Meet Amanda Blanke | Yard Greeting Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amanda Blanke and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amanda, why did you pursue a creative career?
I spent many years in my early career as an Executive Assistant and Event Planner. I’ve always enjoyed watching people have a good time and celebrate special occasions. When I had my last child, I was looking for something that would allow me to work on my own schedule and still be creative and observe people celebrating special events.

In 2020, when the Pandemic arrived to the US, the carding business boomed with everyone at home and I considered starting a business then but waited until 2022 when many in our area were leaving the market.

I’ve always been one that likes things pretty and matching or at least symmetrical. Yard Carding was a natural fit for me. The industry now has several vendors to purchase products from which gives us many design options and people will always be celebrating events which justifies the need.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
One thing that we love to hear is, “we have just never seen a yard greeting as big, as vibrant and as personable as yours! It has everything included!”

When we ask our customers what represents them or the people they are buying for and they give us a list of characters or hobbies, we want to be able to have those represented in their yard greeting. People are taking pictures with their greetings and to be able to look back years later and see what you were into or what your favorite things were and that make you smile again is what we strive for.

I am very thankful for my community where I was born and raised that continues to support my small business. From school events, to new businesses in the area, carnivals, craft shows, birthdays and so much more. They know they can count on me to provide the best yard greeting that will represent them and me.

I didn’t start in this industry on my own. I thought I needed to join an organization and become an affiliate or their business to be success. I was quickly shown that doing this gave me more flexibility to be creative and allowed for better products. And then I’m also sharing my revenue that I work so hard for. Working as an affiliate did provide an avenue that allowed me to have the confidence to venture out on my own. I had my own logo created, website and other marketing materials and was convinced that if they could do it then so could I.

I want people to know that there is a difference in the many types of yard carding. Some may have started back in 2006 but that doesn’t mean you have the creative niche to make them look phenomenal. Reviews matter and I hope people drive by one of my setups and stop to get contact information from my marketing sign because they think that the sign is the best they’ve seen and they want one for their special someone.

Referrals are my biggest compliment. I don’t have a store front or a tangible item to walk away with. My product is ultimately a memory or even a photograph of the yard sign you stood behind at your biggest events in your life. And I hope everyone has that at least once in their lifetime. I’ve never seen someone that receive a yard greeting from us that didn’t walk up to it with a huge smile on their face. And the photos I receive back from my customers prove it.

Life should be a celebration, every day. And Celebrate With Yard Art wants to make sure we all celebrate it big!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live just NW of Houston in Cypress, TX. Cypress is where I was born and raised. We are now a significantly large area with 12 high schools in our school district and another planned in 2029.

We have almost anything you can think of from one-of-a-kind BBQ, night life with music and great food to family living but be prepared to be hot! Our humid alone makes it feel hotter than it really is. And the 90’s is already hot!

We do a lot of outdoor activities but we are thankful for air conditioning, as well. It’s hard to live here without your own pool or access to one. Our summers are filled with swimming.

We have too many amazing places in our area to name just one. We definitely have something for everyone.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My carding partner is my husband, John, He is completely on board with our product line and our ultimate marketing plan. He is supportive of the time needed to set up and install and is actually in charge of operations. We make a fantastic team.

That being said, there are many helpful groups on Facebook with other carding owners that is beneficial to a successful business. It allows owners to help each other with new designs, find inventory and help with difficult customer situations. It’s wonderful to be able to openly ask questions to someone in a like-mind business and can actually relate or may have already dealt with this scenario.

One last organization that has been invaluable to my business is Yard Card Supply, LLC. They have a mentorship that provides specific I sister details from start up to daily setups, inventory must haves to how to organize your books.

Website: https://www.celebratewithyardart.com

Instagram: Celebrate With Yard Art

Twitter: @PartyYardArt

Facebook: Celebrate With Yard Art

Yelp: Celebrate With Yard Art

Other: Treads: celebratewithyardart

Image Credits
The 1 with me in it was photographed by Candace with Eye Candy by Candace.