Everything that River City Rubber Works are doing with their $10,000 promotional products winnings
Friday, September 01, 2006
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We did hear from 2 magazines this week that are planning to feature us in upcoming issues due to receipt of the fabulous barn box campaign! Woo Hoo!! Vamp Stamp News will be showcasing the Barn Chic Book Kit and the new supplement in their Oct. issue, and Scrap & Stamp Arts issue in Nov. They both sound like they will be pretty substantial articles so we are anxiously waiting the fall out from that.
We also have two new additions to our zoo here at the barn—two beautiful, caramel colored ducks, Dolly and Drake. Dolly is less than a year old and lays an egg everyday in the water.
Dana, Mary & LeAnne
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
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As you can see, the signs are fabulous!! We love them and we’re going to have much MORE fun with them now that we can put up whatever we want!
“The Higher The Hair” sign is at our front entrance. The opposite side tells our hours, etc. The “Dock Rots” is on the sign out by our other driveway that’s not used by the public, but it is also beside our dock and conveniently situated on a busy street! Thus, lots of traffic to entertain! It’s a big responsibility, but someone’s got to do it.
I’ve included 2 pictures of some of our Barn Boxes being packaged to go! We can’t wait ‘til people start getting them in the mail! We also used the barn boxes to package door prizes at our grand opening over the weekend! Mary packed each box plum full of “theme” products and of course, each got a cow, a pencil and a decal! We gave away one each hour! It was GREAT! We had tons of people, many of them coming back the next day to bring other people here!
Then on Sunday, our local newspaper did an article on us (with a big photo)! Talk about great, free advertising!
Sales are great! Our new supplement is getting out!
And on another note, we started watching “The Dog Whisperer” on the National Geographic Channel. We are (very successfully) rehabilitating our dogs to not bark, not get out of control and the best of all…to stay calm and sitting while LeAnne fishes! No more fish hooks for Hayley! Woo Hoo!
Can you even imagine how things have changed around here? Neither can we!
We’ll keep in touch and let you know about the overwhelming response we’re sure to get on the barn box mailings!
Dana, Mary & LeAnne
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
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Hay!!
I received a barn shaped box filled with extra good stuff!! Thank you
so much! I'm driving myself crazy with the cow squeeze, the apron
fits, I sharpened the pencil, the magnet is holding up some art and I
can hardly wait to play with the kit! It's just too good to be true! :-D
Susan
StampDiva.com
http://www.stampdiva.com
We also got a voice mail from another recipient and there was distinctive “mooing” in the background!
We are relishing the response…no mustard, please.
Dana
Hay!
It didn’t take long to start hearing from people who got our barn boxes! It’s very exciting because the very first person we heard from is Danielle Forsgren, the host of Diva Craft Lounge Radio! This is an internet radio show that is broadcast all over the world! Danielle absolutely LOVED the packaging! She said her husband brought in the mail and she yelled, “Give that to me!” when she saw the barn box! She loved everything about it and she requested that we send one to her co-host, Rayme Royale so he could have his own!
They have scheduled all 3 of us to be on the show doing a live interview at 2:20 central time on August 23rd which also happens to be my 50th birthday! Yikes! Gayla, one of our employees, said that at least I’ll always remember what I did on my 50th! That remains to be seen. Anyway, it’ll be fun! (It says so right on their Diva Doctrine!)
Here is a link to the show’s website! It looks like we'll be in elite company from the list of people who've been on previously!
http://www.divacraftlounge.com/radio.htm
Here is the Diva Doctrine:
Besides putting the fun back into crafting, the Diva Craft Lounge is dedicated to empowering all women to "Dare to be Bold, Different and Kind.”
What a fun and fabulous response!
Yes, there are more, but I’ll put them in another blog! This one deserved its own!
Talk to you soon!
Dana
Monday, June 05, 2006
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All of the first logo re-designs were simple & easy to read, but looked too “cartoonish” to us. The barn itself is a really large, impressive structure that is a local landmark and that wasn't coming across in the logo. When Casey from 4imprint started working on it, he hit upon the right character we wanted in the fonts right away! It took us some going back and forth to get the barn “look” we wanted. We finally sent a photo of the barn itself to help nail it down and then we were cooking with gas!
