Simply Squared Designs

DON'T FAINT, NEW POST!!

2011-05-23T13:07:00.000-07:00

I think it's time to update the blog!! I know what you are thinking, it's past time, so here we go.

We have pretty much wrapped up our Springs Shows. That's not really saying much, since we intentionally did not schedule many. I (Donnie) had back surgery in January, and we decided not to kill ourselves this Spring on shows. We are scheduling a few in the fall and are constantly taking custom orders.

If you do want to order or have any questions, please email us at mistyhld@yahoo.com. We would love to create something new for you.

11x14 Dowell Swoop

16x20 New Shape (Not sure what we will name this one)

Nashville 2010

Christmas Orders

2010-10-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is that time of year AGAIN. ALREADY. Can YOU believe it?!?!?!

Several of you have asked when the deadline for placing an order and getting it in time for Christmas is, and the answer is........

SuNdAy, NoVeMbEr 14

This is the LAST DAY we will be able to take Christmas orders. If you would like to place an order and you do not need it in time for Christmas, you can place your order anytime!

Also, we do not have any home show slots left for this year. I know, it makes me sad too. I really enjoy the home shows and getting to know all of you! If you are interested in booking for the spring, let me know as soon as you THINK you are ready! There are only so many slots available, and they fill up quickly..

I hope everyone is doing SUPER DUPER! This time of the year gets unbelievably busy for us, but we are so appreciative of all of YOU!

So, THANKS!!!!!!!

We Are Still Alive and Kicking!!

2010-08-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

First let me say that this is Donnie, and Misty is better at this than me. This will officially be my first blog post ever. I felt the need to put something on here, since people are emailing and asking if we still build frames. The answer is YES!

Second, sorry for not posting since February, but life has been a little crazy. Spring was busy with, what else, frames. We moved into our new house. Summer started and it's hot and crazy, and now we are starting to, once again, kill ourselves to get ready for our Fall Season. We have several shows coming up, most out of state, but we are excited, I think.

We look forward to seeing our great customers during the next couple of months. If you have any questions or frame requests, please email us, we would love to create something great for you.

Next, look forward to a real post from Misty. She's much more fun than I am.

Thanks

laziness can be fun...

2010-02-23T17:07:00.000-08:00

but it's officially over. We are back, and yep, we are taking orders! It is true, we have missed all of you, but we REALLY did enjoy waking up somedays and wondering, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO TODAY?!?!?
We will be on the raod again soon headed to spring shows. Hope to see ya then!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2009-12-18T20:06:00.000-08:00

WOWZEE-WOWZA!!! We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! All but 3 orders have been shipped out. We did it!

Thanks to all of you who made this year a great success! From all of the amazing people who hosted home shows to all of our fabulous customers...it was all because of you and we are so very thankful!
We will be taking January and part of Feb off. This means, we can not accept anymore orders at this time...if we are already in touch with you-no worries, we will still create something for you!!!
We will let you know as soon as we're back and taking orders...if you have questions about anything, feel free to ask. I will still be checking email.
Merry Christmas to you all. This is such a wonderful time of year and I hope everyone can take time to reflect on the meaning of this season and enjoy time with your families!

the deadline has come and gone

2009-11-17T19:18:00.000-08:00

we are not accepting anymore orders at this time, we would not have time to fill them before Christmas. If you wanna place an order and do not need it in time for Christmas, feel free!
This does not apply to home shows that fall between now and Christmas

Countdown

2009-11-03T19:32:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I'll start with the same thing I always start with...apologizing for being a horrible blogger. It's just not me, I'm not organized and really just dont have the time right now. That's my excuse for now.

What Donnie's been up to...Monday-Friday 8-5 work (the real job) 6-11:00 work (frames)

Weekends 8:00am-10:00 or 11:00pm work on frames

Me...Monday-Friday 24 hours a day work the best job in the whole world, taking care of our little one and working on frames whenever she is entertained by the mud puddles in the driveway
So, to say the least, our lives are consumed by FRAMES right now...this time of the year is incredibly busy for us...all of this to say, if you have emailed or called and have not rec'd a response yet, don't give up, one of us will get to you!
We have lots of orders waiting to be filled, time frame for orders right now is 6-8 weeks, as much as we would love to get it done, it will probably not be completed before then.
We have 2 big shows left, one this week and one next week, then we can focus on the orders.

