The Art of Living Beautifully Feature!

In an effort to meet the social media and branding needs of our client’s, a few months back we began offering animated maps. In this short time, we’ve seen developers and real estate agents use them to highlight new properties and couples share their wedding locations. The great thing about these maps is that they can be shared across all social media platforms and the engagement is a lot higher vs a standard image. Our goal is to energize your audience and to encourage interaction with your social media posts; that’s why we make sure your branding (we help with that too BTW) and look is captured in all our creations. We were included in the latest issue of The Art of Living Beautifully, a magazine dedicated to style, culture, and the history of McKinney, Texas. Lauren, the founder of the magazine, has a special publication dedicated to style, culture, beauty tips, cooking, and personal development. Her magazine has something for everyone! Check out the latest issue below and to see our new ANIMATED MAPS embedded in the magazine! How cool is that?

Jeremy & Carol

Subscribe to TAOLB HERE.

You need this for 2017

 2017 is here, so we thought we'd share some of the things we loved from 2016. Check out these products and vendors, and you'll be sure to have a smile on your face for 2017.

LOCAL FAVORITES

Younique Mineral Touch Pressed Powder

This is a makeup staple for any woman on the go,  awesome quality and a must have in your purse. Our friend Lindsey Ganter is a true talent and amazing mother of 3... Can't stop this momma. Make sure to follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

JOJOJACKALOPE NEON tags

An awesome gift especially for teachers.  Our kids teachers absolutely loved them. Molly's low quantity high quality letterpress tags are the image of perfection. They are the first of their kind to offer low quantity Letterpress for a great price! A unique gift for sure, and Molly the owner is an absolute talent and sweetheart. Another mom making it happen. Lover her. Follow Molly on Instagram.

My Cherie Amor Designs Calligraphy

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An amazing talent on the rise. I absolutely love her stuff. Best thing is that as good as her calligraphy is, she is a better person.

FOOD & DRINK

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Lovers 85% Cacao

An awesome dark chocolate that you won't feel too guilty about enjoying. A perfect way to satisfy that chocolate craving.

 Austin Eastciders Cider

As a cider aficionado I can attest that this is one of the best I have ever had. Flavors including honey, pineapple, and even a hopped cider are absolutely fantastic.

ENTERTAINMENT

Hardcore History

If you are a fan of history, you need to check out Dan Carlin's Hardcore History at dancarlin.com. From Alexander the Great to his current event podcast, called common sense, Dan Carlin provides theater of the mind like no other podcaster out there.

Netflix Original -- The Crown

Set in England during the early reign of Queen Elizabeth, The Crown is a fascinating look into not only the life of the Queen, but of her young family. A great show to binge watch on rainy days while having a cup of Early Grey tea!!

Family Business

This past Wednesday our family (CW Designs) took a field trip to The Alexa Machine Company in Dallas to watch one of Carol's designs screen pressed for the first time. A while back Carol and I started thinking about creating a map that highlighted some of the awesome places to eat on the Square in McKinney, TX. Carol spent months going over layouts, concepts, and materials while I offered my occasional two cents! Finally, last week we had a layout and concept that we liked. Carol always wanted to have one of her designs screen printed on a tea towel, clearly her first generation Scottish roots were at play. We looked around the Dallas area to find a shop that would best fit our needs and were rewarded when we found the people of The Alexa Machine Co.

The Alexa Machine Company is a small family business that services small businesses like CW Designs. Roseamber and her husband, Jan, own the small shop located in a nondescript business park in North Dallas, but their work is anything but nondescript. They are truly dedicated to their craft and take pride in bringing an artists vision to life. They've worked with bands from all over Dallas, small businesses, and even some of Dallas' best know artists.  Besides being kick ass at what they do, they are down to earth people who know the challenges a small business faces. We spent the morning talking about pigments, Jan's former life in metal bands, and discussing the leap of faith it took to do something they loved.  It was a pretty great morning and it reaffirmed our efforts in making CW Designs a full on family business. Owning a small business has made us acutely aware of where our money goes and who it goes to and when Carol and I were watching Jan and his assistant set up the press in an increasingly warmer garage while humming classic rock tunes I saw where our money was going and it made me smile.

This map only highlights a small portion of what makes McKinney a great town. We hope that you'll support all of the great small businesses in McKinney because that's what makes it special and why Money Magazine rated it the #1 place to live in America. Small businesses across the country are what makes this country great and we appreciate every order from newly engaged couples, small businesses, real estate agents, and wedding/event planners from all across the country and the globe. Your money goes to helping us achieve our goals as a small business and to provide for our children.

The final result!

Support a small business on ETSY, buy from artisans, and shop at your neighborhood grocer. Should your travels ever take you to the burgeoning outpost of McKinney, head to the Square and shop, have a drink, and eat a fantastic meal, all while knowing you are helping a small business and a family. Oh, and buy a tea towel to remember your trip.

McKinney Home and Garden Show

I recently just finished creating a map for the upcoming Home and Garden Show in our new hometown of McKinney, TX. Valarie Merchant Kerby, the Home and Garden Tour Chairman, contacted me a few weeks back so we sat down and discussed a little bit about the show, her real estate business, and how I grew up attending garden walk shows with my mother. We had a lot common, it was a perfect match! Valarie is such a sweet woman full of great ideas and passion for everything she does, very inspiring! I am so happy we met and I can't wait to work with her again soon. Check out the map below that will also double as a fan for the attendees!  The McKinney Home and Garden Show is June 14, more information can be found at www.mckinneygardenclub.org.