This former governor and presidential candidate has shaken hands with many prestigious politicians and business leaders over the years. But I’m sure never someone so “prestigious” and “businessy” as me! In all seriousness though, we were very proud to meet Governor Pawlenty and have him and his wife as our customers!
We had a great time at the Lake Home and Cabin Show and Minneapolis and loved meeting ALL our customers! Thanks again to everyone who helped us out at the show and especially those who bought our maps!
Lake Home and Cabin Show – 4th Straight Year!
For the 4th straight year we will be showing our maps at the Largest Lake Home and Cabin Show in the Upper Midwest. Today through Sunday the Minneapolis Convention Center will be filled with Cabin owners dreaming of the upcoming summer. If you happen to make it down there, we are in the back row, booth 6. Also look for our ad in the Official Show Program!
Parade of Homes – Lake Minnetonka Map
A few months ago we were approached by the owner of a beautiful home on Lake Minnetonka that was set to be featured in the Parade of Homes. She was looking for a large map of the lake, so after discussing the various options, she choose a Premium Quality, 60″ x 40″, in the Original Color. I haven’t been out to the home to see how it looks yet, but based on the email we received today from a new customer it must look great…
Hello Brad,
The builder and designer are jealous.
More inquiries about the map than building a home. 🙂
I live in Excelsior. What size is the one on that wall, and if I wanted just the one you have there, how much is it, with a pickup in Eden Prairie….so no shipping? Went to the Etsy site.
Can we do this?
We SO appreciate getting emails like this… makes all the hard work and time spent worth while!
Here is the link to our shop if you are interested in purchasing the same map as these customers:
Lake Minnetonka – Canvas Lake Map on ETSY
2015 Recap – Epic Year!
Hi Everyone! First off, I do realize that it is February 2016 and we are long overdue for a recap of what our little map company accomplished in 2015. But my excuse is that we are busy! Which is a good thing of course, but I will apologize to the 13 or 14 of you out there who eagerly await this post each year. ; )
First off, since we opened up shop in 2009 we have been able to grow sales at an increasing clip each consecutive year and 2015 was no different.
The prior year was record setting for us yet we blasted through that record by the end of July!
By the end of the year we had set a great new mark in total sales which was capped off by our best holiday season ever!
Detail View of the Whitefish Chain Map (Original Color Option)
Great quality! Exactly what we were looking for! Seller was quick to reply to questions and very helpful with a quick delivery. Definitely recommend!
Here are some of the key highlights from 2015
• We created a brand new website with lots of new content!! (You are on it right now, check it out!)
• Moved our Online store to Etsy. https://www.etsy.com/shop/blueprintmaps
• Had a very successful 3 days at the Lake Home and Cabin show at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
• Created maps for local celebrities (I can’t say who but they are on TV all the time).
• My Daughter caught a truly massive sunfish off our dock!
• Increased the number of Realtors and Builders who use our maps as housewarming gifts.
• Received many 5 star reviews on Etsy. Click the link above to check them out.
• Grandpa bought a new pontoon!!
• Our sales of XL sized maps really took off with nearly 40% of all the maps we sold from 42″-60″ wide! We ship these maps for the same low rate as smaller maps by the way.
• We cranked out many new lakes this year including: Whitefish Chain, North Long, Woman Lake, Minerva, Deer Lake/East Lost and more!
• Last but not least, we also received the great news in December that we are expecting a 3rd Child! We are so excited!!!
I will bring this in for a landing by saying this; we are so GRATEFUL to everyone who has helped us grow our business these past 7+ years. Each map we create means a lot to us and are so honored that our customers choose our product to become a part of their special lake home.
We have tried to honor God by doing things the right way and giving back. He has blessed us with grace and guidance as we grow. Each new customer is a blessing in itself and we are so thankful for you all!!!
Brad
We are Moving our Store to Etsy!
Just a quick update to let you know that we are beginning the process of moving our online shop to Etsy. This will make for a better user experience for our online customers and help us reach a larger group of people with our maps. Etsy is a very well known online store for products just like ours, and they have perfected the art of shopping for unique, custom made gifts.
Here is a link to check it out. All of our latest photography is shown on this site:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/blueprintmaps
FYI: Just so you know, blueprintmaps.com isn’t going anywhere, and we actually have some big improvements in mind. We have just decided to streamline our online shopping experience all through Etsy now. Please check our our store there!
2014 Recap – Our best year yet!!
2014 was a year of transition for us as we looked to expand the reach of our lake maps while steamlining our business to accomodate our growing family. We continued the 5 year streak of increasing sales each year since we began; bolsterd by some unexpected TV time! We also had the wonderful gift of our second child being born in August. Having a second child at home helped illustrate the need to expand our team to help fullfil orders so we could focus more on family, customer interaction, and creating new maps.
Here is a list of some of the cool things from 2014.
[unordered_list style=”tick”]This guy does such a nice job! -Emily Engberg (Twin Cities Live Reporter)
- In February we attended the Lake Home and Cabin show at the Minneapolis Convention center. It was our first year at the show and didn’t know what to expect, but we were welcomed with an amazing response and even met our goal of selling 1 map per hour! Thank you to Dave, Joel and Tammy for helping out at the show.
