Marco's Paper

Seems Like Everyone Has New Stuff Coming . . .

2012-01-25T14:33:00.001-05:00

I have been negligent – at least regarding this space. I have spent most of my time the past week or two putting new items on our website. Some of them are already there, but lots won’t be seen until CHA starts on Sunday. I sent out an e-mail to our list on Friday with links to almost everything I knew about at that point. But more keeps coming . . .

This is the most recent item – I just found out about it yesterday. New from the creative mind of Tim Holtz – Distress Markers.

Here is the writeup from Tim’s blog (complete with his usual lack of capital letters) – “these markers have many of the amazing qualities you've come to love with distress like being reactive with water to allow for amazing blending and shading, and of course coloring on directly on to your stamps and stamp with them. the dual tips are a flexible brush nib on one end for great coloring effects, and a plastic detailed nib on the other for journaling or fine detail work. these new distress markers are available in 37 colors... 37? oh yes, all 36 classic distress palette colors and white picket fence (just wait until you see what this cool white marker does with the other colors)...”

Distress Markers are supposed to be available sometime in February. As usual in cases such as this, preorders sell for 20% Off the MSRP with Free Shipping. Distress Markers are available individually or in a canister set with all 37 colors.

Most of the Tim Holtz stuff has been previewed on his blog already, but I’m still working on adding everything to our site. The link below will take you where everything I have already accomplished is (and where everything I haven’t yet will be) . . .

Tim Holtz New Releases

Plan now – most of what you haven’t seen yet will pop into view on our website at precisely 1:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, January 29 and we’ll start accepting preorders immediately thereafter. Here are a couple of links that will take you there when the time comes . . .

Spellbinders New Releases

Faber-Castell New Releases

There are already about 50 dies available on the Spellbinders pages – 25 more will appear on Sunday. But the Faber-Castell page is completely blank until Sunday. And there may be more that I have missed – we’re still looking. Stay tuned!

No Muss, No Fuss . . .

2012-01-18T16:13:00.001-05:00

I have seen you at shows, and there is nothing you can do to hide it. You know who you are. You were at the glitter demo, and for the rest of the day . . . you sparkle. For hours, you try to wipe the glitter off your clothes . . . out of your hair . . . off your hands.

Until now . . .

For five hours today, the Wednesday Make It/Take It Crowd in our store got to witness the future of glitter. It’s called GlitterFast – a revolutionary new product that takes glitter and glue to a new level of creativity and is completely MESS FREE. And it is so new that you probably have never heard of it.

Mike Saul is the creator of GlitterFast. A little over two years ago, his wife (a special education teacher) and daughter gave him a mission to come up with a glitter that didn’t stick everywhere – only where they wanted it to stick!

His first effort was called StickPiction – a packet full of GlitterFast sheets, decals, backgrounds and more designed for kids. Then he was introduced to crafters, with their own punches, dies, and such. That led to more products.

Intrigued? So are we. The Make It/Take It crowd snapped up most of the kits that Mike brought with him – but we have more. Click on the graphics above to purchase them online – or click here for links to all six kits at once. When you see us on the road this spring, you’ll probably see them there, too.

The Spellbinders Hype Machine Begins Anew . . .

2012-01-11T13:29:00.001-05:00

Brace yourselves . . . the winter Craft & Hobby Association trade show (known to those in the biz as “CHA") starts Sunday, January 29 (known to others as “that Sunday where there is no football”). So for those of you who love Spellbinders dies, the frenzy starts tomorrow (Thursday, January 12).

Each day for eight days, between four and eight new dies will be “revealed” through projects posted on various blogs. To get a look at the whole schedule, click here or on the graphic above.

Not a blog-hopper? That’s OK – I will add the dies that have been revealed each day to our site. If you click on this link and then save it to your Favorites, you can go back each day and see what’s new. If you see something you like, you can preorder it immediately. As always, we’ll offer 20% off the MSRP and free shipping for preorders. As it stands now, the dies should be ready to ship in late February or early March.

By the time the the last projects in the blog frenzy are unveiled on January 19, about 60% of the new dies will be public knowledge. The other 40%? Those dies won’t be shown until Sunday, January 29 at 1:00 p.m. EST. So check our site often and get ready – you have a little over two weeks to prepare yourselves!

Here it is once again, just in case you missed it . . .

Click on This Link and Save It to Your Favorites So You Can See All of the New Dies as They Appear!

Yummy New Year . . .

2011-12-31T11:24:00.001-05:00

I only make these once or twice a year – they take a lot of time but they really taste great!

And a dreary New Year’s Eve morning seemed like a great time, so I put the ingredients together last night since they have to spend at least three hours in the refrigerator before baking.

