great day wednesday, tuesday...not so good

Tuesday...
Having returned from an exhausting weekend at market and a family gathering in Florida I was greeted Tuesday with the news that I missed a terrific professional opportunity. I was so bummed but a rebound was in my future so boot straps up I made some calls sent some emails and decided to take control. I have figured there are a lot of people that have no talent but are great at marketing and a lot of people that have amazing talent and are terrible at marketing. I am going to be more aggressive about marketing myself and my shop from now on.

Wednesday...
I started the day with a new attitude. I spent much of the morning printing out images for my portfolio. I met a lovely customer and chatted with her at length about many topics. And then to my surprise and delight Amy Zurker, the guru of Shop SCAD, and Katie Runnels, artist extraordinaire, came for visit. I haven't seen Katie in ages but I keep up with her through her blog. These gals have more talent than most people have in their pinkie toe. I really never get to see Amy except for an occasional visit at the store or at a social event but everytime we chat I think to myself, we should be friends. Katie was dropping off new pieces at shop SCAD so get over there and check them out.

That evening...
As if Wednesday couldn't get any better Amy and Josh Lind joined my family for dinner at our house. Amy, a former @home shop girl and successful painter is now living in San Francisco with her husband Josh a talented film producer/maker (Dandy Dwarves fame). William was the ring bearer in their wedding and he still calls her Amy Hahn. In fact, all week he kept saying "when are Amy Hahn and the boy coming to our house." Very cute. Thankfully, after a lot of tickles, playing with cars and tossing balls he was calling him Josh. So happy I got to share an evening with them catching up.

by the window

Amy Lind, one of our @home alums is returning south for her show at the Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, SC. She and her husband Josh are planning a visit to Savannah while here. I can't wait to see them. It is hard to believe in September it will have been a year since they moved to San Francisco. Time flies.

off to market

No posts for a few days as I am traveling to the gift show to search for new goodies for the shop. It feels like I just did this but these shows come around to quick I can't keep up. While there I am also having dinner with one of my favorite sales reps and an exec from their company. Hopefully I can charm the socks of him and he hires me to design for them (a girl can dream).

today's forcast...fun

happy 4th
if you are in the area we will be open today for all you die hard shoppers

furniture sale

We are having a furniture sale for the month of July. Stop by and scoop up that piece you have had your eye on. 10-20% off select furniture.

craft night

Last Friday night the @home girls got together to have a team building night at the shop. We played store themed games: the price is right in which the girls had to guess the price of merchandise I selected, a scavenger hunt where the girls had a timed race to pick up items by certain vendors all over the store and a jeopardy style quiz. We devoured a pizza and made our way upstairs to my studio to do some crafting. The purpose you may ask? We are in the middle of the summer dull drums here in Savannah. Business is slow and moral can sometimes slip so I wanted to pep everyone up and if you ask me nothing does that better than a little crafting. Here are some before and after pictures and a shot of the goody bags I made for everyone. There are also some pictures of the treasures we assembled. Not too shabby!

this just in...

New arrivals for your viewing pleasure.

my little blondy

I took this picture of my son in the park last Sunday.  I am always astonished at how blond he is when I see him in photographs.  My hair is very dark and my husband is a tow head.  Go figure... he is a   1/4 Greek, 1/2 British, 1/8 Italian, 1/8 unknown European mix blue-eyed-blond.  I can only hope that he gets my over 6' tall grandfather's genes. Have I mentioned how short I am?

lovely discoveries

I have fully recovered from my two day trip to the National Stationery Show and have so much to share.  Typically I don't have a hard time making a decision about the products I want to purchase for the store but this particular show had me stumped.  The NSS was filled with cards and stationery from talented letter press companies, off set and screen printed goods and fantastic pick up items.  I placed many re-orders of products we stock and was hoping to find a couple of new lines to fill in where the others leave off.  I think I accomplished my goal.  We expect our tried and true items to start trickling in soon and the new goodies will begin shipping in July.  

I also landed a new purveyor of vintage ribbons, notions and old store stock. I found their prices to be fair and their selection of vintage goods really lovely. The owners are keepers too! I especially love when I find a resource where I know the people behind the product.  The merchandise I find from these types of sources have a special place in my shop.  You betcha I buy from the big boys, but supporting mom and pop wholesalers is where my heart is.

sweet shop

Last week I saw a picture of Design Sponge's Grace Bonnie in a confectionary store in San Francisco.  It looked like the sweetest sweet shop I have ever seen.  The post had no mention of the location so I scoured the internet in search of the little store.   It took some hunting but I finally found Miette Confiserie.  If I ever make it to San Francisco Miette Confiserie & Miette Patisserie (the original bakery behind the confectionary) will be on my list of places to see.  