We have the best families anyone could ever dream of, and none of this would be possible without them. All of them! My sweet mom helps do anything we ask, keeping our little one and helping with frames, my dad cuts some for us, donnie's brother and his wife have traveled a lot for us this fall doing the shows for us and his parents help watch the little one. We could never tell you how much we appreciate all of you and your willingness to help.

There are no more dates available for homeshows before Christmas. I am already booking for the spring, please let me know now if you are interested, dates fill up fast.

The picture above is a shot of part of the booth in Tupelo...the pic is by Heather Bookout of Heather Bookout Photography (Huntsville, AL)

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying this time of year :)

Remember the last day to get your orders in before Christmas is soon!

Christmas Orders

2009-10-11T19:26:00.000-07:00

I know, I know I should have warned you all that we had to cancel our booth at Canton at the last minute. Things have been out of control...our schedule looks good on paper, but when you actually have to do it all and fill orders and do home shows in between, WOWZA...........it takes a tremendous amount of time and there just isn't enough time in the day to do everything we need to do. So, as bad as we hated to do it, we had to cancel Canton. I am incredibly sorry to those who walked all over that place trying ot find us (you know who u are :)) we do plan on going back in the spring.
We will stop taking orders for Christmas November 15. Depending on how many orders are received, this date may be changed to an earlier date...our current turnaround time is 6-8 weeks.
Also, we are already booking for our spring shows, so if you are interested in booking a home show, go ahead and contact me for available dates.
Hope everyone is enjoying FALL, it's a wonderful time of the year....see you all soon!

Breaking News

2009-09-18T14:25:00.000-07:00

For those of you who read my last post and did what i asked...you know who you are...thanks! I WON, I WON, I WON!!! I am super duper excited about this, I never win anything!! So, thanks to all who crossed their fingers for me. And for those of you who, ahem...battled against me for this win (you know who you are as well) I'm so sorry for your loss (heheeeheehee) Just kidding :) Ready for some more exciting news? We are gonna be a part of Lemon Drop Studios Giveaway Love in the next few weeks...so keep checking back with my amazing friend Shauna, at Lemon Drop Studio for a chance to win a free frame. This news update keeps getting better and better, huh?!?!

Giveaway Love

2009-09-14T19:23:00.000-07:00

My sweet friend of Lemon Drop Studio is hosting an amazing giveaway... if you enter and win, you will receive an 8x10 silhouette ...don't have kiddos? don't worry, she can create silhouettes for animals as well...don't have one of those....well go get one from a shelter! Anyhoo, go visit Shauna and fall in love with all of her fun goodies! P.S. Her winners are chosen by a random generator, will you join me and cross your fingers that it picks me, please...pretty please?

back, and out

2009-09-04T14:47:00.000-07:00

Hi sweet fans! Thanks to everyone who sent kind words and thoughts our way during our family emergency. We appreciate it bunches!
We are back in action, have been for a while, just trying to sort through everything. We are headed out this evening to begin our non-stop, 11 week/weekends art show/home show journey...whew, we've never been so booked, but we're super excited!
Can't wait to see everyone :)

Hang on, we'll be back

2009-08-11T15:23:00.000-07:00

hi everyone...this will be short, but we just wanted to let you know that we have been dealing with a family emergency over the last week or so, and we have lots of e-mails and phone calls/messages that we have not been able to get to. Hopefully the first part of next week, we can start playing catch up...so, if you have e-mailed or called and have not rec'd a response, please know we have not forgotten about you, and we will respond as soon as we can. thanks for understanding

I just posted some of our fall shows...click on the "where to find us" button to check it out! We are looking forward to seeing you!

