Mid-Year Check In...

Hi lovelies! Crazy how time flies, huh? We've been suuuuuper busy here at Winky Designs, workin' hard at bringing ya'll more awesomely delicious designs, teaming up with some very worthy causes, and opening Winky Designs retail stores! Yes, you heard right, we're expanding! We've been blessed to have the opportunity to open several retail location in our illustrious hometown, but for all those who don't call Vegas home, we still offer free shipping to anywhere in the US and we're exploring the idea of opening more retail stores in other states (stay tuned!).

It's been a whirlwind first half of 2014 and we have you guys to thank! Thanks for taking the journey with us and we hope to keep inspiring you to be the JOYFUL person you were meant to be!

And now.....a note from our fearless, not to mention fabulous, leader:

Totes Amazeballs, find them here!

Recap of Our Town Square Store Opening!

This past weekend was an incredible experience for us, we opened our second store location in Las Vegas! We are expanding at a rapid pace and Town Square is the second stop on our growing list of Winky Designs locations. To celebrate we threw an opening weekend shindig the only way we know how, with cupcakes and champagne! A huge thank you goes out to all of our friends and fans who came out to support us! With out you guys there would be no us :) Take a peep at the video we made to commemorate the moment and some awesome photos our resident photographer, Jasmine, was able to capture.

If you're in the Vegas area, come and visit us at our newest Town Square location!

6659 Las Vegas Blvd S, #108,

Las Vegas NV 89119.

A Mother's Day Shout-Out From the Winky Team

This Mother’s Day, we want to give a huge shout-out to the women in our lives that helped make us the awesome guys and gals we are today. Without them we wouldn't be here following our dreams, serving our fans, and having tons of fun in the process. So we raise our glasses to them and with a resounding shout, we exclaim, “WE LOVE YOU, MOM!”

Winky: “My mother is one of the bluntest and no BS people I know! When she sets her mind to something, she does it, and I have her to thank for some of these traits that I find in myself because I think they're necessary to make it as a tough female entrepreneur! Love you mom, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!”

Vanessa: “I realize I’m more like my mom as I get older, and that’s a great thing! She’s a fighter (she's beat cancer!), an incredibly hard worker, insanely silly (really, you're going to dance in public to embarrass me, lol?!) and the list goes on and on. But the overwhelming quality she possesses is the love for her family. I can only hope to show a fraction of the love she has shown me over the years to my family one day…thanks mom for raising me surrounded with love! It saved me some serious therapy bills!”

Robyn: As time has passed and I have gotten a little wiser, I've realized the saying is true that "Mother's are the glue that holds families together." My mom is patient, kind, survived cancer, runs my dad's business, takes care of my grandma's needs, helps take the burden off my sister by picking up the kids, cooking dinner, household chores, and being the ear that listens to her 3 children everyday. I am thankful and blessed to have a mother who sacrifices and shows us the true meaning of a mother's love.”

Silvya: “My mother is my biggest inspiration and my biggest motivator. She's been both my mom and dad and with a mom like her who needs a dad! I love her so much that words can't describe! I'm so proud of her and I feel very blessed to have her as my mom! Love you mamacita!”

Jesus: “My mom has always been my number one supporter in all of my decisions. She brings me joy and happiness that no one could ever give me. When I feel down she is always there to pull me back up. There is no other way to express my gratitude but to say "I love you mom".”

Gedalya: A little Mother's Day poem for your enjoyment:

My mother, My mother 

She works harder then any other.

She took care of us kids from morning 'til night, making sure we grow up learning wrong from right. 

The years have past and my childhood days were not meant to last. 

As I grew older I moved away and started a life of my own.

But I'll never forget the important lessons I've learned in my mother's home.

Jasmine: “My mom is the weirdest, funniest, and coolest mom I know. She's always been more of my friend than my mom. She's the reason I love the 80's and the only person who will tell me "Yes, that outfit makes you look fat." Haha. Love you, mom! Thanks for everything you've done for me!”

