Eeeeeeek!! It's A Freeeeeee Gift for Halloweeeeen!

Just in time for Halloween, Uppercase Living has a new FREE gift for you! If you place an order of $50 or more by September 29, you will receive this fun expression in your choice of Pumpkin Spice or Whipped Creme as your FREE gift! And if your order reaches $60, $80 or $100 you'll get to choose even more FREE items from our September monthly choices.

Shown here on a front door, it's the perfect thing to greet your trick-or-treaters. This expression would be just as cute on our Vintage Embossed Metal Board so you can use it from year to year. I also love the idea of putting it on the back of your car and taking your Halloween spirits on the road.

To get yours simply place your order of $50 or more on my website before Thursday night. You'll automatically be prompted to choose your free gift. If you wait too long, though, the offer will vanish like Dracula at dawn. Happy Haunting!

Something New is in BLUME!

It's been a while since I posted here. When I go a long time between posts, it's usually for one of two reasons. Either life got crazy and I just couldn't make it here, or there is something so big that I can't find the words to tell you about it adequately. In this case, it's the latter (though life sure is crazy around here). On Sept. 1 Uppercase Living launched a brand new product line and it's taken me this long to post because there is a lot to say.

Our new line, called Blume, is a unique collection of personal, sentimental, unique and beautiful jewelry. That's right, I said jewelry! I'm sure you're wondering how jewelry fits in with Uppercase Living's home decor offerings. After all, aren't we a vinyl company? That's exactly what I thought when I first heard about Blume. I just didn't see the connection at first. That has definitely changed.



Uppercase Living's motto is Live A Life Inspired. From our customers, to hostesses to demonstrators and home office staff, the company seeks to uplift and inspire on a daily basis. This has always been the case with our vinyl expressions. Now, with Blume, you can take your inspiration with you. The pieces are all designed with a story, a message, or a feeling in mind. There are pieces that can be personalized with letters or numbers, embellishment charms with inspiring messages, monograms and symbols and even a bracelet that you can embellish with included vinyl designs (the photo actually shows the blank bracelet with a vinyl vine on it). Sweet birthstones keep your loved ones close to your heart. There are even products designed to help the world by giving back both at home and internationally.  

You might be wondering where this leaves our vinyl offerings. It leaves them in great shape, judging by our brand new Holiday Mini Catalog. It is full of fun and meaningful ideas for the holidays from Halloween through New Year's. UL has done a fantastic job with this one and our vinyl products continue to impress.

As a testament to UL's commitment to us demonstrators, they have made it so easy for us to add Blume jewelry to our offerings. We have separate catalogs but combine both product lines to maximize orders and party sales. By combining the two, our customers get more free gifts and Double Up Rewards, and our hostesses also benefit by earning more FREE products from bigger parties. They can use their hostess benefits on either product line and get some of each. New demonstrators can choose whether they want to focus on our traditional vinyl, Blume jewelry, or both, like me.

So there you have it: 6 weeks of pondering since my last post to tell you this exiting news. I encourage you to take a look at Blume and see what about it inspires you. You're also welcome to come to my upcoming Open House and try on some pieces in person. I'll be sharing more stories about this unique line here in the future and of course, photos on my Facebook page. But for now, take a look at the following video and get ready to BLUME with Uppercase Living.

Back to School With Uppercase Living: Getting Your Greek On

Every year, it seems Back To School time comes earlier and earlier. As my kids grow and my circle of friends expands, I'm realizing that "Back to School" means different things to different people. For me, it means buying jeans and sneakers and wondering about school lunches and kindergarten schedules, while adjusting to having a middle schooler for the first time. For my neighbor who works at home, it means the last few days of the countdown he started on the last day of school. And for others, it means dropping their babies off at dormitories and frat houses, saying "good bye" until their kids come home for Thanksgiving break.

For many, many young people, the college experience goes hand in hand with Sorority and Fraternity life. Students in the Greek system love to wear their letters with pride. It's on their clothing and jewelry...and now it can go on their walls and so many other places.

One of the best kept secrets about Uppercase Living is that we have the entire Greek alphabet in a range of sizes and all of our great colors. One of our smart Senior Directors took full advantage of this when she dropped her daughter off at the Pi Beta Phi house at the University of Kentucky this weekend by applying a variety of colorful expressions.

The main installation is the Sorority's letters that you see above. Of course, all college students need a memo board on their doors for notes from roommates and friends who stop by. So our Pi Phi got an Uppercase Living dry erase Erasable with a frame and again, the same Greek letters from the wall, in a much smaller size.

 

Throughout their history, the women of Pi Phi have been associated with Angels, so Mom chose an  Angel expression for above her daughter's bed in a color that perfectly complements the fun bedding. 

