Brenda Pinnick -news, ideas, events and more...

What does it take?

What does it take to get on HSN? I've been asked that a lot lately so I thought I would share a list of the first things that come to mind...

Believe in yourself enough to make the commitment to do your VERY BEST WORK. ever. 

Get feedback from and listen to your stakeholders. ( manufacturers, HSN buyers & anyone else who is on the team )

Research your consumer and know your market. Define their likes, wants and needs.

Identify your unique selling propostion ( USP ). What sets you apart from the others? Practice saying it out loud. Don't be shy about your achievements, your talents, your dream, your uniqueness. 

Look honestly at your work and don't be afraid to let go of the mediocre. ( Get honest feedback if you're not sure, we ALL have "off" days, trust me, not every single thing you do can be exactly right! ) 

Be commited to excellence in all aspects including your presentation. Practice in front of a mirror - many times. If you meet with the buyers, they will be judging how you present yourself to them as an indication of how you'll do on air. Be enthusiastic but not over zealous. THANK them for their time, regardless of the outcome. If it wasn't right for them this time, you may have another opportunity in the future! ( Like me )

Look at and learn from your successful competitors. ( Thank you, Anna G. )

If you are able, hire some help when it comes to crunch time. There is no glory in "doing it all", only exhaustion and possilby, some not-so-perfect work.

Say "Thank You" to everyone from the big wigs to the people who clean the restrooms. Everyone appreciates acknowlement for their work, just like you and I.

When you've done all this, you can't help but be ready. It will come naturally, without effort, from your heart. Your enthusiasm will overide your nervousness, I promise! 

 

So, here's the ugly...anyone want to come over and help clean up ??? This is my table on one side of the studio as I was preparing for my segments on March 6th.

And here's the pretty...on the other side, as I'm finishing up my samples. ( no staff...just me, in my basement, late at night, after designing products, making art and taking care of business all day. Did I mention hiring help? LOL )

If you have aspirations of getting your product designs on air, I hope this little tutorial has helped you decide if it's right for you. When you get your first feedback on the HSN site and it goes like this,

"The paper is so vibrant and the colors are so current. The purples and aquas and greens are fantastic. Really good quality paper, stickers etc. I may buy another set so I don't run out. Those Alphabet rub ons are amazing too."

well, it makes all those late night crafting sessions worth every bit of lost sleep!

Happy planning...

 

 

 

My new crafting kits on HSN!

renda Pinnick is excited to invite you to watch HSN on Tuesday, March 6th for scrap-booking day!

Yes, that's yours truly and I'm so excited to be bringing you my newest scrap-booking kit I've named Piccadilly Circle and a brand new stamping kit called Londonderry.

It's not often the stars align like they have for me in this coming year! The design elements in these kits overlap, offering the crafter a uniquely cohesive look. To top it off, I have a new fabric line which is launching right now and it also is an overlapping collection. And, if that's not enough, soon there will be large crafting dies from Sizzix which also offer the same design elements!!! I mean...wow... THE POSSIBLILIES!!! My head is spinning with all the ideas for projects! Did you know that you can stamp on fabric? Did you know that you can cut fabric with dies? Did you know that you can sew paper? Did you Know that you can combine all of the above? YES YOU CAN! I'll have lots of sample projects to show while on air and my hope is that you'll be inspired to invest in all four of these categories of my products for this beautiful new collection. Oh, and by the way, my earlier stamps also work with this new collection also - how cool is that?

Fabric and Dies will be available in stores mid-summer but March 6th, you will want to jump on the opportunity to also purchase the scrapbook kit and stamp kit because once they're gone- they're GONE! We've shipped in a limited number of kits to HSN and I can hardly wait to show them to the world! I'm scheduled for the 2 a.m. hour (previous stamp kits ) and again for the Noon hour for both new kits, ( Eastern Standard Time Zone ). I hope you'll mark your calendar and join HSN for their day long crafting event!

 

Henry Glass Jolly Holiday Party- Day 5!

Welcome! Today is day number 5 of the Henry Glass Jolly Holiday Party and that means I'm one of the featured designers.