If you’re new to these random thoughts, I have posted the recipe before – just click here . . .

Thanks to all of you for your support this year, both for Marco’s Paper and for my family. We appreciate all of you so much. Here’s to a great 2012 – be careful out there tonight!

Great Customer Service Is a Thing to be Shared . . .

2011-12-30T14:01:00.001-05:00

I am a creature of habit – once I get used to something, I don’t want to change. I bought a new gym bag in 2005 – at the time, I did a lot of research until I found exactly what I wanted. It’s a High Sierra Water Bottle Sport Duffel, and it has worked very well (though I never used the water bottle).

Two weeks ago, the shoulder strap broke.

It was fine when I went into the YMCA that morning. But when I pulled it out of my locker, the right side of the strap had come loose from the clip – I don’t know how, and I couldn’t figure out how to put it back together. I carried it by the handles for two days, and that loose strap flapping around was driving me nuts – so I decided to take it off. I barely moved the remaining clip when it snapped off. So the strap was now worthless.

Those two days of “handle carrying” convinced me that I needed a shoulder strap – I kept switching hands so I could open the door, get my ID card out of my wallet, and such. It was a pain. I did a little searching for a new one online and in a couple of stores, but I didn’t find what I wanted – what I wanted was my old gym bag.

So I decided to take a shot at contacting High Sierra. I got on their website (http://www.hssc.com) and sent them an e-mail asking if I could buy some new clips to repair my strap. They did much better than that – they sent me a whole new strap in the mail and didn’t charge me a dime. And this was more than six years after I bought the bag.

The strap arrived today, and I just finished putting it on my bag. Now I’m all set for my next trip to the Y on Monday. And of course, my favorite canine had to wander in while I was taking pictures to see what was going on.

So if you ever need a new gym bag, computer bag (I have one of those from High Sierra, too), piece of luggage, and probably more similar items that I haven’t noticed, I can recommend a company that truly stands behind their products.

The 12 (?) Foods of Christmas?

2011-12-26T13:26:00.001-05:00

For a person who is as “non-foodie” as I am, a lot of our Christmas season revolves around food. Most of the time, though, it revolves around food that I make, but do not eat . . .

Like this sausage and egg casserole, that I put together on Saturday evening before I left for video duty at the 11:00 p.m. Christmas Eve service, and baked yesterday morning. These are the “before” and “after” shots – taken about an hour apart . . .

Then I made a cheesecake to take to Mom & Dad’s later in the afternoon, where it joined what was left of the pumpkin cream cheese muffins and cheeseball I took there on Friday evening.

Don’t worry – Zoe isn’t starving. For two days, she has been working on a chew bone that my niece Natalie sent from Maryland.

After breakfast, Ryan took advantage of a rare sunny Christmas Day and went outside to test his new remote control helicopter. Alas, it was too windy. So we continued our recent Christmas afternoon tradition – we went to see a movie. This time it was Mission Impossible, which was pretty good. The surround sound will be even better in Ryan’s “home theater” when it comes out on BluRay.

Last night, we sat around the table and decorated Christmas cookies – we usually do this earlier in December, but with Mom’s chemo we decided to wait until she was feeling a little better. Ryan’s favorite was my rendition of Achmed the Dead Terrorist.

Favorite gifts of the year – Zoe’s was this pull toy from my brother’s family (you tug, it squeaks). And my favorite has to be the Slingbox that Ryan got for me – I have always wanted one. Now I can watch my home TV when I’m on the road. No doubt the folks at the Grapevine show in two weeks will see it in action.

One final thing that is not Christmas-related – one of these days I will learn how to get my cell phone switched to video mode when I see something worthwhile. Several of you have asked to see Zoe in action, and one of these days I’ll do better. But for now, here’s a clip of her begging for treats from the UPS lady . . .

The Passage of Time . . .

2011-12-24T11:06:00.001-05:00

I love the holiday season. For some, it begins when the Christmas tree goes up. For others, it begins when the first Advent candle or the first candle in the Menorah is lighted. For me, it begins on the night that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer airs on CBS – because it’s not Christmas until I hear Burl Ives sing Silver and Gold and Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

We have always celebrated Christmas with Mom and Dad and my brother and his family on “Christmas Eve Eve” – it’s a tradition that started when Blake and I were very young. Dad’s side of the family had Christmas Eve, Mom’s side of the family had Christmas Day, so Christmas Eve Eve was just for us. We spent the evening together, decorated Christmas cookies, and each of us got to open one gift. While the evening’s activities have changed a little over the years, the Christmas Eve Eve tradition lives on.