We really like the new elements of the logo. We can use it with a lot of detail and color or simplify it down to one color. We can even take parts out and use them separately and it still works design-wise. We have emphasized the barn, included a “cancellation-type” circle behind it with our location & added more character to the lettering.
“Casey, you rock!”
The Girls at River City
Sunday, May 07, 2006
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I’ve attached the x-ray of my dog, Hayley. Just imagine that this is a 1 ½” fish hook in a 14 lb. Yorkie! (Yes, we know she’s big. She has an eating obsession, which is how she swallowed the hotdog-covered-fish hook in the first place.) She’s doing fine. She’ll get her little pink stitches out in a couple of weeks. The vet is going to use her x-ray for teaching purposes…we couldn’t be more proud.
By the way, here’s how Hayley got her name: LeAnne gave her to me as a birthday present when I turned 40. My puppy was born on my grandmother’s birthday, so I almost named her “Grandma Lovell”, but thought that might scare the neighbors. I wanted to use “Hay” in the name because we used it so often in everything we do. I chose the middle name of “Anne” so when we call her by both names, we’re yelling Hay, LeAnne! (Hayley Anne) It amuses us greatly.
Dana
Side note: Hayley turns 10 this year…you can do the math.
Monday, May 01, 2006
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When we found out we were a finalist in the 4imprint.com/tengrand contest, it started us thinking about how our existing logo might look on some of their products. We needed to emphasize the “Rubber Works” part of our logo and we also knew that we wanted to promote the barn a little more. We had always underemphasized it previously because we were not open to the public! And now we want to open a store, classroom space and a breakfast area, so that had to change!
The Girls at River City
Monday, April 10, 2006
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We recently “herd” that one of our cows was randomly mooing on its own. At first it seemed that it was simply in response to another cow mooing in a different room, but after a couple of days, it became obvious that this cow was indeed mooing all by itself. To be helpful, a guy (we’ll call him “Tony”) removed the sound box from the cow. However the owner of this cow (we’ll call her “Anne”) was afraid that the mooing would continue to happen while she slept. So she left the cow in the kitchen with its sound box on the counter next to it. In the morning, she found this ballad lying next to the cow:
“Cows Have Feelings, Too”
First we were told we wouldn’t be harmed,
Then stuffed in a box and shipped to a barn.
When the box finally opened, and we opened our eyes,
We were dumped on the floor while they looked for a prize.
Next thing I knew, they started to scream and to clap,
And piled us cows up on each other’s backs.
We hoped it was over, since they found their check,
Wondering what would happen to us poor cows next.
Soon my brothers and sisters were all given away,
But at least I was sent to a nice place to stay.
I was put on a desk and didn’t know what to do,
So I did what comes natural and started to moo.
The worst finally happened while I stood there and sang,
A guy came into the room and took out my thang!
Then mama came home and put me out of her place,
So now I just lay here in total disgrace.
I don’t think its right to treat cows this way,
I just wanted to sing and be happy all day.
I should complain, but would never be heard,
Since they took out my thang, I can’t udder a word!
So now I just lay here, alone in my grief,
These humans just think cows are some side of beef.
So this is my story, it’s sad but it’s true,
I just wish people realized cows had feelings, too!
Betsy
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
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We just got the May issue of Martha Stewart Living and right there on page 136 is a layout using our blank, scalloped coasters that we get from 4imprint! And of course we get referenced as the source in the back! Cool, huh?
Last year they used our little seahorse stamp in an article and those guys flew out of here!
Just wanted to share,
Dana
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
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We’re knee-deep in cow stories! We now have a real-life fire hydrant inside the barn which will be painted like a cow as a result of the Water Department story (see previous post). We have 2 big concrete pigs as well that are getting cow spots and will sit under our 2 outdoor signs. That’s just for fun. Moooo-ing continues to be herd across the city (and beyond) in businesses, doctor’s offices, rehab hospitals and restaurants. We’re udderly delighted.
Dana, Mary & LeAnne