2009-07-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

Summer Goodness

2009-06-09T09:17:00.000-07:00

Welcome, summer! It's HOT, but I love it! All of the yummy fruits that are in season, the green grass, and all of the fun, feel good feelings that come along with it. These frames are so cheerful and bright. They certainly fit in with the season! The colors remind me of those bright, delicious, sugar filled sno-cones! So, go ahead, enjoy the summer goodness and all it has to offer!

Sorry, these yummy-licious frames were part of a custom order, but we would love to create them for you too!

Craziness and some down time...well sort of!

2009-05-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! Hope everyone is doing well! Things are good with us, we have been so very busy with art shows and home shows. I have a few home shows booked for the month of June, but I will not be able to book anymore for June, and probably July. We have dedicated those 2 months to nothing but building frames and working on some new ideas. We have 12 big shows booked for the fall and we have about 5 more that are pending...waiting to hear back from them. So, we have decided that we HAVE to build up a lot of stock! There will not be enough time in between shows to build. The time in between shows will be for custom orders.
We have been telling customers 3-5 weeks for custom orders, but are going to have to change it to 5-6 weeks. I hate to do this, but we have so many orders waiting to be filled. If we told you 3-5 weeks, we will have it done in that time frame, the new timeline is for orders placed today and later.
What we've been doing...This past weekend I went to Franklin, TN for a show and Donnie went to Colombus, MS for a show there. Craziness, huh? We have Canton coming up and then we head to Hernando, MS for a show. After that, it's a vacation for us, then some down time...well not really, we'll be building that stock we keep attempting to do :)

Someone Famous...

2009-04-06T11:45:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we were in Huntsville, AL for Spring Market. And guess who was there...nope, guess again...the one, the only, the very talented VERN YIP!

He spoke at the Girls Night Out and I was SO close to getting a picture taken with him! But I didn't get one :( I ran back into our booth to put lipstick on for the picture :) and when I ran back out, he was gone. GONE. Nowhere to be found! But hey, at LEAST I got to see him, right?!?!

Hope everyone is doing well! We'll post some more soon!

8x10 3-in-1 frame

Photo by Jeanelle Caraway Photography

Kelly, a loyal customer!

2009-03-25T20:51:00.000-07:00

Custom order for Kelly

"Swoop" frame with bead board and rope trim

Kelly was one of our very first customers years ago! We have built several frames for her, over the years. We always enjoy working with her and were happy to create this combo of frames for her!

This frame was completed several months ago, but I'm just now getting around to getting a pic from Kelly and posting it! She has the big "Swoop" frame in the center the two, 5x7 bead board with rope trim, on each side.

new tags, new friend

2009-03-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

We have a new friend...and she's AMAZING! She is super crafty and is now making our tags for our frames. One less thing I have to take the time to do, plus hers are much cuter! Her name is Shauna Rogers of Lemon Drop Studio She is so easy to work with and seems to be super organized (I admire anyone that is so organized, it seems so far fetched for me!)

Thanks Shauna for featuring us in a blog post and we are so excited to have found you!

You can find Shauna and her fun paper goods (and more) here...Lemon Drop Studio

and here...Lemon Drop Studio-Fresh Squeezed Gifts

go, check out all of her goodies and you can thank me later ;)

Here's a sneak peek at some of the fun...

Home again, home again

2009-03-11T20:40:00.000-07:00

11x14 double whimsy

photo by Jeanelle Caraway Photography

Hi folks...we're home from Cottontail's Village in Birmingham and appreciate all of you who stopped by our booth. We had a great time and enjoyed meeting all of you.

We are staying busy with our spring shows and home shows. Between the two, we do not have a free weekend until June! So, thanks to all of our "fans" who keep us busy and on the go! We really enjoy traveling around and meeting lots off fun people!

Pieces & pics

2009-02-20T10:21:00.000-08:00

4x6 opening

"pieces" frame

16x20 multi colored bead board with trim

5x7 opening, double whimsy (trim around pic and outside of frame)

photo by Allison Muirhead Photography

4x6 multi opening "swoop"

Half window pane, fabric covered bulletin board with coordinating fabrics

Happy New Year!

