What They Said

The women in our focus group were amazing and their comments have helped us tighten up areas and concentrate focus in others. Here is a sampling of what they said:

About the crafting projects:

"Visuals were great, easier than the wording (of the instructions)"

"This was an awesome experience! The stamping/crafting creates a free, casual, open setting that puts you at ease...tears down barriers."

"I think having prep work done ahead of time really helps things work and stay on schedule".

"We had a varied age group (14-50+) and the stamping put everyone on a level playing field-age did not matter."

About the content of the study:
"It made me want to do more, time went by too quickly."

In response to the question: 'Answering the questions helped me formulate how I think about this subject' a participant added... and how I could share Christ with others."

"I still consider myself a "beginner" as a Christ follower. Those readings really made an impact on my self-esteem. It's amazing - the sense of actually FEELING beautiful - and with just a small amount of time reading and spending an evening with some wonderful women!!"

" ...in short, loved the study! Great idea!"

In response to the questionaire, "The conversation and responses of the othr women helped me formulate how I think about this topic"..one participant added..."and there are other women that feel the same."

They Came, They Crafted, They Talked...

Donna and I gathered with ten amazing ladies last night to "test drive" the study. It is difficult taking something you have worked on for so long and put it out there for the first time. It's a bit like giving birth, you wonder if everyone will feel the same way about your baby as you do.

The evening was all we hoped for and more. We are so blessed to to know such amazing women. Their comments were helpful and their suggestions were appreciated. They have given us permission to post a few of their comments on our blog and I will have them up in the next few days.

Donna and I were overwhelmed when it was over. I was teary-eyed because some had expressed how the study had touched them, Donna was teary-eyed because everyone had such joy in the projects they made.

The goal of this study is to glorify God by touching hearts, create friendship through conversation and crafting, and serve as a means of outreach to other women. I would say that we met that criteria last night.

Now it's edit, edit, and more edit, put the marketing plan together and then submit to the publisher by the August deadline.

In the meantime, enjoy a few photos from the Focus Group.

Attention All Focus Group Participants

Hello Ladies!

We have emailed the materials to all participants for the STAAMP study. If you did not receive your materials, or if you cannot open the PDF file, please let us know.

We are looking forward to seeing you at 6pm on the 15th!

Blessings,

Tuesday it is!

Ladies,
Mark your calendars, the date for our focus group is:

Tuesday, July 15th, 6:00 pm

Thank you all for your prompt replies and your willingness to help us out with this. We will be sending some materials and information to you electronically in the next 7-10 days. We will also verify with you at that time that you will be attending so we can have enough materials ready.

Remember, we will provide dinner for you that evening. If you have any questions.don't hesitate to contact us.

Blessings,

Focus Group

For all of you who have been invited to participate in the Focus Group,
Due to submission deadlines, we will only be able to run one group. We also realize that a weekend during summer may be difficult for some of you so we have added a weekday evening option.

Noted below are the 3 dates we have reserved on our calendars. We will only be able to run one Focus group which means that the date will be determined by the majority. Please check the dates and then let us know which date will work for you.

We hope you all will be able to attend as we value your opinion and your comments will assist us in making our Bible Study the best it can be.

If you are able to attend, please email us with the date that works best for you (if more than one are okay, let us know that as well). We need to hear from you by July 2nd.

Thank you all for your willingness to help us!


Focus Group Dates
Saturday, July 12th 12:00 noon - lunch provided
Sunday, July 13th, 12:00 noon - lunch provided
Tuesday, July 15th, 6:00 pm - dinner provided

The focus groups will be conducted at Donna's studio.

The Deadline Looms

We have an August submission deadline for our Bible study. We are in the midst of putting together a July focus group which means scheduling, getting materials together, writing questionaires, and editing, editing and more editing of the manuscript (oh, and feeding all those helpful women who will be there to give us their opinion).

It's exciting and terrifying to be this close. Of course, any publishers that read this blog are more than welcome to offer us a contract now and help us avoid all this angst and stress. (-: