Empire

Warning, this is definitely a brag post, but I am so proud of Carson for what he has accomplished in the past year. Some of you probably have no idea what I am talking about, so let me explain.

Over the past year or so, while going to school and working part time, Carson has started building his own company - Empire Graphics. I help, but let's be real...he has put in the real time for this thing.

It started small with vinyl projects for ourselves and friends. 

A decal for a helmet at work.

Helmet stickers for his brother's tackle football team.

And wall decals for our nephew's BYU themed room.

Soon Empire started getting contracts with businesses. The first was with a less-lethal weapons company - Tiberius Arms. We made a few large vinyl decals for car windows and a lot of smaller ones that they give to vendors and ship with their products.

Next was with the company Carson works for - Fast Fill Systems. Carson did vinyl wording on the windows at the office and we made hundreds of logo shields that they now include with their products. 

He also helped design and supply them with posters and banners for one of their clients in Canada.

Then he started working with Midwest Pest Control in Oklahoma.

He designed a billboard for them...

And made them bug decals for their trucks. 

To explain all of the services that Empire offers, Carson decided to put together a website. 

Throughout all of this, Carson has been working on the first major goal of the company - licensing rights to all BYU logos. As you can see, we were using the logo for gifts and for ourselves, but we couldn't sell any products with the logo on it because we didn't own the rights. Well, with a lot of hard work and a really long application process, Carson did it. Empire could now sell products with the BYU logo on them. So we started making BYU decals. 

Carson also set up an Etsy store to start selling the vinyl decals online.

 The next step...getting a contract with the BYU Bookstore. Carson put together a demo board and met with the purchasing department at the bookstore and they accepted it. So we started making even more BYU decals. A lot more.

 Since we were selling them in a store, we had to think about things we had never had to deal with before - like packaging and a way to let customers know what color the decal is. We definitely learned a lot by putting this order together - things that will make the next orders go by much better.

It was a lot of hard work, but it was definitely worth it after seeing Empire's decals in the BYU Bookstore. And seeing someone buy one while we were there! Pretty crazy.

It is pretty exciting seeing our product on a random car in the parking lot!

Then, Empire expanded and started making clothing. This is still in the development stage, so we are mostly doing custom orders and gifts, but so far it is coming along great. 

One of our first jobs was making ourselves and Ryan and Jess some shirts for BYU's blackout game. 

Ryan wanted a Ty Detmer jersey and then got Detmer to sign it at the game.

 A BYU apron for Carson's mom for Mother's Day.

 Ohio State shirt for Jessie.

And a BYU baseball shirt for a friend. 

Basically we are putting vinyl logos on whatever we can get our hands on! 

As you can probably tell, I am super proud of Carson for all of his hard work. He got an idea and has stuck with it, even though it has been tough sometimes. I am impressed with how professional he is and with all of his ideas for making his business better. There is definitely work to be done, but it's not a bad project to keep us busy while we are in school right?

Holidays Lately

Since I am so behind, I am just going to do a St. Patrick's Day and Easter overview and try to be much better about blogging in a more timely manner. :)

For St. Patrick's Day, Carson and I hosted a brunch for a few friends. We had green pancakes, green syrup, milk (Carson talked me in to not dying it green), Lucky Charms, eggs, and fruit. 

It was quite a spread. I got the ideas for the food and the printables from this post on one of my favorite blogs. I thought it turned out looking great and tasting even better.

For Easter I made some new canvases and posted them on Etsy. This time I decided to do a little springtime collection. 

I have to stop and give a big thanks to Carson for helping me with these canvases. I bought a different material this time and it was impossible to work with and I could not have done it without his help. Let's just say I am not buying that brand of canvas again. 

My mom bought the set and created a really cute Easter mantle. 

On Easter itself Carson and I enjoyed a really nice ham Easter dinner at his parents house - complete with a carrot cake in the shape of a bunny. I wish I would have taken a picture of the table set up because it was beautiful. We have both been so busy with school and work and adult responsibilities (like taxes...uck) that we didn't even have time to dye eggs. Sad. Let's just say we are very excited for a little break once this semester is over. 

SAMply Irresistible

Lately I have been obsessed with subway art, creating things (with my Silhouette Cameo especially), and decorating for holidays. So, I decided to combine them all in my latest project - St. Patrick's Day subway art on canvas...and I wanted to share it with you. 

Although I used my Cameo to help make this, there is no vinyl or paper on the canvas...just paint. That way the cool texture of the canvas shows through the entire thing. See?

I have been thinking about creating a shop on Etsy for a while now to share and sell my projects, and I was so pleased with the way this piece turned out that I decided to just go for it. So, I now have at Etsy shop - SAMply Irresistible (get it? sam + simply irresistible). So far this is the only thing in my shop, but I am working on an Easter version and I have a million other ideas...so it won't be alone for long. So...you should go check it out!