2009-01-12T15:21:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We have enjoyed our time off but are excited to start a new year doing what we love, and of course we can't start a new year without some new designs!!! So, be checking back...they are not in the works yet, but will be soon. There's nothing very exciting to post about right now, but we do have some of those cheesy New Years Resolutions...

1-we are going to try to get some sort of stock built up. We often have people wanting to come see what we have in stock and we never have more than 2 or 3! So, we are gonna try to get lots of frames built up, so we don't have to kill ourselves getting ready from show to show.

2-organize, organize, organize...we have no choice, we have to become more organized :)

3-last but certainly not least, we have to commit to ourselves, to take time to rest. There are times we are so busy, that we do not get in the bed until 2 in the morning. Not only are we exhausted (Donnie especially b/c he still has to get up and go to work) but it's easy to get burned out during those times. We love what we do and do not want to get burned out, so rest and some time off occasionally, has to be a part of the process.

We are looking forward to another great year!

pics...

2008-11-23T16:51:00.000-08:00

Here are some frames we took to Handworks. We try to take new designs to each show, so our customers will be pleasantly surprised to see a new design! The frame above is a 11x14 opening. We call these our 3 in 1 frames. We actually build 3 frames then stack them on top of each other. Kind of time consuming, but we still like them!
Photo by Jeanelle Caraway Photography

5x7 opening...3 in 1 frame

photo by Jeanelle Caraway Photography

Same frame as above, just different color combo

This isn't a new design, just one that we haven't posted yet. It's a 5x7 opening "dowel" frame

Ho! Ho! Ho! A little something to get ya in the Christmas spirit ;)

Thanks for making Handworks a great show and we look forward to seeing you at Gingerbread House and Holly Days (Vicksburg) Dec 5 and 6.

Superman...

2008-11-17T19:26:00.000-08:00

Superman...that's Donnie's new name! Keeping up with all of the shows and filling orders, there's no other name for it. We had 5 home shows last week...you can call me crazy, but it was a lot of fun! Thanks to all of the hostesses who throughout the year have opened your homes! I hope ya'll had as much fun as I did. I already have bookings for February and March. So, if you are interested, go ahead and inquire.

For those who have placed orders and have told us that your not in a hurry to get the frames, you just need them before Christmas, don't worry, we have not forgotten about ya! We have a whole list of ya'll and PROMISE to have them to ya before Christmas!

Just a reminder about Christmas orders...please, please, please, get them in as soon as possible. We are so sorry, but we will not be able to accept any Christmas orders after November 23.
We will try our best to stick to that deadline, but we are receiving orders daily and will soon be "filled up" So, please do not delay, go ahead and order today! HA! I didn't mean to make a cheesy rhyme ;)

We are preparing for Handworks this weekend. The dates are November 21-22. Come by and see us.

We are in...

2008-10-24T11:41:00.000-07:00

We are in Tupelo for Celebration Village and will be here until late Saturday night. I can't believe it, but we remembered to bring our camera and take some pics of our booth and some frames. We will be in Ocean Springs next weekend for Peter Anderson Festival. If you are in either of these areas, come by and see us!

This frame can be sold with or without the mat. It is a 14x16 opening with a fabric covered mat opening of 8x10 *photo by Allison Muirhead Photography*

Fabric covered bulletin board with ribbon

This is our booth at Celebration Village. It has already been a great show and is not over until Saturday evening!

16x20 bead board with trim

Big Girl Room...

2008-10-24T08:03:00.000-07:00

We are currently working on a "big" girl room for our "little" girl. I found the cutest bedding at Pottery Barn Kids and wanted to create a frame that would coordinate with the bedding, without being too matchy matchy.

So, here's the frame...11x14 bead board "flip flop"

I pulled the blue, green and pink from the bedding.

We ended up taking this frame with us to Tupelo, Celebration Village...it is for sale until the room is complete! Maybe this is why I don't have any of our frames in our house! :)

*Photo by Jeanelle Caraway Photography*

And, here's the bedding.

