Hi, Everyone!  I’m so glad to finally get a chance to sit down and gab again!  You should see our studio — we have a few projects going on and it’s been a bit crazy trying to keep all our ducks in a row.  The other day, my sibs and I were knee-deep in a conversation when it dawned on us that we were each talking about a different project.  I think we realized it when we gave each other the “Whatchu talkin’ bout, Willis?” look.  :)  As I was moving things around the studio, I came upon some of our business cards and thought I’d share a marketing idea with the professional decorative painters that read Fauxology.  Check it out:

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Soooo…you know all those samples that we create for clients that eventually just start stacking up?  An idea dawned on me as I was preparing for a trade show.  I picked all the ones that had great finishes but were not portfolio-bound and started cutting them into square pieces roughly the size of our business cards.  Then I arranged them into groups of two or four by putting together nice color and finish arrangements.  Using a hole puncher, I then cut an opening into top corner edges of both the cut samples and our business cards and bound them together with a pretty ribbon or pins.  I then took a scissor with a nice design and cut the ends of the samples to make them look a bit more finished. 

At the trade show, I put them all in a gallon container we silver-leafed.  They were a huge hit and potential clients and designers stayed a bit to talk while they were going through the container to find their favorite “set”. 

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We now use them when we can — even outside of trade shows.  These business cards always get nice comments, are more memorable and potential clients get to see a bit of your work even if you don’t happen to have your portolio or pictures on hand.  Hope you like the idea!