Crafty Texas Girls

7/10/13

the REALLY BIG giveaway {16 Prizes: 5 winners}-- NOW CLOSED

I am so excited to be hosting my first multi-vendor giveaway on Crafty Texas Girls.
I teamed up with my favorite small businesses and
brought back the best prizes just for you.

This Giveaway has something for everyone!

Take a look the awesome prizes below and

then simply enter with the Rafflecopter widget at the bottom of the page.

Easy to enter- easy to win.

Amazing prizes and 5 winners! Enter now!

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"Package One: For the Girly Girl"

-mj's chic boutique

-samantha conner designs

-kate elizabeth design

Shop MJs Boutique on Facebook and Etsy.

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Shop Samantha Conner Designs on Facebook and Etsy.

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Shop Kate Elizabeth Designs on Facebook and the Website.

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Prize Two: "For the Lady of the House"

-the printed palette

-lovefeast shop

-fort worth blow dry bar

Shop The Printed Palette on Facebook and Etsy

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Visit LoveFeast Shop on Facebook and the Website

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Visit FWBlow Dry Bar on Facebook and the Website.

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Prize Three: "For the Fashionista"

-bella blossoms

-flirty bird

-selby lane

Shop Bella Blossoms on Facebook and Etsy.

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Shop Flirty Bird on Facebook and the Website.

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Shop Selby Lane on Facebook and Etsy

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Package Four: "For the Creative Kid"

-bobaloo! kids

-oliver's labels

-sew a fine seam

-maria palito

Shop bobaloo! on Facebook and the Website.

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Shop Oliver's Labels on Facebook and the Website.

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Shop "Sew a Fine Seam" on Facebook and Etsy

Shop MariaPalito on Facebook and Etsy

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Package Five: "For the Girl who Loves to Dress"

-chickapee creations

-sun flower freckles

-kangacoo designs

Shop Chickapee Creations on Facebook and Etsy

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Shop Sunflower Freckles on Facebook and Etsy.

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Shop Kangacoo Designs on Facebook and Etsy

The REALLY BIG GIVEAWAY

is sponsored by the following blogs :

Crafty Texas Girls Blog and Facebook

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The Fashion Business Mentor Blog and on Facebook

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I Love That! Blog and Facebook

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The Newlywed Pilgrimage Blog and on Facebook

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The Hankful House Blog and Facebook

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The First Year Blog and Facebook

This Silly Girls Life Blog and Facebook

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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**Visit my shop, Samantha Conner Designs- fabulous clothing and accessories for the girl who has everything!

**All photos and text on craftytexasgirls.com are copyright protected. You may not copy entire articles or posts (even with a link) without my express written permission. Email any requests or links used to craftytexasgirls@gmail.com.

7/8/13

Growing Your Small Business

While I am taking blogging a bit 'slower' this summer, I am spending more time with my girls and any 'spare time' working on my business. Besides filling orders, I am focusing on networking and growing my brand. Do you have a small business or are you hoping to turn your blog into a business? Then we are in the same boat!

If you have been following along on Crafty Texas Girls for awhile, you know all about my small apparel and accessory business, Samantha Conner Designs. This summer, I am working on finding new ways to sell my products and spending some time learning how to better promote them!

Catch up on my past small business posts here.

-Passion to Profit

-The Birth of a Clothing Line

-Getting Started

-Moving to An Island

-Back to Market

-My Design is in a Catalog

-Growing a Small Business

After a year and a half at the Dallas Market, I am looking for new ways to reach customers, beyond just my sales rep. My hair accessories have been very successful at Market. But the clothing has been more of a challenge. I cannot seem to find a way to be competitive in my wholesale pricing when it comes to the apparel. Large manufacturers, who produce large quantities over-seas, definitely have the upper-hand in costing!

And since my business is just me and it is sewn locally here in Dallas :) I have found I can bring (you) my customers the best prices when I sell the apparel directly as opposed to wholesale at Market. For that reason, I am taking my clothing line out of the showroom for awhile and I am going to try selling it on my own. I am going to focus my sales efforts on social media and at hand-made markets over the next few months.

My mom at the Grapevine Market with me :)

I am also working with The Fashion Business Mentor, to grow my facebook presence. Meeting other designers and small business owners this past February at BlissDom and now through TFBM has been so much fun. (**Want more details about my journey from handmade to wholesale? Check out my featured interview over at The Fashion Business Mentor by clicking here!)

I love being able to share stories of success and 'lessons learned' from others who are on the same path. I think it is important to know that you can work with others who are in the same industry, another person's success doesn't take away your success. There is room, in some form or fashion, for us all.

Meeting cute customers 'face to face' makes my day!

As part of my new plan to network with other designers and grow my business through social media, I will be hosting THE REALLY BIG GIVEAWAY: {16 vendors, 16 prizes, 5 winners} right here on Crafty Texas Girls. This is my first time to organize a 'multi-vendor' giveaway. It has been a lot of work, but in the process of reaching out to others, I have met some inspiring people. I think working together, sharing and encouraging other small business owners is what it is all about!

I would love to have your support too- so please join us right here on July 10th for THE REALLY BIG GIVEAWAY! Just having you enter the giveaway and show my new small business friends "a little facebook love" would mean the world to me :) plus you might just win!

