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Meet Amanda Giddens
President and CCO




Home Decor, Textiles and Art Licensing - Wholesale and Retail

Creative Charlie
by Amanda Giddens
Arts and Crafts
2010-2013 I Director, Arts and Crafts facility I THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (for FMWR)


Operations management, global sourcing, buyer for crafting and customization materials, marketing and logo creation for advertising and presentations, exterior façade/interior designs and ground plans (shown), built new creative programs and services: custom framing, digital mat cutting, laser engraving, pottery, embroidery and training/classes

Facility Revamp Process





BEFORE
The dismal facility in 2011 had few services, adult only programs and furniture, littered with junk, low income and not ideal for morale.
CONCEPT
Requested funding by creating a proposal: Photoshop Interior Design of retail shop and program area. Goal: add family friendly programs and seating, launch custom services, boost morale and revenue.


AFTER
Received funding to paint walls, produce samples for gallery showcasing new products and services, installed wall hangers, organized debris removal and gifted family appropriate furniture for fresh programming. Shown: open house event, created a trendy logo (right) for new Marketing material and a Facebook page.

Installation Process for New Services



Visited sister facilities for guidance based on sales and popularity, then installed new machinery, computers and software (below), implemented training for associates and volunteers off-site, built graphic design layouts and logos for customization, sourced and purchased materials, created gallery samples and order forms as training, implemented ordering procedures and safety processes etc. Examples:

Matte Design and Custom, Digital Matte Cutting
via GMC Gunnar software for Aiox and Novex
Graphic and Logo Design for Customization
Epilog Laser Engraving software

DIY and Volunteer Certifications
Custom Embroidery
Custom and DIY Framing






Wood Shop DIY
Paint Your Own Pottery
Kid Friendly Crafting Space
and Furniture
The Launch






Held an Open House to launch new programs and services, and offered a community tile painting craft in the new family friendly wing (below left) and after (below right) for the lobby.
Generated income and patrons by 98% while maintaining a 100% ICE score (based on customer feedback).


Laser Engraving
Custom awards, special event keepsakes and decor, as well as facility signage such as Paint Your Own Pottery Pick-Up area. Examples (below): custom, graphic artwork on various surfaces



Framing
Custom Awards, Decor and DIY Workshop - Examples (below): custom framing and engraving gallery


Custom digital mat and framing by the A&C team (below with COL C. Hickey and Derek Hyde), also an example of how the awards promoted community morale.


Amanda Giddens and Carols Delgatto celebrating the completion of the machinery installation
(above) with coins gifted by the USAG base Commander.
It's go time!
Embroidery
Custom graphic designs for flags used in awards (below left) and logos, graphics, text for apparel (below right).


Adult Tee
Design

Paint Your Own Pottery
Purchased supplies, located furniture for display, painting and pick-up areas. Created a new process for the service including: glazing, kiln firing and sanding. We also performed tests to provide "helpful painting tips" to patrons to ensure desired results. How cute are these works of art!



Community Art Events
Crafting: purchased supplies, created samples of finished products, created process for guests to follow (below) examples: community thank you cards sent to deployed Soldiers (left) and Oktoberfest themed paint our own pottery public craft (center). Also provided face painting and toddler courage coaching at several events.



Volunteer and Team Appreciation





Created custom, hand painted and engraved awards (below) for talented team and outstanding volunteers whose trail blazing spirit made it all possible. Thank you for serving our community with a smile!

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