11 months

still a mover and a shaker! i can't believe he's nearly a year old! my how time flies.

big thing #2

it's about time i actually updated everyone on all these big things i keep talking about....but never really divulge any information!

so here it is....big thing #2!


i've officially signed on with a canadian distributor. i was originally talking with them about doing both the u.s. and canada, but being a handmade company makes it very, very difficult to make any money......as they take a 50% cut. yeah....50%. so, i'm going to start with canada and begin altering the way i produce my products so that down the road i can afford have a distributor in the u.s. as well. this will free me up to concentrate on other things....like actually designing instead of invoicing, shipping, and calling on past due invoices all the live long day! it's very exciting and scary all at once.

so, if you happen to be a canadian admirer of my products, you should soon see them filling the shelves of your local stationery shops! they will be debuting at the Canadian Gift & Tableware Association Gift Show, Aug 10-14 in Booth #10545 Hall 10 International Center, Mississauga.

3

so this-here blog turned 3 years old 10 days ago and i missed it! i knew it was coming up and tried to force myself to remember but, of course when it came around, i was too busy to remember that i was supposed to remember.

so here's to 3 years of scattered, irregular posts, and to those of you who actually tune in to see what's happening!

b.i.n.g.o.

we had our annual family camp-a-roo this weekend where my huge extended family all get together at my grandparent's farm and camp out together for the weekend. it's always filled with a ton of fun, games, and laughter. we enjoy going every year. this is just a quick snapshot my aunt took of the little dude "playing" bingo for the first time. it's always a big hit with the kids since you get candy bars for every b.i.n.g.o. you get. (and of course everyone wins before they call it quits!)

baby's birthday invite

it's hard to believe that the baby is going to turn 1 year old already! i've been so busy i haven't had a second to think about his party and most importantly, invitations! so this weekend i cranked out the quickest invitation yet! since he's only going to be 1 and not quite old enough to critique yet, i figure it will pass for now!

brotherly love

it's so cute how my boys really seem to adore each other. the little dude is really very patient with baby dude and baby dude lights up when his big brother enters the room. i caught this adorable snapshot this weekend. the baby was getting a new diaper and the little dude decided to hop up on the chair and hold his hand. so sweet....makes a mom's heart melt!

my son: the gardener

the little dude planted a small little garden this spring with grandma while i was away in new york for the stationery show. he's been watching it closely and was super excited this weekend when we found a bean that was ready for the picking! he got to eat it all by himself with his lunch on sunday. here's a picture of him with his first "harvest". of course i couldn't get a decent picture out of him because it was "too sunny out"!

my son : the painter

the babysitter brought some little froggy frames for them to paint last week. here's the little dude working on his in his cute little home depot apron!

orientated

i'm not a grammar queen. lord knows i could probably take a lesson or two, but......

i have 2 new gals here today, helping me with the packaging of the 53,000 holiday cards for st. jude, and one of them seriously just said orientated! ugh. people....it's oriented! please. please. please.

10 months

of course, this is the closest to a "front-view" that i was able to capture!

little dude 3 1/2 years

the little dude at 3 1/2 years old!

group photo

my attempt at a group photo. this basically sums up the personalities of my two kids!

big thing: #1

i've been mentioning all of these "big things" going on with me and my business lately. i think it's about time i start divulging some of them! so wait no more....."big thing" #1 is being revealed!

earlier this week i signed my first licensing deal! it's something i've wanted to become involved with for awhile now because, in all honesty, i don't want to be running around like a chicken with my head cut off the rest of my life. the thought of licensing my artwork is very appealing because there's no huge overhead, no inventory, no customers. just me. my computer. my design. my love. the prospect of not having a huge accounting process hanging over my head is more than i can ever dream of!


i actually made the contact for this licensing deal at the nss. even though i didn't exhibit, i walked the show and met up with some friends from past years. i was invited to a swanky penthouse party on the upper east side after the show, and that's actually where it all started.


so, 4 of my little illustrations will be appearing on stationery related products in january of 2009. i don't know exactly what products they'll be made into yet, or where they'll be available, but there are big possibilities and i'm hopeful and excited. the possibility of having my illustrations appear in big chain stores like target and seen by a much wider market is such a dream.


the one downside is that once these product hit the market in january, i will no longer be able to sell my version. so, if you're interested in getting them for yourself, you can head on over to my website and buy them there until december 31st.

it will be awhile before i know much more, but i will update with any new information once i hear anything!