My free pattern is for this little, make it in an evening apron. The piece work is inspired by and constructed in the style of Seminole patchwork. My goal was to use what I had on hand and to make it in an evening. I used mostly my fabrics from my previous collections. (And a little Kaffe just for fun!)

Download Brenda Pinnick Pieced Apron

Henry Glass Jolly Holiday Party- Day 4!

It's been really fun learning about the HG designers. We run into each other at Quilt Market and that's about it for getting to know each other. It's interesting, also, to see the variety of syles in the Henry Glass line up. They certainly do a good job of keeping the offerings diverse.

Today's featured Designers are:

Annie Downs of Hatched and Patched

Annie's style is so much fun! AND, she's got a new book out called A CHRISTMAS STORY. It has some really fun patterns in it and here is a link to get a glimpse of the cutest Christmas quilt! She uses color so well to tell her whimsical story! Click here for here blog and click here to see the quilt! I love the warm, cozy feeling of her quilt, accomplished not only through "hand of the artist" designs but also due to the coloration. Nice work, Annie!!

 

and next, Barbara Jones of Quilt Soup ( LOVE that name!)

The Quilt Soup store is a great place to shop for patterns and all kinds of things. I'm still drooling over this pattern (Barbara, I hope you don't mind me showing it here) 

It's playful, eyecatching and just plain fun! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© Barbara Jones

Be sure to visit each day's featured Designer to learn more about them, see their work and enter to win a free prize. Each Designer has a Christmas Holiday word. Your job is to collect all the words, then post them to the Henry Glass Blog at the end of the hop. You might be the lucky winner of the fabric giveaway from Henry Glass! 

Henry Glass Jolly Holiday Party- Day 2!

Welcome back! This is the annual Henry Glass Holiday Blog Hop! Visit the Henry Glass blog to learn more and leave a comment there, too!

This is so exciting - a chance to win some amazing gifts, including fabric, of course! AND, qualify for the GRAND DADDY, AMAZING, MONSTER, HUGE prize at the very end- all by just taking a few minutes each day and visiting all the blogs on their highlighted days and leaving a nice comment! E.A.S.Y!!!!

Yesterday's featured designers:
Day 1-November 13, 2011
Jill Finley of Jillily Studio
Kari Ramsay of Fresh Cut Quilts

And TODAY'S featured desginers:

Day2 - November 14, 2011
Jacquelynne Steves of The Noble Wife and
Liz Hawkins and Beth Hawkins of LizzieB Cre8ive

 

Go to their blogs right now, give them some love and affection and download a free pattern while you're there! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aren't all these women beautiful? And sooooo creative and talented!

 

The upcoming designers:

Day 3 - November 15, 2011
Vicki Oehlke of WillowBerry Lane
Mary Ellen von Holt, Alice Berg and Sylvia Johnson of Little Quilts
Lucy Morey of Hot Scott Patterns

Day 4 - November 16, 2011
Barbara Jones of QuiltSoup
Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched

Day 5 - November 17, 2011
Leanne Anderson of The Whole Country Caboodle
Brenda Pinnick of Brenda Pinnick Designs

Day 6 - November 18, 2011
Janet Nesbitt and Pam Soliday of Buggy Barn
Renae Allen of RGA Design LLC
Dana Brooks of Lazy Daisy Cottage

Day 7 - November 19, 2011
Linda Lum DeBono
Chelsea Anderson of Pink Fig Design

Tell 'em I said hello!

Day 6 card and giveaway with Faber Castell Design Memory Craft!

Welcome to day 6 of my 7 day card crafting / giveaway week!

Thank you for all the thoughtful comments, it's so interesting the different points of view on the floor color choices. Each suggestion could totally work in that space - I've decided on a clean, clear apple green for my floor. Green is energetic while grounding. It also invokes creative thinking and is easy to look at for long periods of time, (think of a beautiful, rolling pasture or forest). Green is considered a neutral and it is wonderful as a stand alone hue to combined with a variety of other hues...perfect for my studio! 

