Slingshot Creative Biz

St. Jude Dream Home

2011-05-06T06:25:00.001-07:00

This year, Slingshot Creative donated a mural in the downstairs playroom of the St. Jude Dream Home. Thank you to Jeff Fahrlander, (Fahrlander Custom Homes and Castle Rock Roofing), for giving us an opportunity to participate in this worthy cause. We had so much fun with this project! Here are the before and after pictures:

Think Big Nixa BNI

2011-02-05T23:22:00.000-08:00

It's rare that Josh and I get to work on a logo together and this one is close to my heart. I love my Think Big Nixa BNI group and encourage anyone to come check it out. We meet at 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday mornings. This was one of those logos where we had a general idea that literally needed to say our name and emphasized our goal in Think Big Nixa BNI group to pass referrals that turn into profit for each small business in the membership.

Product Photography

2011-01-10T22:48:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite clients is Heather Hill Farms and it's not because the first two words are coincidentally my last two names. If you have not been out to this quaint gift shop that features Osceola Cheese located in Ozark, MO, make plans to go. This is a wonderful place to buy original gifts. We had a lot of fun putting together a brochure featuring one of our many services - product photography.

These photos may look like iStock photos but they were shot by none other than Joshua Hill, owner of our very own Slingshot Creative. For any product photography needs, keep us in mind. We do have the lighting, backdrops, and equipment to meet clients where they are - in the comfort and convenience of their showrooms.

Holiday Photo Special

2010-11-05T14:59:00.000-07:00

Slingshot Creative Holiday Special!

#1. No Sitting Fee!
#2. Family or Business Photos!

#3. Creatively Designed Christmas Cards!
#4. All Yours with Rights on a CD to Print Unlimited Copies!

#5. $150!

Call us today to sign up for your session.

Delivery Room Photography

2010-03-17T14:39:00.000-07:00

We have had the special privledge of photographing the Brooks family now for almost a year. It is a rare circumstance when the family we work with bonds so quickly and entirely with us. This has been the case here. We love the Brooks family. Janelle invited us in to take pictures of their new arrival literally ten minutes after she was born. Not only did we get invited in, we were the first among the family to be allowed to see her. The nurses and doctor commented that this was a first. Usually, new moms wait until the baby is a day old and they are feeling less overwhelmed. But this new mom was adamant about us capturing the delivery room experience. Here's a sneak peak of what we took:

The Playroom before Christmas

2009-12-23T21:32:00.000-08:00

This mural was a fun one to do. It was a Christmas present for the grandkids. We enjoyed working with this client. She was so excited about Josh's work, she kept adding walls and pictures. This entire playroom took one week to complete.These ducks were part of the original plan...
As was this night "window" scene...

And the day "window" scene...

However, this farm scene was added on and became bigger and bigger...

Another add-on... her husband added the actual wood on the wall for the fence.

Brooks Family Photos

2009-11-14T21:50:00.000-08:00

Every photo new photo shoot we do is my favorite. Mostly because we try new locations and expand our experience. These photos were taken downtown with a family who was creative enough to try new things with us. Here are a few of our favorite photos with the Brooks.

Big congrats to this family as they are also expecting baby girl number two.

Wacky World

2009-07-25T21:40:00.001-07:00

Wacky World is the new kids bounce place in town. Since its open three months ago, it has become our favorite place to play for some basic organizational reasons. There is a five and under bounce house that is ideal for my two kids. But I absolutely fell in love with the place the day they asked us to do a mural for them. Because the mural is over the main entrance and a large scaffolding would certainly block it becoming a safety issue, Josh went in two hours before Wacky World opened for three different days. During this project, we discovered that the owners are considering another Wacky World to go in Branson. They asked us if we would be willing to do the same thing at their new location. Just for future reference, Slingshot Creative will travel anywhere in the U.S. for a small travel fee. We are also looking for ways to specifically break into the Branson and St. Louis area markets. We hope this future Wacky World project is a good start. In the meantime, this is the most fun way I have ever learned about rules.

Children's Directory

2009-06-03T21:32:00.000-07:00

Check out our new ad in the Children's Directory. Two days after the directory was published, we got a phone call from a well-known business who saw our ad. Who knew, all the time spent on mail outs could have been alleviated by one small ad in a magazine. Let us know what you think.

We LOVE Macedonia!

2009-05-27T22:07:00.000-07:00

Macedonia Baptist Church invited us back to do another mural and add some finishing touches to the previous walls that Josh did. This is the first church who has invited us in with enthusiasm and when we were finished, invited us back for more. When they say, "let's do this," they mean now, not some time in the future. They are a church who honors their word. So, to Macedonia, I say, thank you! You are so far, our favorite client.