Ife: "My mom, a former flower child from the 60's and 70's, is still a pretty groovy chick! Love you mom!"

This is YOUR day moms! Kick your feet up and enjoy it! 

9 Rap Songs with the Best “Time” Lyrics

We must confess, we fancy ourselves some rap enthusiasts (in between listening to k-pop and the soundtrack to Twilight). True, ask Ray, Winky’s husband and Head of Marketing, and he might say his favorite rapper is Soulja Boy, but the rest of us appreciate a smooth flow and bangin’ beat every now and again. We especially go crazy over rap songs that incorporate “time” in the lyrics. We are after all, a watch design company! I’ve scoured our epic rap collection to compile a list of the best rap lyrics dealing with time. Because you know, if time was money, we’d have a milli, a milli, a milli, a milli….

If this doesn't give us street cred, we don't know what will...

1.  Drake- Fancy

“Better late than never, but never late is better/ they tell me time is money, well we’ll spend it together.”

2.  J. Cole- Mr. Nice Watch

“They say time is money but really it’s not/ if we ever go broke girl, then time is all we got” 

3.  Joe Budden- Time Flies

“Look what time does, need a reality check/It’ll remind us, you can’t run from it, it’ll always find us”

4.  Kanye West- Not Enough Time

“Not enough time in one lifetime/ to love you like you deserve”

5.  Lupe Fiasco- Gold Watch

“Got my, gold watch and my, gold chain/ with my fancy car and my diamond ring”

6.  Timbaland- Time
“She’s too invested in the hours that pass her by/ I’d pay attention if I thought it was worth the time”

7.  The Roots- One Time

“I was always late for the bus/ Just once can I be on time/ Then I started to think what’s the rush/ Who wants to be on time"

8.  French Montana- Don’t Waste My Time

“Tell ‘em, don’t waste my time (nah nah nah)”

9.  Fabolous- My Time

“Go hard today/ can’t worry about the past cause that yesterday/I’mma put it on the line cause it’s my time/ hey, hey, hey, hey/ Gotta stay on my grind cause it’s my time

We hope this list inspires you all to start rhyming like Dr. Seuss and write your own rap song. Because in the words of Fabolous, “So ya’ll better check your wrist piece, cause IT'S TIME to make history”.

Winky Designs out *drop the mic*

5 Tips For Opening a Successful Store

Opening a retail store can be a great way to sell your own designs (say, bracelet wrap watches and cool fashion accessories?), fashions from other designers, or a combination of both. We had the amazeballs opportunity to open our first retail location in Las Vegas, Nevada in December 2013. Mostly focusing on our wholesale and online channels, we wanted a store front what would allow our business to promote brand recognition and brand exposure. Most people that have worked for a big box retailer know that when you open a new store, you just deal with moving product in and training staff. Most do not realize the amount of planning and little details that go into opening a new store. As a small business owner, opening your own store can set forth several challenges such as construction, product delays, or even lack of planning. It takes a lot of work to open your own retail store and make it a success! The following tips can help your store opening process be a successful one.

The Winky Designs flagship store!

1. PICK A THEME

First and foremost, pick a theme for your store. Take your business partner or your team to a local mall to generate and create ideas. There are sometimes hundreds of different stores in a mall; however, to help you narrow down some of the stores, look at stores that carry similar products that you’ll be carrying. Pay close attention to staging products from a visual standpoint: How are their windows set up? What type of fixtures do they have? What type of props and visual displays does every store use? What type of counter will your register be on? While on this journey at the mall, keep your phone charged so that you are able to take pictures, not to copy, but to remember the ideas that you did like. Take notes of stores that you may want to revisit. This team exercise should inspire you to gather ideas, thoughts, and paint a picture on what your future store can look like.

