New Items Offered!

This new year means new items at Blinged Up and we want to show you some fabulous new products that we know you’ll love. These are perfect for your team or group and will keep you warm in these winter months ahead.

Our most popular new item is flannel lounge pants by Boxercraft. This is a great brand of flannel pants; they will wash and wear well for a long time. These come in 51 (that’s right, FIFTY-ONE) different color combinations, so your team or group’s colors will most likely be available. Call or email for specific color. They are constructed from the finest quality 100% cotton, double-brushed flannel. They are lightweight and comfy, junior fit, and come in sizes S-XXL for adults and YS – YL for kids. These actually don’t usually have bling on them (!) we mostly have been printing team or school names with a two-color design. Prices run around $35. If you are ordering four or more, shipping is free! We can do a hip design or a large down-the-leg design. Here a few of our recent ones:

Another item we are starting to offer are these fashionable and functional yoga pants by Bella. These are very popular, cotton/spandex, with slightly flared legs. Prices are around $34 for either a name printed down the leg, or for a hip design.

Lastly, keep your group warm in these sweat pants, cut for juniors, by Gildan. These are a great 50/50 heavy blend fleece. They feature a covered elastic waistband, flat drawcord, and side-seamed pockets. Prices are around $29 for either a name printed down the leg, or for a hip design.

Let us know if we can make any of these great new products for your group! For more information, contact us at info@blingedup.com.

Happy New Year! Hope it’s a fun and productive year for all of our Blinged Up friends.

Recap of my First Year on Twitter

About a year ago, I decided that I should start a business Twitter account.  I heard that it would increase my business network, introduce Blinged Up to new customers, and connect me with those I wanted to be connected to like no other social media could.

As I started, I read and researched a lot of information from twitter experts (there are a lot of them) who know the right and wrong way to manage a Twitter account.  I didn’t really follow a lot of the advice.  For starters, I don’t follow everyone back who follows me.  Is that a breach of twitter etiquette?  Possibly, but I feel like there is a limit to the number of people I can “listen” to.  I did not start a personal twitter and a business twitter to keep things separate.  Is it unprofessional of me to use my business Twitter to follow the celebrities and athletes I am interested in and a few political causes that I support?  Probably, but managing one twitter account is all I have time for am willing to do.

Here is what I have gained and learned from my first year on Twitter:

The good:  Just as I was deciding that Twitter was pretty unrewarding and not exactly what I had hoped for, the most exciting thing happened:  Kristin Chenoweth followed me!! Just to be sure that this is clear: Kristin Chenoweth……….followed……….ME.  I don’t know why, and I’m pretty sure it’s a mistake, but who cares?  Kristin Chenoweth follows me!!  At the moment this happened, I decided that Twitter — professionally beneficial or not — was really quite a lot of fun.

The bad:  I’m going to be honest here.  Want to guess the number of jobs I have gotten from new twitter connections in a year?  That would be ZERO.  I gained lots of new customers last year and finished Blinged Up’s best year ever, but none of my new customers or contacts came from Twitter exposure.

But more of the good:  The knowledge, insights, ideas, and inspiration I have gained from those whom I follow has been invaluable.  I have learned that, for me, the true benefit of Twitter doesn’t lie in gaining new customers, but in the ideas and inspiration I get from those whom I follow.  And some entertainment along the way isn’t a bad thing, either.

After Year One on Twitter, the best of the best for Blinged Up is —

Best Business Ideas and Inspiration:
Carrie Wilkerson @CarrieWilkerson

Best Motivation for Getting My Act Together:
Craig Jarrow @TMNinja and
Julie Morgenstern @JulieMorgenstrn

Most LOL’s:
Mike Royce @MikeRoyce and
Jim Gaffigan @JimGaffigan

Best Sports Coverage for Oklahoma State:
Kelly Hines @KellyHinesTW

Most interesting local weather tweets (and really, who doesn’t love interesting weather tweets?):
Rick Mitchell @RickMitchellWX

And Most Exciting Follow Back Ever:  Have I mentioned that Kristin Chenoweth follows me? @KChenoweth

You can follow me on Twitter for Year Two: @Blinged_Up

Even Service King can use some bling!

