living dreams

T-minus less than 48 hours.

Did you know Rob and I have never travelled anywhere outside of Canada by ourselves besides the one time we went to Mexico for our honeymoon more than 11 years ago? We didn't travel much when we were first married and to a certain degree I regret that. But we are changing that very soon because we are headed to Japan! I will be teaching at CKU-Japan in Tokyo and also in Osaka and Mitaka (and sorry, we are teaching at Scrapaholic!in Mitaka, not Scrapholic Japan as I had indicated in a previous post). In between we are hoping to travel to Hiroshima - I am already overwhelmed at the thought of getting to go there - and also spending some time with family in Tsuchiura and taking a day trip to Mt Fuji. I'm very grateful to be able to go and participate in the events and also make this a time for Rob and myself to have a little vacation by ourselves. Thank you Mom and Pa for watching the kids for us.

In the meantime we are packing orders like crazy and packing bags and getting our bottles of Canadian Maple Syrup ready for gifting. Spending some time with the kiddies and loving on them before we leave.

Please note, our office is closed Feb 27 - Mar 10 and no orders will ship within that time, and we will start shipping again on the 11th.

Next post, probably from Japan!

CHA catch up.

The days after CHA always rush by in a blur, and I always catch myself a few days after the fact, thinking,"wow, has it been (insert: a day, 3 days, a week) since CHA?!"  This time is no different.

And I had terrible internet connection while at the show, hence no show photos. I need to upgrade my laptop desperately and I am eyeing one of those Mac books.

Didn't take too many photos as per normal. I wonder why I even bring my camera sometimes. I did take more photos on her camera but don't know if they turned out. I really need to keep focused and keep practicing on my photography. That is a big goal for me this year.

Here's Sara showing off our lines at our booth:

... and some products (this one's the Frame-a-ma-bob set)...

... and the real reason I go to these shows... (hee hee)

.. is to hang with people who get it.

Highlights include getting a Garmin and naming her "Laura" in tribute to our own Laura, who waltzed in AFTER set up was done and LEFT before take down. Our Garmin Laura got us lost a few times and so the term "damn Laura" was coined and we had fits and giggles saying it in front of our own Laura. Speaking of fits and giggles, Sara, MG and I played a little trick on Laura and we were laughing so hard that our waiter at Pei Wei's asked if we were sure we weren't drunk. That of course got our giggles going even more. Every time, these girls get me. Every time, it's laughter til our sides hurt and tears come. Good times!

We also got to see MG in action teaching her class at the Scrapbook Oasis and debuted our very first batch of FW stamps -  we had a very small shipment come to us before the show and the Oasis snapped it up, I think there's a photo of the rush to the stamp wall on their blog.

Had a great time at the show despite the slow foot traffic (I think attendance was down about 30%). Didn't get to Disney despite our best efforts to take Jill from AMLT to dinner one night. Ended up at Red Robins one night much to our surprise and to the delight of Wendy from Scrap Supply.

Right now, am coordinating orders and trying to return the masses of emails that came in while I was away. If I owe you an email I will get back to you within the next day or so. Also packing up for CKU-Japan and 2 other classes at Scrapaholic Japan and at Colors Lovers - Rob and I are making this a working holiday, and will be doing some exploring of Japan while we're there, and visiting my aunt as well. We leave in a few short days so it is crazy busy around here.

We will be putting the CHA W catalog up on the site sometime today so you can peruse our new items - and yes, the chipboard shapes and albums ARE priced very very competitively, we had many surprised people who couldn't believe their ears when they found out how well priced they are. Most shapes are $1.20 and our albums are $1.40, $2.20 and $3.60 (for the 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8).

Anyway, that was CHA. And here's my favorite photo from the show: Why we love the iphone.

 

Last day.

I was going to post from CHA but have been trying to get better (and I am, thanks for asking) and lost the cords to my computer so didn't get to check in before yesterday. It's the last day of the show today and we've had a good time here in California. The show traffic was a little lighter than anyone anticipated, and there hasn't been the normal CHA-W "buzz" but we're still getting good orders which is a good thing. Have had a great time meeting new people and making new connections and exploring some new business opportunities. Our chipboard shapes and their prices have been blowing people away. The stamp designs are being called "innovative" - especially the "Goes With" - and so I am happy. :)

The girls leave today and I have an overnight stay in Irvine as my flight leaves in the afternoon tomorrow. Anyone with good tips where to shop - I do have a car and can get around. Will try to upload some photos from the hotel tonight.

