arrived for me... and inside was a bundle of notecards, featuring the amazing artwork of my friend Ann Rea. I met Ann at last August's San Francisco gift show, where she was exhibiting her work for the first time. We talked for an hour and it felt like we had known each other for years. Whenever we have spoken on the phone, it's been a lengthy conversation that covers subjects as vast as marketing, business, art, travel, home decor, and the 'faith vs. religion' issue. And all that was just in our last phone call!

Ann is an en plein air painter, meaning that she works on location, outdoors, on site. No photographing and going back to a warm or air-conditioned studio for her. Nope, she's right out there in the vineyards she paints - up to her knees in mud in the spring and melting in summer.

I love this print... I can picture the vineyards of Napa, the vines just at budbreak, and the valley floor scattered with yellow mustard flowers. And a daffodil or two, poking up here and there. OK, no, all that is NOT in the picture - but the thing about Ann's work is that it transports you to a place so you can experience it yourself. (She actually painted the vineyard in late fall here, but I see it as spring, and I'm a Diva so I can do that!) The way she captures sunlight enthralls me. I'm in dire need of some good old California sunshine right now, so this scene does more for me than you can imagine!

Along with the cards, Ann included pre-stamped envelopes. And the stamp features her artwork, as well. This woman is a Diva of Details!

This is a shot of the back of the notecards. Included is a photo of Ann painting (in the vineyards, of course!), her bio, plus her contact info. Then she's personalized these for me by adding my business info.

The idea is that I send these out to use as thank you cards, contact cards within the wine industry, whatever, and in doing so I am helping her to market her artwork to a diverse market. Ann has also provided these to real estate agents, builders of wine cellars, gallery owners, etc. They send them out, and more people learn about her - and she sells more prints, paintings, and commissions. To see and purchase Ann's beautiful work, visit http://www.annrea.com/

Like I said, a Diva of Details. She is creative and proactive in her marketing, never missing an opportunity to reach new segments of the retail world. I have enormous respect for her fearless out of the box thinking! We all need to do more of this. This idea is workable for anyone - VistaPrint is an affordable way to get custom printing done on postcards or notecards, you know.

She has her own tagline ("the wine country it girl"), but my tagline for her would be:
'Ann Rea....an artist who is truly out standing in the field.' In many ways, not just in muddy boots.

NOTE: Artwork images provided by and used by permission of the artist. Any saving, copying, printing, or other use of this photo and/or artwork image is prohibited by the artist Ann Rea.

Dumpster Diving Diva

Above is a shot of my infamous 1940's wood lawn chair -the one that I discovered in a dumpster. It's been living the life of Riley ever since, appearing onstage in my seminar setups, and in countless stores as a display prop. In between, she lives on my front porch.

Since you all tease me about my tales of dumpster-diving and rescuing things from curbside trash to use as display props, I thought I'd share this pretty darned good reason to start doing it yourselves:
Priceless Art Found In Dumpster You just never know what you're gonna' find!

(Don't forget to take the antibacterial lotion with you.....!)

Inspiration Quotient

What Inspires You?

I am definitely - definitely - inspired by sunshine. Probably because I live in Seattle and don't get nearly as much of it as I'd like! What else inspires me?

Color - usually changes a bit by the season. Right now it's my favorite Chartreuse, fresh greens, sunny yellows, hot pink, aqua. And white. Clean, crisp white.

Sound - ocean waves, birdsong, wind in pine trees, rain on the roof, my grandson's laughter. A Gershwin symphony. The Go-Go's! Carly Simon, James Taylor, Madeline Peyroux.

Texture - green grass between my toes, bare wood floors under my feet, a soft knit throw, a rough weathered bench.

Nature - This is a big one for me. Right now, the sprouting tulips, daffodils & narcissus gracing my Cottage, budding branches outside, and mossy patches in the landscape just make me smile.

Fragrance - all-natural scents: green grass, daffodils, fresh laundry, lavender, rosemary, orange blossom, lime, grapefruit, vanilla. Sarah Jessica Parker's fragrance 'Covet'.

And of course, all things visual.