Service King Collision Repair Centers was founded in Dallas, Texas, in 1976 when Eddie Lennox purchased an existing body shop in a small tin shack complete with a hand painted sign that read, “Service King.” Eddie’s good reputation, hard work and key insurance relationships helped him to grow his customer base quickly and over the next 25 years, Service King became the largest employee-owned paint and body operation in the country.

Today, Service King employs over 1500 hundred employees and has 49 Texas locations; 23 in Dallas/Ft Worth, 12  in Houston, 5 in Austin and 9 in San Antonio. They offer a lifetime warranty on all collision repairs and have made the repair process convenient with on-site rental cars and working directly with insurance companies.

Pictured in the photo are two key women involved in Service King Houston’s Business Development Department: Regional Manager, Shyllo DeLaCruz and Agency Specialist, Lindsey Fisher. This team is charged with building and maintaining relationships with insurance companies and automotive dealerships, as well as the many Chambers of Commerce of which they are members.

Service King is also heavily involved in community contribution through local area schools and charities. Additionally, the Business Development team provides extensive sales/customer service training for Service King employees as well as Continuing Education courses for their licensed insurance partners.

Blinged Up loved making these darling shirts for Service King!

Epic Events – Oklahoma’s premiere event planner

Owner Nicole Thomas (right) with her assistant, Haley Richardson

Planning an event in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, or other locations in Oklahoma?  Let Epic Events make your event spectacular!

Whether it’s a social gathering or non-profit fundraiser, Epic Events is one of the premiere event planners in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Epic Events specializes in planning events that are truly yours – a reflection of your personality and goals.

From the initial preparations to post-event proceedings, Epic Events will plan and execute every detail. Their goal is to allow you to enjoy your own event, knowing everything will be handled by experienced professional event planners. They specialize in corporate event planning, non-profit fundraising events, and social private party planning in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and other regions in Oklahoma.

Epic Events owner, Nicole Thomas, has enjoyed more than ten years in the professional event planning and marketing fields serving many diverse clients from the social, corporate and non-profit worlds. Most notably, Nicole is proud to head some of the most highly anticipated annual events such as OKC Charity Fight Night, Chocolate Decadence, and the Tulsa House Beautiful Show, to name a few. Says Thomas, “It’s exciting to be an integral part of something that brings joy to so many people, from their clients to the guests and it’s a privilege to enjoy what we do every day.”

Non Profit events:

Ensuring financial development budgets are met is a critical function of any non-profit event.   From consulting on an event to planning start to finish, Epic Events has a strong background in non-profit event planning and can help on many different levels. A few of Epic Event’s non profit event clients:

• OKC CHARITY FIGHT NIGHT – Oklahoma City Police Athletic League
• Automobile Alley
• Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
• Prevent Blindness Oklahoma
• Youth Services for Oklahoma County, Inc.

Corporate events:

Corporate event planning is a large undertaking and often best left to an outside party who can objectively execute and devote adequate time to this momentous task. They carefully prepare and execute each step, keeping you informed and including you in decisions, while taking the burden off your shoulders.

Epic Events’ corporate services offers everything a business owner, large or small, needs in event planning, marketing strategies and public & media relations.   Whatever your needs, from product launches to customer appreciations, Epic Events will create the event or buzz your company requires for success, all the while, keeping an eye on the bottom line.

Corporate event planning can result in increased awareness of business and increased sales. Some services may include: television appearances, radio ad buys, email marketing campaigns, developing invitation design and event themes, as well as managing all aspects of the events.