WINNERS -Friday's winner is Cori and yesterday's winner is Kimberlee, as chosen by random number generator. Congrats, Kimberlee and Cori, please send me an email with your mailing address! [email protected]

Today's prize- Day 6 Red Ink & Aquarelles Set, Red PITT artist Pen Set, Red/Yellow Gelatos, AND, from me, you will win a set of fabric fat quarters ( 4 ) from my last collection, Couleur Vie. Even if you don't sew, these fat quarters are great for all types of crafting including scrapbooking, card crafting and more.

Tomorrow is the grand prize and it's pretty darn wonderful!!! ****** In order to be eligible to win, you must have commented on every single day, on both blogs -here and on http://designmemorycraft.typepad.com/ 

so if you haven't already done so, go leave your comments on each day's post and you might be the LUCKY WINNER!

Today's card-

Once again, I used my Piccadilly Circus stamps and Faber Castell BigBrush Markers to create this purse card.The circle is made from a piece of diecut chipboard and metallic paper, cut from my new dies for jewelry making, found here, on the Sizzix website or in various retail outlets. If you would like this pattern, just join my mailing list today and it's yours for free! I'll email it to you personally.

Thank you for your continued visits and I so look forward to the big day tomorrow!! See you then!

Thank you Cori for pointing out that I left out my daily question! (never post before morning coffee)

Today's question- Do you feel you understand color theory and all it's complexities? If no is your answer, would you be interested in taking an on-line class to learn more about color? 

Day 5 card and giveaway with Faber Castell Design Memory Craft!

Happy Halloween! Since only one person played along on Friday-(must be everyone's busy making their costumes and cupcakes)I'm going to open Friday's giveaway to carry over onto today's contest. I will only do the giveaway is there are 10 or more people commenting so please invite your friends, personal and facebook! 

Here is today's card

 

For this card, I used my Piccadilly Circus stamp set, which is my give-away for today.

For the coloration, I used a combination of Faber Castell Big Brush markers and of course, Gelatos, both wet and dry. I simply stamped the images onto a piece of charcoal paper while overlapping the medallians. I eyeballed a pumpkin shape and cut it out free form. Embellishments include a spray painted ( Tulip ) doily and some vines and leaves drawn in with my Big Brush Green pen. How simple is that?! 

Today's give-away is awesome! From FC- Complete Assortment of Metallic PITT artist pens and Gelatos plus Stamps by Brenda Pinnick   

 

( For purchase on HSN )

 

Today's question is - If you were redoing a new studio space and wanted to paint the floor, what color would you choose? ( Three walls are glass windows and one wall is red brick ).

Answer today's question on both Faber Castell's blog and here on mine in order to qualify for the drawing. Also, scroll down to Day 4 and answer that question as well. Remember, I need 10 posts in order to validate the giveaway.

Day 4 card and giveaway with Faber Castell Design Memory Craft!

Welcome to day 4 of my 7 day give-away! In case you're just joining in, Faber-Castell and I have teamed up to showcase their wonderful mixed media products for crafters, it's called Design Memory Craft and they've built the program around color - which is what I'm all about! I'm creating one card a day using both their product and products of my own- Sizzix Dies and Embossing Folders, my new stamp line and some fabric from my last collection with Henry Glass and Co., called Couleur Vie. The line is about sold out, making way for my new collection to debut soon. It's pre-selling right now at the International Quilt Market and should be in stores by late June or early July. I CANNOT WAIT to show it! And yes, it is COLORFUL!

Each day, we are giving away a prize to one lucky winner who leaves a comment of BOTH blogs and who answers the question I pose. 

Yesterday's winner is - Molly Smith! Molly, congratulations and thank you for joining in! Please send me an email with your address. Molly won a set of two Embossing Folders from my Sizzix collections, seen here.(type my name in the search to see all of my current offerings).

Here is today's card

 Sometimes it's nice to make a fun, simple, easy card, especially when pressed for time, which, who isn't?

Sizzix die-see below

Here's what I used:

My Sizzix Bigz XL Die - Card, A2 w/Flap 

Sizzix Textured Impressions Embossing Folders 2PK - Garden Flowers Set

Sizzix Bigz L Die - Borders, Fringe & Frolic (Flowers, 3-D)

For the papers, I used a soft, metallic gold wrapping paper. For the fushia, I used silk, cut from a Goodwill find then backed with medium wt. interfacing. I cut three layers total and highlighted the ends of the fushia silk with the gold Gelato. I also used it to highlight the embossed flowers. Finally, I used a Pitt Pen to darken the insides of the flower so they would stand out.