I'm always asked where my ideas come from...they come from noticing details everywhere. Online, in blogs & websites. In catalogs & magazines. In films & television. At trade shows, in booths, showrooms, & displays. In store windows & displays. At nurseries, in the flowers and plants. In clothing collections. Speaking of which, I have one word: FIERCE! Christian Siriano, you ROCK! 21 years old, and you have Jean Paul Gaultier and John Galliano shakin' in their collective hip boots. ('Project Runway' reference!)

There are a few places that never fail to inspire me with their creative visual presentation and stellar products: stores like Free People, Urban Outfitters, and Anthropologie. I know. There are issues there, and I join the throngs of those who heartily wish they would address the sourcing of their merchandise. But you gotta' admit, they design killer stores & displays & catalogs. Then there are Watson Kennedy's three stores here in Seattle - and no, I'm not related to or involved with those. (I would be if Ted asked!) Fab boutiques like Faded Elegance in Everett, and the Bunnies By The Bay boutique in La Conner where Suzanne and Krystal create charming vignettes of funnybunny life. Shows like Flourishes in Washougal, Washington and Farm Chicks in Spokane.

Where do you go to refuel your creative juices? What music do you listen to? What stores have a visual presence that makes you smile?

Yesterday, I was knee-deep in blueprints and floorplans for ten hours. Ack! Math and measurements. NOT my fave part of my work, and definitely not inspiring. So, today I am raising my 'Inspiration Quotient' with a bit of browsing, a bit of musing, and maybe even a bit of wine! We could call it 'research'....????.......naaaaaah. It's fun - and necessary. Be Inspired!

Photo credit: Anthropologie web site

Workin' It

Yesterday I received this community newspaper in the mail. It was on the bottom of a huge stack of mail, and when I worked my way thru the rest and finally opened it, I smiled. That's my friend Jennifer! And her daughter Megan. (I remember Megan at my daughter Anni's birthday party in the backyard. They were seven. Time flies!!!)

Jen is a master at successful business practices. Her scrapbooking store was the very first of it's kind here in Washington state. I remember the little strip-mall space she started with and maximized every square inch of. That space has grown exponentially since 1995, swallowing up more and more and more spaces down the length of the shopping center! She knows her business, her industry, and her customers very very well.

She also knows how to reach out to those who aren't yet her customers.

This newspaper article is titled 'Free Those Trapped Photos' and in it, Jen talks about how important it is to print our digital photos. We can all relate to that! She also discusses how easy and creative scrapbooking is - it's not just for artists, it's not full of rules, it's just expressive journaling. She also introduces new tools and products she's discovered to make the process simple and fun for anyone.

So, let's review:

Brilliant busines marketing one-oh-one:

A five-hundred word article in a freely distributed paper (comes right to their door!).

A subject many people can relate to.

A solution to a problem.

An accessible method.

Great tools.

Inspiration.

And a place to get it all.

Lasting Memories

3333 184th Street SW, Suite X

Lynnwood, Washington

www.lasting-memories.com

425.670.3721

Badah-boom. Customers galore.

See how easy this is?

Now, go call your local community newspaper and get movin'......

Gone Country

Let's shift our attention to the left side stage setup...This is the 'Old West' side of the biz.
Shops with country flavor, primitives, antiques, rustic mountain wares, and prairie-style decor can relate to this style. In an interesting twist, if you changed out the cowhide chair to a wicker one, and used soft green or blue instead of reds on the other large pieces, this would be very Shabby Chic. Or Beach Chic. The concepts are the same, just change the materials & colors.

The large panel of embossed red metal is sitting up on a table (skirted in black so you can't see it!). This could be a wall painted red, or a large old door or fence section. Something old and big and rustic to add weight and a shot of color to the display. Then the large cabinet/hutch/bench is in a deeper shade of red, and the red wooden trough pulls your eye through the display. This is called 'color spotting' or 'color mapping' - using a vibrant color to lead the viewer's eye through the display.