And so does The Picture. I don’t remember why it started – I suspect that Dad wanted the same view each year to watch the boys grow up. I did the same with Ryan on the first day of school each year. So the first thing we do each year on Christmas Eve Eve is take the picture.

In 1995, my parents sold their house and moved into the condo where they live now when they’re in Ohio. So though the outfits (and some of the heights) change, the setting remains the same . . .

1995 and 1998 – you’ll notice that the positioning changes a bit over the years, depending on how tall the boys are.

2002 and 2004 – didn’t take Ryan long to grow taller than all of us.

2006 and 2009 – Tyler finally passes Conner on the growth scale. We have reached the point where one or more of the boys have to come straight from work.

Which brings us to last night. Most of you know that this year, especially the past four months, has been very different in our family. So two nights ago, Dad called and asked that each of us bring along one extra item for this year’s picture . . .

And I love it!

I called this morning to make sure we hadn’t worn Mom out. Found out that she got up at 5:00 this morning to read through another batch of your cards and e-mails that I brought last night. Dad came into the living room a little before 6:00 and found her in tears – she has been so overwhelmed by all of your tender support. And I am so grateful to each of you who have taken the time to lift up prayers, send cards, and write e-mails for a very special lady. They have made a difference.

Thanks – and Merry Christmas!

Absence Excuse . . .

2011-12-22T11:23:00.001-05:00

I have been absent from this space for 2½ weeks. The excuse is an easy one – we have been swamped. The sale we had over the Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Cyber Monday Weekend was more than we ever imagined. When that happens in a small company, you say a prayer of thanks, batten down the hatches, and get to work. So we did – started with the first order that arrived a few minutes after midnight on Thanksgiving morning and worked forward.

Debbie and Patti take great pride in filling your orders quickly, but this was more than they could handle by themselves. So Gary and I jumped in – filled and boxed orders, transferred merchandise from the store to the mail center, and more. And we nearly attacked the UPS and FedEx drivers when they made deliveries (especially from Spellbinders or Ranger – it meant more orders were going to get completed and shipped). I usually made a run to the post office just before it closed at 7:00, so it was often between 7:30 and 8:00 before I got home. Am I complaining? Not for a second – we’ll probably do it again next year. And we thank you very much.

But some things had to be sacrificed, and this blog was one of them. Now that things are calming down, I have a few stories to share over the next couple of weeks. Here is one of them . . .

Last Friday, my nephew Conner graduated with honors from Miami University. It was important to me that I be there – I missed his high school graduation 3½ years ago because I was away at a show that weekend. So I picked up Dad (Mom got the OK from her oncologist to go as well, but was concerned about sitting with several thousand people in the middle of cold and flu season) and we drove over to Oxford to join my brother Blake and his wife Lisa, their younger son Tyler and his girlfriend Rachel, Lisa’s parents Ron and Mary Jo, and her brother Kevin. And we were one of the few families that followed the instructions to not clap and make a bunch of noise when our graduate’s name was announced! We also got a special bonus – about five years ago, Miami started a tradition of inviting that year’s “Effective Educator” recipient to give the Graduation Address at the Fall Commencement. This year, it was a professor in the history department who also happened to be Conner’s advisor. During her address, she mentioned four graduates by name – and one of them was my nephew.

Another story may come tomorrow night during my family’s annual “Christmas Eve Eve” gathering. If it does, you’ll hear from me again on Saturday. If not, I’ll go ahead and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. You are all very special and we appreciate you very much.

One other thing – Mom is doing great. Her fourth chemo treatment was last Wednesday. She has quite the collection of hats – I still haven’t seen the same one twice. And this weekend, we have a lot of reasons to be thankful.

Sympathy Cap?

2011-12-05T13:32:00.001-05:00

I stopped by to check on Mom and Dad yesterday after church. When I walked in the door, I had to laugh at Dad – my first thought was that he was wearing a sympathy cap so Mom didn’t feel bad about her lack of follicles. But he has been wearing driving caps to keep his head warm for 20 years or more.

Still, I had to put the two of them together so I could get a shot to share with the family. And yes, you can consider yourselves family as well . . .

Reaffirming My Faith in Our Customers . . .

2011-12-01T12:10:00.001-05:00

A package came in the mail today – it caught my eye initially because it was addressed to “Marco’s Paper – Attn: Man at Conventions”. That was enough to qualify for my laugh for the day. But I wasn’t expecting a package and had no idea what was inside.

So I opened the padded envelope and found two identical Spellbinders dies and a note on two Post-It-Notes attached. It was from Diane Smith, who visited our booth at the Birch Run, MI show three weeks ago. And it started with “OMG! I am SO embarrassed!”