Pick and theme and communicate it throughout the store

2. HAVE A DETAILED FLOOR PLAN & TIMELINE

As soon as you know what unit or space your business will be occupying, come up with a detailed floor plan. Have a mock floor plan drawn out with spacing, the types of fixtures you have in mind, and a timeline to get these actions done. Give yourself time to compare prices locally and online for fixtures, displays, and hardware. Smaller businesses usually have smaller budgets and look to minimize cost as much as possible. For a small start-up business, a detailed floor plan is very important from a branding perspective. It is important to convey to the customer exactly what your business is about and what you are selling. It may be the only shot to win a customer for life. With no set vision of what your store will look like, it could be confusing to the customer what you are trying to sell in your store and therefore could hinder your potential sales. Having a detailed plan and timeline in place will allow you to be able to react to any other changes that will come up.

Plan your space efficiently to maximize selling

3. ADDING TO YOUR SPACE: MIRRORS

Simple things can add to your space like adding mirrors in your store. If you are working with a small space there are plenty of ways to make a small room appear larger than it really is. Through creative use of mirrors, you can trick the eye into thinking a room is larger, eradicating the claustrophobic or cluttered feel that many small rooms carry. Strategically placed mirrors can brighten a room and brighter rooms are often viewed by the eye as being larger than they really are. Mirrors, especially larger ones, add a sense of depth to a small space, making it appear larger; however, larger or customized mirrors can be quite expensive and can vary anywhere between $300-$900. Using a series of smaller mirrors combined can create the same effect you would get from a larger mirror and will save you a lot of money. Home Depot and Lowe’s have standard size mirrors at great prices, which will allow set up costs to be as minimal as possible.

Adding mirrors opens up the a small space and adds depth

4. ADDING TO YOUR SPACE: SIGNAGE

Another way to utilize your wall space is by adding life style photos and posters of the products that you carry in your store. Life style posters are a great way to showcase to the customers how your product will look on a live person. These posters would make a good substitute for a store that doesn't have mannequins.

Most small businesses will only have one person working in the store at a time. Have pricing around the store that can be easily seen and that is type written. Typing out a sign is much more professional than a hand-written one because it is easier to read and has a neater appearance. This will help with indirect customer service when you are busy helping someone else at the moment. 

Signage should match the theme of the store

5. POS SYSTEM

Buy a cash register to hold money and a merchant account to accept credit card payments at your store. The register should be electronic and able to capture and report a history of your cash sales. Having credit card capability will make it easier for your customers to pay and will keep you from losing sales if you are a cash-only store. There are many pos systems out there; however, Square is one of the more commonly used systems. Square will take credit card transactions through an iPhone, iPad, or Android. Smaller businesses are using Square because it’s cost efficient, simple and easy to use. Square advertises a transaction fee per transaction of 2.75%, however it’s negotiable! Just ask them. Square helps you eliminate receipt clutter and saves you money with printing and receipt paper. Most of all we are doing a good deed saving the environment. Most customers will be ok with “going green” with no tangible receipt printed out, however, there will be “that customer…” (haha), that will demand it. In this circumstance, have a receipt pad available just in case. They are available at Staples or an Office Depot type supply store.

iPads are portable and much less expensive than a traditional POS system

Taking a little bit of time and thinking your plan through before the opening process starts will save you a lot of hassles in the future. Advice for anyone thinking about opening their own store or going to start the process soon, the Winky Designs Team would say, “It’s time…to be prepared and make this store opening a successful one!”

The hard work pays off !

Container Park Fashion Show Round Up

At the beginning of the month, we had the privilege of organizing a unique and fun fashion show highlighting the amazing talents of design students from the Las Vegas Art Institute and the tenants of the Container Park located in Downtown Vegas. Locals and visitors alike came down and were treated to a lively show as well as an hour of being introduced to designers and models explaining their designs in more detail and hustlin' for votes (a very necessary skill for future success, lol!). It was such a blast and the designs were well executed and oh-so-CREATIVE! Here's a closer look at the event and a sampling of some of the phenomenal designs...

