Last Day to Enter for January Blog Candy!

Now don't you feel better that Princess Ariel is watching closely over your names in the pot for the January blog candy? I know I do.

This is the last day to post a comment to potentially win the earrings posted earlier this month. I will pick a name early tomorrow morning and announce the winner! If you are an anonymous commenter, please at least put your email addy so I can notify you if you win!

Today I am excited that not only is the craziness from the LA show winding down, but I am leaving for a little vacation tomorrow! I can't believe it myself! I will be in San Francisco, visiting my two cool sisters and hopefully, also my friend Peggy. It's a girl's weekend! I also actually have a business meeting on Friday afternoon - can you believe I have to leave my house at 10am to make a 3pm meeting? Well, I could almost just drive.

I will come home with lots of beautiful photos and hopefully some fun stories.

In the meantime, I gotta prep for an altered photos class I'm teaching tonight at Creative Courage. If you're local come by!

Crusade No. 16: Journal Your Blog

Yah, I'm jumpin' on that bandwagon - 'cuz it's a cool and fun looking bandwagon! Michelle Ward has a great blog and a monthly crusade to improve and add interest to one's blog. This month her crusade was to Journal Your Blog. That means, print out a blog entry, and make a layout in your visual journal. I have been working in my visual journal more and more, and I wanted to do a layout of my "It's a Good Day" poem from the last post.


I love the colors of the layout and the red butterflies. I just printed the poem from the blog, glued it to the page, which I gessoed first. On the right side, I added a page from a math book with lots of cool calculus equations, painted with acrylic paints, wrote words with a sharpie and then did the butterflies and red flower. I stuck the sticker on first, then used the space left from the sticker as a stencil to create the negative images of the butterflies. The big flower, I'm not so crazy about, but, whatever. Finally, I added the metal mesh to the bottom of the page. It's waiting there to capture the butterflies.

As I am soooo busy right now with the cards (will finally be done shipping orders tomorrow), I gave my self a whopping 20 minutes to work on this layout. You better believe I was painting with one hand and using the heat gun to dry with the other!

Today is the Day!

What are the things you are dreaming about doing? It could really be anything.

Do you dream about having lunch at some sweet little cafe that you just drive by all the time and never stop to enjoy?

Do you dream of having some real block of time to do something just for you?

Do you dream of bringing some idea to reality?

Well, today is the day! Today is a good day to pick berries.

All you need is to JUST DO IT. Is that trademarked by Nike? Well, it's good advice.
It's been raining here for a few days. I actually love the rain. I will stand out in the cold, under an umbrella, and just watch it come down around me. I like to watch the tree limbs become heavy with water. I like to feel the squishy grass under my feet. I like to watch the raindrops as they make ripples in the little puddles on the ground. There are few other better ways of slowing down time.
So, with those things in mind, I wrote this little poem this evening. For some reason, I seem to have this idea that poetry that doesn't rhyme is "better", but I like to rhyme, dammit. This one doesn't rhyme. I'm experimenting. Bear with me...

Today is the Day
by Tally Oliveau

Take my hand
and let's pick berries
in the garden
after the rain.

Smell the wet slate.
Breathe in deep,
eyes closed,
sun on your face.

Listen to the low twitter
of birds in the bath,
sparkling dew drops
hanging overhead.

Today is a good day
for picking berries.
Plump.
Sweet.
Berries.

LA Gift Show Comes to a Close

The show was good, but not totally fantabulous. I made some great contacts, and even got to meet the very sweet Anahata of Papaya.

I visited her very busy booth in the cash and carry section of the LA Gift Show at the Convention Center. Yes, that's right. In addition to the booth space she had with me at the LA Mart, she had her own booth at the Convention Center. Busy lady. Here we are - sorry the photo's a little blurry, taken by someone with my camera phone, but you get the idea.

My sales rep said something about her line that is really sticking with me - about why it is so successful. Almost every design is a "must have". That's it. If it's good - you know it's good, and you just gotta have it.

Thanks Ana for your help. You only have my best wishes for continued success!

LA Mart Show Continues On...

Sore feet and all, the gift show at the LA Mart continues. So far, the show has been decent, but not wow. Here are some photos of what I'm doing.

This is a view of most of the booth. My cards are part of a larger booth managed by my rep group - that's sales people who are working hard all day, standing on that concrete floor (yah, they decided to get a "clean" look this year and removed all the carpet), selling my line and other lines of cards. They specialize in greeting cards, and my line is at the back of the photo. Here's a close up of my display:

Of course, you're wondering "where is Papaya!" - well they are on the opposite wall from me, in the same booth - here's their display:

The reason their cards look a little messier than mine is simply because people are looking at them all the time! What a great line of cards. As you can see, she also has her prints for sale there too. If you've never seen Papaya cards, well then you must immediately click here.

Here are the hard working ladies on the sales team:

L-R: Gail, Caryle, Adrian, and Lyn. This pic was taken at the end of the day, so give 'em a break if they look a little tired. Remember - it's that concrete floor and all.

Two more days of fun!

Time for a Little Blog Candy

I've had a damn good day today. I'm all set up in my booth for the Gift Show here in LA (see previous post). Can I even tell you how thrilled I am to be right alongside Papaya!? I also got some other nice phone calls today with amazing news that I just can't share with you right now - but rest assured it's GOOD!

So, I think it's time to start some regular blog candy. That's what my friend Lisa calls it. Here's how it's gonna work. You have a chance at winning these lovely handmade (by me) earrings! They are all sterling silver, with glass square beads and fresh water pearls.

ok - aweful photo - so yellow! But no time to fiddle, so here goes.

Every time you post a comment here on the blog, you get your name in a hat to win the earrings. That means, the more you comment, the better your odds are of winning. I will pick the winner on February 1, and then also immediately announce February's blog candy item. Comments for January only will count for these earrings.

Yes, the comments that have already been posted this month will be part of the lottery. Yes, those people get a little extra chance - but hey! they even commented without the thought of winning something, so I think that deserves a little something extra. You can still comment on the older posts from this month!

Tradeshow Season Begins....

For those of you not in the wholesale business, (and I'm thinking that's everyone reading this...) January is the beginning of tradeshow season, which runs through May. I'm still kinda laying low because of the baby, but I am for sure displaying at two tradeshows this season: The Stationary and Gift Show at the LA Mart. I will be in the Temporaries show on the 2nd floor, booth 801 with Strickman and Associates. The show starts Friday. If you're in the area and have a resale license - come to our margarita party! Sorry, this show is not open to the general public. But, I will be sure to post pics of the booth and the merryment.

Next, in March, I will have a booth at the Prepaid Card Expo in Las Vegas. This is a tradeshow completely dedicated to prepaid cards - that's gift cards to you and me. They're big business, and I'm ready for a piece of the action. If you've checked out my website, then you'll know my newest big thing is greeting cards with a gift card holder. I have a patent pending on my concept and design - so don't go copying it or nothin'. Doesn't that Prepaid Card Expo website look SOOOO corporate and boring? You don't know the half of it.

I've been in a creative frenzy over the shows and just design in general. I made about 30 ATCs last weekend, several new card designs (hurrah for Photoshop!!) and finally finished a collage that I have had in my mind for almost a year. Below is a small sampling of the ATCs I made. I'll post the collage in another day or two - it's a little naughty so come back to see!

I'm using the good stuff!

Finally, I'm considering showing at the New York National Stationary Show. That's all the way in May and I'm waiting to see how things go in March. A good motto in business is to spend money as slowly as possible and only on things you really need. So, I'm doing that.