 On the adjoining wall, she created a custom expression about angels using two different fonts. Our vinyl lettering is the perfect solution for these walls because at the end of the year, the letters can be simply removed without causing any damage to the painted surface underneath.

Of course, doors and walls aren't the only places that can be adorned with those Greek letters. Think water bottles, cars, bikes or scooters, mirrors, and all those gifts for little sisters!

If your college student isn't in a sorority or fraternity, you can still send some lettering to school to decorate their dorm rooms and apartments. Keep your focus on the home team, school colors and lots of Erasables (stay tuned for a post on how Erasables can make going back to school a little easier).
Regardless of what kind of lettering you and your student choose to decorate with, it will add an element of fun, school pride and most important of all, a subtle reminder that someone at home is thinking about that student with love. Who knows? It might even motivate them to call home once in a while!

Thanks to Uppercase Living Senior Director Felicia Garrett for sharing these photos of her daughter's room.

FREE Expression Creates Cute Thanksgiving Project

 

Before you send me a nasty email about posting a Thanksgiving project in August, take a look at this fun idea. It's just too cute not to share right away. Besides, the expression you see here can be yours FREE with a qualifying order or party during August.

Without getting too sentimental or philosophical, I ardently believe that gratitude should be expressed daily, and I try to get my kids into that important habit. I loved our Gratitude Tree in last year's Holiday Catalog (psst...don't tell, I still haven't taken mine down). This little project can encourage your family to do just that, not just during Thanksgiving but throughout the year.  

Making this little project is easy: 

You'll need your expression which you can get FREE with a qualifying order in August, a pre-drilled MDF Foundations board (isn't it great that they now come painted?), and 7 clothespins. The clothespins in the photo have been dyed different colors with fabric dye. You could also dye them all the same color or cover them with scrapbook paper. Another option would be to use our Vintage Knobs or Metal Hooks and hang the little notes of gratitude with yarn or pretty ribbon. If you're using clothespins, glue them to your board to with wood glue, hot glue or glue dots. When the glue is dry you can clip little notes right to the board. 

To purchase the Uppercase Living lettering and Foundations board for this project, just contact me or visit my website. Don't forget to send me a photo of your finished project.

August Project of the Month: Keep Calm and Carry On

A new catalog brings with it lots of new options for monthly project ideas. One of my favorite new expressions inspires this month's: a prepainted (thank you crafting Gods) square Foundations board adorned with this simple instruction: Keep Calm and Carry On. You may have seen this message on posters or other items in trendy boutiques recently. It's based on a British poster designed in 1939 during World War I. For me, it serves as a daily reminder to not lose my mind and continue with the 3,000 or so items on my to-do list. It really is a good message to embrace. You can get both the board and the lettering, in the color of your choice, for just under $31. I think this is a perfect back to school gift for teachers, or a great gift for anyone with a high stress job. Keep in mind that the expression also comes in a smaller size, which would be perfect for the inside of a locker, as a little hidden reminder inside a kitchen cabinet, or even on the back of your car.

To learn more about the history of this unique expression, check out the Wikipedia entry. And, of course, to order your August monthly project, keep calm and contact me.

Our Brand New Catalog Has Arrived!!!!

Last week, at our annual convention at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas, Uppercase Living finally revealed the brand new vinyl catalog that we've all been waiting impatiently for. It is now available for you to page through on my website. All the new expressions are also there for you to browse or search. There is just too much good stuff for me to detail individually here. But here are some of the highlights to whet your appetite. Hostesses always get free catalogs, so contact me to schedule your party and I'll get one out to you ASAP. And now, here's the scoop:

Brand new color: This year's new color is Mustard Seed. It's a deep yellow that is not only decor-friendly, but the perfect shade for softballs and water polo balls for all those sports teams. I think it will look particularly beautiful on darker walls and/or paired with Navy, Slate Gray (a very on-trend combination right now) or Vintage Bordeaux. 

Tons of new expressions: I love our new expressions. So many beautiful sentiments with more contemporary fonts and styling; sweet, fun, romantic, serious and playful; always with the most important undertone being home, family and the activities that bond us together. There are so many inspirational words for your walls. Here's one of my favorites:

Big Changes on Accessories: You'll notice that our Accessories section has been streamlined. The MDF Foundations boards all now come painted white!! There's a gorgeous new Vintage Embossed Metal Board in Berry, which previously had just been a seasonal item. Best news of all: lower prices on all Frameworks!!

New Grande Format Designs: These versatile designs continue to be popular.  Among the botanicals and other designs are my favorite: headboards! Over the years I've designed many headboard replacements for customers who just couldn't have the real thing. Now I can add two actual headboard designs to the options. Here is the wrought iron look:

12 New Fonts: The choices in creating your own vinyl lettering designs are greater than ever with the introduction of 12 new fun, contemporary, classy, versatile and gorgeous fonts. Which do you like best?