Once you visit the site you quickly see why this little gem is so special.  It is the people behind it.  I love stories about people following their passion and this one is exactly that.  I hope you will visit their site to read all about it.  

help the honey bees

I have been hearing about the plight honey bees for awhile now so I was not surprised to see the people at Haagen Dazs have started a campaign to help. If you have a chance please visit help the honey bees and see how you can do your part.

A side note: since I have been doing my fair share of web research for my site, I was overwhelmed with the amazing website they have devoted to the subject. I think all you design junkies out there would agree.

Read all about it: I just got my June issue of Martha Stewart Living and there is a great article on page118.

national stationery show

There is no other trade show that excites me more than the National Stationery Show and it is a little over a week from now.  What makes the anticipation worse is that all the design bloggers that I know keep showing products that some of the exhibitors have been sending their way for publicity.   I was begining to feel left out when low and behold the mail man shows up with brochures, postcards and samples from the very people I have been reading about on those other blogs.  Yeah!  I had my own little piece of the action.  

With notes in hand I hope to order some new lines for the shop and refill the lines that I currently stock.  

holy smokes

I enjoyed a fantastic dinner last night with my friends Cheryl & Grif, owners of Back in the Day Bakery and Haylie (former shop girl, now big city girl) from Philly.  It was so nice to catch up with Haylie and hear about all of her new adventures.  If it were up to me all my girls would work for me forever and ever but they keep growing up and moving on.  It is really nice to see how they mature and all the amazing things they are doing out in the "real" world.  I keep thinking that when the shop turns 10 we will have a big reunion.  Maybe a giant trunk show of all their work.  

Back to the topic.  I can't express to you how delicious the meal was.  I had ribs or should I say a rib.  No, I was not shorted by the chef watching out for my caloric intake.  The rib was enormous.  I even joked with the waiter that it came from a dinosaur.  The sides were yummy (especially Haylie's fried okra).  The ambiance was very low key.  We sat outside and watched people play horse shoes and the bean bag toss.  By the look of things (full parking lot & tables) Blowin' Smoke is making quite a splash.  

sloooooooooow posts

Sorry for the lack of posts but many of you will be happy to know I have been working very hard to get our website together.  I had no idea how much behind the scenes work was involved. Taking photos, typing information, moving files, renaming files and just plain thinking about the web is all consuming.  I am dreaming in HTML code.  OK, not really but as soon as I master it I know I will be.  The plan is to launch a new site in July with shopping coming in September.  My web tutor has explained that July is too optimistic for the ecommerce part.  My friends at McMaster & Storm have been going through the same process and their site will be ready this week.  I can't wait to see what they have created.  I know their experience will prove very helpful as I get further along.  

score

My little man (and Dada) recently accompanied me to a local market where I found these interesting pieces for the store.  He used the contents of his toy cash register to purchase a match box car (a little junker already).  

savannah market bazaar

If you are anything like me you envy those city dwellers that have a cool street market on every corner. Savannah has had a hard time getting one going. The Starland Farmer's market and the occasional Mutations Craft Fair have a good following. Thanks to New Moon of Savannah the Savannah Market Baazar is making it's debut this Saturday in the old Sears building parking lot just 2 blocks south of Forsyth Park. It is the same weekend as the Sidewalk Arts Festival so the turn out should be good. The only way markets like this can survive is if we attend and buy. I know I will be going. I hope you will to.

new cuteness has arrived

We just got a shipment of adorable Japanese goodies. Pin cushion/scissor holder birdies, little vases shaped like spools (modeled by my new shop girl), mushroom pushpins, card holders and magnets. We also got a great shipment of twine from a fair trade company out of India. Yum.

ahhhh spring

Thought I would share an early bloomer from my garden with all you northeners. I hope you can dig out of all that snow really soon and enjoy some blooms of your own.

my house was full of rings and charms and pretty birds

Most people purchase music online and never venture into a store to actually buy a CD but I have to admit this is one I wanted to physically, not just virtually, own.  I have now listened to it so much that my three year old is singing Gone, gone, gone.  

Where do I begin?  I think I can thank my older brother for properly introducing me to Led Zeppelin and the film Oh Brother for introducing me to Alison Kraus.  Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined what magic the duo could create.  If I were more tech savvy I would have it playing for your listening pleasure.  My suggestion?  Go to itunes and have a listen for yourself.  

Beyond the Pale, BH&G Feature

Last October I participated in the Savannah College of Art & Design Alumni Design Show House. I am just getting around to sharing it with you because Better Homes and Gardens Magazine photographed it and until it was published I thought it wise not to show any of the images of the space. So now that it is on the news stands I couldn't wait to give you a peek.

This is the cover and the first page of the three page feature. The pictures that follow were taken by me or Anthony Masterson Photography. Enjoy.