In retail it’s tough to appeal to all of your customers, and some say you’ll go bankrupt if you try. Well since I launched Stick Me Designs, it’s been a goal to at least ‘try’ to accommodate many tastes and preferences.  This is why I’m always launching new diabetes bags, and new collections that might appeal to many likes. From over the top with colors, to busy prints, to colors that appeal to a younger crowd.  If you don’t like what you see this season stick around cause my diabetes bags will change…and you never know you may fall head over heels in love with the next collection.

So here are 2 new designs that I’m considering launching.  Comments feedback and questions are most welcome.

Wilderness Girl

Outdoorsey Type

Finally after several weeks of waiting, our newest deluxe diabetes bags have made it and they’re here. The Grown&Classy bags have arrived, and look fantastic. I was so impressed with the final design, and the insulated pocket feature is sure to be a hit for those who carry insulin during the day and need to keep it cool.

The newest deluxe bags also come with a very neat Stick Me Cool pack. A small square that fits neatly inside the insulated pocket and once wet and frozen will stay cool for hours, and it features a side that stays 15 degrees warmer just in case it’s too cold on the other side.

Oh and one more thing, if you purchase your new deluxe bag or anything accessory listed on my Facebook shop, you’ll get a 15% discount!

Thanks for reading and for stopping by*

So it’s no secret that women aren’t the only ones who live everyday with diabetes. Yup it’s true, guys also live and thrive with diabetes too. Up until now, they’ve been  left  to fend for themselves while stuffing their supplies in their pockets, or worse subjecting themselves to the…Fanny. Pack!  Yikes…let’s put an abrubt end to that shall we?

I regularly listen out for what my customers want and what they truly need from their diabetes gear. And I’ve tried my hand at guys stuff in the past, but honestly missed the mark a bit, but while parusing a Mr. Scott’s blog earlier last week, I soon realized that I had to, take another crack at it.  Breaking it down to terms that I finally got ( I hope anyway) I think I might have finally made contact on that elusive ‘nail’.  So with that, I’ll ask for feedback, comments and just what you think…eh hem…Guys that especially means you!

And Gals if you’re diggin the new Dude collection chime in as well, cause I know some of your male counterparts, have been buggin’ you for a cool diabetes gear bag…and now here ya go! Check out all the newest styles!

A pretty cool person (SKJ Go Red Riders) got me excited about Diabetes Awareness tees again. While I gave it a go last year, I wanted to give it another stab, but with a twist.

What if you could share a tee shirt designs you created?  & What if you could make a profit off of that design if it’s liked and sold? Or what if you could vote on a tee design to see it be made…and really have a say in what gets put on the backs of  others?

Hmmm intrigued…read on my friend!

***So here’s the skinny***:

—>1) Shirts will only be made available if there are enough who gotta have ‘em ie voting, liking, tweeting, or commenting.

—>2) Each new idea or suggestion will be posted for votes, comments or likes.  There has to be a total of 10 total likes, votes, comments or tweets so they’ll go into production.  No votes…no Go.

—>3) The design floor becomes open for designs submissions and suggestions. Are you the creative/crafty type?  Upload your design, if your design gets 15 likes, votes, comments and/or tweets. Your Speak Diabetes tee will go into production and be made available. And here’s the sweet spot. You’ll get that tee FREE! And. And..10% of every sale of your tee!

The idea is to give you a loud and clear voice about diabetes, and say what you really want to say. I’m calling the tee collections:

‘Speak Your Diabetes’ Tees.

Ok now here’s the part where I ask you to give me your suggestions feedback or ideas….Ready….Break!

Time for another post about what is going on behind the scenes at Stick Me Designs. I asked the facebook fans earlier last week if they could go and find my designs at a brick and mortar location where would they likely go?

Some said Wally-World aka Walmart, some said Tarjay aka Target and some said at their Endo’s office…& that struck me as interesting.

While I would be lush with excitement to see my designs on the shelves at Target I’m not quite large enough to handle such an undertaking. Sooo the Endo’s office really hit the spot for feasibility and the promise of actually making that happen this year.