And if you are a small business owner- whether it be your blog, an etsy shop, or a dream somewhere in your heart-- I would love to hear from you! Share you link or story in the comments so that we can all encourage and support you as well!

Like this post?
Subscribe to crafty texas girls

Visit my shop, Samantha Conner Designs- fabulous clothing and accessories for the girl who has everything!

All photos and text on craftytexasgirls.com are copyright protected. You may not copy entire articles or posts (even with a link) without my express written permission. Email any requests or links used to craftytexasgirls@gmail.com.

7/4/13

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July! I hope you are celebrating the USA with your family and friends today. We spent last night watching fireworks with friends. Today, we are heading to my Dad's house for a cook-out.

We bought a few small fireworks- pops and sparklers to do tonight. Aren't we all lucky to be living in such an amazing country? God Bless the USA!

"READ MORE" of THIS POST, Click HERE

6/28/13

VBS Crafting

We spent this week at Vacation Bible School. Are your kids going to VBS this summer?

We 'jazzed up' the VBS tanks by cutting off the sleeves and using strips of the cut sleeves to tie the tops.
Then we added glitter fabric paint to the letters :)

Our church did a 'western theme'. I was the guide for 16 kiddos (including my daughter) who will be going into second grade. They were super sweet and so enthusiastic. My girls and I had a blast spending time with old friends and making new ones.

"READ MORE" of THIS POST, Click HERE

6/25/13

Made in the USA

Celebrate the 4th of July in an outfit Made in the USA!

Shop Samantha Conner Designs.

All products made right here in Texas!

Available in sizes 2-10 and ready to ship.

Keep reading to claim your coupon code- save $4 on your order with Samantha Conner Designs.

"READ MORE" of THIS POST, Click HERE

6/24/13

The Scoop Link Party #72 with "Crafty Texas Girls"

Welcome to The Scoop

The weekly link party that features the scoop on the best posts from around the web.

More exposure + less time = win win!

We are Linsey from Farmhouse Porch, Anita from Cedar Hill Ranch,

Samantha from Crafty Texas Girls and Kelli and Kristi from Lolly Jane.

This is Samantha from Crafty Texas Girls
and I am thrilled to have hosted this linky party on my blog for 72 weeks!

"READ MORE" of THIS POST, Click HERE

6/22/13

Chalkboard Crush on Hometalk

Love all things 'chalkboard'? Me too! I recently put together an inspiration board full of chalkboard projects on Hometalk.

See all the projects here

If you haven't been on Hometalk yet, check it out. Hometalk is the largest home & garden knowledge hub on the web. It's fueled by the firsthand experience & advice of hundreds of thousands of home enthusiasts and professionals. The best part? Hometalk is not just another site where you can see pretty pictures. Every day, real people post hundreds of real-time projects & questions that may be relevant to your life. This makes Hometalk the most useful site for getting stuff done around your home & garden.

Pop on over and let me know what you think!

6/21/13

Craft It: Tie Dye for Kids (the easy way)

I grew up making 'tie-dye' shirts at Vacation Bible School. I loved them. Messy, imperfect, and very 'summery'. Since then, I haven't attempted tie dye again because it seemed 'too messy and imperfect'. But then I received a kit from Craft Project Ideas.com and I knew it was time to give tie-dye another shot.

The kit came with enough dye to make a whole bunch of shirts. I only had two white t-shirts, but I wish I had stocked up and made tank tops, shorts, and pillowcases too. So if you try it, make sure to have a lot of items on hand, you will want to dye everything!

"READ MORE" of THIS POST, Click HERE

6/19/13

Crafty How-To: Fabric Flower Headband with Butterfly

Disclosure: The post is sponsored by The Blueprint Social and Plaid Crafts. Opinions and project ideas are my own.

A few weeks ago I got to try out a new product from Mod Podge called "Mod Melts". I used it to embellish this super sweet flower. What could be better? Hair accessories and my very favorite crafting tool-- the glue gun! Keep reading to see how you can make your own "Mod Melts" embellished fabric flowers too.

Mod Melts and Molds are super easy to use. Just put the melts in your hot glue gun and fill the mold. The mold I was given to try had sweet butterflies, birds, owls, and nests. There are other mold options, you can find them exclusively at Michaels stores by late June. I think the shapes of my molds would be perfect for making presents and crafts for weddings, baby showers, or girly gifts.

"READ MORE" of THIS POST, Click HERE

6/17/13

The Scoop #71 with "Little Yellow Barn"

Ah, summertime! We have been enjoying almost every day poolside, just playing with our littles. We're enjoying it so much that we've decided to take the summer off and simply enjoy the time we have with our kiddo's. Yes, that means that at the end of June, both Crafty Texas Girls and Lolly Jane will no longer be part of The Scoop BUT rest assured, the party will go on without us. Just check with our ah-mazing co-hosts each Tuesday to link up.

Now onto The Scoop, the weekly link party that features the scoop on the best posts from around the web. As always, add your link to our blog and it automatically shows up on 5 amazing blogs. More exposure + less time = win win!

We are Anita of Cedar Hill Ranch, Samantha of Crafty Texas Girls,

Kelli & Kristi of Lolly Jane and Linsey of Farmhouse Porch.

Please welcome Jourdan of Little Yellow Barn, a darling blog with gorgeous furniture revamps, home decor tutorials, recipes and more. Just see for yourself! Little Yellow Barn Header