The white cabinet and white cowhide on the chair & stool add a bright contrast to all the red. The rough bark of the chair frame leaves no doubt that this is rustic style, and the square shapes (metal panel, cabinets, chair panels) reflect simplicity. There is a rusty metal gate (not too viewable in the photo, sorry)that is a match to the rusty metal candlesticks. Again, as in the other display, we are repeating elements and shapes for balance. Bambi? He's there just 'cause he's cute! I talked about how adding a touch of whimsy is important in display. Bambi could have an Easter basket hung around his neck, or wear a Rockies jersey, or have a red ball over his nose at Christmas...a useful prop all year. Get a 'mascot' like this and see how many fun ways you can use him in displays - your customers will keep coming back just to see what he's up to!

Adding plants brings in nature and softens all those square hard edges, and they could be bundles of wheat or big moss balls or grasses and still accomplish that. I used bright green because A) it was right outside the room in the planters and B) red and green are complimentary colors, and they make each other look good. Ahhhhh, Art 101!!!!

Below, you'll see the first version of this setup - which, after my previously-mentioned review through photos, I restaged. When you look at both shots together, you see the improvements immediately.

The chair in this^ position leads your eye out to the left and off the stage. Not so great when you want to keep attention ON the stage, instead of wondering who may walk in that door in the corner at any moment. In a store, you want the viewers' attention riveted to the display and the products in it, not somewhere else. By moving the chair to the other side of the display, a sightline is created that begins at the red cabinet on the left and ends on the chair on the right. Bringing attention right smack into center stage.

On that red cabinet/hutch thing, you'll see a few accessories. Of course a piece like this is great for hats and scarves, so I used some, and I also showed that it could be used to display jewelry or dishes. Coffee cups hang from the pegs. I know this isn't the way this furniture would be used in a home. But in retail display, you don't have to think literally. You have to think creatively so you can come up with unusual and interesting ideas that catch your customers' eye.

Like putting saucers and cups on tops of candlesticks. Or maybe hats on candlesticks.
These are the kind that don't have the sharp point sticking up to hold the candle in place, and they are much more versatile. They act like pedestals to raise items up in a grand 'tah-DAH' kind of way. Again, this is an example of how you show your customer that the item is not just pretty, it is functional - and useable in more than one way. Ask anyone what that item is and they'll say a candlestick. (Or, if they are wacky, maybe they'll say 'A murder weapon from Clue'...) But how many would say 'A hatstand'? Show 'em what to do with it!

A note about the candles in that shot (Sorry it's fuzzy): They are 'intelligent candles' from Doug Thorson in the Denvermart. They come four to a box or one in a blisterpack, and in a small gold plastic candleholder - but can be lifted out of that and placed into your own candelabra & chandeliers! They have LED bulbs, and a switch on the bottom to turn them on - ONCE. Yes, you read that right. Once. Turn the candle on at 9 AM on Monday. Eight hours later, it shuts itself off. And then eighteen hours later, it comes back on at 9 AM again. Every day. All by itself. When the batteries run out (several months), you just reset by turning it on again. Once. To call this brilliant is an understatement...you know and I know how many hours this saves a retailer!

And time saved is time you can spend creating more fabulous displays!

Resources for Products used in this display:
(#0000 denotes permanent showroom in Denver Merchandise Mart, http://www.denvermart.com/ )

Painted red hutch/bench - Far West Furniture http://www.farwestfurniture.com/
Painted white cabinet- Far West Furniture http://www.farwestfurniture.com/
Metal panel, Iron Gate - Olde Good Things mail@oldegoodthings.com
Bark & leather chair/stool - America West *
Set of 3 candelabra - VIP Imports #2181
Bambi & LED candles - Doug Thorson Sales #1229
Rustic wood trough - My Amigos Imports myamigosimports@sbcglobal.net

*the contact info I had for them is incorrect, and since they were a temporary booth, I can't locate them. But I'm working on it....Please know that I did have their booth number on my handouts, so that at the show, my seminar attendees could easily find them. And that is really what it was all about. I'm sharing this info here as a bonus.

A Closer Look...

Let's take a closer look into that stage setup, shall we?
Today, I'm focusing on the right side - the Contemporary 'New West' look.

