Crazy Hats . . .

The theme for the Friday Night Preview Party at Stampaway 2013 in Cincinnati last weekend was Crazy Hats.  And I took lots of pictures of vendors and customers.  So today I’ll share what we saw Friday night, and tomorrow I’ll share what we saw during the show on Saturday.

This was mine.  There wasn’t time to create something – we’re in the middle of shows on three consecutive weekends and I barely have time to make sure we have enough products in the booth to try to make everybody happy.  I saw one of these on a Reds television broadcast a month or two ago, and it seemed to fit the bill.  So when people asked me what I was going to wear, I just told them I was wearing a baseball hat . . .

And Karen’s – it takes four angles to see everything, and obviously it’s much more creative.  We soon learned that she wasn’t the only attendee who thought of displaying products on her chapeau . . .

Sam from Stamp On It was my choice for best vendor hat – he said he couldn’t smile because he was a bandito.  And this lady brought a backup hat that she wore after the original got too heavy on her head.

I think this lady won the customer contest – I tried taking pictures from two angles and never did see her face.  Everyone was talking about “the hat with the chicken on it.”

Most painful entry – from every angle, it looked like the scissors were imbedded in her head . . .

Best idea of the night – Ted and Michelle Cutts from Art Gone Wild/Inky Antics/Stampers Anonymous/Darcie’s Country Folk (someday they’ll own all of us) commissioned two balloon artists to create hats for anyone who wanted one.  And I told Jackie Lewis from Inky Antics that if the Preview Party theme is ever “Sweetest Smile”, she’ll win easily . . .

Ted went to the more creative of his balloon artists and designed a custom headdress for Lucie from Luni Stamps.  Apparently it was “one size fits all” because it looked great on Nicole, too!

Kathy Lenhart from Rubber Cottage didn’t have a crazy hat at the beginning of the evening – but her husband Joe quickly fixed that . . .

Karen and Kathy visit before the customers flooded the building.  Gail from Gary Burlin and Bill from Repeat Impressions – I told Bill that his hat would have been more authentic if cans had disappeared during the evening.

Wendy and Adrie from Repeat Impressions (I spelled “Adrie” phonetically – forgot to ask her how it’s spelled) and some of the customers I saw during the evening.

Pat and Paul Niemuth from Northwoods Rubber Stamps – Pat said the staff back in Minnesota designed their entries.

The Dauber Sisters from Christy’s Main Street Memories were one short of a quartet again – this time, it was Diane who couldn’t make the trip.  And I told this lady that she probably felt right at home in Lucas Oil Stadium.

Joe Rotella was playing The Mad Hatter in our booth demoing USArtQuest products.  I had to shoot Judy Ferrell’s panda hat from the side so I could get the eyes.

The lady on the left said she got her hat from her husband’s collection – he gets a different one each year at a convention in Las Vegas.  And the entry from the lady on the right reminded me of the Water Buffalo hats from the Flintstones, except hers had a tiara on top.

Since Connie Williams was all over the place taking pictures during the evening, I suspect that more vendor and customer hats will appear on her website within a week or two (the staff was planning a vacation first), so here’s a link you can click on later to get there.

My Son the Homeowner . . .

One of life’s milestones happened while I was in Detroit last weekend – my son became a condo owner.  It has been a long process – it started in early April when Ryan and Emily began looking.  Once they found a condo they liked, Ryan went to the bank to get preauthorized for a loan – but the condo sold the day before. 

Then they found another one they liked better – the offers and counteroffers went back and forth while I was on a golf trip in Georgia.  On the last day of the golf trip, the text came that his offer had been accepted.  So the process of applications, inspections and appraisals began.  I got to attend the inspection – it was a nice little two-bedroom condo, a great starter home.  All went smoothly until the appraisal came in “short” (less than the selling price).  Ryan and the sellers were negotiating a new price, and late on a Friday afternoon they were very close and we assumed they would come to an agreement quickly.  Ryan didn’t hear anything over the weekend – then on Monday morning, the realtor called to inform him that the seller’s father had died in his sleep on Friday night (57 years old – that hit close to home) and since they would need to help her mother financially they couldn’t afford to move and were taking the condo off the market.

