News Updates
April 5th Deadline
Monday, March 8, 2010 - 16:20:41 EST
Alright, so to inform those of you who aren't sure of what is going on..in about 10 weeks, my husband and I are 'moving' to England for 6 months. While I am away, YOU MAY STILL ORDER ANY CROWN YOU SEE POSTED ON THE SITE! The trick is, you will not be able to customize any of the crowns. I'm currently working on making up crown, candle, tray, and ornament/cake topper stock. My dad will be shipping things out for me as orders come in. But everything will still have been made and packaged up by me. And when you email with questions--it's still me you're emailing.
But because of this move, and the need to build up as much stock as possible (and get my household ready for the move), I have to close-off all customization requests at some point. and that date is April 5th. UP TO AND INCLUDING MONDAY APRIL 5TH you may still request to have your crowns and trays engraved, and you may specify your ribbon color/attachment style.
After that, you'll have to deal with the ribbon color/attachment style shown with the crowns on the site. (you always have the option of changing the ribbon color on your own). I do apologize for any inconvenience this may cause anyone!
You may be happy to hear, though, that while I will not being doing name engravings after the 5th, I will continue to make crown sets that feature engraved designs (such as the peacock and St. basil crowns). And many crowns can be engraved after the fact...so you can always mail your crowns back for engraving at a later date.
price increase on some brass and copper crowns
Sunday, March 7, 2010 - 21:32:10 EST
well, the world is a small place. The terrible Chilean earthquake that took place a few weeks ago is creating major waves in the precious metals market...specifically the copper market. and since brass is an alloy of copper, both copper and brass have been dramatically affected. My prices just increased by a full 50% for these materials. this is not an increase that I can just absorb. So out of necessity, I need to raise prices a bit to help the increased cost in materials. one way to look at the price increase is that suddenly brass and copper are way more valuable/great investment. as we have all seen with the recent spikes in gold and silver, too--price INCREASES are always quick and sharp, while precious metal price DECREASES are always very slow and steady.
custom design cut-off... But I do have new crowns
Monday, March 1, 2010 - 16:37:30 EST
Alright, So this past week was the last week to place your order for anything really-really custom (see last Wednesday's post...there were a few that day, or check out thecrownlady.blogspot.com). I'm absolutely still doing engravings...designs, names, dates...that kind of thing. But no new crown designs (i.e. anything that differs greatly from what I offer on a regular basis. But as I prep to leave for England, you will see a variety of new crown styles being added to the online galleries.
I have so many neat materials on hand...and I want to try and use everything up! A lot of the designs will be metal...and I have a lot of really awesome engraving designs that I drew up over the last few weeks. My engraver has been running non-stop today, and will continue to do so until we leave! There will be a whole new variety of crowns from which to choose...all different sizes, too. I'll be posting things as quickly as I can, so as to not keep you in suspense. Additionally, I have a bunch of new tray styles arriving this week!!
crown case update
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - 11:11:29 EST
see the crown case page for an update on my own line of crown cases currently in development!
travel/customization update
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - 10:37:06 EST
Hi all....Depending on how much time you spend looking around on this site, or if you visit my little companion blog (thecrownlady.blogspot.com)..you may have caught wind of the fact that my husband and I will be headed off to England at the end of May. We will be there until the end of Nov. During the time that I am away, my parents will be shipping out orders as they come in. So my job right now to is to fill not only the normal incoming orders, but to also build up 6 months of stock for my parents to ship while we're away.
In light of the fact that it's the busy season---filling lots of custom order for Spring weddings, plus all the stock i'm needing to make for when we're away...well, I'm getting pretty busy around here.