A few of their corporate Clients:

• Anglin Public Relations
• Coco Flow Chocolate Café
• Dell, Inc.
• Distinctly Oklahoma
• ITT Technical Institute
• Rose Creek Real Estate Company
• The Journal Record – Tulsa House Beautiful Show

Social Events:

Epic Events handles private parties, weddings and more on scales from select to grand. They carefully prepare and execute each step, keeping you informed and including you in decisions, while taking the burden off your shoulders.

For more information, please visit Epic Events website at www.epiceventsok.com, and let them help you execute your next event!

Miss Rodeo America contestants get Blinged Up!

We were thrilled when Tarter Farm & Ranch Equipment from Dunnville, Kentucky, asked Blinged Up to make custom rhinestone shirts for all of the Miss Rodeo America contestants to wear at their recent Miss Rodeo America Pageant in Las Vegas.

Tarter is a sponsor of Miss Rodeo America and requested the Blinged Up shirts for all of the pageant’s contestants. We would like to thank Tarter for this very fun order and for allowing us to be a part of the Miss Rodeo America Pageant.

From the About Us page of the Miss Rodeo America website:

The Miss Rodeo America organization and pageant competition exists for the purposes of selecting a young lady to serve as an official spokesperson for the sport of professional rodeo and providing educational opportunities for those young women who compete in the pageant.

 Miss Rodeo America travels some 100,000 miles during the year of her reign, appearing at nearly 100 rodeo performances, as well as appearances at schools, civic groups and other special events, educating the public and creating awareness about the sport of rodeo, its sponsors, and its opportunities.

 Talented, beautiful, and well-spoken, Miss Rodeo America is the ideal ambassador to represent and promote America’s Original Professional Sport – rodeo – serving as the official spokesperson for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. She also takes on the role of model and spokesperson in a variety of promotional events and commercial advertisements for western clothiers, publications, sponsors and other service providers to the western industry.

 We encourage you to come out and meet Miss Rodeo America when she makes an appearance at a rodeo or event near you and join Miss Rodeo America in supporting the great western rodeo tradition.

 The annual Miss Rodeo America Pageant hosts beautiful and talented cowgirls from across the country. These hopefuls – having already spent a year as reigning queen for their representative states – converge for a weeklong competition in late November/early December to select one deserving young woman to reign as Miss Rodeo America for the coming year.

These energetic cowgirls are judged in the major categories of personality, appearance, horsemanship and rodeo knowledge & presentation, demonstrating her skills in public speaking, personal interviewing, horsemanship, knowledge of rodeo and general equine science, current event awareness, photogenic qualities, visual poise, and overall professionalism.

 The pageant is a glamorous prelude to the famous Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, the PRCA’s year-end championship event also held in Las Vegas in December.

 In addition to conducting the annual pageant competition, the organization administers the scholarship program. Providing educational opportunities to young ladies competing in the Miss Rodeo America Pageant is a major focus of the organization.

 We have a rich tradition and distinguished alumni of past Miss Rodeo Americas, many who continue to contribute to the organization, the sport of professional rodeo and our western lifestyle, long after their reign.

 Rich in history and western tradition, the Miss Rodeo America organization relies on its faithful sponsors and and tireless volunteer membership to maintain the integrity and continued success of Miss Rodeo America.   Please join us – either as a member at some level or as a business sponsor.

A big thank you to Tarter Farm and Ranch Equipment for allowing Blinged Up to be a part of this year’s Miss Rodeo America Pageant.

For more information, please visit the websites of Miss Rodeo America and Tarter Farm and Ranch Equipment.

Spotlight on 9 Social

Meet our newest logo customer, 9 Social

We were excited to make logo shirts for our newest Blinged Up logo client, 9 Social.

9 Social was founded by native Texans, Phillip and Leslie Smithwick, who saw a need for a place to have beautiful, vibrant social events with a great dining experience. Located in a quiet suburban setting, they are convenient to all areas surrounding Flower Mound, Lewisville and Highland Village, Texas.

If you are hosting an event, let 9 Social help you make it fabulous!

Check out their website:   http://www.9-social.com/

Here is some of what you will learn on their About Us page:

What We Do

We bring people together to have a good time!  In a relaxed atmosphere of rustic elegance and charm, we provide turnkey event planning and exceptional food quality to your Wedding, Reception, Business Meeting or Social Event. Our “What can we do for you?” approach  puts the “Customer” back in “Customer Service”.

What We Offer at 9 Social

For your Business Meeting or Special Event, we provide state of the art audio and video equipment, including HD projector, wireless microphone, 2 HD flat panel TVs and more.

We offer an elegant outdoor patio, surrounded by mature oak trees and a community fountain – perfect for photographs of your special day or evening.

Service & Community

With a variety of service experience, 10+ years in Catering, Country Clubs, Restaurants and as Private Chef, the well trained staff at 9 Social bring  great service, great food and great fun to your special occasion.

Our involvement in the communities of Highland Village, Flower Mound and Lewisville includes support of local non-profits and charities such as the Women of Flower Mound, Lewisville Education Foundation, Communities in Schools of North Texas and Circle of Friends.  We actively volunteer with student mentoring and coach youth sports.  We are a founding member of Kingdom Inspired Networking Group (K.I.N.G.), and  an active member of the Flower Mound Chamber of Commerce.

Book Your Event at  9 Social!

Our desire and passion for great service drives everything we do, and it is our pleasure to serve our friends and community. We invite you to plan your Wedding, Reception, Business Meetings, Holiday Parties and all your Social Events with us at 9 Social. Call us today!

Our Location is Convenient to: Highland Village, Flower Mound, Lewisville, Grapevine, Coppell, Denton, DFW Airport and surrounding areas.

Thanks for letting us make your logo shirts.  We know you are going to find great success!

Spotlight on Smartini!

We would like to introduce you to Blinged Up’s most recent logo customer:  Smartini.  We think you will love discovering this fabulous new company!

Smartinis were created after looking for an alternative to the diet dilemma…cheating on our diet! Wine is full of carbohydrates and cocktails are full of sugar. The only low calorie solution offered by bars and restaurants are water, diet soda or club soda. Smartinis are the answer to this problem.

Smartini researched far and wide (and drank a lot of terrible tasting low calorie mixers.)  They knew they could make a better tasting, low calorie cocktail, so they worked with their talented lab technician to create their own line of sugar-free mixers. They are naturally sweetened with the best plant-based sugar substitutes available on the market, Stevia and Erythritol.

Smartini offers a line of seven cocktail mixers and two bases that taste great!  You won’t believe they’re low calorie. No more disgusting chemical after taste.  You will be thrilled with the taste, and you won’t believe you’re cheating on your diet!

The Smartini line includes:

Pomegranate Smartini
Lemon Drop Smartini
Eve’s Little Secret, (Apple) Smartini
Sweet Texas Tea Smartini
Margarita Smartini
Mojito Smartini
Texas-tini Smartini
Sweet and Sour Smartini base
Simple Syrup Smartini base

Compare their drinks:  A typical Margarita can have upwards of 550 calories! A Smartini Margarita has less than 96 calories! Five calories come from the mixer – all the rest come from the tequila.  Also, a typical Lemon Drop can have 300 plus calories! A Smartini Lemon Drop has about 85 calories with 80 of those calories from your vodka!

Smartinis are popping up in bars and restaurants all over. Ask for Smartinis by name at your favorite establishment.  Here is a list of where Smartinis can be located:  http://www.lolaslibations.com/page-8.  And for our local Highland Village friends, Smartini’s can be found right here at Shellman’s Fine Wine and Spirits on Highland Village Road.

You can also order Smartinis on their web site. Just add a shot of Vodka, Tequila or Rum to any of the mixers for a great tasting cocktail that is UNDER 100 calories!

You no longer have to drink your calories in a cocktail, now you can enjoy your cocktails without the guilt of sugar, calories and chemical sweetners. Why? Because Smartini makes cheating fun!

http://www.lolaslibations.com/

Smartini is a Trademark of Lola’s Libations.   Please drink responsibly and NEVER drink & drive.

Spotlight on 8th Wonder Cupcakes

 

Want to enjoy the best cupcake you’ve ever had?  We have found the place for you!  Please meet our newest logo customer, Flower Mound’s 8^th Wonder Cupcakes located at 2608 Long Prairie (next to Red, Hot and Blue.)  Their goal is to make every bite moist, delicious and memorable for both adults and children alike. And we can vouch that they meet that goal! 

8th Wonder Cupcakes is owned and operated by a Texas born and Flower Mound raised family.  They are a brother/sister team committed to making the best cupcakes you’ve ever had and to providing you with the best service.  They have spent countless hours refining not only the baking process but making certain their recipes provide you with the best tasting cupcakes you have ever had. They use top shelf ingredients and bake their cupcakes fresh every morning.

Some of you can remember the days of complete service when going to a gas station. You know, the times when you’d get your gas pumped, your windshield washed, your tires filled with air, your oil checked and so on. And all of it done by a friendly, sincere employee. Well, that is what 8th Wonder Cupcakes is – a throwback to the days of a great product and complete, sincere and friendly service.

8^th Wonder Cupcakes are also committed to charity and to helping others. From assisting in efforts to help local senior citizens, local schools, and local athletic teams to sponsoring children in Haiti, they believe that giving is their obligation and privilege.

8th Wonder likes to consider themselves as Flower Mound’s cupcake bakery and they are proud of that distinction. Their cupcakes are made using recipes that come from a long line of family bakers. They use local suppliers for all of their other products from drinks to apparel to jewelry to printing. They feel that it is important to be local in every way they can.

 

Their goal is to make you feel great when you come to see them and that your visit will be memorable for all of the right reasons. So, go see them!  They promise to make your visit fun, enjoyable and delicious.

Here’s their website where we encourage you to read through the extensive list of fabulous flavors available.  We promise you won’t be disappointed!

http://8thwondercupcakes.com/

972-822-3360

 

Spotlight on Seven Loaves Catering and Events

Blinged Up’s newest customer is Seven Loaves Catering and Events, a local catering company that wanted blinged up logo shirts to wear to their catering functions.  We would like to introduce this fabulous company to you, in case you aren’t already familiar with them.

Seven Loaves Catering and Events is a full service catering company proudly serving all of D/FW and surrounding areas. Whether you’re having an intimate bridal shower, a wedding reception, or a corporate function, their talented staff is eager to serve you.

Seven Loaves menus are Chef-inspired and custom designed to meet the likes and dislikes of their client. Whether you’re looking for passed hors d’oeuvres, a buffet, a chef-run action-station, or a plated/sit down dinner; they can do it all. They also provide a full range of services including: delivery and setup, bartenders, service staff, rentals, music/entertainment, and more.

Owners Phillip and Leslie Smithwick started catering in 2001 as a part time business under the name Hospitality For Hire. While catering part time, Phillip continued to work full time gaining a wide range of experience as Executive Chef in a Country Club, Executive Chef for a Catering Company, Executive Chef of a startup restaurant concept, and a Private Chef and House Manager in the Highland Park area of Dallas. Over the years, the Smithwick’s commitment to excellent food and exceptional service has attracted a loyal client base and ongoing referrals. So much so, that in January of 2011, Phillip left his job as a Private Chef to run the catering business full time. Leslie continues her passion as an educator in the public school system and helps with the business on weekends. 

The name was changed to Seven Loaves Catering and Events in January of 2010 to more accurately describe their desire to “feed the multitudes.” 

If you are looking for someone to do a fabulous job catering a small or large event in the D/FW area, give Seven Loaves Catering and Events a call!

Blinged Up’s First Fashion Show

Here are the beautiful blinged up models who showed off some bride and bachelorette tees at the show last Saturday.  They did a spectacular job.  Thanks girls!  (And guy.)