Just Bats About It

Sometimes there is a delightful crossover between my businesses. Yes, the Flamingess does stuff other than tip toeing around strangers' lawns in the middle of the night.

In my other life, I am creating signs for a new shop in Palo Alto, Halo ... a blow dry bar. She's getting rave reviews so if you're in the neighborhood drop in and give yourself a treat.

The owner's son apparently loves Halloween and does it up in a big way each year. Right now, his front yard is a pirate haunted house (how cool is that?) As a part of his month long celebration of all things trick-or-treat, he holds a charity event supporting the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Standford.

Flamingo Surprise is donating a flock of bats to add the spooky decor for the event. Not sure how bats and pirates go together for Halloween but it doesn't really matter. It's all fun and for a good cause. Come on by to visit the bats, get a good scare in the haunted house and support a very important organization.
Jeffrey's Haunted House
Saturday October 16, 2010
6PM-9PM
2155 Ward Way
Woodside CA, 94062

Merry Christmas To All

It's after noon on the Sunday after Christmas and I'm still in my nightshirt and fuzzy slippers, sitting at the dining table browsing cool backgrounds for this blog. The Cutest Blog on the Block has lots of great, colorful and fun backgrounds that are super simple to use. The biggest challenge is to figure out which one to use right now. I'm going for a New Year's theme, at least for a week and then I'll have the pleasure of picking a new one for January. I'll also play with a customized signature and if I am really ambitious, I might work on a new header. In summary, I am avoiding real work - the kind that pays the bills.

It's just too gloomy looking outside and I imagine it's cold in the shop. In order to perserve my excuse for lethargy I'm deliberately not checking the very easy to see thermometer. If it turns out to be above 50 degrees then I need to come up with another excuse. It may just be easier to put on sweats and go to work. There is a restaurant opening soon in Alameda, Shay's Cafe, that I need to get the signage done for. I could go over and install the window lettering and give the owners a sense that I really am going to get this done before their opening day. That would leave just (just!?!) the wall painting. For that I need to have a platform lift because the sign is above the entrance doors and tops out at about 16 feet from the sidewalk. I am just too old and too lame to attempt this on a ladder. My scaffold will only get my feet 6 feet off the ground, which puts my comfortable painting height at about 11 feet.

Tonight could be our last flocking of 2008. Other orders may come in early in the week but the phones are very quiet. There has been a slight pick up in business in the last 2 weeks but, considering what it had dropped to, a single call changes the statistics drastically. However, I have high hopes that 2009 will start off better than 2008 ended and the trend will continue to improve.

If I don't make it back before next year, Happy New Year to you all. Be safe, happy and healthy.

Reverse Grafitti

I think this is a great thing. Take a look. Very creative and imaginitive and the art work is top notch.

Vanity Made Me Do It

I use Google Alerts to monitor a number of things on the web. Among them are; where my name pops up, mentions of Flamingo Surprise, and goings on in the lawn greeting industry. This morning the alerts brought me to a blog by another flocker, I Got Flocked. Having a nosy moment, I clicked the link to her posting and then navigated over to her blog. Once there I couldn't resist the urge to comment on one of her posts. Then it occured to me that this might prompt a visit to my blog. Narcissism kicked in. I didn't want to be caught with my last post being in June. So here I am.

The flocking business has been spotty. Good weeks and bad. (%$&#* economy!) For the first time in years the clipboard was empty (I keep all active orders on a clipboard). Fortunately it only stayed that way for a few days but still . . . I don't like seeing that grimy gray surface staring at me from the desk. Fuel prices also prompted a price increase. I was concerned that I would lose sales from that but it hasn't happened. The number of customers who don't buy due to price has actually decreased. Interesting. In pricing discussion with artists and crafts people (I haven't talked about my craft work here yet have I?) the philosophy is; if it isn't selling, raise the price. It's a perceived value thing. Apparently that works in the yard card business as well.

Sign making on the other hand, has been going great guns.