this thing i call work

does it mean i'm working too much when my eye starts twitching uncontrollably?

holy crap!

i am a bad, bad, bad blogger. ugh.

i'm so busy here i can hardly see straight.

i'm going to try to be better about this.

so much going on, so much news to share.

soon! i promise.

month in review

ever since returning from the national stationery show, i've been a bit consumed with work. i've been working from the moment i wake up in the morning until the moment i go to bed at night....literally. plus, i'm working on the weekends every chance i get. i feel like i pretty much missed the last month of posting about my family and what's going on here. so, in order to catch-up, i'm doing one big post about what we've done since i got home.


the little dude graduated from pre-school


and got a big boy bike that his cousin had outgrown


and built a kite with daddy and went to the park to fly it.


in his own words: "mommy, look! a zebra running with a party hat!"


again, in his own words: "mommy, i brought you some flowers and a pebble so you can look at them and they can make you happy!"


we went to a father's day event at the local airpot where he got to sit in a plane....


and a flight for life helicopter....


and a firetruck.....


and a tractor....


and an ORANGE! tractor....


and then we got to eat CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM!!!!


my stubborn orchid decided to finally grace us with some flowers!

9 months

this month has been a challenging one. since learning to crawl, this little guy has not stopped moving. he now crawls up the stairs and pretty much anywhere else he's not allowed. it was nearly impossibly to take his monthly photo, thus the image above. most of the others were of him crawling away from me. i still wouldn't trade him in for the world. when this guy is happy, he's so smiley and funny, and giggly, i just want to eat him up.


and here's a photo where you can actually see his chubby-cheeked cherub face.

progress

i've been so busy updating my new little business website i can hardly see straight. i've gone through and taken down a lot of products that i still need to edit and re-posted others that i've already "worked my magic" on. i'm pretty happy with the changes i've made so far. once i get everything looking the way i want it, i'll transfer the site to my new secret domain name and swap out the graphics with my new "look" and logo. i'm pretty excited to reveal it all, but i want to wait until i'm happy with everything first before putting "my" name on it.

i've also been busy developing a new series of designs for the new site. (the image above is a sneak peek) they're more the direction i want to take once i get up and rolling. until then, the edited designs will work.

that's what he said : part 5

it's that time again!

[his pronunciation of magazine] : "maz-a-geen"

[his pronunciation of spaghetti] : "ska-bet-ee"

mommy: what kind of fruit did you have?
little dude: a cookie!

mommy: what's wrong? why are you crying?
little dude: i cry because grandma was missing us

little dude: we need to take a picture of you painting.
mommy: we do?
little dude: yeah, & then hang it up!
mommy: yeah?
little dude: yeah, by my........ummmmm......toybox.
mommy: oh really?
little dude: yeah, and you can look at it and like it ALL the time.
mommy: haha, you crack me up kid.
little dude: yeah.

[little dude talking to daddy in the bathroom]:
"this is an important story.....ok?
you go fast with my toothbrush.
i'll go fast with the water
now let's do this!"

mommy: what did you do at school today?
little dude: we planted beans!
mommy: oh, maybe we should plant a little garden this year. we could plant, carrots, beans, peas......
little dude: and sami's! [as in sandwiches]
mommy: haha, no honey, you don't plan sami's. they don't grow in the ground.
little dude: [truly upset and looking very close to crying] but they'll be so yummy!

little dude: mommy, what's this?
mommy: it's a tootsie roll honey. you know, tootsies, just like your toes!
little dude: [examining the tootsie roll closely] no. it's not like my tootsies. mine have long legs!

[lyrics to ring around the rosie] : "ring around the rosie, poppets full of rosies"

[when asked what he wanted to eat after he ate a brownie] : "now i want something that isn't chewy and brown!

a BIG announcement

one of the many reasons i've been so lacking in posts lately is this:


i am now the proud owner of simply sweet announcements! it's an online shop that sells custom photo correspondence. i actually bought this business from another paper entrepreneur. there are a ton of things i want to do with the business. the first are going to be a name change, tweaks to the webite and the products, and then the addition of more "marzipan inc.-like" designs! i'm super excited about the possibilities of this business and all that it can become. so please visit often and tell your friends! after the revamp is done i plan to do a major marketing campaign to get the word out. my goal is to have everything done that i've listed above by the beginning of september...just in time for the holiday photo card season! until then i will be working my patootie off and filling any orders that may come my way!