And now, for tomorrows prizes-  This little set of dies. These are small little layering flowers which can be used for just about anything, including jewelry. Go take a look at the adoarable bracelet Beth Reames made using these dies! Wow! And, from Faber Castell, an awesome prize which includes:Neutral Palette Ink & Aquarelles Set, Neutral Brush Pen Set, Black & White Gelatos

Here is today's question- When making purchases, how important is color in your buying decision? Do you feel you're influenced by color to make a purchase?  A lot, somewhat, hardly or never ?  If you can give an example, I'd love to hear it! 

Remember, you must leave your comment of BOTH blogs, here and on the Design Memory Craft blog.

Day 3 card and giveaway with Faber Castell Design Memory Craft!

Welcome to day 3 of my card crafting series and give-away! 

Yesterday's winner is...conniemelancon! Congrats, Connie! You've won your choice of two prints from my Etsy store! You'll need to send me your addy - [email protected] then I'll get them sent to you.

OK, let's show the card already...

We talked about color combinations earlier and here's one I'm all over lately. This combo is relaxing with the turquoise but refreshing with the greens. A small bit of yellow adds some happy, which we all love!

For this card, I used my Sizzix products, available on HSN.com or from various craft supply stores across the country or the web. The base is cut from my Decorative Edge Stationery Die, using Strathmore's Bristol board, one of my Favorite surfaces to work on. The embossing was then done using one of my Sizzix Embossing Folders, the Birds and Flowers set, also on HSN.com, a terrific value kit including 10 folders!

For the coloration, I used Faber Castell's Big Brush Markers and watercolor pencils. I love the mix of strong saturated hues with softer tints of the same hue. The pencils are great for subtle blending - I used a little bit of water to create soft transitions in the coloring. Even though the markers are India ink, while they are still wet, you can use water to dissolve them and move them around, using a small paintbrush.

Okay, now for day 3 prizes: From Faber Castell, Yellow, Green & Blue sets of Art GRIP color pencils and from yours truly, one of my embossing folder two-packs, available on Sizzix.com

And finally, today's question, inspired by Carla's comment about her husband- Do you and your husband or significant other or best friend tend to like the same general family of hues? 

Leave your comments here and on Faber Castell Design Memory Craft Blog to be eligible to win!

Oh, and please tell your friends about my 7 day giveaway! 

Day two card and giveaway with Faber Castell DMC!

Here we are on day two of our 7 day giveaway/card making week.

Business first!! Yesterday's winner is Nelly! shoot me an email Nelly so I can get your mailing info. [email protected]

Here's today's card made with one of my stamps from the Piccadilly Square Collection and Gelatos, plus spray textile paint from Tulip.

Step outs below... 

 

In step one, you'll see I used watercolor paper, a paper doilly and the Tulip brand textile paint in a spray bottle to create a stenciled textural design. 

Next, I cut the paper into 2" strips, lined them up side by side and stamped using my Piccadilly Square Stamp and a black Gelato. I stamped randomly, turning the stamp sideways for some and upright for others. Notice I overlapped the design onto different pieces. When the Gelato was dry enough, I then cut the strips into 2" squares. Taking a light blue Gelato, I accented the edges just a bit to create "pop".

Finally, I choose which of the squares I wanted to use then glued them onto a 5x5 card base, choosing a hue which would compliment but not compete with the design.

Final step- I used a square of fabric from my Couleur Vie collection with Henry Glass and Fiskars pinking shears to add on final touch. I glued it onto the back side of the card so you can still see it when the card is open. I generally like to add my sentiments on the inside to allow the outside become a mini art piece - nice for displaying. I also sign the back personally, proving it's handmade! ; )

Today's prize is - Choose two prints from my Etsy store!

Now answer today's question: Go take a look in your closet and report back- do the colors in your closet vary greatly or do they lean towards one particular hue or palette?

Answer the question here and then go to Design Memory Craft blog and post your response there also. In the end, there will be a grand prize which you can win only if you comment on each day's question, on both blogs.