- We added a few new lakes to our inventory including: Prior Lake, Marion Lake and Pokegama / Cross and a really cool map featuring a portion of the Mississippi River.
- We began the process of moving all of our online sales onto Etsy, which should make life simpler and more convienent for both ourselves and our customers when ordering maps online.
- Our maps were featured on the TV Show Twin Cities Live in August It was a great segment and we began recieving phone calls seconds after it was broadcast! See the clip here.
[unordered_list style=”tick”]What a beautiful gift to have in your home if you have a cabin up north! – Elizabeth Ries (Twin Cities Live Host)
- Leo David was born on August 21st in Waconia, instantly doubling our amount of children (and future map makers) but putting a tempory halt in production.
- Also, we have improved our processes to increase our order capacity and reduce shipping times.
- Speaking of shipping, we have dropped all of our shipping costs by over 50%.
- Lastly we were honored to help with silent auctions throughout the year by donating maps and again donated a portion of our profits back into charities throughout the state of MN.[/unordered_list]
A heart felt thank you to all those who have supported us this last year. We so appreciate every compliment, referal, and sale. We look forward to seeing what 2015 brings! God Bless you all!
-Brad, Tammy, Ellen and Leo Neuerburg
2013 Recap: Another great year!
This year was extremely busy for us from beginning to end. We broke our sales records again as we continue to add new lakes across the state. We met many new customers and supporters (which is always the best part of what we do). We even had some custom T-Shirts made! Things have been quite busy at times, and now with a 1.5 year old running around each day is more complicated but also much more rewarding. As always, here is a list of some of our big events from the 2013.
- We were invited to show our lake maps for approx 5 weeks at The Commons in Excelsior. Learn more here.
- We added 2 new retailers: Gallery Navarre (in Navarre) and The Red Willow (Detroit Lakes).
- We added many new lakes to our inventory including: Lake Vermilion, Gull Lake, Green Lake, Lake Shamineau, Lake Calhoun, Lake Stella/Washington, Lake Miltona and Dead Lake.
- We bought new equipment and moved our shop into our home location.
- We made a cool, historic looking map of a lake in Alaska that was used as a house warming gift.
- We donated a map to the Silent Auction for Ella’s Halo and also provided a portion of our profits to other charities in the state that positively impact MN.
- A new image gallery page was added to the website.
- We ordered some cool Blueprint Maps T-shirts which we will be giving away to friends and customers.
- A Lake Minnetonka Map was featured in the Eden Prairie News Holiday gift guide in December.
- We donated time and our Lake Minnetonka map background to Groveland Elementary so they could use it to create a huge curtain in thier school library. Learn more here.
Thanks again to all of our customers for thier friendship and support throughtout the year. We have been beyond blessed and feel so fortunate to be able to help our community through this business. We are truly humbled that you would purchase our maps to be that special piece of art for your favorite place to be…the lake!
-Brad, Tammy and Ellen Neuerburg[/unordered_list]
Eden Prairie News Holiday Gift Guide
Blueprint Maps was recently featured in the Eden Prairie News Holiday Gift Guide. Each year the newspaper selects products made in Eden Prairie to feature and we were one of the selections this year! To view the article either check out the Eden Prairie News from the Week of Nov 28th, or click on the link below.
New Retailer in Detroit Lakes
We are excited to announce that the Red Willow will be carrying our Canvas Lake Maps in both of thier Detroit Lakes stores. We have a great selection of lakes in the area and have already had a great reception from the Red Willow customers, even though the maps have only been on display for less than a week. They currently have maps from Pelican Lake, Big Cormorant Lake and Detroit Lake on location, but a list of other available lakes in the area as well as a product description will available as well.
Red Willow Locations:
Main Store
1160 Washington Ave
Detroit Lakes, MN 56501
218-847-7185
Washington Square Mall Store
822 Washington Ave
Detroit Lakes, MN 56501
The Common’s in Excelsior
For the past month or so a selection of our canvas lake maps have been on display at The Commons in downtown Excelsior. The Commons is an innovative public workspace which selects local artists to display thier art in thier beautiful space. We have chosen an assortment of metro and out-state lakes to display for the duration of the show which goes through June.
In addition to this, next week on Wednesday June 26th from 6-8 there will be a Art Reception at the space. The event will be featuring our maps as well as the work from local artist Al Whitaker who specializes in photos from Lake Minnetonka. We would love it if you could join us for this fun summer event on the shores of Lake Minnetonka. Snacks and refreshments will be provided. Here is a small note from Lindy who is helping host the event.
The Commons is thrilled to have the opportunity to share Brad’s canvas lake maps with our community. We currently have 6 maps exhibited and the response has been so positive. I constantly find people studying one map or another and sharing ‘lake stories’ with our coworkers. Our love of lakes is something all Minnesotans have in common so this type of art has a special way of bringing people together. We’re looking forward to featuring Blueprint Maps at our upcoming art reception, ‘Lake Living’ on Wednesday, June 26 from 6pm to 8pm. -Lindy McClure
The Commons is located at 540 Lake Street in Excelsior and can be reached by phone at 952-474-1001. We hope to see you there on the evening of June 26th from 6-8!
www.thecommonswp.com/featured-artist.html