Macedonia Mural

2009-05-07T18:38:00.000-07:00

This church was our first experience with cinder block walls. Even though the walls were a bit more difficult to paint, Josh still finished within three days. The church is thrilled with his work and asking for more. There are plans in the works for more jobs at Macedonia.

Birthday Pictures

2009-05-04T22:18:00.000-07:00

A stroke of bad luck ultimately led us to some very good and professional photos. No one ever said starting a new business was easy or cheap and if they did, they would have been lying! Two weeks ago, our camera broke mid-photoshoot. Luckily, we were filming some family friends who were extremely understanding. However, we vowed we would not let it happen again. We ordered a new camera and took the other one to the shop. When it is said and done, we will have a backup camera for every photoshoot. In the meantime, we ordered new lights and experimented with an idea that came to us indirectly from another photographer. Let us know what you think of Link's first birthday.

The Original

2009-04-03T12:53:00.001-07:00

As with every job, there is an "inside story," or behind the scenes look at oppositions to overcome. Our job is difficult at times because art is so subjective. Josh's work tends to be very bold with vivid beautiful colors. The original sketch for JellyBeans was no exception. Our clients told us they wanted something that resembled CandyLand. With that in mind, Josh went to work. After two sketches, and several man hours, Josh came up with this sketch:Gorgeous, yes. But not quite what our clients had in mind. This was a job where our listening ears were tuned into the possibility of what we could do instead of what the clients requested. As you can see from the mural on the previous blog, it's sometimes hard to align ideas from the clients head to our head but in the end, we were on the same wavelength. A plus; we have a ready-made mural for anyone who desires a fun candy dream wall.

JellyBeans

2009-04-01T19:31:00.000-07:00

JellyBeans! And even though Easter is right around the corner, I don't mean the candy. Josh started the mural for JellyBeans Children's Wear on Monday morning and finished today around 2:30 p.m. This mural was a challenge for Josh because the clients asked for something that was 3D which required a lot of shading and depth. Josh came home after the first day and commented, "shew, I had to re-teach myself how to paint." By day two, he was a pro and well on his way. So, here is the new mural to add to Josh's portfolio. I can say this is unlike anything he has done to date and he is expanding his talent hands-on. Let us know what you think...

Hot Holy Sex T-shirts

2009-03-23T17:48:00.000-07:00

Fellowship Bible Church started a new class that Josh and I were privileged to be a part of over a year ago. It's called Hot Holy Sex and it's based sex in marriage according to the Bible, which God never intended to be boring or nonexistent. This seminar has been called in to other churches and is even going as far as Colorado. Josh was commissioned to do the t-shirts they plan to sell as they go in to teach these classes. Here are the designs:

If you are interested in buying a t-shirt, go to www.hotholysex.com and click on the "Hot Holy T-shirts" link on the left.

One Mural Leads to Another....

2009-03-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the Cox Baby Affair. We were one of the last ones to reserve a booth at this event but we were lucky enough to be place by the entrance of the main hospital. Getting to there proved to be the most difficult challenge of the day. Although we got up with plenty of time to spare, we managed to be running through the door, as usual. After a quick dropoff to grandparents, I awaited my pickup. I walked down the driveway to meet Josh as he drove up. I opened the door to be greeted by expletives. No stressful day should start without my cocoa-coffee blend and Josh's was all over his pants. "So what?" you ask, "just turn around and change." For reasons too long to list, we ended up mopping up the mess and were on our way only a half hour late. After a quick run to Walmart to get candy to lure people to our table, we arrived at Cox. Josh had a banner cut and though I called in advance, there was no metal to attach the magnets to. No big deal. We draped the banner over the table and made due. We had steady traffic all day with no real excitement until some clearly unpregnant woman hit our booth and I mean hit. She stole two handfuls of candy and proceeded to go around and steal bigger items from other people such as a few handmade bows from the booth next door.

Our success began with a visit from Children's Orchard who commissioned us to do a mural in each bathroom and JellyBeans who commissioned us to do a two wall mural in exchange for their advertisement of Slingshot Creative. We are particularly excited about the latter because the majority of clientele would most likely shop at JellyBeans. So all in all, it was a successful day.

FBC Mural

2009-03-04T13:20:00.000-08:00

This mural has been in the works for quite some time. It was one of the first jobs we quoted and just received the call on Friday. Josh started working on Tuesday. Fellowship Bible Church chose a theme based on their preschool curriculum, First Look. We received permission from First Look to copy and paint their characters onto the wall contingent on us giving them credit by putting their logo in the corner. We plan to put Slingshot Creative's logo up as well. The first picture indicates the end of day one and the second picture is the end of day two. All that is left is for Josh to go back and put logos on the wall.

