Tracy Keith

So, An Online store, mmmm

I have had many suggestions that I start and online store. My husband loves this idea, I think he likes having lucky charms every night for dinner!! I can't remember the last time I was home in time to cook a meal. The last few weeks have been so busy...is he crazy?! He thinks we could do this! Guess I'll need to figure out how to package the store to send to everyone. I'll sleep on it, the wheels are turning....

Hope to see some of you in the store tomorrow! I have loved meeting all the ladies from literally every where! What neat stories you all have....

Big {{Pink}} Hugs! That's what my friend Beverly always says to me, sweet huh!?

Thanks!

Things have been so crazy around the store that I haven't gotten around to saying "Thanks" to all of the wonderful ladies that came out in support of Priority Ministries. 

For those of you who don't know, my first day of business was totally dedicated to Priority Ministries.

Let me tell you about this ministry .www.priorityministries.org

It was founded by a good friend of mine – Laurie Cole   Beautiful, I know!

Priority Ministries is dedicated to encouraging and equipping women to love God most and seek Him first.

Laurie is a speaker and an author of Bible studies for women.   You can read more about these two studies on the website

Check out the website!  They have a great monthly newsletter; online store; and much more.   

So thanks ladies for all the support!  We'll have to set aside more days to support this fast growing ministry!  What a blessing..

On a different note....I have received a ton, okay maybe only a half ton of emails from all around the world!  I am just amazed, truly!!  I have emails from New Zealand, Italy, Canada, Australia, only to name a few, and of course many from our great states!  All with such kind words of encouragement and excitement.  I plan to respond to each and every one of them too!  Just as soon as I get a minute to breathe!!   The store has been a whirlwind all week.  I love to see all the ladies coming in, their excitement excites me! 

I had 3 ladies that came in today all blinged up!  They called in sick to work to drive from an hour away!  I would so do that for a good store!  Thanks Laurel, Cindy and Jenn, you made my day!  What precious ladies you are!

Okay, I'm off now!  I've got to get some sleep!

The Question of the Day!!

"What's your crop schedule?"  This little dream of mine has snow balled into quite an event!  We have had steady customers for two days straight!  Amazing (Heidi, I think you had a little something to do with this)

I thought I would have time to plan all of this as I go.  How wrong was I!?  So, I called up Vanessa and told her "we've got to finish that crop room"!  I have my website lady (Michelle at Treasured Pages) setting up the website so that you can sign up and pay online for future events at the store.  Check out our website Calendar which will be updated very soon!  I anticipate that the crops will fill up very fast.  We have had  so many ladies asking about them and planning road trips from all over!  How amazing is that!?

Molly, our intern for the summer, is working on our very first crop weekend which will be held July 6 & 7.  We had so much fun planning that today.  Beverly and Dana, two of our Design Team ladies helped out along with Pixie and Cheryl the best employees ever.....it's going to be so much fun, I can hardly wait!  I might get to actually play with some of the stuff in my store.  I hope there will still be some Heidi stuff left.  It has been the top seller both days and flying off the shelves!  I need to re-order fast!!

I'm exhausted!  Off to bed now....

Such an amazing day!!

So much has taken place today!  How do I even start to express the way I'm feeling right now!  So overwhelmed, so excited, so eXhausted, giggle, giggle....

So, today was my "soft opening", and I might add it went quite "softly".  Much smoother than I had imagined!  Many thanks to all my wonderful friends who always pull through for me.  I have some amazing people in my life!  I do feel very blessed!

One of the MAJOR surprises of the day was when we asked a customer "so, how did you hear about our store" and she replied "on the HEIDI SWAPP website"!  Pixie and I nearly feel on the floor!  We thought there had to be some mistake!  Much to our surprise Heidi herself had posted a blog about the store on her blog page!  What kind words she said!  Heidi, you made the day!  It was the icing on the cake!  The "bling" on the page!  Everyone knows Heidi Swapp products are my favorite!  Could it get any better than this, oh my!!

Now I have at least a 100 emails in my box from everywhere around the world, UK, Canada, Australia!  This is more than a little country girl can handle, I'm telling you!  Ladies saying that they wished they lived in Houston so they could stop by.  I realized that the pictures on the website are the "progress" pictures and not actually the finished product!  The place has changed quite a bit, and I would like to share a few pictures for those of you who don't live in Houston to see...

Enjoy!  Look us up if you're ever in town...

Hugs to all!  Tracy

"She"  inspired crop room

A new look....

I am so excited I can hardly stand it!!  After months of planning, praying, painting and sanding my fingers to the bone, the store is ready!

It is all a glow with shades of pink and sparkling with crystal chandeliers.  The paper is hung and the bling accessories are calling my name every time I walk by!  For the loVe, it just doesn't get any better than this!!

Here's a few pictures of the progress...

Beverly laying out the Heidi products...

Dana, Beverly, Pixie and Debbie putting up the first products.  Heidi Swapp of course, my most favorite!!

Crystal, Briana and Molly stocking the ribbon shelf

The boys putting together the crop room tables.  I ask "how many aggies does it take to put together a table"?  J.J. replies "two and one Genius"!  Love it...he's quick!

Pixie in the "Sofie" room taking a break!  She's amazing, what a blessing!

The back wall in the crop room.

The "Heidi Room" aka "Briana's Room" all decked out.

Even the store key has a new look!  We will be putting the final touches on everything tomorrow for the "Soft Opening" on Tuesday, June 26th  2:00-7:00.  Join us if you can!  We will officially open the doors on Wednesday, June 27 at 9:30.

What a fun time this has all been....

Friends

Don't you love it when someone surprises you with a random act of kindness!?  This past Monday night my group of Bunko girls decided to help me out with the store instead of having Bunko.  Aren't they just the greatest!  They all have busy lives, juggling house, family, work, and church activities, but yet still find time to help a friend out.  Friends are priceless!

Below are a few pictures of the "friends" in the act...

Cynde Butcher, Traci Fort, and Leslee Morgan scraping the old letters off the window.

Nicole Contreras and Sabrina McBride detailing the frame.

Tammy Fort and Vanessa Byerly getting ready to tackle the chandelier that has a million crystals!!!

Leslee Morgan and Cynde Butcher sorting the million crystals!  These two stayed until 11:00 putting the chandelier together....

These girls are amazing and treasured friends!  Thanks Ladies!!

So, when will this store be open?!  That's a great question...We have been working long hours and I don't think I'll ever get all this paint off of me!  But I think we're getting close.  We will be stocking the shelves by Wednesday and I'm shooting to open by the next Wednesday June 20.  Maybe a couple of days early if we're lucky!  I can't wait....

I'm off to take a much needed nap.  My husband says no work today, and he's the boss!!

 

My first love...

We finally got our occupancy permit on Monday!  WoooHooo....that means we can proceed with our portion of the build out for the space.  My first love, my daddy, came in from Alabama to help me out with some things.  I kept him busy all week!  Poor man...Here is a picture of one of the things he built for the store.  I can't wait to stock it full of scrapbook supplies!

Just to give you an idea how massive this thing is, my dad is a 6'2 man.

 

This is one of the 5 chandeliers we have purchased for the store, and yes, that is a pink wall behind it!!  All I can say is that if you drive by the store make sure and put your sunglasses on so the pink glow doesn't blind you!  I love it!!

So, we are still shooting for mid June to open the doors.  There is a private viewing in the works!  This will be by invitation only.  If you'd like to be a part of this just shoot me an email with your address as well as your email address so that we can make sure to send you a personal invite.

I'm off to go finish painting!