Las Vegas Kettle Corn dress designed by Silvya Magana

The High Points Gallery dress by Yanet Martinez-Arriaga

Winky Designs dress by Shyann Desa and Alexa Badia-Robertson

1st RUNNER UP! Lil Art Bodega dress by Vanessa Garcia

American Vagabond dress by Delight Mejia

GRAND PRIZE WINNER! Bin702 dress by Jillian Ohriner

Crazy Legs Boutique dress by Frances McCullin

Redstich dress by Tiki Jay One

2nd RUNNER UP! Sasa Sweets Chill Spot dress by Marisol Gutierrez

Sweet Spot Candy Shop dress by Haley Herdman

Blu Marble dress by Matu Cleaver

Thank you and congratulations to everyone who participated and a special thank you A City Jane for the pictures! We look forward to putting on more community events where ever we can spread the Winky joy! Leave us a comment below and let us know which one is YOUR favorite!

Downtown Las Vegas Container Park Fashion Show

Get ready to get inspired with some one of a kind fashion! Winky Designs is excited to announce a collaboration with the Container Park and the Art Institute of Las Vegas (AiLV) to create a truly one-of-a-kind fashion show! 28 brands within the Container Park (including not only the boutiques and galleries but also restaurants and food shops) have been paired with 28 AiLV students to design dresses which reflect the unique and eclectic mix of brands at the Container Park.  The students' original creations will then walk the runway to show off the local shops and their brand concepts on April 5th, 2014 at 1pm.

The student designers will be judged on their creativity as well as their ability to represent the spirit of the brand they’re designing for. Expect popcorn, cupcake, and street art inspired dresses to be parading down the runway! The grand prize winner will be voted on by the audience and 2 runners up will be voted on by a panel of notable Vegas judges. Prizes include over $2,000 in gifts given by the participating brands. This event promises to be fun and festive for watchers and designers both! 

3 Places in Vegas to Find Your Potential Future Husband

“Where the heck do all the good guys hide?!” can be a commonly heard complaint by the single ladies here in Vegas (and in our office). With the abundance of temptations, it can seem like a rotating door of bad boys in the dating repertoire. Vegas stands out as one of the most difficult cities in the US to find a potential husband for women in their twenties because of the transient nature of people here as well as the aforementioned temptations, but rest assured it is NOT IMPOSSIBLE! We share 3 places you might have overlooked in your quest for Mr. Right (or Mr. Big), so go ahead and do your hair and put on some lipstick ‘cause you might just snag yourself a good one!

1.   Casino

The casino and hospitality industry is a big one here with about 30% of the population employed in that sector. One of the best kept secrets for finding a man is somewhere you might go everyday to eat a meal, the EDR! The employee dining room is a great place to meet a good man and I’ll tell you why: A.) He has a job (score!) and B.) Since Vegas is a 24 hr. city, if you spot him at the EDR all the time, it’s most likely he has similar working hours as you (carpool, eat lunch together everyday, be awake at the same time….oh, the possibilities are endless!)

2.   Speed Dating Events

Before you automatically shout “UH, NO!” and tune out, hear us out! Speed dating isn’t what it used to be and just like online dating, it has lost most of the stigma. There are organizations tailored to specific groups like young professionals, pet owners, religious affiliation- whoever you are, they can introduce you to like-minded individuals! Long gone are the days where anybody who signs up can participate meaning you could very well meet the “creeper” of your dreams (EWW)! Gather your girls and head out for a fun night of mingling because YPI (Young Professionals, Introduced) is throwing an awesome speed dating event March 29^th at the Gold Spike. The $30 entry gets you 2 drinks and customized speed date matching based on questionnaire answers. Best of all, if you hit it off with that young venture capitalist, stick around at Gold Spike and play some giant Jenga by the fire pit on your first date!