Diane won a Spellbinders die in our giveaway an hour before the show ended. I had grabbed it at random, and told her that she was welcome to swap it for one she really wanted. So she did – but it wasn’t until a few days ago that she started to open the package and saw that she had accidentally picked up three dies that were stuck together. It happens all the time – I usually feel the packaging when a customer is checking out to make sure there is only one.

The irony in all of this is Diane is a retired prosecuting attorney – as she said, “I put people away for shoplifting.”

When my son was little, I taught him that the true test of honesty is what you do when no one is looking. And when I first started doing shows, a fellow vendor taught me to expect that our customers are basically honest folks. While there have been exceptions over the years, for the most part that has held true.

And today, I am grateful to Diane Smith for affirming it once again.

Class Content to be Determined . . .

2011-11-30T10:57:00.001-05:00

Debbie Cosenza is one of the newest instructors at our store. Like many of you, she has an interest in all things Tim Holtz. So she designed a class inspired by this year’s version of Tim’s 12 Tags of Christmas, and I posted it online last night and in the store this morning. Now some of you have already thought this -- “How does she know what tags she’s going to make when The 12 Tags of Christmas doesn’t start until December 1?”

She doesn’t – like you, she’ll see them one at a time over the next 12 days. And as she designs the tags for the class, we’ll post them online and in the store. I have seen samples from her other Tim Holtz classes over the past few months – they’ll be good.

As in past years, Tim did a video teaser – this year, it’s like a movie trailer. Make sure you look at the “credits” at the end of the piece . . .

Black Friday Winners . . .

2011-11-30T10:37:00.001-05:00

Friday and Saturday, we had our second annual Black Friday “Make Your Own Coupon” event in our store. I went there this morning to take pictures. Amazing how creative folks will become to get 30% off in-stock items . . .

These were some of the best entries. Thankfully, the decision on prize winners was not mine – all I had to do was ask Karen, “Who won?”

First Prize winner was Nancy Galusha . . .

Second Prize went to Gloria Foust (outside and inside views shown here) . . .

Honorable Mention to Ginger Deaton (outside and inside views shown here) . . .

And Honorable Mention to Denise Landa . . .

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A note to those who ordered instructions and materials for Pat Adams’ Neverending Cards – I sent requests to Pat so she could prepare them, but I sent them to the wrong e-mail address. Just figured it out this morning when I called her to see when they would be ready and learned that she never received the requests. So it’s my fault. Hopefully we’ll get them from her sometime next week and we’ll ship them as soon as they arrive. Sorry about that . . .

Last Day . . .

2011-11-29T14:58:00.001-05:00

Just in case you haven’t taken the time to sit down at your computer, a reminder that this is the last day of our 25% Off Sitewide Sale. You can save big on just about everything (just about means everything except classes, gift certificates and previous orders). On our site it says that the sale will end at 11:59 p.m. PST, but since that’s the middle of the night for me, I won’t be shutting it off until I get up in the morning. So go for it, night owls!

And stay tuned Wednesday or Thursday for a look at the winners of the “Make Your Own Coupon” sale in our store over the weekend . . .

Never EVER Try to be Sneaky Around Your Mother . . .

2011-11-22T15:01:00.001-05:00

I walked into Mom & Dad’s place after church on Sunday with an envelope full of cards and e-mails for Mom that had come in over the past couple of weeks. Mom took them to the back room to read, and Dad and I sat down to play cribbage. A few minutes later, Mom walked out with that look on her face. You know the one.

“I’ll get you for that picture you took of me.”

I had included a copy of the “How’s Your Mom” blog piece I wrote last week – that was the first time she had seen the shot I took while she was at the oncologist. It was intended for my brother, but I knew when I used it in the blog that I would pay the price. However, she was willing to allow a replacement . . .

Mom caught me off-guard when I walked in – it was at the end of a very busy day, and when I saw her new hat my first reaction was “I thought you had lost all of your hair.” Silly me . . . the bangs are attached to the hat. Still, I think it looks really nice!

Offering the “Neverending Cards” to the Masses

2011-11-16T12:56:00.001-05:00

Back in September, I wrote a blog piece about Pat Adams’ upcoming class in our store making “Neverending Cards” – complete with lots of pictures and my first attempt at a YouTube video. To jog your memory, here are the cards . . .

And here is the video . . .

Back in September, we heard from a lot of people who were interested in the class but weren’t close enough to Dayton to take it in person. Pat promised me that once the class had been held, we could figure out a way to offer it to the masses. This is our first attempt at this – so here goes . . .

Pat will prepare the materials and printed step-by-step instructions to make one, two, or all three cards . . .