This will be the 2nd time I will not go to Disneyland.

Last year, my first time in CA. CHA was in town, right next door to Disneyland. My daughter Emily (who stayed home, natch) was beside herself knowing that I was *so close* to Disneyland and didn't go. This year, she's still as dramatic as she still *can't* believe I'm *right there* and still not going. But a sign of her growing up: she's just as excited that I will be close by to Hollywood where her beloved High School Musical actors might be. Sigh!

Heading to Anaheim. My lists are still a mile long but everything will turn out fine. The booth and packages have made it there. Catalogs should get there today. Staff are prepped and ready to go. Everyone at home is prepped and they have enough clean laundry to last them before I return.

Have you figured out that I've just been stringing you along before I show you our new product line? :) Just kidding. I finally did get a shot of some of the new stuff - so without further ado, here's what's new:

Since I was home sick I shot these on my carpet, lol.  But I was so excited to get these - it has been an adventure learning all about dies and chipboard let me tell you! Anyway, we have 7 new sets and albums as well - 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8. And probably my most favorite part of it all is that these were made in Canada, and we managed to get it priced very competitively to China-pricing. Most of our sets are $1.20 - yes, a buck twenty - and albums are between $1.60 to $3.20. I'm pretty happy about that as these are just as cheap if not better, than a lot of chipboard you see on the market right now that are made overseas. I'm not saying getting stuff done overseas is bad - no, it's just a fact of life - but I'm all for supporting local businesses and it makes me happy, that's all. I have a pack of chipboard from a well-known company that I bought from my LSS just a few weeks ago and it was for 20 pieces of square chipboard and it cost me $4.50. The FontWerks brand for the same amount of chipboard will only cost $2. And did I tell you they're made in Canada???!!!! :)

You should be getting the FontWerks newsletter in the next few days with more sneak peeks, and we'll be showing pictures from the show floor, hopefully so hang around. And tell me what you think about our new addition, will you?

Til then, still not going to Disneyland, unfortunately.

Out.

I am super sick. My sinuses are plugged up and it hurts to open my eyes. I'm cold all the time and headachey. I think it might be the flu, so headed to the doctor today for some meds. Usually I can hold off the sicky-ness when I have so much to do but this one's a doozy.

Anyway, that's why I've been away and haven't shown you peeks of our new product line. I just haven't been able to take the photos and upload them, especially with the crazy prep for CHA (I leave in less than 2 days!) and being sick. Hope you forgive me. If I have time and feel better before I leave I will definitely post something about them.

Signed,

Me (still sick and trying to get better).

"Frickin' Drool."

Erin's comment in the last post made me laugh out loud - it is so awesome to hear words of encouragement and know that one's work/products are being loved on, but I thought her two words sums up what I think about this set of ours:

Definitely drool-worthy, and this is of course the work of Karen Russell for FontWerks. I just love the beautiful way she's dressed up these butterflies - they are so elegant and totally makes me want to create something beautiful with them! We're calling this set "Flitter."

The winner from the previous post is CJJ!! Thank you all again for your comments and I hope you will find these stamps and create what you've envisioned. And when you do, please send me a link to your work. I love seeing how people use our art in all their creative ways! And by the way, Pam - you wished we were making more the 4 circle stamps - it's available as part of the Patterna set, but we happen to have more coming - we just have about 100 or so right now so those will be given out at CHA. The others will be given out as samples to our retailers as well as consumers at CKC-Mesa where we'll be exhibiting. We'll be using them for make and takes, RAKS and more too.

Next week is the week for us to sign Cameron up for kindergarten for September. I can't believe it's time for that already. Hopefully he'll get into the school we want him to attend (it's out of our cachement area and it's the school Emily currently attends). We've decided to put him into the French Immersion program as well since Em's in it and doing well. I've promised Em a trip to Paris when she graduates from high school if she keeps in the french immersion program and I wonder if that will be a motivator for Cameron as well?

I've got some friends coming to crop at my house on the weekend. It's just been too long since I last cropped, and am looking forward to it even though it's so close to CHA. I'll be working on more CHA samples, hopefully using some of the stamps from the Flitter set!

On Monday, I'll give you a sneak peek to a new product we're debuting at CHA. We're pretty proud that it's being made in Canada, and being provided at an awesome price point too. You won't want to miss it.

Happy (early) weekend and see you on Monday!