3.   Weekend Bar-Hopping on East Fremont

If you’re a hip 20-something chick you’ve most likely been downtown bar-hopping from DCR to The Griffin to Commonwealth. Keep your options open and your eyes peeled because guys from all walks of life are there too! Groups of friends venture down to East Fremont so you’re bound to see someone you know and you can check out the group of friends they came with. Being introduced by a mutual friend/acquaintance is a great way to meet a guy and it takes a lot of the pressure off. These bars are perfect for cozying up to a friend of a friend of a friend and starting a convo, who knows, he might just be an entrepreneur with a heart of gold!

Announcing the Winners of Our 2014 WOW Resolutions Giveaway!

We're very excited to announce one Grand Prize winner and five First Prize winners of our W.O.W (Words of Wisdom) Watch Collection Giveaway! Thanks to all entrants for showing your support and entering in our very first watch contest! The deadline has finally arrived and the winners have been selected with a random number generator. The Grand Prize winner takes home the entire W.O.W Collection of 5 watches (Joy, Love, Faith, Dream, and Hope), while the five First Prize winners take home one W.O.W watch of their choice! Drum rolls please...

Grand Prize Winner:
Ana Medrano  

5 First Prize Winners:

Cora Lukehart

Dionna Goltz Sanchez

Katie Harrison

Brandon Owens

Erika Avalos

Thank you again and keep an eye out for future contests and giveaways! Ya never know when we'll be inspired to bless our fans with free products!!

4 Things I've Learned About Fashion Modeling

This week we did a swimsuit shoot (say that five times in a row) for our summer lookbook on our slap watches. So instead of the typical style guide I’ll give you a behind the scenes look on what it’s like modeling for Winky (with of course some of my bikini pictures ;)). It’s actually really fun! I’ve never really modeled before, nor am I built like one. The key to modeling is being comfortable with the person shooting you, and of course yourself. If you're not happy in your own skin or aren’t confident in who you are…it’ll show on your photographs. I’ve gotten pretty good on picking up what Winky wants for her photo shoots. For example, she’ll smile behind the camera which is my cue to cheese-it-up. Honestly, I usually can’t help but giggle when she does it, which in turn gives us genuine pictures. Winky isn’t afraid to tell me when I’m doing an unflattering pose or if I need to suck it in. Hey, I’d rather she tell me than see it later on the blog or website and wonder what the heck I was doing. Yes our photo shoots have a purpose. But it’s also fun and exciting to find new places to shoot…and it’s an excuse for us to take a breather outside of the office for a while! 

It was a nice warm day here...the water not so much. I thought my legs were gonna fall off in the pool! 

Summer is just around the corner and we figured what better way to show that the slap watches are water resistant (up to approx 98 feet) than doing a swimsuit shoot. We also used our scarves as sarongs to show their versatility. This is my tenth shoot with Winky and since this doesn't come naturally for me I thought I'd share some tips I've picked up along the way.

 

1. Keep moving and give your photographer some variety. When I run out of ideas I just do something goofy. Winky will usually have me move to a different area and have me do it again 'til she gets the shot she wants.

2. To make it look natural...is very unnatural. If Winky tells me to look away, and if I look too far away all you see is the white of my eyes. So I'll look a half a foot above her head and to the left or right depending on my angle. Did you think was actually looking at something? Most the time I'm looking at a trash can, or a weird spot on the wall.

 

3. Frankie says Relax! - You have to be very relaxed when you're modeling or the pictures will look forced. I still have some trouble with getting my hand placement just right. Here's a tip for hand models: Don't spread your fingers apart or make a fist, cause it ends up looking awkward and dismembered. I'm still working on it too and I'll get it right one of these days (I hope!).  

 

4. Have fun! No one's perfect so let loose like no one's watching. You never know, you may even surprise yourself. 

Shyann and I had a blast doing the photo shoot together at the Artisan hotel pool. Did you know thats it's a topless pool? I wasn't aware...until I saw a completely naked lady less then 3 feet from us! I also didn't know topless meant completely nude either. And that's all she wrote!