Materials and instructions for one card -- $15.00 (choose the angels card, the tree, or the winter scene)
Materials and instructions for two cards -- $20.00
Materials and instructions for all three cards -- $25.00

If you’re interested, please e-mail me first at marcos@marcopaper.com with your preference, and then I’ll contact you to arrange for payment and we’ll send them to you. Pat wants to plan how many sets of each card she’ll need.

If there is a demand for this, we’ll probably try it with other classes held here at Marco’s!

“How’s Your Mom?”

2011-11-13T08:49:00.001-05:00

This weekend was our first show since I wrote the story announcing my mom’s lymphoma. We have been overwhelmed by the support from all of you – we are grateful for your e-mails, notes, cards (Mom has read every one) and especially your prayers. But I never considered what might happen once I saw some of you in person.

It started Thursday morning during setup, and continued all through the show during the weekend – a single question, repeated over and over . . .

“How’s Your Mom?”

Vendors walked up to me – customers greeted me as I passed out coupons in the line before the show started – and again when they were checking out in our booth. Again, I am overwhelmed and grateful.

Here’s an update – Mom is doing well. She had her second chemo treatment nine days ago and still hasn’t had the first bit of nausea. Her white count dropped to a dangerously low level about two weeks after her first treatment, so she was “quarantined” at home except for doctor appointments until it came back up. The second treatment was cut back a little in hopes that her white count will stay higher.

The lump is gone . . . and so is her hair. But she has an assortment of doo rags that I think look really attractive. And I have noticed that her personality is back – Mom is usually very bright and cheery, but for the past couple of months she has looked so tired. I think part of it was worry, and part of it was the cancer affecting more of her than just her neck.

I snuck this picture at the doctor’s office as she was getting her bloodwork done a couple of days before the second chemo treatment. It’s not the most flattering shot (the front view really looked like she was wearing a hat), but I wanted a picture to text to my brother and I wasn’t sure she was ready to pose. Someday soon, I’ll try to do better.

Again, thanks to all of you – this is truly an amazing community.

The Roofing Story Is More of a Dog’s Tale . . .

2011-11-13T08:36:00.001-05:00

My “hectic day” story from last Saturday was intended to be a story in pictures of how I spent the morning filling orders for the Seasonal Distress Ink Sets while I waited for the temperature to climb . . . how I spent the afternoon painting cedar boards that the roofers were using as replacements on my house . . . how I spent the evening announcing our local high school’s playoff win. But after a week of other items of more importance, I’ll just pare the story down to the only part of it that most of you really want to see . . .

. . . the pictures of the dog. Zoe spent the morning with me in the house while I filled orders, and the afternoon with me in the yard while I painted. We really weren’t sure how she would handle all of the commotion and strangers in the yard, but she was true to her training and stayed near me while I worked. It was a full day, we accomplished a lot, and the football game in the evening was the icing on my cake.

More Pictures That Are (Still) Better Than a Roofing Story …

2011-11-11T13:32:00.001-05:00

I am in Birch Run, Michigan this weekend for the annual Deer Widow’s show – if your significant other is out hunting this weekend, come and see us! Thursday was setup day, and along the way I saw a couple of things that pushed themselves ahead of roofing on the blog story priority list.

Tish Ramsey helped me set up the booth yesterday. She brought her lunch along in a blue cooler, and when she got ready to eat she pulled out a little Sesame Street towel. I didn’t pay much attention until she told me she had chosen it especially to bring along to setup. Take a look at the name of the little girl Muppet on the towel . . .

Setup was loooooooong yesterday. By the time we finished, I was ready for some haute cuisine. People who know me well know that haute cuisine usually comes with the question “Do you want fries with that?” When I was getting my drink, I discovered that McDonald’s – at least here – is finally addressing one of my pet peeves . . .

I absolutely hate those stacks of cup lids out in the open. I watch people rooting through them with grimy hands and I find myself getting mine from way back in the stack to try to avoid the germs. This handy-dandy gadget dispenses one lid at a time when you pull on the cover. Gotta love it!

We Interrupt This Weekend Tale . . .

2011-11-09T12:21:00.001-05:00

Today was going to be the story of last weekend, and everything that happened at my house wrapped around the work on my roof. But that can wait a couple of days. While I was at our store yesterday gathering goodies for this weekend’s Deer Widow’s Weekend show in Birch Run, Michigan, a better opportunity presented itself . . .

These are two very special people in the Marco's family. Walter White is Gary's 97-year-old father-in-law -- he still works a few afternoons a week in our back room. And Bryden Ihle is Karen and David's six-month-old grandson. This all started because Karen reminded me that I had not posted a shot of her grandbaby since he was a newborn. Then Walter wandered past on his way to the front door just as I was switching my cell phone to camera mode.

