Thursday, May 31, 2012
Oops! we did again...
NSS 2012 highlights
yes, i did just quote Britney Spears but don't be alarmed...that phrase simply sums up another great event at the National Stationery Show in NY! this year we debuted two new collections, imprintable and printed invitations and wine gift tags from our My 2 Cents collection. we also showcased dozens of new greeting cards along with a sneak preview of our holiday collection. we are so thrilled with the response we received and we appreciate everyone who stopped by to see us.
i want to give a special thank you to my wonderful team, Lenora, Anthony, Kayla and Eric. once again, i owe them a BIG thank you for holding things down and for holding me together. that also goes for our retail partners, vendors, friends and family who didn't make the journey to NY but provided resources, love, support and prayers along the way. a special shout-out to my amazingly talented NEW friends at Yo Soy Expressions, booth neighbors Clairebella and Foxy Blunt, and of course my OLD booth neighbors who are now friends, J Falkner and Gratitude Designs. use the links to view their offerings and check out a few pics from the show below. enjoy!
as always, remember to stay lifted!
charissa
yes, i did just quote Britney Spears but don't be alarmed...that phrase simply sums up another great event at the National Stationery Show in NY! this year we debuted two new collections, imprintable and printed invitations and wine gift tags from our My 2 Cents collection. we also showcased dozens of new greeting cards along with a sneak preview of our holiday collection. we are so thrilled with the response we received and we appreciate everyone who stopped by to see us.
i want to give a special thank you to my wonderful team, Lenora, Anthony, Kayla and Eric. once again, i owe them a BIG thank you for holding things down and for holding me together. that also goes for our retail partners, vendors, friends and family who didn't make the journey to NY but provided resources, love, support and prayers along the way. a special shout-out to my amazingly talented NEW friends at Yo Soy Expressions, booth neighbors Clairebella and Foxy Blunt, and of course my OLD booth neighbors who are now friends, J Falkner and Gratitude Designs. use the links to view their offerings and check out a few pics from the show below. enjoy!
the boxed notes from the
My 2 Cents collection were a hit!
thank you eric for bringing the muscle to our booth!
ivette, you are such an inspiration!
yo soy expressions
jason, what a difference a year makes!
j falkner
tara, so grateful for gratitude designs!
ana posing in front of the beautiful gifts
of clairebella by kathy denness
great meeting you two...see you in atlanta!
as always, remember to stay lifted!
charissa
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Going back to Cali...
It's a wrap!
today is the 4th and final day of the National Stationery Show and we've had a blast! the show ends at noon and we don't have a minute to spare. after the clock strikes 12, we have to check out of our hotel by 1 PM and our flight leaves at 5. as i sip my morning coffee and organize my thoughts before the show i'm thinking...are we crazy? whose idea was it to leave a few hours after the show ends??? probably mine. let's see. if i coordinate the exit strategy well, then we might be okay. all we have to do is break down our booth that took two full days to put together in 15 minutes, walk briskly back to the hotel with several booth items in tow (assuming we can't catch a taxi), and finish packing up everything in about 20 minutes before heading to JFK. that's all. and on that note, here's some advice that we will certainly be using for the next show...spend the night in the city and enjoy the evening after the show. and don't forget the wine. a nice glass of vino is the perfect way to end the day!
as always, remember to stay lifted!
charissa
today is the 4th and final day of the National Stationery Show and we've had a blast! the show ends at noon and we don't have a minute to spare. after the clock strikes 12, we have to check out of our hotel by 1 PM and our flight leaves at 5. as i sip my morning coffee and organize my thoughts before the show i'm thinking...are we crazy? whose idea was it to leave a few hours after the show ends??? probably mine. let's see. if i coordinate the exit strategy well, then we might be okay. all we have to do is break down our booth that took two full days to put together in 15 minutes, walk briskly back to the hotel with several booth items in tow (assuming we can't catch a taxi), and finish packing up everything in about 20 minutes before heading to JFK. that's all. and on that note, here's some advice that we will certainly be using for the next show...spend the night in the city and enjoy the evening after the show. and don't forget the wine. a nice glass of vino is the perfect way to end the day!
as always, remember to stay lifted!
charissa
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Stay Lifted is making news...
NSS Stationery Today Magazine
it's day three of the show and we're featured in today's Stationery Trend! we appreciate the feature...check us out at booth 1746!
as always, remember to stay lifted!
charissa
it's day three of the show and we're featured in today's Stationery Trend! we appreciate the feature...check us out at booth 1746!
as always, remember to stay lifted!
charissa
Friday, May 18, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
The countdown to NSS 2012 begins!
all of the excitement about NY has me so excited that i've been playing Alicia Keys' Empire State of Mind so much during the past few days that my kids are sick of me. lol this year, we're no longer newbies so there's just a little bit of pressure to exceed expectations. now that we have one show under our belts, we're much more prepared and organized. nevertheless, we're still running around like crazy and making last minute decisions. there's never a dull moment and we love it! even though my team is one less person and we have quadruple the amount of products and displays, i'm pretty confident that we got this. can't wait to debut our new collections! here's a sneak preview from our new line of invitations.