Here’s my theory:

–> I’d like to start by networking with local Endo office diabetes nurses and staff. Ask if I can have permission to leave my postcards in their lobbies or to leave for support groups they’re a part of.  Next I’ll ask if it would be ok to display a bag at the reception area or checkout window. This way the bag is right there for them to see first hand and get a feel for what my designs look like up close and in person.

While I don’t think I can get them to offer them for sale to their patients ( although this would certainly be Cream!) I can ask if they’ll display them for their patients to see and then come visit the site and grab one for themselves. Sounds simple enough.

I’ll be getting help from a Sales Specialist(SS) who will be working for me assisting me with the New York  upstate area and the City, so we’ll see how the pilot will go until the end of the year.

I’m excited because my SS has tons of fabulous ideas and is super ambitious and has had made headway for other small companies and I’m hoping to see the similar results.

As I said before going at this thing called entrepreneurship is not easy…top on my ‘other’ life as a mom, a Navy spouse and employee (for now), it takes perseverance and restraint not to go above and beyond what my budget can allow.

But one thing I now I’ll have till I get where my goals are is belief in what I’m doing and what it is doing for my now friends and new customers.

It’s not saving the world but it is saving them from boring black nylon tragedies!

Phew…after a week of bloggin’, tweetin’, and facebookin’ about the latest awesome diabetes accessory contest I was finally able to select the winner of the Super Fan contest. Thank you J. Buchanan for all your tweets, facebookin’ and bloggin!  We made it to over 400 facebook fans, and you helped with that!

Thank you!

Hey listen, I do contests every so often, if you missed this one, hop on over to my Facebook page and become a fan. You’ll hear about contests, specials and collection launches first!

Just in case you haven’t seen the various spy shots around for the Grown & Classy collection coming in the next few weeks. They will feature fabulous imported faux leather fabrics, and finally an insulated pocket to keep your insulin vials cool.  *Yay*

it has always been my quest since I began this journey to introduce diabetes accessories that continued to serve a few strict purposes.

1) to be functional

2)to be fresh, colorful and modern in fabric selection and colors & to add new collections often.

At first I decided which colors and fabrics I wanted to see and soon became wise to the fact that it’s not what I wanted to see but in fact the designs that my customers ultimately wanted to see, because it is after all them who will be carrying around the accessories every day.

So I soon began to let them choose and vote on the fabrics they liked most…and now this is how I select the upcoming fabrics in all collections.  This season the Kiwi Garden was quite popular and sold out rather quickly with Red Morocco coming in next.

Now on to our next season, with a more mature, upscale feel. I’m calling the newest launch the ‘Grown & Classy’ collection. Featuring a NEW insulated pocket to keep things cool, and imported gorgeous faux leather exteriors and interiors.

Below you’ll find a ’spy shot’ of the ‘Steel’ bag which will be launched as soon as they arrive, with pre-ordering coming in the next couple of weeks.

It’s so exciting when new collections are launched…it’s like baking a cake, seeing all the ingredients come together to make an awesome creation

~Enjoy!

I think my customers are simply fabulous! It is their encouraging words, their incredible strength that makes all the struggle, and enormous amount of time I put into my business so worth it. So I thought it would be nice for a change to share some of my most recent feedback with all of the visitors who make their way here.

There may even be a picture or two…Enjoy and if you have any feedback, comments or ‘hello’s’ go ahead and comment

Now on with the Good Stuff!

****** I got {my bag} in last week and LOVE it.  It fits in my purse for normal day-to-day but came in super handy on Saturday.  I had to travel to NYC for a concert and didn’t want to have my big, bulky bag with me.  I was able to carry all my testing supplies, some glucose tablets,… and my ID and cash!  It was perfect.  Thanks so much for a product that’s sure to stay handy in my life.  I’ll be posting about it on my own blog very soon - www.singlewhitediabetic.com ******* ~Rebecca  {Thank you for your feedback Rebecca}