I assume that you will agree that this is better than a story about roofing and shingles . . .

How I Spent My Weekend (Part One) . . .

2011-11-08T11:19:00.001-05:00

This was such a busy weekend – my Saturday alone wore me out. I realized about halfway through that I should be taking pictures along the way – sometimes, blog pieces just write themselves that way. Even then, I still forgot to take pictures at some of the most important times.

But sometimes, others get shots that I might have missed . . .

This shot was taken from the stage at the Palace Theater in Columbus, OH on Thursday evening (follow the arrow to see that yes, that was actually me in the fourth row). I was there to see an “a capella” group called Straight No Chaser – if you have not seen or heard them before, I think you would enjoy them. As part of their act, they take pictures of the audience each night and post them on their Facebook page. These are ten guys who started singing at Indiana University about 1996, then went on their separate ways after college until a video shot at one of their college performances was posted on YouTube and went viral . . .

I sang in lots of musical groups when I was in high school, and in a quartet with my dad and another father and son when I was in my 20s. And I would have loved something like this.

The view from the fourth row. And no worries about the copyright police – they encourage pictures and video. Amazing how this worked out – I bought the tickets in May, then found out last Monday that Thursday was to be the first day the roofers would be at my house to start repairing and reshingling. Would have been just exhausted when the time came to leave for Columbus (70 miles away). But it rained – so the job didn’t start until Friday afternoon.

The roof is a whole ‘nother story – more on that tomorrow . . .

Winter Distress Colors (Finally) Announced . . .

2011-11-01T14:50:00.001-04:00

The mystery has been solved – Ranger has finally announced the three colors that make up the Tim Holtz Seasonal Distress Ink Winter Set . . .

This description of the colors is theirs – I don’t think I could find words that are that “descriptive” when you take into account that it took me twenty years to finally accept that mauve is not pink . . . “a wintery mix of colors just right for the holiday season: Evergreen Bough (a beautiful green with a hint of blue), Festive Berries (a true Christmas red) and Iced Spruce (an incredible greyish blue).”

Need more info? Here is Tim Holtz hizzownself with the video plug . . .

If all goes well, our first shipment should arrive tomorrow (November 2). As always, we sill start shipping immediately . . .

Family Tradition . . . With a Twist

2011-10-31T14:55:00.001-04:00

Many of you already know that the carving of Halloween pumpkins is a tradition in my household. Ryan says mine always look the same – every year I try to make mine different, but I guess I’m just not that creative with a carving knife in my hand. When we’re finished, I put the pumpkins, Ryan, and Zoe in the kitchen to take pictures, because that’s the best nighttime lighting in the house.

Ryan thought it would be cute to try to assume Zoe’s pose. Didn’t quite work. So he decided to get creative . . .

I got a kick out of Zoe’s “are you nuts?” look in the right photo. But Ryan wasn’t done . . .

Look closely – you’ll notice that the bottom of Ryan’s pumpkin is now missing. Yes, that’s where it’s going . . .

I can’t even begin to imagine how that felt (or smelled). But I have to admit it was fun. Reminds me a bit of some of my wacky costumes at the Cincinnati convention.

So this is this year’s Family Pumpkin Carving Photo . . .

And then our creations went out on the front rail to display. Tonight, they’ll be lighted for the Trick or Treaters when they come up our street . . .

Video Rainbow

2011-10-29T11:35:00.001-04:00

I should have known better – I sent an e-mail out to our list yesterday and tried to include video for the first time. Should have sent it to myself first to make sure it would work – when I got a copy later in the day, I got some warning about “Active X controls not working” or something like that, and no video. Next time, I guess I’ll include a link as well.

So let’s try again . . .

A Sight I Saw Because of Your Orders!

I was on the way to the Centerville Post Office late Thursday afternoon with half a carload of orders to mail. Just as I pulled into the parking lot, the most beautiful rainbow appeared. I can't remember the last time I could see both ends of a rainbow so close together. I tried to shoot a picture, but couldn't get all of it in one shot. Then it hit me -- "I can shoot video on my cell phone." So I did -- hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Catching Up . . .

2011-10-20T14:56:00.001-04:00

Before I do anything else, I owe a very heartfelt Thank You! from my family to all of you who took the time to send responses to the blog piece about my mom that I wrote on Monday. I printed every one of them and took them to her on Tuesday afternoon – she was simply overwhelmed by all of the prayers and good wishes from people all over the world that she has never met. Dad read them too – I talked with him on the phone this morning and he quoted a couple of them.