Ryan was crushed – upset – confused.  We sat down to talk it through.  I have always felt that things happen for a reason if you let God be in control.  This time, the reason had nothing to do with Ryan – the sellers needed to stay in their condo so they could help out Mom.

So they resumed the search – and a week later found a condo much larger than the last one that ended up costing only $4,000 more.  The process began again, took way too long again, and the closing had to be pushed back a week.  It looked like it was going to be pushed back a few more days, but then came the word that it had to close on Friday.  Ryan really wanted me to attend, but I had to be in Detroit setting up for a show.  Instead, my dad filled in.

I think I am proudest that Ryan qualified for the loan on his own – the possibility of me co-signing for him was never raised.  In this economy, that’s pretty impressive for a first-time buyer.

Now Ryan and Emily are painting and making minor changes.  It will be almost a year before they both live there, and it’s nice that they can take their time and turn their condo into a home.

Today was another milestone – Ryan invited me to lunch at his place (he even fixed it) and I got to see what he was doing . . .

I especially liked the Darth Vader mask . . . “Luuuuke . . . I am your fath-uh!”

Scenes from The Stamping Gala . . .

It’s on – lasts all week – it’s The Stamping Gala at Marco’s!  And there is always something special going on.  Of course, I am not always there (OK – I am rarely there) so sometimes it’s nice to have guest photographers on hand.

These were taken by Lisa Nelson during the Make & Take and Trunk Show from Sue Wichman of DRS Designs on Monday.

So it seemed only fitting that I stop by and get some shots during Lisa’s Make & Take on Tuesday!

It’s going on all week in our store – for the complete schedule of classes, demos, and make & takes, click here!

The Official Dance of Setup Is “The Bubble Wrap Stomp” . . .

My niece Alex is helping us at the Novi show this weekend – this is her first time experiencing the Wonderful World of the Rubber Stamp Convention.  So we gave her all of the typical “rookie” setup tasks . . .

Unloading the truck (yes, I know it was out of focus – I was setting up the gridwall) . . .

Gourmet lunch (Noooooo … don’t take my picture!) . . .

Sorting through all of the Tim Holtz stuff . . .

And the list goes on and on.  But then came the payoff – I had a box full of the new Distress Markers, and each tube was in a bubble wrap bag.  I asked Alex to take the tubes out of the bubble wrap and price them, thinking she would put the bubble wrap into a box.  Silly me . . .

Stiff and Tired Fingers Caused by Lots and Lots of New Stuff . . .

Yesterday I estimated that I had added nearly 200 new items to our website over the past few weeks.  Today I checked – it was actually 219.  My keyboard has gotten a workout . . .

Most of the new items are in categories and have special sections all their own on our site.  So instead of wasting your time with a narrative, I’ll just post some pictures from each section and provide a link so you can go and browse if you haven’t already.

Spellbinders – 57 new dies and folders.  Most are expected to ship around the first of September.

And that doesn’t include the 12 dies and folders from the Spellbinders 2013 Holiday Collection – those are in stock and shipping now!

Tim Holtz has been a busy busy man – over 100 new items including Distress Glitter (the hush hush secret release that wasn’t announced until CHA began), 12 new colors of Distress Markers (in stock now), and a whole new series of Layering Stencils.

Faber-Castell has only four new items – all are in stock now – and the Designing with Gelatos Kit is going out the front door almost as fast as it comes in.

 

Four new Punch Boards (Candy Box, Gift Bag, Gift Box, and Pillow Box) and a Trim & Score Board from We R Memory Keepers (all coming in October).

While I’m at it, this isn’t a new item but it’s relatively new to us – and if you have an Envelope Punch Board and don’t have Lick & Stick Remoistenable Envelope Glue, you should . . .

Ranger has six new Stickles colors and six new Archival inkpad colors in addition to the Distress Markers.

These also aren’t new, but they’re new to us – from the look of it, what were we waiting for?  The Perfect Ruler, Perfect Layers, Perfect Square, and Perfect Tears (especially the first two) seem to be indispensible tools.

And I’ve missed something – I know I have.  Guess I’ll have to update when I think of it.  Hope you enjoy browsing through the new stuff – and when you run across things you just can’t live without, you know where you can get them . . .