As such, I am needing to curb the amount of custom work. I am just fine continuing to do engravings...so no problem on that kind of customization. But, STARTING MARCH 1st, I'm going to have to say "NO" to any crown requests that are much different than anything you currently see for sale on my site. I just don't have the time needed to really dedicate myself to brand new-custom-crown designs. I'm still willing to modify designs currently on the site..but can only do so to certain extents. I apologize in advance for any disappointment or inconvenience this may cause...but your understanding of the situation is very, very much appreciated. as always, call or email with questions!
travel reminder
Monday, February 15, 2010 - 13:06:01 EST
Just a reminder that I am going out of town this Wednesday and will return late on Saturday. Any orders received after today probably won't ship until next Monday. I'm very sorry if this causes any inconvenience!! I will still be in email contact, and you may still call me during this time, and place orders and all that jazz. I just won't be shipping/making anything during my time away.
and on a fun, personal note. I just ordered Greek language lessons from Rosetta Stone to brush up on my Greek! More and more of you are requesting Greek engravings, and I'd really like to be able to fully understand all the language rules for the Greek language since I'm doing so much writing in it. And being Syrian/Lebanese, I didn't go to Greek school as a youngster...so there are times where I literally have no idea what I'm engraving on some of your crowns! I figured it was about time I learned!
Upcoming travel
Monday, February 1, 2010 - 15:47:00 EST
Hi Everyone...Just wanted to let you know that I will be out of town starting Wednesday Feb 17 until late in the day Saturday Feb 20. Since I will be out of town, nothing will be shipped during that time, so please plan accordingly!!
I will be back to work on Monday Feb 22...and it will be business as usual until Josh and I leave for England at the end of May (more details to follow about that 6 month trip).
Phone Issues Resolved!
Monday, January 18, 2010 - 20:22:28 EST
Feel free to call away--I now have a working phone again! (but still, no calls during the overnight, please).
I always had problems with my previous cell phone carrier, and went through so many models of cell phones thinking the phone itself was the problem. After this latest round of problems, it was the last straw and we switched carriers altogether. We went to T-mobile and signed up for their @home hot spot service. It's a wireless router that allows us to plug in a standard phone. I was able to transport my 301-237-5858 number to that line...and so now suddenly my work phone line is a VOIP phone line, rather than a cell phone. What this means is that I have better International calling capabilities...and MUCH more reliable service (My cell phone wouldn't always ring for incoming calls)
And now, I get to have a cell phone that is for my own personal use, not business, AND it is a local number to Indianapolis (317) not my old stomping grounds of Maryland (301). And my new cell phone is an "unlocked" cell phone, which will allow me to use it when we go to England this Spring (previous carrier did not support unlocked cell phones).
I am already SO pleased with the customer service (not to mention the pricing)with T-Mobile. Yay!
Phone Problems!!!
Thursday, January 14, 2010 - 13:12:51 EST
Hi Everyone...I'm really sorry buy my business cell phone is broken and I may not have a replacement until Monday. so until further notice, please email me in lieu of trying to call. I know that some folks have left me messages (my phone will at least tell me that, but the lcd panel is out, and i can't see who the calls are from, can't answer calls and can't make outgoing calls). So i'm very sorry that that I have not gotten back to you yet. I will as soon as I can...please feel free to email me your questions in the meantime
New Website updates for the New Year, but I'm still here!
Monday, January 4, 2010 - 12:12:58 EST
Hi everyone, and Happy New Year! If you've been to this site before today, then you are realizing there are some new changes. I want to point out those changes now, so there isn't any confusion.
First and foremost, you'll notice an integrated shopping cart/checkout. This is intended for those customers who know exactly what they want, want it fast, and don't require any changes/customizations to their crown set and accessories.
But I am still here, answering emails and phone calls and making custom crowns and am MORE than happy to customize any crown set for you. And for every single customer, check-out system or not, you'll still be fully updated by me, with emails. So I hope you still feel as those this is a more hands-on shopping experience, rather than a cold store front.
but speaking of cold store front, I need to alert everyone to the fact that I am now charging shipping. I have full details on the ordering information page.
I am just getting over a very bad cold, and today is my first day back to work from my winter vacation, so I have a lot of catching up to do. But I'm here and working---so give me just a bit of extra time in case it's taking longer than it should for me to get back to you! Thank you so much for your patience! As always, there is more information about website changes, my schedule, and misc. over on my new work blog.
Thanks, Ann
301-237-5858
Happy New Year! - Site updates
Sunday, January 3, 2010 - 21:48:59 EST
Happy new year to everyone visiting. Some new site features and policies were set up during the Christmas break - please take a look at my blog (http://thecrownlady.blogspot.com) for more information.