I found these great sisters that do some amazing stuff! Check them out at ETSY...http://www.NeedleinaScrapStack.etsy.com. I also have their blog listed under friends and favorites. These letters are an example of their work and will go in the new room as well. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the little birdy...so cute. They do all sorts of vintage arts and crafts. They are also gonna make me some shams to go with the bedding. I'm so excited! I am now addicted to etsy. We are thinking about creating a store through etsy, but simply just do not have the time right now. If we decide to do it, it will be after the first of the year when things slow down a bit (maybe :)). We will let ya know.

2008-10-07T12:10:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures that Donnie took very quickly at A Day in the Country (Chapel of the Cross) Thanks to all who came out. It was GREAT!!! We look forward to seeing all of you at Canton as well!

Photo by Jeanelle Caraway Photography

8x10 opening with "double" whimsy trim

I feel like I say this each time we post pics of some new stuff, but I really think this is my favorite frame! I love it. Looks great anywhere in the house! It is quickly becoming one of our more popular frames! Also, check it out in the black and white version below.

Photo by Allison Muirhead Photography
this is also an 8x10 opening with "double" whimsy trim

The ever popular bead board frame. This frame is a 16x20 opening with LOTS of detail. There is "blocky" trim around the opening, "slats" of bead board, and it's hard to see in the pic, but the outer trim is painted white to match the trim in the center.

A 5x7 multi opening "totally whimsy" frame

Sorry, this isn't the greatest picture, but we wanted to give you an idea of one of our new designs. We will be doing lots more of these, and not only in the multi's, so we will have some more pics of this style soon!

We have lots of Christmas orders coming in each day, and we still have plenty of upcoming shows left this year. So, there is some time left to get your orders in for Christmas. We will post a date s0on, as to when we will no longer be taking orders for Christmas.

frames for a wedding

2008-09-22T11:54:00.000-07:00

Just thought we would post this pic, with a big thanks to Kimberlee Miller Photography :)...

http://www.kimberleemiller.blogspot.com/
One of our sweet customers from California used our frames as table toppers, numbering the tables for guests.

Amy, it was a pleasure to work with you! We wish you and Jeremy the very best!

MIA

2008-09-15T14:08:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone..we've been MIA lately. We have been so busy...not complaining, just swamped right now with orders and all of the fall shows. So may of you have asked about the adoption. We have started a separate blog for the adoption. Our business is growing at a VERY fast pace, so we will keep this blog for the business, and have a seperate blog for adoption news. As many of you know, we have built these frames for about 5 years now along with other artistic projects. Before, it was a side job for Donnie, now he says he's gonna have to quit his job just to keep up...sometimes I have to remind him of those wonderful benefits that come along with his job. Retirement, GREAT insurance...just can't give those up! So I guess he will have to adjust to staying up all hours of the night working!
Our latest news...we met some other frame vendors...with our name!!! They were so very nice and we enjoyed meeting and talking with them. We love meeting and getting to know other vendors (not just frame vendors!!!) Love all of the artists out there! So, we have decided to change our name...before, it was just a side job, now it is a rapidly growing business and we embrace this time to change our name and take on new ideas! We strive to give you truly unique frames...with our new name, you will see LOTS of new and original ideas! We have a name in mind, but will not share it until we have decided for sure :) STAY TUNED!!!
Will post some more pics soon.
Here is the link to follow our adoption journey.
http://www.adoptingfromkazakhstan.blogspot.com/

2008-08-17T17:42:00.000-07:00

This will be hung above Scout's bed! Hope you love it, Scout...your mommy did :)

OUR swoop frame with white distressing and some green accents

2008-07-30T20:49:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, huh?!?! We are so sorry, we have just been soooo busy with shows and filling orders.Not a lot of spare time on our hands these days! We also have a bad habit of completing orders and/or new designs and forgetting to take pictures before they're gone! We did manage to get a few shots of some frames we recently completed. Happy looking :)

Window Pane fabric covered bulletin board

Window pane bulletin board

3D Ball Frame with 8x10 opening

photo by Renee Reedy

5x7 with double whimsy trim...photo by Allison Muirhead

LOVE this frame! Isn't it fun??? these photos were donated by an artist/photographer (Barry Simpson) from our church to help us raise money for the adoption. Thanks, Barry :) 5x7 multi opening with whimsy trim

