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!

So here’s the scoop.  As a small diabetes accessory business owner I’m always looking for fun ways to promote awareness of stylish diabetes accessories and have fun doing it.  My favorite way to do this is with word of mouth from my customers and friends, and with *Contests*!

Yay, contests are fun and everyone likes a super duper cool contest!

So it’s that time again, and this one is sure to please and bring out all the Super Stick Me Fans. I’m on the lookout for my biggest Super Stick Me Fan?

Is it You??  Would you blog about Stick Me Goodness? Would you Tweet it up? Or would you be willing to help me reach my goal of 500 Super Facebook Fans?

Well we’re about to see because up for grabs in this Super Duper Stick Me Bag of Loot Valued at over $125!!

*A Red Morocco Deluxe Bag – retail $39.99
*A Groovy Blue Pocket & an Aqua Retro Pocket – retail $16.99/each
*2 Kiwi Garden Bio Flips – retail $5
*A ‘Got Insulin’ Stick Me Tee(in small) – retail $15
*A super awesome copper and Greek Leather ‘Diabetes’ awareness bracelet – retail $32.00
(Greek Leather may be substituted for cotton if winner chooses)

That’s over $125 in Fabulous Stick Me Goodies!

Now whatdaya gotta do to Grab this Swag of Goodness? Well You Can Choose!

1.  Tweet about the contest, and encourage your followers to Retweet and to join us on Facebook – (my personal goal is to get 500+ followers)  A girl can wish right?

2. Write a blog post about the contest and your favorite Stick Me Goodies and encourage comments and new facebook fans – Leave me a facebook comment so I know you blogged about the contest and so I can direct my followers to your post as well ( a little push for  too you my friends

3. A little bit of everything…if you have a creative way to spread the Stick Me word…let me hear it.

The most ambitious Super Fan will be chosen next Friday at 7pm Eastern time, and announced on Facebook   ( search Stick Me Designs) & Twitter (@stickmedesigns_)

Make sure you share your efforts with me through Twitter, Facebook, or with emails…so I can keep track of the Super Fans entries!

The winner of the contest will be announced at 7pm Eastern next Friday the 21st.

The Super Fan that has shown the most initiative to spread the word and/or grow the facebook fan list will be chosen as The Super Fan Winner!

So…. are you our Super Fan?  Let the Super ‘Fan-ing’ ehem Begiiiin!

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,

As my company grows into its toddler years I thought it may be beneficial to chronicle what happens behind the scenes of a mom-run small business.  In the midst of being a busy mom to two boys ages almost 5 and almost 3, in addition to working full time, and being a Navy spouse things can get so out of hand and so extremely busy I wonder how I find time to breath. Does anyone out there ever feel like that?  Oh and did I mention I’m completing my Bachelor’s degree too…yup 4 classes to go! Phew exhausted just going over it all.

So my company Stick Me Designs produces and designs stylish, functional and moder diabetes accessories. I design each and every piece that makes its way to the web shop. I have found contractors in China, New York and Colorado to assist us with production costs, and I’m currently in talks to have a  new collection possibly made with a contractor in Pakistan.

So my goal is to not only bring fresh, modern stylish accessories to people living with diabetes, but to also provide a sole outlet for me to spread my creative wings and take my company to the next level.  So how does a one-woman show go about this?

Good question… While I love the price breaks with having our bags made abroad, sometimes it’s difficult to make those minimum requirements.  So I’ll go with our US manufacturer, but then our order are smaller which run the risk of selling out pretty quickly.  Arrgh.

But at the end of the day, when I get an email that says, ” I was just diagnosed last week with diabetes and my endocrinologist recommended you” I gush with pride and rainbows.

What does it all mean? It means that:

Being a mom is hard work
Running a business is hard work
Being a Navy Wife is hard work

and in the end my goal is that all the sacrifice and hard work is totally worth it in the end…I have no doubt it will be!

I’m happy to hear your comments

Well at least Stick Me Designs is. This is our 3rd year in business and I’ve held on through the upstart which I still feel like I’m in at times, and we’re still holding strong this tough economy. But with growth comes lessons learned and new creations, ideas and maturity.

We’ve had many customers come to us and ask for a mature, grown-up collection of bags that caters to those who enjoy color yes, but also like a bit of sophistication and chic-ness with their diabetes style.  Sophistication and diabetes accessories haven’t quite hit the mainstream but we hope to change that with a new line of designs titled ‘Krimson’.  The Krimson line will be a modern, sophisticated take on our fresh functional diabetes bags, cases and accessories.

With modern edge, flair and design the Krimson collection will feature bold fabrics, functional thoughtful design, and modern sophisticate style.

We’ll show you a spy prototype shot because you rock if you’re reading this :

Like it? Comment, Tweet it up or share on our Facebook Fan Page!

So you say “I know I should wear an awareness bracelet but…” “I’m just not that into crystals” or maybe you say,

“I want my very picky teenage daughter to wear some type of diabetes-type alert bracelet, but she won’t wear any I buy her”

Well we’ve designed some groovy, chic alternatives to choose from that we’re sure will be hit for those picky types out there.

Our diabetes awareness jewelry are originally designed by us, handcrafted by local artists and speak without being totally obnoxious…can it accomplish all of this? Yes indeedy…my friends and we’re happy how the end results turned out.

So just in case you want to wear diabetes jewelry, but you’re not into rubber, crystals or big bulky designs, we may have a solution.  But if you are into those things, no worries because there’s plenty of pickin’s out there for you too*

Want to grab one of ours?  Cool. CLICK HERE and you’re off to happy chic-ness…

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

Did you notice? If you’ve been by http://stickmedesigns.com you might notice a change or two. We’ve remodeled our shop and we hope you’ve enjoyed the changes.

We’re also hard at work designing fresh new stylish diabetes accessories for you. More diabetes meter testing bags, a collection of insulin pump bags and gear, and much more goodies in the works.

If you have some suggestions or feedback for a case for your diabetic child, or maybe you little guy please share them with us.  We use that feedback to improve any way we can, and we appreciate the good and the bad since this is how we continue to grow.

As we move into our third year of providing stylish, functional and fabulous diabetes accessories we wanted to thank so many of you our friends and customers for your positive words and support.  As we move into 2010 we’re confident that we will be able to continue to provide more style-forward designs and increase our collections.

Got questions for us?  Shoot us an email, or give me a call, I’d be happy to chat with you!

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!