As you can see from the shot above, the style here is masculine, streamlined, and solid.
Wood & metal provide the structure - the chair, black wood cabinets, and coatrack are the fixtures. The screen and metal cactus provide depth, with that round wood tabletop in the back bringing enough light to contrast with the black fixtures - and its wood tones coordinate with the table in front. I could have used fabric, sure, but the effect would not have been as crisp and appropriate.

Another benefit of addding that tabletop is that it introduces a large circular form - and that ties together the other circular forms in the display. The screen has rounded shapes on it, the Buffalo Bill Cody bowl in front is round, as are the metal serving bowl & platter. Repeating shapes is as important as repeating colors. In this display, the square shapes and the round shapes accomplish the goals of looking contemporary, and of keeping things simple & solid. (Masculinity just seems to go hand in hand with 'simple' and 'solid', does it not? Sorry, guys!)

You'll notice that beneath the metal bowl, there are some stacked books. Actually, these are boxes that look like books, and they provide an excellent way to use the concept of 'lifts, levels and elevations' thankyouverymuch Christopher Lowell. (BTW, What ever happened to Christopher Lowell? He was a riot!) By using items like this (books, bricks, wood planks, flowerpots, etc.) to raise some of the products up above the main surface, we create interest. That bowl sitting on the table wouldn't be nearly as interesting.

This is the simple idea that apparently started the 'firestorm' at EaglesNest!
Crosses are a hot item in decor right now, as the whole Southwestern/Western look seems to be everywhere. (Thank Mary Emmerling for introducing this design aesthetic to the masses). You'll see them in accessories, fabrics, art and jewelry. I am always asked how to display jewelry, and ideas like this are easy for everyone. This cross could be an urn, a statue, a hunk of wood or a large rock. Using home decor accessories to display jewelry adds interest to both pieces - plus it helps shoppers see that the item is more than just a pretty thing, it's functional! Notice that the necklace I displayed in this setup is simple, contemporary, and coordinates with the metal bowls. (It's mine, but there were many similar - LARGER - ones at the show).

Now, I purposefully designed this display setup to reflect a 'New West' aesthetic style. I was speaking to an audience of buyers & shop owners in the Rocky Mountain region, and they could relate to this. If I had been speaking in San Francisco or Seattle, I could have built a very similar display - and just by leaving out the rusty metal cactus, the Buffalo Bill bowl, and the crosses, I would have a very contemporary art moderne style display. It would work in Bacchus' museum gallery store or in the Columbia Winery retail shop. Lesson: A few large props and/or products can add a 'theme' to a display just as a dash of cayenne adds spice to food: It only takes a little bit!

If I were to put this display on a retail sales floor, I'd add more glassware (a few large wine decanters, maybe), a stack of those metal chargers beneath the one standing up, and a stack of books on the chair. Then, right next to this whole setup, maybe on the left side where the coatrack is, I'd place a black metal shelf unit to hold more product. I'd fill it to the brim with crisp clean rows of glass, metal bowls & chargers, some of those crosses and boxes that look like books, some real books on wine or Western Art, a big glass bowl full of battery-op tealights, and perhaps a few nice black leather pillows. This enables customers to shop the shelf unit instead of tearing into the display itself.

Thank you, again, to all of the wonderful exhibitors who allowed me to use their products in my seminars. Especially Far West Furniture, who provided double the amount when another vendor backed out. Love you guys!!!!

Resources for products used in this display:
(#0000 denotes permanent showroom in the Denver Merchandise Mart; http://www.denvermart.com/ )

Black Wood Cabinets - Far West Furniture http://www.farwestfurniture.com/
Wood Table w/ Turquoise Inlay - Desert Diggs #1560
Black Metal Screen - VIP Imports #2181
Black Metal Coatrack - EaglesNest #1239
Set of 3 'Book' boxes - EaglesNest #1239
Battery Op 'Smart' Tealight Candles (programmable) - Doug Thorson Sales #1229
Rusty Metal Cactus - LoneStar Group #1568
Buffalo Bill Cody mache' Bowl - Kellogg #1367
Metal Bowl & Charger - Universal Ironworks / Necessities #2416