2008-06-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

Another "Slats" frame
5x7 opening

It's been a while...sorry

2008-05-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry we haven't posted in a while. Things have been a bit crazy trying to get ready for all of our spring shows. Canton was a local show we did and it was really good for us :) Thanks to everyone who stopped by! Our church (The Journey) also had a booth set up for us and all of the amazing artist in our church donated items to sell. All of the proceeds are going for the adoption!!! Thanks to all who took the time and donated their artwork for us and our baby (who we will meet one day :) We are blessed to have such a wonderful church community!
We are constantly trying to come up with not only new, but original ideas. Having an idea and actually getting it done are two different things! But, we will try to post some pics soon. We love to hear our customers say "these are so unique" it makes us feel like our efforts are worthwhile :) So we keep on truckin'
Some info on the adoption front...Things are SLOW when it comes to adoption. We began this process January of 2007. WOW!!! It took us 8 mos to complete our paper work and it has been in Kazakhstan since August of 2007. We thought we would be traveling around late spring or early summer. We are content to wait for God's timing. Kazakhstan is a very popular country right now especially with China changing rules and regulations, it's harder and harder to get in that program(China), so people are going to other countries. And...Kaz is a popular choice. That's good news...it means many more children will be place in loving homes! Praise God! We will keep you all posted when we receive any news! We will probably do a separate blog for that (we will post the address.) A blog for when we travel, when we meet the child, etc...for those of you who want to follow the process.

Here are some custom orders recently finished

2008-04-08T17:46:00.000-07:00

Not sure if you can really see the detail, but this frame is made of slats.

8x10 opening black distressed

p.s. wave to Donnie, he's standing behind the frame :)

"pieces"

this frame was not a custom order...it was an experiment and we love the way it turned out.

It is made with the bead board from really old houses

Photo by Jeanelle Caraway Photography

8x10 Extrovert

5x7 opening

The Introvert

The introvert 11x14 opening

Framed bulletin board

love it with the black frame!!

***NOTE***

All of these frames are distressed using the "classic old frame" technique. Kind of like paint peeling off. This is the technique we normally use on our frames, unless otherwise specified when you place a custom order.

Fun with Frames and Color

2008-03-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

Striped "Square" Frame

Photo by Jeanelle Caraway Photography

The Extrovert

Lime Frame with Fluted trim

Photo by Jeanelle Caraway Photography

Black Distressed with Whimsy Trim

Photo By Jeanelle Caraway Photography

One of our "swoop" frames

The Introvert (swoops used as trim)

Photo by Kesha McBay/Carved From the Heart Photography

one of our "square" frames

Black distressed with multi color trim

Fabric covered mat

Photo by Allison Muirhead Photography

The Extrovert

Brown with pink whimsy trim

Here's a sneak peek at some of our new frames!

2008-02-17T19:01:00.000-08:00

Introducing the Extrovert

5x7 opening with wide trim and wide base

These frames are without a doubt my favorite! It's kind of like a new twist on an old frame, but with a "swoop" instead of a twist! It can be any size, any color you need, with or without trim.

Introducing the Introvert (the curves (swoop) used as trim)

16x20 opening with extra wide base

Bits and Pieces by Allison Muirhead photography

Monogramming by HollyPops Monogramming and Gifts

Frame by us :)

Call or e-mail for pricing

some new things...with more to come :)

2008-02-10T17:51:00.000-08:00

We LOVE these frames! The bead board is from houses that were built in the early 1900's. Our supply is limited with this bead board. If you are interested in a frame with the "old bead board" let us know and we will let you know what we have in stock.

4x6 frame with bead board $35

4x4 with bead board trim $30

We will be posting pics of some new things that we are doing...keep checking back!

Finally...a blog :)

2007-12-30T19:03:00.000-08:00

Here are a FEW examples of our frames and t-shirts. We will put the wall plaques and some other frame examples up soon. Remember...we can do frames any size and any color and wall plaques can say anything you want. Just let us know! We will add a price list soon and we will also be doing a separate blog for updates on the adoption (when we will travel, etc...)