A Brand New Hostess Rewards Plan: Our new, simplified hostess rewards plan gives you more FREE and half price products than ever before when you host a fun Uppercase Living party. Every hostess with a qualifying party gets at least 2 half price items in addition to her FREE products. Plus, you'll earn FREE products based on every single dollar your guests spend at your party. More goodies for you! As my calendar fills with hostesses wanting to share the new catalog with their friends, party dates will be more difficult to fine. I'd love to schedule yours!

Fun New Additions to Erasables: We love our Chalk Walls because they come in handy in so many ways. Plus they are just so much fun! The new Value Pack is perfect for organizing any space, from a pantry to a craft room to a garage...and more! Our Chalk Markers are now available in red and blue. And guess what else:

I can't wait to share more ideas for this fun and versatile product with you. Look for my "Back to School With Chalk Wall" post soon.

Returning Favorites: To celebrate Uppercase Living's 5th anniversary, some customer favorites have been brought out of retirement and back to our new catalog. You'll be able to find them all with the special logo throughout the catalog. Here's one I love that is not only cute for a bathroom but perfect for a dental office:

Those are just some of the highlights of this fantastic new catalog. Others include leopard print, the Serenity Prayer, owls, lots of great clocks and so much more. Once again, the possibilities for lettering and design are virtually unlimited. I would love the opportunity to help you create a uniquely personalized space with our products. Design and consultation services are always FREE and you can even earn your products FREE when you host a party. Just let me know how I can help you. And if you love working with me, I would appreciate your referrals. I consider them the highest form of praise. I look forward to working with all of you and sharing the great new products in this catalog, and many many more new things with you.

Summer Splash Ends Today!

It's finally here: the last day of Summer Splash. The last day to Buy 2, Get 1 FREE. Your last opportunity to get Hermione FREE when you buy Harry and Ron. Your final day to create an awesome word cloud and get a third of it FREE. The .... hmmm, www.thesaurus.com isn't inspiring me with any other synonyms. Hopefully, though, you get the picture. Today is the last day of our fantastic Buy 2, Get 1 FREE special. There is definitely time for you to get your orders in. I will be available throughout the day morning and afternoon tomorrow for anyone who needs help. You can also order all day on my website. Just make sure you place your order by 11 PM Pacific Time to take advantage of the Buy 2, Get 1 Free special. Or the Buy 6, get 2 free. Or Buy 9, get 3 FREE...

Rotate Your Way Into Great Design

Have you heard? There is a whole new way to create custom expressions in MyDesign Suite. The brand new Rotation Tool is giving me all kinds of ideas and I wanted to share a few of them with you. With the popularity of subway art, and word clouds like the ones on Wordle, I've been wanting to play with some custom designs made of multiple words within a theme for a while. However, without the ability to rotate individual elements, the MyDesign suite on my website just couldn't produce an accurate preview of what it would look like with our products. Fortunately, that is no longer the case.

Inspired by some of my colleagues, today I created this design as a possible addition to our home. While I still need to find the perfect spot for it, I am absolutely in love with this concept. I love how personal I can make the design, using all of our names as well as our anniversary (which we refer to as our family's birthday). Of course, the mix of colors and fonts is just a taste o what's possible with our products. The most fun part is how easy it was to rotate the words "love" and "Julia."

With my kids still on my mind, I created a couple more designs, because it's so much fun in the interest of research.

What's great about these designs is that they are quite affordable and can be created to fit any space and budget. Right now, they are even easier on the wallet because of Buy 2, Get 1 FREE. In the "brothers" design, for example, 3 of the sections are FREE!

There are so many different ways to use this great design concept. Here are just a few:

• In a kitchen with cooking words such as bake, chop, mix, stir, etc.
• Repeat the same word in multiple languages. Good ones would be love, welcome or family.
• As wall art for a beach cottage or mountain cabin.
• As a wedding gift with the couple's names, wedding date and either romantic words or words that are meaningful to the bride and groom. 
• In a photography studio as a backdrop for family pictures. 
• As contemporary church decor with words of faith.
• In a dental office with gentle reminders such as brush, floss, don't chew ice, and more. 

There is still time to save on your perfect design; Summer Splash and Buy 2, Get 1 FREE go on through July 15. Start playing around with the MyDesign suite and create some individualized artwork or send me a list of words you'd like incorporated in your design and I'll create it for you. Either way, don't miss out on the great savings. It's so exciting to share with you yet one more way Uppercase Living personalizes and beautifies your life.