Friday, May 20, 2011
National Stationery Show - Blog 5
it's tuesday, may 31st and we're back to work! we successfully completed our first trade show, the National Stationery Show in NY, where we debuted two new collections: My 2 Cents, our sassy tell it like it is line and Expressions which includes some of our favorite words of wisdom in the most fashionable way of course. in spite of a few mishaps and surprises we had a great time and even more importantly, we had a wonderful reception to our fresh designs and sentiments which included adding several new stores to our retailer family. i owe a BIG thank you to my team for holding things down and for holding me together, and to my family and friends who didn't make the journey to NY but provided resources, love, support and prayers along the way. thanks to Cassandra Bromfield for blogging about us and a special shout-out to my amazingly talented booth neighbors who made each day enjoyable and fresh: J Falkner, Jot2Jot, Gratitude Designs, and Melange Collection. use the links to view their offerings and check out a few pics from the show below. enjoy!
our booth! here are a couple of angle shots of our booth.
bright white was the backdrop for our colorful images and vibrant displays.
NSS favorite from the My 2 Cents Collection
The boxed folded note card set "Meds"
NSS favorite from the Expressions Collection
"Multiple Purse-onality" available as singles or note card sets
Eric and I pose with our booth neighbors and new friends:
Jason, Mark, Sue, Tara, Nancy and Clay
Sunday, May 15, 2011
National Stationery Show - Blog 4
we're on our way to the Javits convention center and my emotions are an interesting cocktail of excitement and anxiety. although i don't have enough time to write a lot now, i promise to fill you in on this entire journey when we return to LA. in case you're wondering, Plan B to compensate for the missing products was a bust so we're working with what we have. i'm sure we'll be fine and if you're in NYC, please come by and say hello. we're at booth 3564. thanks for the love and support!
remember to stay lifted!
charissa
Saturday, May 14, 2011
National Stationery Show - Blog 3
The show must go on...so we're trying to stay lifted after learning that half of our collection did not make it to NY. i do see glimpses of sunshine this morning as we scramble to locate a local printer that can spit out dozens of paper products in record time...like yesterday. right now, this very second...it looks like we may be able to do this! fingers and toes are crossed and we're prayed up! any ideas? please share. the show starts tomorrow!
remember to stay lifted!
charissa
Friday, May 13, 2011
National Stationery Show 2011 - Blog 2
today started at 5:33 am est which was really 2:33 am LA time so it took
me a minute to get into the swing of things but after a long shower and
a breakfast of champions (a large coffee) i was ready to go! armed
with 3 or 4 pre-show webinars, really helpful tips from a few veterans,
and my team, we hit the ground running.
the first task was to set up the booth of course. since i would be
traveling from across the country with only 2 months to prepare, i
decided to have foam core walls installed and it turned out to be a
great move. in about 6 hours we installed the carpet tiles, put the
product pieces together and displayed them along with all of the labels,
signs and decorations. not bad for a couple of amateurs. and the real
cool thing is that we worked well together in a 10x8 space. so well
that we were not only still speaking to each other by the end of the day
but we were laughing and eagerly anticipating the next task. i was
almost beginning to think that the show wouldn't be so overwhelming
after all. today was great! except for one little detail...actually it
was HUGE. we confirmed that about 50% of our collection that was to be
displayed at the show did not arrive. needless to say, i had a small
meltdown (just a tiny one) because all of our grand ideas for our first
NSS exhibit were now just that...ideas. thank God for my honey who has
been my rock throughout this process, and thank God for my best friend
from DC who will be arriving shortly and thank God for this super yummy
pino noir from south africa...superb. i can feel myself slowly moving
into a more productive space and the brainstorming wheels are starting
to turn...how are we going to pull off this show with a handful of
products to display? that is the question of the evening...
remember to stay lifted!
(i'm trying to but it's not easy tonight)
wish me luck!
Thursday, May 12, 2011
National Stationery Show 2011 - Blog 1
NY here we come!
my friends and family thought i was a little crazy when i made the
decision in march (just 2 short months ago) to debut our new
collections, Expressions and My 2 Cents, at the National Stationery Show
this month. i admit that even i wasn't completely sure of my decision
but the encouragement and support from my honey made it all sound doable
even if it wouldn't be easy. it turns out that it was definitely
doable. easy? not so much. in fact, the only word that really describes
the past 2 months effectively is "crazy". crazy in the most exciting,
fun, eventful, creative, inspiring, no sleeping, no eating,
kind-of-way. and now i'm on the red-eye to NY, bags are packed, boxes
are shipped, press kits are done, products printed and packaged, and my
support team is in place. NY here we come!
remember to stay lifted!
charissa
Sunday, May 8, 2011
a BIG thanks
may is all about fighting cancers and our 5k walk yesterday was a HUGE success! our team, Pandas with Purpose, raised over $9,000 to fight women's cancers. a BIG thank you to everyone who walked, ran, donated & prayed for us. we're super grateful and touched. i must admit that all that walking and celebrating has me pooped! check back shortly for our video diary and additional pics from the event. now, we're off to NY!
remember to stay lifted!
charissa
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