******I am 32 and just found out last Thanksgiving that I have type 1 Diabetes!  It was such a shock, and when I started to look around for cases and bags to carry my supplies in, I found boring bag after boring bag.  I Googled “stylish diabetic bags” and I came across your site.  I am so glad that I did!  It was refreshing to see that I wasn’t the only one that thought there just had to be something more lively, fun and functional all at the same time!  I am going on my first long trip away from home and have to carry more supplies than normal, and the jet setter couldn’t look to be more perfect   Thank you for creating things that are sure to make people smile while dealing with something so tough everyday! Warmest regards,  Ambyr Freeman*******  {Thank you Ambyr for your awesome feedback}

*****I found you when I was googling cases for diabetes. Love what you came up with and wanted something different than the ugly black cases. Karyn  ***** {Thank you Karyn for your comments}

*****Thanks. My doctor actually referred you, here in Boston MA. I was diagnosed with Type 1.5 diabetes or LADA – and so I don’t need a ton of the room for the stuff that people with type 1 need. She told me your carrying cases would be perfect!  Turns out she was right.  Best, Rachael****** {Fabulous Rachael, You & Your Endo are the Bestest}

*****I just love your products!  I don’t know if you are open to suggestions or not, but if you can get one for a demo, you might want to try photographing some of your larger cases with insulin pens. I found your site when looking for cases that would fit my pens.  I  use the Novalog ones from Nova Nordisk. I think they are the largest of the various prefilled pens. I was only able to find one other product besides yours that was long enough, and it is horribly medical-looking. Your products would have real appeal to others in my situation.  Thanks again. I am very excited and can’t wait to get my order. I have a number of diabetic friends, and can’t wait to show them your unique cases.  Kimberly****** { Great suggestions Kimberly..Great feedback thanks}

*****Rickina,

Starting and running a business that is growing every quarter while: working full time, going back to school, being a mother to 4 and 2 year old boys and being a Navy Chief wife isn’t easy. In fact it’s downright life-changing in more ways than I’m sure I know right at this moment.

But what I do know is that what I’m doing is something that people feel good about.  Living with diabetes is a big pain in the hiney and millions of people are doing it everyday.  With my functional and stylish diabetes accessories I’m able to do a few things quite nicely.

I get to one, be creative which is a huge + for me. I get to two, do something that makes living with diabetes just a little bit sweeter, and colorful.

While my company may not be the largest establishment on the block, we’re doing big things and making a difference to many people everyday.  I am a creative team that designs, creates and distributes to diabetes educators retailers and customers.  They like my designs because in addition to their functionality they’re modern, colorful designs are a welcome “Hello” to their daily routines.

Apparently I missed the segment you did on your show about the growing epidemic on diabetes in America, but it’s no surprise to me because I’m aware of the shocking statistics.  My mom told me about the episode so I decided to go to your website and see what all you had said on your segment.

I’m pretty confident that with the right know-how and guidance my business will become an enterprise and I can share my collections with millions of people around the world.  I’d love to chat about how we can make this possible.

Sincerely,

Rickina Velte

Founder|Designer  - Stick Me Designs

Yup that’s what I’d say to Ms. Winfrey should she or any of her assistants, producers, or executives come knocking on my office door…it could happen

So you’re thinkin’ the holidays are coming up….I need to get some shopping done early….I need to get my holiday cards ready and sent. And I need to do it all on the thrift…well I bring good news.

Not only can you score a Free stick me tee, and a free deluxe case you can get all those cards mailed, stuffed and stamped for about $1 a card. How can I do all this you may ask? Quite simply really, here’s how.

I recently became an ecstatic distributor for Send Out Cards or SOC as it is called. Send Out Cards not only allows me to send friends and family greeting cards, thank you cards and ‘hey how ya doin’ cards it does so much more, so much better than I’ve been doing before.

Not only does it save me a trip to whatever store I try to get in and out of with a 4 year old and a 2 year old, it let’s me go online, personalize a card from a selection of over 15,000, address it, and stamp it( a real postal stamp) all for under $1!  I can do this anywhere I have an internet connection!  Fabulous right?

So here’s where you come in. To promote this new partnership you can get a FREE gift combo pack just by checking out my site and filling out the free Gift Account. CLICK HERE then click the gift account banner, fill out the simple form, and then send a card FREE! Once you see how fun and easy it is, you’ll be hooked, I was and it was a no-brainer for me!

Want to become a sender of cards? Let’s Talk!