Mom is doing great – still hasn’t had the first bit of nausea, the lump on her neck is already getting smaller, and she’s starting to get her energy back. My mom’s “glass” is always half-full – she went to get her hair done this morning. Today is Day Seven, and she was assured that her hair would start to surrender sometime between Days Ten and Fourteen – but a couple of you told her that you didn’t lose yours, and she has decided to enjoy hers for as long as she can. We are truly thankful.

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We now return you to our regularly scheduled fun and frivolity . . .

I just cleared my phone of some pictures that I took during my travels over the past month. I’ll just post them with a quick comment under each – some of these are really random . . .

This was on Saturday at the Anderson, SC show. I just get a kick out of the husbands who can go to sleep anywhere. If I had pulled back a little, you would see that he was surrounded by excited shoppers.

Yes, that is a refrigerator in the back of the truck – it is now beside the classroom in our store. Peggy Gould brought it to Anderson – she and her husband donated it to us. This shot was taken just before I surrounded it with boxes and boxes and boxes full of Tweety Jill books that I picked up from a fulfillment warehouse in Georgia after the Anderson show.

We had a special guest during teardown after the Fort Wayne show. Robin and Keia Arnold help us at several shows during the year – they live near Decatur (about half an hour away), and when Robin’s husband Phil came to help tear down the booth, he brought Kisha along with him. She had a great time visiting with us while we worked – and she was much more patient than Zoe would have been in similar circumstances!

Awwwwwwwww …

Within hours after I got home from Fort Wayne, I was on my way to Tims Ford State Park near Winchester, TN (about 90 minutes SE of Nashville) for three days of golf and fellowship. This is the nicest of the courses we have played over the past few years – partly because the weather was absolutely perfect (no clouds, no wind, temps about 80).

Yes, I shot these with my cell phone and no zoom lens – they were right next to the fairway and didn’t seem to be bothered by us at all. Late each afternoon, hundreds of deer came out to feed all over the park – these shots were taken in some trees between two fairways.

My birthday was on the Sunday of the York show. This was only the third time that my mom hasn’t seen me on my birthday (all three because I was at shows). But there are perks – Bev Parnell and Sue Bomboy brought goodies before the show started on Saturday (they were escorted to the booth by the promoter). Bev brought a homemade cake, homemade treats for Zoe, and a card, and Sue brought homemade chocolates from the family candy company in Maryland. All of this was seriously good stuff!

The outside and inside of Bev’s birthday card. Bev has never met Zoe, but she understands – when I read it, I had to wipe a tear from my eye.

After the show Saturday, I went to Walmart and bought some forks and plates. Sunday morning, I shared Bev’s cake with my fellow vendors. I even caught Steve from Toomuchfun sneaking back for seconds (so did I) . . .

This is Rebecca Parkes – she is the new National Sales Manager at Faber-Castell. She wanted to experience a show for the first time, so when she told me she was coming to York, I offered her a seat at our demo table for part of Saturday. If you were there, you might have noticed the “newbie light” flashing on her forehead . . .

This is Pam Rhinehart – she was the courier for my friend Judy Jackson, who couldn’t make it to the show. Judy needed one of the wafer thin Sizzix plates, and e-mailed in early September to see if I would bring one to York and Pam would pick it up. With the way my memory has been lately, I immediately took one out and put it on the seat of the truck. I should have collected stickers for it like an old-time suitcase – by the time it was picked up, that plate had gone from Ohio to Kentucky to Tennessee to North Carolina to South Carolina to Georgia to Tennessee to Kentucky to Ohio to Indiana to Ohio to Indiana to Ohio to West Virginia and finally to Pennsylvania! That “Ohio to Indiana to Ohio to Indiana to Ohio” was not a glitch – I came home on Friday evening before the Fort Wayne show to announce the local high school football game (it was homecoming).

This is another husband who “gets it” – he came in with his wife on Saturday morning, she just about ran to Sue Rothamel to grab a seat in front of her performance, and he settled in with a couple of magazines. I think he was there for about two hours.

And this was my favorite fellow at the York show. He was in a pretty long line waiting to get to my cash register. I hadn’t seen him yet, but I heard him talking about a craft festival where his daughter and granddaughter had a booth that weekend. What I heard most was “You wouldn’t believe this town – the population is no more than 3,000 but on this weekend every year they have more than 350,000 people on Main Street . . .” At that point, I interrupted and finished his sentence – “. . . all because of sauerkraut.” He gave me a bewildered “How did you know?” – and I responded, “Because I live there.” It is truly a small world when I’m 450 miles from home and the Ohio Sauerkraut Festival is still a topic of conversation.