I am past being astounded by Josh's God-given talent, now I am just impressed by his speed. In two days, he drew and painted a wall that is 272 square feet. I went and helped him today, but the amount that I actually painted versus what he painted... well... let's just say I was good company.

Twelve Ways to make Grant Writing "Fun"

2009-03-01T17:31:00.001-08:00

I have always loved to write. I hold myself to high standards when it comes to writing. I hate to settle for average. So it goes without saying that any project where I am required to write professionally is very stressful. I find myself trying to avoid such a situation at all costs so I do not receive any rejection in the end. Applying for a grant contest is an excellent example.

So here are the Twelve Ways to make Grant Writing "Fun."

Write a boring essay making an exciting business seem like a bedtime story.
Talk to a person who advises you that you will only win a grant if you pour your heart into it.
Delete the original essay and write your life story going well over the allotted 2500 word guideline.
Bring back the original essay, cut and paste the new essay into it, shuffle words around and viola; new and improved essay.
Attempt to cut and paste the essay into the web form no less than five times because even though this is a simple thing to do, it takes a while to get your brain functioning after that much stress over the essay.
Make sure the advice you give is the cheesiest possible cliche you can think of because you've only been in business for two months and you are in no position to give advice.
This is a must. Find the best picture that represents the business to attach to the site, attach it and hit "post" only to find it was too big to post and now there is a generic "missing person" icon beside your name instead of the business.
Try to fix it on your own.
When that doesn't work, call Intuit and talk to approximately three foreign people, none of whom you can understand but can clearly tell you they cannot help or change anything.
Spend at least three hours trying to fix the mistake only to post a second essay with the correct icon with the same story that will undoubtedly compete against your original essay.
Try to laugh it off and learn from your mistake.
DO NOT get your hopes up, your chance of winning at this point is remote.
Pray your essay doesn't end up on the internet as an example of "How Not to Write a Grant Essay."

Thank you in advance for your support. Your vote is worth 40% of the final tally. It's all for Slingshot, so even if you hate my essay, you can give me a rating and still boost our chances.

Start at the Beginning

Posted using ShareThis

First Slingshot Mural

2009-02-28T15:57:00.000-08:00

Though Josh has done half a dozen murals for friends and family, his first residential playroom mural for Slingshot Creative only gave confirmation to what we had started. The job came to us in an obscure way at a point where we were both having doubts about our business. (Sidenote: We have noticed that any time there is a lull in jobs coming in, we have doubts and question if this was the right choice.) As the promotional director, I have been checking into every possible, cost-effective option for advertising Slingshot Creative. I had contacted and talked a few times to Ozark's Moms like Me magazine. I decided not to put an ad but the woman I spoke to referred us to the woman who ended up hiring us to do the mural.

This was a fun mural for Josh. All others in the past have been worked around a full-time job schedule. This being the full time job, Josh was able to finish the whole project in two-and-a-half days. The day after he started, getting his large scaffolding all set up, Springfield was hit with a huge ice storm. Needless to say, it was a little tricky for Josh to load up his scaffolding and paint equipment when he was done without slipping once or twice. I'll just say he did better than I would have. He only fell once and never found out if his client saw him through the window or not...

Journey to Slingshot

2009-02-27T13:03:00.000-08:00

After a swift exit from A&J Printing in December and a clear calling by God, Designer and Owner, Joshua Hill and I (Angela, his wife) began Slingshot Creative. The fact is, we had considered starting this Graphic Design, Photography, and Muraling business four years ago but God knew we weren't quite ready. So, we are excited to finally open our business up to you now after four years of preparation for His timing.

We had fun (in theory) coming up with the name Slingshot Creative, or we would have if we hadn't been in such a time crunch. As I'm sure you know, we could not become an official LLC entity, order business cards, order brochures, or make phone calls until we knew our name. Now I understand why our parents name us. It's not to torture us going forward, it's to make our lives much easier. We asked friends and family to get involved. The name needed to reflect all three areas of business, preferably with a meaning that pointed to God. Some of the best suggestions were:

Son of Nun Design
12 Stone Graphics
Jericho Graphics
Zoink
JAZL Creative Services
Selah Grace

As you can see, the names were beginning to rival the creativity of the actual business but in the end, Josh chose the name Slingshot Creative. Slingshot Creative is based on the story of David and Goliath. We know during this hard time in our economy, as we go up against or "battle" the "big guy" i.e. corporations, any success we have will be at the hand of God. David came against Goliath with the only tool he was familiar with, a slingshot. We will do the same, using the tools or talents God has given us. You will see this theme all throughout our literature and website. For more information or to see examples of our work, please visit http://www.slingshotcreative.biz/.

Thanks for visiting and stayed tuned to see the "behind the scenes" stories that make up Slingshot Creative.