So now my phone camera is clear, and I’m caught up (I think) . . .

The Only Thing I Want for My Birthday … Next Year

2011-10-17T11:56:00.001-04:00

I have been off the blogging grid for several weeks. There were/are stories that I wanted to share . . . things going on during shows and in the store . . . but there was a story from my personal life that I wanted . . . needed . . . to share first. And I couldn’t until the time was right – and until I got permission.

You might remember this picture – it was taken on my mom’s birthday on August 28, during a family outing to a Dayton Dragons’ game that was arranged by her sister, Nancy. We had such a good time – it was a simply perfect day.

Three days later, I found out about the lump on Mom’s neck.

If I hadn’t had a sinus infection, Blake and I might not have known about it for some time (Mom is a very private person), but since we happened to be at the doctor’s office at the same time, a simple “What are you here for?” led to the news. We weren’t terribly concerned at the outset – our doctor suspected it might just be a thyroid problem and ordered some tests, which unfortunately ruled that out.

At this point, I started to type a step-by-step narrative of what we (yes, “we” – Mom has done all of the work, but we have gone through this as a family) have done and seen and experienced since that point – but my high school English composition teacher would have written “wordy” all over it. Suffice to say that we went to an Ear, Nose & Throat Specialist and an Oncologist, to at least two hospitals for tests and a cancer center for treatment. Mom has had an ultrasound, a CAT Scan, a needle biopsy, minor surgery to take a “frozen section” of the lymph gland for further testing, a PET Scan to see if the cancer had spread anywhere else in her body, and an Echocardiogram to check the strength of her heart because one of the chemo drugs can stress it.

And somehow through all of this, I missed only one appointment in three weeks while traveling to shows in Anderson, SC, Fort Wayne, IN, and York, PA, and a golf trip in TN – Mom would never have allowed me to adjust my schedule.

The final results came last Wednesday – “Stage Two High Grade Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma” (along with another couple of words that I missed – the oncologist went through them pretty fast). Stage Two is not as good as Stage One, but it’s not horrible – the cancer was in more than one lymph node but they are side-by-side. High Grade is better than Low Grade because the cancer cells are fast-growing and that’s the type of cells that chemo is most effective on. And Non-Hodgkins is better than Hodgkins because it can be cured. The oncologist recommended that Mom start with three chemo treatments three weeks apart – a five drug combination they refer to as “R-CHOP” (the first letter of each drug). Then he will evaluate the results and continue with three more chemo treatments, switch to radiation, or do a combination of the two.

A nurse came in and went through lots of sheets describing the treatments, side effects (nausea, fatigue, hair loss, etc.), diet, and such. And they were ready to start as soon as we were, so we scheduled the first treatment for first thing in the morning this past Friday – it was supposed to last seven hours.

There is humor in almost any situation if you look for it – and my laugh came when we arrived at the cancer center on Friday morning. Mom was the first patient to arrive, so when she walked into the treatment room, a nurse told her to choose any of the 14 easy chairs in the room. It looked like a scene from “The Three Bears” as she went from chair to chair – one was too soft, one was too hard, one sat up too high, and finally one was just right. And her first chemo treatment went so smoothly that she got finished an hour early.

I took this picture three hours after Mom got home on Friday – when I walked in, she was washing silverware because she had run the dishwasher and found a bug on one of the spoons as she was emptying it. I am very happy to report that it is now three days later and Mom is doing great – she’s tired, but has had no nausea at all. And she is preparing for her new look (Dad will probably '”help” her with that later this week since he cuts his own hair) – she has bought a couple of do-rags and a skull cap, and is giving some thought to a wig.

When we first started this process, Mom was not ready to “go public” until we knew what we were dealing with. During the chemo treatment on Friday, I talked with her and she gave me permission to write this piece – I have shared a lot of our life over the past few years and so many have told me how much they enjoy it. This isn’t nearly as enjoyable, but it is part of who we are. And as the holidays approach, there will likely be pictures of our family gatherings and the inevitable questions will have already been answered.

The title of this piece has had nothing to do with anything I have written so far. But my birthday came in the middle of this process a week ago Sunday while I was at a show in York, PA. Ever since I moved out on my own, my phone has rung at 6:53 a.m. on my birthday (the time I was born) – when I answer the phone, Mom and Dad are on the other end singing “Happy Birthday.” I thought it was a little hokey in the early days, but now I really look forward to it. (My brother has never experienced this quite the same way, partly by his own choice – he was born at 1:52 a.m.) And the four of us usually get together for lunch on my birthday when I’m in town.

The only thing I want for my birthday next year is that phone call – with two healthy voices singing on the other end.